A killer blend of soul and funk from Pockets – a group with a very jazzy pedigree in their roots, but who stretch forth here with some great studio help from the Kalimba Productions team of the Earth Wind & Fire empire! The groove is very much in the best 70s EWF mode – tight, but never uptight – impeccably played throughout, but with a looseness that also really hearkens back to the small club origins of the group. Lead singer Larry Jacobs really makes the tunes cook – with a style that's deft enough to match the instrumentation, yet still strong enough to soar soulfully on its own. The blend is sublime throughout – and titles include "Tell Me Why", "Take It On Up", "Heaven Only Knows", "Got To Find My Way", "Sphinx", "In Your Eyes", "Happy For Love", and "You And Only You". LP, Vinyl record album

Wonderful work from Pockets – a group who started out more in a jazzy mode, but who here have emerged as a fully-formed, soaringly soulful group that's a perfect fit for the Kalmiba Productions style of the late 70s! As you probably know, Kalimba's the production arm of the Earth Wind & Fire empire – and Pockets fit here right in tight with their groove – a nice little sidebar, definitely with their own spirit – but filled with that sense of perfection that wraps together funk, soul, and jazz with equal emphasis on all three styles! There's some great harmony vocals in the mix too – crafted with the care of contemporaneous groups like Side Effect or Creative Source – and titles include "Your Heart's In Trouble", "Bye Bye", "Catch Me", "So Delicious", "How Do You Think It Feels?", "Charisma", and "Baby Are You Coming Home With Me". CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Only an EP, but one that packs plenty of punch – thanks to strong production from Blockhead on most of the tracks, with help from El-P and Aesop Rock himself! The set begins with the iconic "Daylight", followed by the counterpart "Night Light" – then runs through a no-skit, all-tight set of tracks that more than makes up for the shortness of the set. Vast Aire guest on "Nickel Plated Pockets" – and other cuts include "Bracket Basher", "Forest Crunk", "Alchemy", and "Maintenance". LP, Vinyl record album

A live bit of fusion supergroup jamming – one in which Billy Cobham and George Duke are joined by Alphonso Johnson and John Scofield in a set of really soulful numbers! The main focus here is straight fusion jamming, but there's also a nice undercurrent of funk and soul in the set as well – and Jon Lucien makes an appearance on the track "Almustafa The Beloved" – a great number with a break sampled by Peanut Butter Wolf! George Duke indulges himself a touch on "Space Lady", a spare electric keys number with a lengthy spoken intro – and other titles include "Do What Cha Wanna", "Frankenstein Goes To The Disco", "Hip Pockets", "Ivory Tattoo", "Sweet Wine", and "Juicy". LP, Vinyl record album

Herbie Hancock is certainly Takin Off at this point in his career – stepping into the limelight with an excellent batch of soul jazz tunes, including the first recording of his classic "Watermelon Man", the one track that probably put all his kids through school! Although that one went on to become a standard within a few short years in 60s jazz, it still sounds great here in the original – a very fresh take on the sound of soul jazz in the 60s – offered up here in a 7 minute version that has more sharp soloing than most other takes on the tune! The group here is great too – with Dexter Gordon on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the tracks are all also originals by a young Herbie – including "Watermelon Man", "The Maze", "Driftin", "Three Bags Full", "Alone & I", and "Empty Pockets". LP, Vinyl record album

Herbie Hancock is certainly Takin Off at this point in his career – stepping into the limelight with an excellent batch of soul jazz tunes, including the first recording of his classic "Watermelon Man", the one track that probably put all his kids through school! Although that one went on to become a standard within a few short years in 60s jazz, it still sounds great here in the original – a very fresh take on the sound of soul jazz in the 60s – offered up here in a 7 minute version that has more sharp soloing than most other takes on the tune! The group here is great too – with Dexter Gordon on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the tracks are all also originals by a young Herbie – including "Watermelon Man", "The Maze", "Driftin", "Three Bags Full", "Alone & I", and "Empty Pockets". CD features three bonus alternate takes! CD

One of the few Bud Powell sessions cut for RCA, but a brilliantly swinging date that has the pianist working at the height of his powers! There's an edge here that comes through right from the start – an off kilter vibe in both Bud's tone, and even in the way he's vocalizing joyously in the background at a few spots – not singing, but exclaiming – at a level that really helps you feel how much he owns the piano while he's performing! Dark pockets and sharp angles pervade – while still swinging right down the middle – balanced off perfectly with work from Art Taylor on drums and George Duvivier on bass. Tremendous all the way through – and different than Bud's work for Verve and Blue Note – in a really compelling way. Titles include "Another Dozen", "Like Someone In Love", "She", "Oblivion", "Swedish Pastry", and "Birdland Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary record from Show & AG – and one of the strongest full lengths of the early 90s from the DITC camp! Runaway Slave came about during the end of an era when major labels still seemed to be hungry for for dope underground MCs, so there's a gritty realness here, and on other great hip hop LPs of the early 90s that's still pretty incredible. This full length debut delivers very strongly on the Soul Clap EP – and titles include that classic track "Bounce Ta This", "Represent", "Catchin Wreck", "Fat Pockets", "40 Acres And My Props", "Hold Ya Head", "He Say, She Say", "Hard To Kill" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Herbie Hancock is certainly Takin Off at this point in his career – stepping into the limelight with an excellent batch of soul jazz tunes, including the first recording of his classic "Watermelon Man", the one track that probably put all his kids through school! Although that one went on to become a standard within a few short years in 60s jazz, it still sounds great here in the original – a very fresh take on the sound of soul jazz in the 60s – offered up here in a 7 minute version that has more sharp soloing than most other takes on the tune! The group here is great too – with Dexter Gordon on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the tracks are all also originals by a young Herbie – including "Watermelon Man", "The Maze", "Driftin", "Three Bags Full", "Alone & I", and "Empty Pockets". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest sets the Numero Group has ever released – and that's saying a heck of a lot, given their already-mighty catalog! Although the label issued a previous dip into the enigmatic Boddie Recording company of Cleveland, this massive package brings together a whopping 57 tracks from the Boddie studios and related labels – many of which have never been reissued before, even by Numero – and all of which offer up a mindblowing microcosm of the American scene in the 60s and 70s – a wealth of rare funk, soul, psych, gospel, and more – all of it the kind of gritty material that 45 collectors die for! But just as cool as the music is the box itself – a slipcover that fits around a hardcover book, which contains individual pockets with CDs that focus on the core labels from Boddie – then other pull outs that include a big booklet on the studios, another on the artists, and a third set of bonus inserts! Musically, the whole thing's right on par with other Numero releases – maybe even above them, given the wide range and depth of the collection – and artists include Bo & The Metros, Inter Circle, King James Version, Ricky Hodges, Jackie Russell, Angela Alexander, Frankie Pighee, Chantells, AC Jones, Harvey Hall, Headlines, Modern Detergents, Penny North, JC Akins, Little Anthony Mitchell, Gospel Fabulators, Royal Kings, Corinthian Singers, Brother Bill, Victory 5, and many more. This version includes a fourth "Boddie Bonus Disc" with 22 additional tracks! CD

One of the all-time great Rick James albums – a return to funkier sounds for Rick that worked both artistically and commercially – and actually got over far better than his more blatant attempts at crossover material on other records! The mix here is perfect – a true summation of all that made Motown great at the time, and the special sort of energy that made Rick one of the freshest mainstream talents at the end of the 70s! The record put a lot of money in Barry Gordy's pockets, and for good reason too – given that the set includes the classic hit "Super Freak" – plus "Give It To Me Baby", "Ghetto Life", "Make Love To Me", "Below The Funk (Pass The J)", and "Fire & Desire" – all done in that compressed pop-funky style that James kind of took from Bootsy Collins and manage to successfully soup up for the masses! CD also features the bonus tracks "Give It To Me Baby (12" mix)" and "Super Freak (12" mix)". CD

A strong double dose live set for Smoke Sessions led by guitarist Peter Bernstein – in a quartet setting with Christian McBride on bass, Brad Mehldau on piano and Gregory Hutchinson on drums – reconvening the the line-up that recorded Bernstein's Signs album on Criss Cross back in the mid 90s! It's wonderful for several reasons – for one, in getting these amazing, incredibly busy players back together after all these years – and for fleshing out the material so greatly in a live setting! The Signs tunes really breathe here, with lots of air and space for each player to shine, most tracks running nice on long on the 2CD set. They're all Bernstein originals save for 3 Thelonious Monk numbers, and the titles include "Blues For Bulgaria", "Hidden Pockets", "Dragonfly", "Jive Coffee", "Pannonica", "Useless Metaphor", "Let Loose", "All Too Real", "Resplendor", "Crepuscule With Nellie/We See" and "Cupcake". CD

One of the most revelatory albums ever cut by reedman James Clay – a player who's often lumped into the "hard blowing" camp because of his Texas roots, but one who emerges here with a great deal of sensitivity and imagination! The record features Clay playing both tenor and flute – clearly a "double dose of soul" – and on the latter instrument, he's got a really wonderful style that's a bit like Yusef Lateef, still hardbop and swinging, but touched with a sense of exoticism that really makes for a unique sound to the record. And even on tenor, Clay's got a looser, more introspective sound here – one that catches the mood set by the rest of the group – with Victor Feldman on vibes, Gene Harris on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – plus a bit of extra cornet from Nat Adderley on a few tracks. The album has a good modal feel in parts, and a stronger soul jazz groove in others – and it's one of the great sets put together as part of the "Cannonball Presents" series for Riverside in the early 60s. Tracks include "Lost Tears", "Pockets", "New Delhi", and "Linda Serene". CD also features 2 bonus tracks! CD

A great collection of early Herbie Hancock work for Blue Note Records – done in his pre-electric years, but with a sound that's already ahead of the pack – as Herbie's mixing modernism with 60s soul jazz – alongside players that include Freddie Hubbard and Donald Byrd on trumpet, Hank Mobley and Joe Henderson on tenor, Hubert Laws on flute, Thad Jones on flugelhorn, Grachan Moncur on trombone, Ron Carter and Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins and Tony Williams on drums! Titles include "Cantaloupe Island", "Blind Man Blind Man", "Maiden Voyage", "Empty Pockets", "Speak Like A Child", "Toys", "Three Bags Full", "Triangle", "And What If I Don't", "Drifitin", "Goodbye To Childhood", and "The Prisoner". LP, Vinyl record album

Herbie Hancock is certainly Takin Off at this point in his career – stepping into the limelight with an excellent batch of soul jazz tunes, including the first recording of his classic "Watermelon Man", the one track that probably put all his kids through school! Although that one went on to become a standard within a few short years in 60s jazz, it still sounds great here in the original – a very fresh take on the sound of soul jazz in the 60s – offered up here in a 7 minute version that has more sharp soloing than most other takes on the tune! The group here is great too – with Dexter Gordon on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the tracks are all also originals by a young Herbie – including "Watermelon Man", "The Maze", "Driftin", "Three Bags Full", "Alone & I", and "Empty Pockets". CD

Herbie Hancock is certainly Takin Off at this point in his career – stepping into the limelight with an excellent batch of soul jazz tunes, including the first recording of his classic "Watermelon Man", the one track that probably put all his kids through school! Although that one went on to become a standard within a few short years in 60s jazz, it still sounds great here in the original – a very fresh take on the sound of soul jazz in the 60s – offered up here in a 7 minute version that has more sharp soloing than most other takes on the tune! The group here is great too – with Dexter Gordon on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the tracks are all also originals by a young Herbie – including "Watermelon Man", "The Maze", "Driftin", "Three Bags Full", "Alone & I", and "Empty Pockets". Plus, this CD reissue features bonus alternate takes of 3 tracks on the album! CD

Herbie Hancock is certainly Takin Off at this point in his career – stepping into the limelight with an excellent batch of soul jazz tunes, including the first recording of his classic "Watermelon Man", the one track that probably put all his kids through school! Although that one went on to become a standard within a few short years in 60s jazz, it still sounds great here in the original – a very fresh take on the sound of soul jazz in the 60s – offered up here in a 7 minute version that has more sharp soloing than most other takes on the tune! The group here is great too – with Dexter Gordon on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the tracks are all also originals by a young Herbie – including "Watermelon Man", "The Maze", "Driftin", "Three Bags Full", "Alone & I", and "Empty Pockets". CD also includes the Freddie Hubbard album Hub-Tones. CD

One of the all-time great Rick James albums – a return to funkier sounds for Rick that worked both artistically and commercially – and actually got over far better than his more blatant attempts at crossover material on other records! The mix here is perfect – a true summation of all that made Motown great at the time, and the special sort of energy that made Rick one of the freshest mainstream talents at the end of the 70s! The record put a lot of money in Barry Gordy's pockets, and for good reason too – given that the set includes the classic hit "Super Freak" – plus "Give It To Me Baby", "Ghetto Life", "Make Love To Me", "Below The Funk (Pass The J)", and "Fire & Desire" – all done in that compressed pop-funky style that James kind of took from Bootsy Collins and manage to successfully soup up for the masses! LP, Vinyl record album

"Starting Time" is a great early 60s session by Jordan – who at the time of the recording, was one of a number of firey young tenor players from Chicago – all of them hard-blowing, with a nice soulful bottom that opened up a bop sound to more moods and emotions – but Jordan stood apart from most of them with an approach that was decidedly more complex and forward-thinking. As you'll hear on the album's tracks, he wasn't content enough to just blow off a riff – but had to twist things up a bit, working a tune for more shades and colors than it might yield with another player, pushing on the proceedings with an edge that's very strong. The great Wilbur Ware's on bass, and a young Cedar Walton's playing piano, and with warmth like that, Jordan and trumpeter Kenny Dorham sound great next to each other. Loads of original hard bop lines by Jordan, including "Extempore" and "Quittin' Time", plus "Mosaic" and "One Flight Down" by Cedar Walton. Even better is A Story Tale – a brilliant collaboration between Clifford Jordan and Sonny Red! Red's tone is excellent – a sharper one next to Jordan's more supple blowing – and the pair are a perfect team to lead off tunes like "Prints", "Hip Pockets", "A Story Tale", and "Defiance". CD

Herbie Hancock is certainly Takin Off at this point in his career – stepping into the limelight with an excellent batch of soul jazz tunes, including the first recording of his classic "Watermelon Man", the one track that probably put all his kids through school! Although that one went on to become a standard within a few short years in 60s jazz, it still sounds great here in the original – a very fresh take on the sound of soul jazz in the 60s – offered up here in a 7 minute version that has more sharp soloing than most other takes on the tune! The group here is great too – with Dexter Gordon on tenor, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums – and the tracks are all also originals by a young Herbie – including "Watermelon Man", "The Maze", "Driftin", "Three Bags Full", "Alone & I", and "Empty Pockets". CD also features 3 bonus alternate takes of tunes from the album! CD

One of the all-time great Rick James albums – a return to funkier sounds for Rick that worked both artistically and commercially – and actually got over far better than his more blatant attempts at crossover material on other records! The mix here is perfect – a true summation of all that made Motown great at the time, and the special sort of energy that made Rick one of the freshest mainstream talents at the end of the 70s! The record put a lot of money in Barry Gordy's pockets, and for good reason too – given that the set includes the classic hit "Super Freak" – plus "Give It To Me Baby", "Ghetto Life", "Make Love To Me", "Below The Funk (Pass The J)", and "Fire & Desire" – all done in that compressed pop-funky style that James kind of took from Bootsy Collins and manage to successfully soup up for the masses! CD also features the bonus tracks "Give It To Me Baby (12" mix)" and "Super Freak (12" mix)". CD