Sweet KPM funk from the 70s – a set that features the legendary "Big City Suite" from David Gold, plus 20 other groovers from rare KPM sound library albums of the time! Gold's suite is really great – a hip mix of keyboards, wah wah guitar, and strings – all wrapped together warmly in a portrait of a city from a variety of angles, in a variety of moods. The work's almost an update of 50s city-symphony albums, but is put together here with a much hipper 70s soundtrack mode – lots of subtle elements that really keep things interesting! Other tracks offer up a mix of jazz, soundtrack, and sound library funk – hand-picked from KPM classics like Jazzrock, Synthesis, Sounds Of The Times, Trendsetters, and other legendary albums – really packed in here with a huge amount of cuts that are totally great! Titles include "Good Vibrations" and "Trial Of Strength" by Keith Mansfield, "Testing Time" by David Lindup, "Four O'Clock Earthquake" and "Smokey Joe's Dilemma" by John Cameron, "Watchful Eye" by James Clarke, "Sunshine Special" and "Get Ready Get Set Fly" by Alan Hawkshaw, "Open Roads" by Nick Ingman, "Go Getter" by John Cameron, "City Airscape" and "City Police" by David Gold, and "Lap Of Honour" by Clive Hicks. CD

60s Ahmad Jamal in the studio is already pretty darn great – but live, his group is even more amazing – as the pianist is able to stretch out more, and take a lot more chances too – not just in the way he's striking the keys of the piano, but also working with the fantastic rhythms of Jamil Nasser on bass and Frank Gant on drums! The trio have a legendary way of working together – sensing space as much as moments of music – and their work here on this series of unreleased tracks is completely sublime – and maybe one of the best recorded demonstrations of why Jamal was so revolutionary at the time! The mix of new ideas and soulful swing is incredible – and tracks here are mostly nice and long, filled with bold energy throughout – on versions of "Naked City", "Mr Lucky", "Where Is Love", "Dance To The Lady", "Fantastic Vehicle", "Gloria", "Misty", and "Autumn Leaves". LP, Vinyl record album

60s Ahmad Jamal in the studio is already pretty darn great – but live, his group is even more amazing – as the pianist is able to stretch out more, and take a lot more chances too – not just in the way he's striking the keys of the piano, but also working with the fantastic rhythms of Jamil Nasser on bass and Frank Gant on drums! The trio have a legendary way of working together – sensing space as much as moments of music – and their work here on this series of unreleased tracks is completely sublime – and maybe one of the best recorded demonstrations of why Jamal was so revolutionary at the time! The mix of new ideas and soulful swing is incredible – and tracks here are mostly nice and long, filled with bold energy throughout – on versions of "Naked City", "Mr Lucky", "Where Is Love", "Dance To The Lady", "Fantastic Vehicle", "Gloria", "Misty", and "Autumn Leaves". LP, Vinyl record album

The second album from Kendrick Lamar, and the one that really helped bring his talents to the rest of the world – and maybe mark a whole new generation of hip hop in the process! At some level, Lamar is in the same territory as many of the south Cali rappers before him – with tales of rough life on the mean streets – but his approach here is very different, both in terms of the personal quality in the lyrics and the subtle drama in his presentation – and the lean production, which seems to strip things bare, and avoid the thuggish cliches that might celebrate such a background. Even the title alone hints at the tension that's made the record so durable over the years – and titles include "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe", "The Art Of Peer Pressure", "Money Trees", "Poetic Justice", "MAAD City", "Singing About Me I'm Dying Of Thirst", "Real", and "Compton". CD

Heavy funk from Teena Marie – a self-produced killer for mid 80s Epic Records – done with some even bolder grooves than before, in ways that definitely show the hallmarks of the Prince generation! The 80s was a hell of a good time to be a female funk artist on her own – and Teena more than takes advantage of that fact here – stepping out with a proud, loud groove that's undeniable – very much a female-positive moment that some folks occasionally overlook in their accounts of 80s soul. All tracks are Teena originals, right on the money – and titles include "Emerald City", "Once Is Not Enough", "You So Heavy", "Lips To Find You", "Love Me Down Easy", and "Sunny Skies". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible meeting of two massive Chicago talents – with results that are even more amazing than you might think! We've always loved the music of flute player Nicole Mitchell – and have reveled in watching her get even more righteous and sophisticated in her projects in recent years – and we've always had deep respect for the words and wisdom of Haki Madhubuti, a writer who makes us incredibly proud to live in the Windy City. Yet together, these two genius talents resonate with even more strength than we might ever have imagined – as Nicole turns in some of her deepest music in years, to set up the right kind of setting for Haki's words – all served up in a mixture of jazz and spoken passages that almost blows away most classics of this nature from the 70s! The group is wonderful – with Mitchell on flute, alongside Pharez Whitted on trumpet, Tomeka Reid on cello, Harrison Bankhead on drums, Renee Baker and Zara Zaharieva on violins, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, and Jovia Armstrong – and singer Ugochi provides additional vocal support for Madhubuti's spoken lead – as the group also soars out on some strong instrumental passages too. The scope of Mitchell's writing is even broader than before – and titles include "Rise Vision", "Move Into Our Own", "Gwendolyn Brooks", "Often Hard To Believe", "Woman Black", "We Walk The Way Of The New World", "Peace Starts Inside You", "Blackman Unfinished", and "Too Many Of Our Young". CD

A wonderful package – four full albums by one of the most unique groups of their time! First up is These Things Too – the first Reprise album from Pearls Before Swine – a bit more straight ahead and folksy than their work for ESP – but in a really great way, one that lets you hear the best of Tom Rapp's amazing songs and vocals! The album follows in a tradition that includes Tim Buckley, Tim Hardin, Leonard Cohen, and Fred Neil – but it's also got a really unique style that's the unique province of Tom Rapp – the main force behind the group, and the voice on all of the tunes. Rapp's vision was quite unique for the time – not nearly as revolutionary or personally preoccupied – more sad at the fading world, and granted with a unique ability to paint any subject in shades of blue. Titles include "Wizard Of Is", "Frog In The Window", "Footnote", "Look Into Her Eyes", "These Things Too", and "Mon Amour". Use Of Ashes is an incredibly beautiful album from Pearls Before Swine – one that uses light orchestrations to create a baroquely folksy sort of feel – easily elevating the album past previous efforts, into classic territory we'd rank with the best from Nick Drake or Leonard Cohen! The whole album's great – with fragile and haunting songs from Tom Rapp, all supported by sparsely arranged instrumentation that includes harpsichord, flute, oboe, cello, and dobro. Genius throughout – and a clear inspiration for music still being made 30 years later – with classic tracks that include "The Jeweler", "Rocket Man", "Song About A Rose", "The Old Man", "When The War Began", and "From The Movie Of The Same Name". Next is Beautiful Lies You Could Live In – one of the most perfectly formed albums ever recorded by Tom Rapp's enigmatic group Pearls Before Swine – a record that does an incredible job of skirting between Rapp's earthy sense of the planet's passing, and his ambitions for larger forums of expression. The core group is lightly folksy – with strong use of acoustic guitar that goes far beyond any folk rock cliches – plus some additional arrangements that feature contributions from the team of Bob Dorough and Stu Scharf, who seem to have a habit of appearing on under-discovered gems like this one, and making them sound all that more hip! The whole thing's great – filled with beautiful songs that should have been as over-recorded as the best by Tim Hardin or Leonard Cohen – with titles that are even better, too! Tracks include "Snow Queen", "A Life", "Butterflies", "Simple Things", "Freedom", "She's Gone", and "Island Lady". Last up is City Of Gold – a return to folksier forms for Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine – working here in territory that's very different than some of the baroque light arrangements used on previous records. Rapp's emerging as a more confident singer/songwriter – recording in an almost Dylan-like setting, but with more of the irony of Leonard Cohen, and as always, working in a timeless idiom that's still beginning to be understood more than 30 years after its inception. Beautiful work throughout – as earthy as it is majestic – and with titles that include "My Father", "The Man", "Once Upon A Time", "City Of Gold", "Nancy", and "Wedding". CD

The incredible start of Pere Ubu – music that burst onto the world from the Ohio scene of the mid 70s – at a time when nobody might have expected such fervent sounds to be coming from the Midwest! David Thomas and the group are years ahead of their time with this material – channeling some of the more staid arty rock of the period with early punk energy that had yet to be given a name – all with a mix of avant phrasing and wit that's much more like UK work of the post-punk generation to come! The package is a stunning tribute to this important explosion of sound – and features the full first two albums, The Modern Dance and Dub Housing – plus a full live at Max's Kansas City concert from 1977 – and the totally amazing Hearpen singles, including "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", "Heart Of Darkness", "Final Solution", "Cloud 149", "Street Waves", "Modern Dance", and "Heaven". Comes in a nice booklet with notes, too! CD

An album with a very personal vibe, maybe even more so than other recent work on the Steeplechase label – as Andrew Rathbun composed all the tunes himself, and really seems to have a commanding sense of timing throughout the album! The music swings, but also stops for some more contemplative moments too – and in both modes, there's a really keen sense of feeling for sound and tone – almost painterly at points, and moving with bolder strokes at others. Gary Versace contributes some wonderful piano to the set – really resonating strongly with Rathbun – and the group also features bass from John Hebert and drums from Tom Rainey, on titles that include "Widen The Doorway", "Wandering", "Fast 5th", "Tooth & Nail", "Velocity Unknown", and "Still A Thing". CD

A very nice little album – and one that moves way past the gimmicky nature that you might guess from the title! The Sun Ra influence is obvious – as it seems natural for the Chicago-based players to show a bit of respect to what's gone before them in the city. The Funkadelic twist might seem a bit more odd, though – but not if you consider the fact that Vandermark's played a heck of a lot with funky jazz combos over the past 10 years, and that Drake can really kick it on the set when he wants to! In fact, the two of them go so full-out on the Funkadelic tunes that you'll be hard-pressed to believe that there's actually only a trio of sax, drums, and bass playing the music! The Ra tunes seem a bit restrained next to the Funkadelic ones – but that also makes for a nice mix of styles on the CD. Titles include "Tapestry From An Asteroid", "Cosmic Slop", "Future", "Super Stupid", "You & Your Folks, Me & My Folks", "El Is A Sound Of Joy", and "Street Named Hell". CD

Rare funk from the East Bay scene of the early 70s – every bit as heavy and hard-hitting as grooves from Sly Stone on the other side of the water at the time! Two Things In One may not be a household name, but they groove as hard as any of the best big funk acts of the early 70s – awash in the free-thinking, open spirits of the Family Stone generation – and graced with a nice dose of spiritualism in the vocals – almost a dash of Stevie Wonder that helps deepen these tunes way more than you'd expect! Production is nice and raw – honed at Oakland's Music City studios – and the album's like finding a whole pile of funky 45s you never even knew about – with a nice diversity in grooves throughout, but a tight cohesive style overall. Titles include "Stop Telling Me", "Snag Nasty", "Silly Song", "Let's Get It Together", "Overdoes Of Your Love", "You're No Good", and "Together Forever". CD

One of the best-ever compilations of funky work from BGP Records – and even better than their other Super Breaks sets! This one features some totally rare killers – not only from hard-to-find funky 45s, but also from obscure studio tapes that have never been properly issued! The set's a funky fanatic's dream, and pushes past the usual Ace/BGP line, into territory more reserved for the likes of Keb Darge and Ian Wright, on smaller labels. A large number of the tracks are from the catalogs – released and unreleased – of Westbound and Kent – and titles include "Gotta Get Me A Job" by Ann Alford, "Here Comes The Judge" by Larry & Tommy, "Soul Power" by The Houston Outlaws, "Freedom & Justice" by The Pace-Setters, "I Got To Have You" by Little Ann, "Soul Funk" by Chico & Buddy, "Skunk Juice" by The Pazant Brothers, "I Love You" by The Motivations, "Hook & Boogit (parts 1 & 2)" by Abraham & The Casanovas, "Motor City" by The Counts, and "Groove" by Dave Hamilton. 20 cuts in all! LP, Vinyl record album

A treasure trove of rare gospel recordings from the Chicago scene of the 70s – all served up on a family of labels that were tied together in the same way as some of the indie soul and funk labels of the time! Producer Harold Freeman recorded most of this music, at a time between big opportunities for gospel acts on larger labels – and the work includes some much bigger names who'd later go onto great fame, and some key Chicago artists who might never have gotten exposure otherwise – represented here with recordings that appeared on the Righteous, Peace, and Michael record labels. The 2CD set is a fantastic look into this small local scene – presented with very detailed notes on Freeman and his recordings – in support of a batch of 46 tracks that includes work by the Gospel Sensationals, Inspirational Singers, Rev Maceo Woods, James E Lenox, Brother Ed Smith, Wings Of Heaven Choir, Sammie Cheatham, Voices Of Cosmopolitan, Reba Harris, Pearl McGhee, Windy City Four, and many others! CD

A really cool collection of work from Polish sound library talent Henryk Debich – all 70s material that was designed to evoke the feel of the modern city – including many tracks that were issued in a special cassette series for daily commuters! The material was recorded at the Polish Radio studios, and mixes groovy 70s elements with fuller orchestrations – some disco rhythms at points, mellower soundtrack touches at others – keyboards often stepping out strongly from the fuller arrangements in a way that's a bit like Italian or UK sound library material at the same time! Titles include "UFO", "Obsydian", "Marmyszka", "City", "Choral I Final", and "Perforowany Parmezan". CD features four bonus tracks too! CD

An incredible tribute to the legendary Strata Records in Detroit – performed by Jazzanova with a host of other guests – and at a level that's maybe the greatest thing the group has ever given us on record! The vibe here is a lot more Strata and spiritual than the style you'd expect from Jazzanova – as they take on tunes by label legends like Lyman Woodard, Kenny Cox, Sam Sanders, Maulawi, and other talents from the same Motor City underground of the 70s that gave the world Tribe Records. Instrumentation is a blend of Fender Rhodes and lots of live jazz work on flute, tenor, trombone, and trumpet – sometimes topped with vocals from Sean Haefeli, who really helps open up the soulful side of the tunes! Wonderful throughout, better than we might have even guessed – with titles that include "Joy Road", "Face At My Window", "Ortotundes", "Loser", "Scorpio's Child", "Creative Musicians", "Lost My Love", "Inside Ourselves", and "Saturday Night Special". LP, Vinyl record album

A great Japanese-only collection, with some of the excellent early 70s funky tracks from Quincy Jones – including "Sanford & Son (Hicky Burr)", "Chump Change", "Summer In The City", "Ironside", "Soul Saga", "Eyes Of Love", and "If I Ever Lose This Heaven". LP, Vinyl record album

Four albums that show the continuing evolution of Earl Scruggs in the 70s – with a sound that's very different than his earlier music, and maybe even sharper instrumentation overall! First up is I Saw The Light – a record made after the famous banjo pioneer split with Lester Flatt, and was very popular with a young rock crowd – as evidenced by help he gets here from Linda Ronstadt and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – not to mention Gary and Randy Scruggs, Vassar Clements, and Norman Blake! The mix of famous names and the growing Scruggs Review sound is great – and the record is an unlikely but important entry in the rise of country rock during the early 70s, with a very different quality than some of Earl's earlier work. We might well thank the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – as the vibe is similar at times to their shifting music of the period – mixed with some Mike Nesmith inspiration, as a few of his tunes are included. Titles include "Lonesome & A Long Way From Home", "Silver Wings", "Never Ending Song Of Love", "Rock Sant & Nails", "Some Of Shelly's Blues", "It's A Picture From Life's Other Side", and "Propinquity". Features bonus tracks "The Cure", "I Saw The Light", "Fireball Mail", and "Tramp On The Street". On Live From Austin City Limits, the great Earl Scruggs takes on the growing Austin scene – which turns out to be a perfect fit for his Revue's blend of new country modes and older styles of instrumentation! Earl leads off the set with stunning work on banjo – maybe even sharper than earlier years – and the group lead off with some Dylan material at the start, showcasing some of their rock leanings – but soon bringing on other songs of their own, and making for this beautiful mix of key instrumental moments and lyrical passages. Lead vocals are from Gary Scruggs, and Randy and Steve Scruggs are in the group too – on titles that include "Nashville Skyline Rag", "I Shall Be Released", "Tall Texas Woman", "I Just Can't Seem To Change", "Black Mountain Blues", "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven", and "The Swimming Song". Strike Anywhere is a mighty nice album from the great Earl Scruggs – recorded with his boys' Revue group, and a sound that really helps keep Earl's instrumentation fresh for the 70s! Years back, we never would have thought that mixing the legendary Scruggs banjo sound with keyboards would have worked – but the change here is a great one, as Earl makes the shift that a few of his traditional instrumental contemporaries were doing at the time – such as Vassar Clements or Bashful Brother Oswald – finding a new setting for the instruments that still shine out in the lead at all the best moments. Titles include a great remake of "Mandolin Wind" – plus "Muhammad Ali", "Bring It On Home To Me", "You Really Got A Hold On Me", "I Think Of You", and "Dreaming As One". On Bold & New, the great Chips Moman produced and recorded the record – a set that shows that move that Earl had made into country rock during the decade, delivered in the best possible hands! Vocals are from some of Earl's sons, and the man himself still gets gets in plenty of banjo solos too – as the group mix their own material with a few from Bobby Emmons, who plays organ, electric piano, and clavinet on the set. Titles include "The Cabin", "Our Love Is Home Grown", "That's Alright Mama", "Found Myself A New Love", "Games People Play", "Take The Time To Fall In Love", and "Louisiana Lady". CD

A great look at one of our favorite sub-genres of 60s soul – tunes that deal with the ins and outs of big city life, most of which were recorded as uptown soul tunes with really great production! It's hard to describe the charm of this work accurately, but the tunes are almost mini-movies, or sound snapshots of urban life at the time – often penned by Brill Building songwriters with a slight fantasy of life in the farther-flung boroughs of the city. Some of the tunes here are well-known, but lots more are obscure – really compelling tracks by singers who bring great life to the songs, and manage to make these little musical moments live on wonderfully over the years! Titles include "Nights In New York City" by Jan Bradley, "Street Talk" by The Tymes, "No Butterflies" by Walter Jackson, "I Love New York" by Marva Josie, "In My Apartment" by Dee Clark, "Big New York" by Chuck Jackson, "On Broadway" by The Cookies, "Concrete Jungle" by Arthur Alexander, "I Don't Want To Hear It Any More" by Jerry Butler, "Second Window Second Floor" by Clyde McPhater, "I Found A Daisy In The City" by Barry Darvell, "Song Of The Street" by Donald Height, "Strange Neighborhood" by The Imaginations, "Up In The Streets Of Harlem" by The Drifters, "City Of Fools" by Colette Kelly, and "That Old Neighborhood" by Eric Williams. CD

A well-titled set, given that Fred Anderson's been a missing link in Chicago jazz for many years – a bold tenorist with qualities that reach back to the heavy sax generation of the 50s, and a creative improvisor who's kept the AACM ideals alive and well in the Windy City for years! The session captures Fred in the late 70s, a really under-recorded point in his career (especially in comparison to his big revival of the past decade or so) – and Anderson's working with Larry Hayrod on bass, Hamid Drake on drums, and Adam Rudolph on percussion – in relatively freewheeling space that gives Fred plenty of room to solo! Titles include "Twilight", "Ballad For Rita", and "The Bull". CD features the bonus previously-unreleased track "Tabla Peace" – a cool number penned by Drake, with lots of nice percussion. CD

A wonderful little set of post-folk rock – with lots of lovely baroque touches! Ars Nova were really short-lived group – known for only two rare records – but they've got a sound that perfectly sums up a generation! There's a wonderful LA late 60s sound here – somewhere between Love and The Byrds, with the baroque touches of the former and the best country influences of the latter – all wrapped up in earnest, honest songwriting that makes even the ambitious moments come across with surprising charm. A true lost relic, and the kind of record that should be in any late 60s cannon! Titles include "Album In Your Mind", "Pavan For My Lady", "General Clover Ends A War", "And How Am I To Know", "Fields Of People", "Automatic Love", and "Song To The City". LP, Vinyl record album

A completely obscure funky rock set from the early 70s – one that draws plenty of inspiration from southern and swamp material of the time, but which also has this really lean vibe that serves the music very well! Most tunes are covers, but they're done in a great way – no fuller arrangements, just tightly snapping drums, nice basslines, and well-crafted guitar parts that sometimes make especially great use of a wah wah pedal! The vocals are nicely down to earth too – no rockstar bravado here – and titles include funky remakes of "Shaft" and "Funky Nassau" – plus "Games People Play", "Proud Mary", "Rose Of Ybor City", and the original tunes "Wildwood Flower", "Wildwood River", and "Crooked River". CD

Brilliant 60s pop from the team of Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart – best known for their key early songwriting work for The Monkees, but a heck of a great duo on their own! Boyce & Hart have a sparkly, sunshiney sound that's very much a part of The Monkees generation – a beautiful post-folk, post-surf blend of styles, and one that's served up with all the warmth and charm that made The Monkees so great – yet also with some cool twists and turns that make a record like this so great – the kind of chance-taking that A&M sometimes allowed its artists to take at the time! Backings are super-groovy – arranged by Artie Butler and Don McGinis – and titles include "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonite", "Teardrop City", "I Wanna Be Free", "The Countess", "Population", and "Two For The Price Of One" – a great cover of a Larry Williams & Johnny Watson soul tune! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest collaborations of Dave Brubeck's years at Columbia Records – and one of the greatest jazz sessions from vocalist Jimmy Rushing too! On paper, the modernist Brubeck and Kansas City roots singer Rushing would seem to be a very unlikely pair – but by this time in his career, Jimmy had gotten extremely inventive and was very open to new ideas – and manages to lend his amazing vocals to some sublime instrumental backdrops from the Brubeck quartet! Dave unlocks a whole host of bluesy tones for the session, and really matches Rushing's energy – and Paul Desmond's alto sounds somewhat unusual in that setting, but with a real appeal too – a very unusual sound for a record like this. Titles include "There'll Be Some Changes Made", "My Melancholy Baby", "Blues In The Dark", "I Never Knew", "Ain't Misbehavin", "Evenin", "All By Myself", "River Stay Way From My Door", "You Can Depend On Me", and "Am I Blue". CD features the previously unreleased bonus track "Shine On Harvest Moon". CD

One of the strangest albums in the career of Chico Buarque – and one of the best-remembered too! Os Saltimbancos is a children's play adapted by Buarque from original text by Sergio Bardotti – set to music by Luiz Enriquez Bacalov, and recorded in both Rome and Rio! Most of the album is spoken, with narration by Magro from MPB-4 – and the story is about some unhappy animals that are on their way to the big city to become musicians! The donkey (played by Magro) gets tired of doing hard labor and meets a dog (played by Ruy, another of the MPB-4 guys), a cat (played hilariously by Nara Leao), and a hen (Miucha, the sister of Chico Buarque). The music is pretty strange, and some of the tracks have a sound that's actually kind of avant-poetry, with lots of strange sounds, shouts, and whispers – in a manner that's almost as experimental as it is whimsical. Titles include "Minha Cancao", "Bicharia", "O Jumento", "Todos Juntos", and "A Batalha". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most stunning debut albums of the 70s – and a set that burst on the scene with a sound that summed up a generation, but which had never been heard this clearly before! This self-titled Clash album was different from other landmarks of the time – work by the Sex Pistols, Ramones, and others – as the group had a sense of raw power, but also a tunefulness too – a way of pushing their message into territory that others wouldn't have reached – with tunes that were as surprisingly hummable as they were politically correct! There's a bit less Jamaican influence here than in later Clash years, but that quality is still present somewhat – and over the years, this is definitely a set we can return to again and again – with no sense of apology or outdated ideals at all. Nearly every cut's a classic – and titles include "Janie Jones", "Career Opportunities", "Police & Thieves", "Garageland", "Clash City Rockers", "I Fought The Law", "White Riot", "London's Burning", "White Man In Hammersmith Palais", and "I'm So Bored With The USA". LP, Vinyl record album

A spiritual jazz classic from Detroit – and one of the few records from this important Motor City group! The Contemporary Jazz Quintet were a groundbreaking ensemble that mixed together hardbop and modernist playing – sometimes with a keen ear for Miles Davis' experiments of the late 60s, but also with an underground Detroit flavor that's well in keeping with that city's rich traditions! The group was ostensibly led by pianist Kenny Cox – and it's his name that their two Blue Note albums were issued under – but on this rare third set from the Detroit-based Strata label, the group appears more as a larger collective with an even more freewheeling vibe – a lineup that includes Cox on piano, Charles Moore on trumpet, Leon Henderson on tenor, Ron Brooks on bass, Charles Eubanks on electric piano, and Ron English on guitar. Tracks are long, with a stretched-out pre-Bitches Brew sound – plus some freer avant jamming – and titles include "Noh Word", "Bang", "Tao", and "Nguzo Saba". CD

Drummer Graham Costello works here with his Strata sextet – a combo can be slow and sensitive one minute, then pretty darn fierce the next – especially when Costello really kicks things up on the drums! Tracks are shorter than usual for a jazz album, and really focus on the cohesive unity of the group – with work from players who include Harry Weir on tenor, Liam Shortall on trombone, Fergus McCreadie on piano, Joe Williamson on guitar, and Mark Hendry on electric bass. The mix of trombone and tenor makes for plenty of boldness – and the guitar is used in ways that are often different than typical jazz modes, wrapped alongside the electricity of the bass to really move things forward! Titles include "Legion", "The Colossus", "Impetu", "Circularity", "Ataraxia", "Second Lives", and "Snowblind". CD

Tight funky work from Dr John – a second collaboration with producer Allen Toussaint, and a set that follows strongly on their Right Place record of the year before! The groove's not as messed-up as on the first few Atlantic records by the Doctor – but in it's place is a sweet electric funk mode, kind of an update on 60s New Orleans grooves – handled here by The Meters and a host of other key players from the Crescent City scene! Toussaint's production and arrangements are tight, but never slick at all – still much earthier than the later work, especially that on Warner Brothers, that was handled by the producer. And the tunes have a good focus that keeps Dr John on track lyrically – even though we'll admit that our main love of this record comes from the keyboards, bass, and funky drums! Titles include "Stealin", "What Comes Around (Goes Around)", "Mos' Scocious", "Rite Away", "R U 4 Real", "Let's Make A Better World", "Sing Along Song", "Go Tell The People", "Quitters Never Win", and "Can't Git Enuff". LP, Vinyl record album

The second album from the legendary Nick Drake – one of those records we could never ever live without – and a true piece of genius that's been turning on generations of listeners since Nick first recorded it back at the start of the 70s! The format is folksy, but the execution is something else entirely – filled with jazzy phrasing, hypnotic lyrics, and arrangements that really go far beyond any cliches or contemporary work you might expect. The great Joe Boyd produced – and really helps give a strong focus to Nick's vocals and guitar – and the cool mix of added instrumentation – which includes organ and celeste from John Cale, flute and alto from Ray Warleigh, piano from Chris McGregor, and guitar from Richard Thompson. Drake's work is impossible to describe adequately, but if you've ever heard him, you probably stopped dead in your tracks the minute you first caught his voice. We still do the same – and it's a pleasure to have this one in stock! Titles include "Fly", "At The Chime Of A City Clock", "Hazy Jane", "Poor Boy", and "One Of These Things First". LP, Vinyl record album

A righteous album recorded in memory of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 – done to showcase the continued vibrancy of culture in the city, and handled with a collaborative spirit that really makes the whole thing shine! The recording features contributions from over 50 different artists from the current scene in Oklahoma – rappers, producers, singers, and other creative talents – all coming together to deliver a very positive message, and show the world that the legacy of Tulsa and Greenwood has not been lost over the years. But even without the legacy behind it, the album's got a mighty nice vibe – summed up on titles that include "Our World", "Reparations", "Creme Of The Crop", "North Tulsa Got Something To Say", "Brunch At The Brady", "Young & Free", "City Of Dreams", "Shining", and "Been Through It All". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working with an amazingly complicated approach to soul music, one that would touch the work of others for years to come. David Van DePitte arranged and conducted the whole album – with soaring orchestrations mixed with smooth modern soul, in a style that reminds us a lot of the work of Charles Stepney at Cadet, who'd been doing this sort of thing for years but with less success. In the hands of Marvin Gaye, though, the material has an amazing quality – and all the disparate elements of the album are fused together in one powerful message by Marvin's incredible voice. One that we never tire of, and a record to be listened to all the way through every time. Titles include "What's Goin On", "Save The Children", "Flyin High (In The Friendly Sky)", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few cases in the history of pop music where the record is worth all the hype! Marvin blew everyone's mind when he unleashed this amazing suite of political soul tunes – not only just because he'd moved past the simple love songs of earlier years, but also because he was working with an amazingly complicated approach to soul music, one that would touch the work of others for years to come. David Van DePitte arranged and conducted the whole album – with soaring orchestrations mixed with smooth modern soul, in a style that reminds us a lot of the work of Charles Stepney at Cadet, who'd been doing this sort of thing for years but with less success. In the hands of Marvin Gaye, though, the material has an amazing quality – and all the disparate elements of the album are fused together in one powerful message by Marvin's incredible voice. One that we never tire of, and a record to be listened to all the way through every time. Titles include "What's Goin On", "Save The Children", "Flyin High (In The Friendly Sky)", "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)", and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)". This fantastic 50th Anniversary version features new mastering by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, an essay by Hanif Abdurraqib, and a full record of bonus material that includes "What's Going On (stripped)", "What's Going On (rhythm & strings inst)", "What's Going On (mix 1 with no strings or horns)", "Symphony (demo version)", and original mono single mixes of "What's Going On", "God Is Love", "Mercy Mercy Me", "Sad Tomorrows", "Inner City Blues", and "Wholy Holy". LP, Vinyl record album

Amazing work from Philip Glass – his second great opera, and a long-overdue follow-up to Einstein On The Beach – a set of music that's every bit as great as that groundbreaking work, but maybe even with stronger, fuller execution overall! The piece looks at the early political years of Gandhi – the title is a term coined by him, as a reference to his philosophy of truth and love – with words by Constance DeJohng, and these amazing minimalist orchestrations by Glass – filled with the kind of long-spun lines you'd find in his instrumental work, but somehow made even more amazing with the presence of lyrics! Douglas Perry handles the role of Gandhi – and the performance is by the New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus, directed by Christopher Keene. LP, Vinyl record album

Chicago attracted many great European improvisers to its scene in the 90s – and one of them was pianist Georg Grawe, who moved to the city to take advantage of its thriving jazz and free music scene! Here, Grawe demonstrates his rapport with the city – working with a great group that features Kent Kessler on bass, Hamid Drake on drums, and Frank Gratkowski on reeds – in modes that are quite different than some of George's other recordings of the period! A wild mix of jazz harmonies, intricate polyrhythms, free blowing, and tight bits of straight jazz – on titles that include "Multiversum", "Trajectory", "Nodality", "Pressing Scopes", "Fringe Factor", and "Memory Of Wings II". CD

A beautiful collection of early Sansu Records material from Betty Harris – a fantastic funky female singer from New Orleans – and one who rose up in the same generation as greats like Lee Dorsey and Ernie K Doe! And like some of her best Crescent City contemporaries, Betty gets key help here from the young Allen Toussaint, working with his studio partner Marshall Sehorn – in a style that really creates all these tight, sharp corners on the tunes – all elements that really underscore the funky depth of Betty's vocals. Titles include "Ride Your Pony", "What A Sad Feeling", "I'm Evil Tonight", "What'd I Do Wrong", "I Don't Wanna Hear It", "Bad Luck", and "Mean Man". LP, Vinyl record album

A little bit leaner, and little bit darker, and a lot more solo of a PJ Harvey album after the comparatively bigger sounding Stories From The City, Stories From The City (itself largely the work of trio, though more deliberately layered and polished) – but true to form, Polly subverts the expectation that she'd strip things raw on a record in which does all but play the drums on – not just on guitars and vocals, bass, piano, accordion, melodica and more on an effort that has a fleshed out band vibe done mostly herself! Rob Ellis handles drums and percussion and titles include "The Life And Death Of Mr. Badmouth", "Shame", "Who The F**k?", "The Pocket Knife", "The Letter", "The Slow Drug", "No Child Of Mine", "The End", "Seagulls" and "The Darker Days Of Me & Him". CD

Chinese detective fiction, but with a fascinating twist – a series of separate, but related crime stories – all involving a single detective – presented in reverse order from the present to the past! Written that way, the story takes on a completely different perspective than in a more conventional mode – as the details as a whole are a bit more oblique, and only get greater exposure and understanding as you move backwards in time. As part of that process, the story also follows the changes in Hong Kong, moving backwards – and as with all great detective fiction set in New York, the city is as much a character of the story as the individuals within it. 490 pages, softcover. Book

One of the few funky late Chess gems for Etta James – recorded during the period when the company was owned by the All Platinum family of labels in New Jersey – with incredible vocals by Etta! Most of the record was cut in NJ, and features Etta's bluesy style meeting some nice funky arrangements by Mike Terry – plus a couple of tracks cut in Hollywood that fit right in stylistically. One of those is the strong opener "Woman (Shake Your Booty)" – with production credited to Etta – and other tracks include "Groove Me", "A Love Vibration","Only A Fool", "Jump Into Love", "Ain't No Pity In the Naked City" and a great version of Randy Newman's "Leave Your Hat On". This first ever CD version from Kent UK has 10 bonus tracks – featuring even more overlooked Chess recordings from the early-to-mid 70s – including a cover of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling", "Down So Low", "Feeling Uneasy", Power Play", "Let's Burn Down The Cornfield", "Lovin' Arms" and more. CD

A massive exploration of the music of Kashmere Stage Band – the legendary Texas funk combo whose work barely got any circulation at the time – but who've become minor stars, thanks to the efforts of Stones Throw and Wax Poetics! The set goes even deeper than any of the previous vinyl reissues of work by the group – and features some previously unreleased tracks, and alternate takes on their funkiest numbers! The Kashmere groove is incredible – blasting horns, scratchy guitars, and funky drums – all wrapped super-tight around a range of original material and some more familiar numbers – all recast here in super-heavy funk mode! Titles include "All Praises", "Thank You", "Scorpio (extended)", "Headwiggle", "Do You Dig It Man", "Getting It Out Of My System", "Zero Point (parts 1 & 2)", "Boss City", "Burning Spear", "Take Five", and "Keep Doing It". LP, Vinyl record album

KC & The Sunshine Band may have been a chart-topping act during the disco generation, but the Florida funky group have a heck of a lot more to offer than just their hits – as you'll hear in this massive and well-done collection that features 55 tracks in all! The group were formed in the heady early 70s years of Miami funk – and brought together some of the best tropical and soul elements that were brewing in that city at the time – all with a lean vibe that mixed live percussion with riffing guitars, sharp horns, and a completely infectious groove – often topped with catchy lyrics that really went right to the point. This big 3CD set features the group's best work for TK Records, plus other material done for Epic and Jay Boy too – with titles that include "Sound Your Funky Horn", "Why Don't We Get Together", "I Get Lifted", "So Glad", "Come To My Island", "I Betcha Didn't Know That", "Stand Up", "Love Me", "Summer Nights", "I'm A Pushover", "That's The Way I Like It", "Do You Wanna Party", "I Will Love You Tomorrow", "Sho Nuff", "I'm Your Boogie Man", and lots lots more – including some rare mixes too! CD

Reedman Oliver Lake at his most creative – stepping out here on a sublime set of 70s improvisations – all put together with a really spiritual feel! There's a very open, collaborative feel to the music – and the set was recorded in St Louis, at a time when Lake was a key part of that city's scene – and who here also seems able to attract some other musicians from the AACM in Chicago as well! As a result, the album's a wonderful document of the new ideas bursting forth at the start of the 70s – that richly creative moment when local scenes were coming together in various cities to find new ways of jazz beyond Coltrane and Dolphy – giving a player like Lake some of the most imaginative outlets of his career. Oliver plays alto, soprano, flute, and other small instruments – and other players include Baikida Carroll and Floyd Leflore on trumpets, Joseph Bowie on trombone, John Hicks on piano, Clovis Bordeaux on electric piano, Don Officer on bass, Charles Bobo Shaw on drums, and Don Moye on congas too. Titles include "Africa", "Tse Lane", "Eriee", "Zip", and "Electric Freedom". CD

Little Richard doing his much imitated, never bettered thing on the Fabulous Little Richard LP – released near the end of the 50s and featuring emotive r&b numbers he cut in earlier sessions – not all as wild-eyed and fiery as some of his 50s recordings but a soulful thrill! The album does feature a few of the more blazing classics, but all in all, this one demonstrates Richard's versatility more than some of his 50s work. Fabulous tracks from true legend! Includes "Shake A Hand", "Chicken Little Baby", "All Night Long", "Lonesome & Blue", "Kansas City", Maybe I'm Right", "I'm Just A Lonely", "Whole Lotta Shaking Going On", "I'm Just A Lonly Guy" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A pair of rare 80s soul albums from the Windy City – presented here as a double-length collection, given that the groups were essentially the same act! First up is the debut of Maxx Traxx, an excellent 80s groove combo from Chicago – one of the city's last great indie acts in the years before the house generation – and an outfit who comes across with an incredibly tight sound that should have made them huge! The set cooks along in a really great way – bubbling with bass and keys like a BB&Q band album, but also sporting some really strong vocals from the group – coming together in great harmonies at surprising moments – which makes for a set that's a lot deeper than you might think at first. The ballads are as great as the groovers – and titles include "Time Has Come", "Tell Me", "You & I", "Let's Have A Party", "Don't Touch It", "To Be With You", and "Living Without You". Next is the album Reachin For It by Third Rail – a real lost group from the early 80s Chicago scene – but a great one! It's our guess that these guys never made it bigger because they were stuck on a tiny indie in the years after the big companies departed the Windy City – the sound is almost in the Omni mode, in that the group's a larger ensemble funk outfit, given an 80s groove spin, with some great post-Earth Wind & Fire styled instrumentation supporting the rhythms, and sweet compressed vocals that step out nicely. Titles include "Reachin For It", "If You Want It", "Just Had To Tell You", "Let Me Love You", and "Living Without You". LP, Vinyl record album

The mindblowing full length debut of Joni Mitchell – and a record that instantly set a whole new tone for singer/songwriter material in the late 60s! Joni had years of folk experience before this set, but the record is something else entirely – dark at times, deeply personal, and inflected with an understanding of jazz phrasing that haunts some of the guitar work, and maybe a bit of the vocals – yet all in a way that's very different than much of Mitchell's later work too. The record is definitely one of those landmarks in this moment of an artist who emerges fully formed, with a sound that's all their own – resonating with a strength that's as powerful now as it was way back then! Titles include "I Had A King", "Sistowbell Lane", "The Dawntreader", "Cactus Tree", "Song To A Seagull", "The Pirate Of Penance", "Nathan La Franeer", and "Night In The City". LP, Vinyl record album

A set that shows that none of the group's imagination or talent had dimmed over the years – and the core quartet of John Lewis on piano, Milt Jackson on vibes, Percy Heath on bass, and Connie Kay on drums are joined by The New York Chamber Symphony, who are a small string-based group who slide in and out of the jazz-based grooves with an inventive range of colors and sounds! The album's hardly a "jazz with strings" sort of date – and instead, the strings are nicely integrated with a fluidly creative approach – in the mode of some of the more experimental string quartets that were showing up at the time. Titles include "Kansas City Breaks", "Three Windows", "Encounter In Cagnes", and the "Day In Dubrovnik" suite. CD

A live counterpart to the first Motorhead album on Chiswick – a set that's got the same weird blend of proto-punk and pub rock – all served up with a bit of a hint of the style to come! The guitars are even heavier than on the studio set – and the drums are too – and there's a nicely muddy quality to the mix that makes the whole thing sound sneeringly wonderful, and which links Motorhead more closely to the punk generation of the time than you might expect! Titles include "Iron Horse/Born To Lose", "White Line Fever", "The Watcher", "On Parole", "City Kids", "Train Kept A Rollin", and "Keep Us On The Road". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last bold statements made by the Music Revelation Ensemble – recorded at the end of the 80s, but still very much in an angular mode that's somewhere between the Ulmer/Ornette experiments of the 70s, and some of the post-no wave jazz in New York! Neither of those comparisons are a surprise, given that the group had strong New York roots – and a lineup that includes James Blood Ulmer on guitar, David Murray on tenor sax, Amin Ali on electric bass, and Cornell Rochester on drums. Tracks are sharp-edged and freewheeling – sometimes with a ferocity that was a bit more common in the Naked City generation – and titles include "Exit", "Inter City", "Big Top", "Tap's Dance", and "No More" – all written by Ulmer. CD

A fantastic lost set from the Detroit jazz scene of the 60s – by a group who was years ahead of their time, and who bridged a number of different parts of the city's scene! The group's listed here under the name of drummer Bert Myrick, but was actually co-led by George Bohanon on trombone – who also blew on sides for Motown, and went onto a big range of west coast work in the 70s – but has a razor-sharp edge here! The other co-leader was tenorist Ronnie Fields – a lesser-known player, but a great one too – and a perfect pairing with Bohanon for a soaring, soulful voice on the record. A young Kenny Cox is also in the group on piano – best known for his later albums for Blue Note, which were some of the most modern the label issued at the time – and the last member of the group is Will Austin on bass. Myrick's drums are great – as powerful a force in leadership as Art Blakey with the Messengers – and all tracks are nice and long, and all originals too. The groove is soaring, modal, and very soulful – and titles include "Sevenths", "Paramour", "Scorpio's Child", and "The Latin Bit". CD

A great introduction to the music of Shuggie Otis – the tripped-out guitarist who's best known for his early 70s classics for Columbia Records! This set comes from those three amazing albums – and showcase Shuggie's shift from bluesy funk guitar to the more laidback, tripped-out work of his classic Inspiration Information album! Cuts from that classic take up all of side two – including "Aht Uh Mi Hed", "Sparkle City", "Inspiration Information", and "Island Letter" – and side one features other gems that include his original recording of "Strawberry Letter 23", plus "Me & My Woman", "Hurricane", "Baby I Need You", "Sweet Thang", and "Ice Cold Daydream". LP, Vinyl record album

Insane grooves from arranger Mustafa Ozkent – an artist who was to Turkey what Lalo Schifrin was to the US in the 70s! Like Lalo, Mustafa had a great ear for mixing funkier rhythms and fuller orchestrations – often with odd instrumental twists and turns that bubble over with a fair bit of electricity over heavy percussion – kind of in an Incredible Bongo Band way, but with some moogier touches overall! The record's an instrumental masterpiece through and through – filled with enough heavy breaks to satisfy even the pickiest crate-digger, but also the more complicated arrangements to appeal to fans of funky 70s soundtracks! Titles include "Uskudar", "Burcak", "Dolana", "Carsamba", "Lorke", "Ayas", "Emmioglu", and "Karadir". LP, Vinyl record album

The very first album from Pacific Gas & Electric – the hard-wailing west coast group who later recorded more famously for Columbia Records, but who are completely on fire here! The set was done for the Bright Orange subsidiary of Kent Records – that LA imprint who did such a great job with blues, soul, and R&B in the 50s and 60s – and who really let the group here stay close to their blues inspirations, while also letting their freak flag fly with some very cool Cali elements too! As with so many of the other groups of their time who maybe started out in blues, PG&E are quickly moving into territory that's all their own – taking off with psychedelic elements and strongly soulful touches – served up with some great lead guitar work from Glenn Schwartz, some heavy fuzz bass by Brent Block, and raw vocals from Charlie Allen. Tracks include a great remake of the Bobby Blue Bland Tune "Cry Cry Cry" – plus"Wade In The Water", "The Motor City Is Burning", "The Hunger", "Long Handled Shovel", "Jelly Jelly", "Stormy Times", and "Live Love". CD

The last of Van Dyke Parks' classic early trio of albums for Warner Brothers – and possibly the straightest of the bunch! Parks continues the exploration of ersatz Americana explored on his previous two records – but his approach here is sometimes a bit gentler, almost sentimental at times – as if he's been pulled more strongly into the matrix of history and geography that's always informed his work. Production is still great – although not handled by Van Dyke this time around – and instrumentation includes a fair bit of steel drums, showing Parks' continuing love of the form. (He was one of the instrument's biggest mainstream champions in the early 70s.) Titles include "Soul Train", "Cannon In D", "You're A Real Sweetheart", "Another Dream", "Pass That Stage", "City On The Hill", "Iron Man", and "Love Is The Answer". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic record from the contemporary Chicago scene – one that both gives bassist Junius Paul his first showcase as a leader, and underscores the richly collaborative energy in which the musician works! The set was recorded at various points in the Windy City underground – with Paul at the help of a shifting lineup that includes Makaya McCraven on drums, Corey Wilkes on trumpet, Justin Dillard on piano and keyboards, Jim Baker on piano and Arp, Isaiah Spencer on drums, Marquis Hill on trumpet, and Tomeika Reid on cello – with most musicians also handling other instruments too, in a continuation of an AACM legacy – on a record that's then edited by Makaya McCraven, in the best International Anthem mode! The music is jazz, but of the most forward-thinking type – and titles include "Ma & Dad", "Fred Anderson & A Half", "Twelve Eighteen West", "Georgia", "Spocky Chainsey Has Re-Emerged", "The One Who Endures", "Baker's Dozen", "View From The Moon", "You Are Free To Choose", "Paris", "Collant Denier", and "Sprouts". CD

A fantastic take on the music of Sun Ra – a set that looks at the way his sounds dovetailed with the exotica movement in American music of the postwar years! Given that he claimed to be from outer space, Ra was already pretty darn exotic himself – but his music also arose at a time when artists like Martin Denny and Les Baxter were taking global sounds and fusing them into more mainstream American music, including jazz – with results that have become legendary over the years! And while Denny, Baxter, and other contemporaries were more involved with mood music, Ra was part of a generation of jazz musicians – such as Yusef Lateef or Wilbur Harden – who were working a richer vein of the territory for jazz – as you'll hear in these wonderful tracks. The set brings together key sides from the earliest Ra recordings, plus some unissued material too – done in the really great style of the other Modern Harmonic reissues in recent years. Unissued titles include "April In Paris", "Paradise", "Star Bright", "Spontaneous Simplicity", "Somewhere In Space", and "Cha Cha In Outer Space" – and other titles include "Overtones Of China", "Tiny Pyramids", "The Nile (part 1)", "Kingdom Of Thunder", "Ancient Aiethopia", "India", "Friendly Galaxy", and "Africa" – plus the complete version of "Island In The Sun". CD

Quite possibly the first truly great Lou Rawls album for Capitol – an all-out swinging jazz session done with arrangements by Onzy Matthews, in a mode that firmly helped put the Lou Rawls sound on the map! The tracks are mostly older numbers from a long lineage of blues and R&B – but with hipper 60s touches by Matthews in the backings, Lou really swings the work into a whole new territory – moving older, clunky compositions into more adult, more mature modes that aren't nearly as sad or downtrodden as their roots! Titles include "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water", "Roll Em Pete", "Kansas City", "World Of Trouble", "Trouble In Mind", "Strange Fruit", and "Six Cold Feet Of Ground". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Max's real killers from the late 50s! After experiencing the hardship of the loss of Clifford Brown and his LA connection, Max seemed to set his sights on Chicago – where his keen talent for spotting strong young players hooked him up with some of his best bandmates in years. This album has Roach working with windy city young lions like George Coleman, Booker Little (both of whom were up in Chicago from Memphis), Bob Cranshaw (from the MJT+3), and Eddie Baker, an underrated midwestern pianist. The tracks are played with a soulful electricity that graces Roach's best work from the time – and titles include "Shirley", "Sporty", "Memo To Maurice", and "Stella By Starlight". LP, Vinyl record album

If worktime was like this for us, you'd catch us showing up on the job early every day – but sadly, nothing at our office can match the brilliance of early Sonny Rollins here – a sharp-edged genius that perfectly illustrates why he was one of the greatest players on his horn for many decades running! There's a depth of tone on the record that rivals Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young – but a quickness of pace and imagination that shows a clear influence from Charlie Parker, and a deftness that few were bringing to the tenor at the time. The rhythm section here is super tight – and features Ray Bryant on piano, George Morrow on bass, and Max Roach on drums – all supporting Rollins' bold lead with lines that bristle with electricity, but still often fall back to let the sound of the tenor envelop the whole group. Tracks are longish, and titles include "Raincheck", "There Are Such Things", "Paradox", and "It's All Right With Me". LP, Vinyl record album

If worktime was like this for us, you'd catch us showing up on the job early every day – but sadly, nothing at our office can match the brilliance of early Sonny Rollins here – a sharp-edged genius that perfectly illustrates why he was one of the greatest players on his horn for many decades running! There's a depth of tone on the record that rivals Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young – but a quickness of pace and imagination that shows a clear influence from Charlie Parker, and a deftness that few were bringing to the tenor at the time. The rhythm section here is super tight – and features Ray Bryant on piano, George Morrow on bass, and Max Roach on drums – all supporting Rollins' bold lead with lines that bristle with electricity, but still often fall back to let the sound of the tenor envelop the whole group. Tracks are longish, and titles include "Raincheck", "There Are Such Things", "Paradox", and "It's All Right With Me". CD

A wonderfully groovy score from Carlo Rustichelli – best known to the world for his famous score for Divorce Italian Style, and working here in a style that mixes tight jazzy numbers with sparer themes in kind of a Nino Rota mode! There's some nice organ in the background on some of the best tracks, and the sophisticated writing is extremely compelling – at a level that should have put this one right up there with 8 1/2 or La Dolce Vita – especially in its ability to mix together playful themes and more serious orchestrations. Most tracks are pretty short, and titles include "Distant City", "Steps", "Dusk", "Faded Longings", "Freedom", "Bebo, Goodbye", and "Fog On The River". LP, Vinyl record album

An ultra-hip set of soul jazz from 70s Detroit – recorded back in the day by saxophonist Sam Sanders, but never issued at the time! The album's got this wonderfully warm, open sort of vibe – a quality that's kind of like an indie take on the CTI mode of the time, but much more relaxed – and nicely directed towards soul as well, given the vocals that grace some of the album's best moments! Some tunes are right on the money, with an undercurrent of funk – but other moments get a bit wilder and more righteous, in the style you'd expect from the legendary Strata Records imprint! Core instrumentation is by a combo that features Sanders on alto, plus lots of great keyboards, and guitar, baritone, and percussion. Vocals are by Jamil and Kenneth Harris – plus an unnamed female singer too – and titles include "Inner City Player", "Face At My Window", "Loser", "Funked Up", "Love's Gain", and "Summer Mist". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best funk albums of the 2010s – and one that really does an amazing job of putting equal emphasis on instrumentation and deep soul vocals! Slim Moore comes across like some lost singer from the early 70s funky 45 generation – gritty and upfront, with a quality that's instantly infectious – almost like Syl Johnson during his Twinight years. Then the Mar-Kays play with this depth that's equally wonderful – mixing funky licks with more complicated soul touches – some of the vibes we've gotten from the Daptone scene – slower grooves mixed with faster ones, touches of hip instrumentation, like vibes – all wrapped up in a production style that really recalls the best days of indie soul. The whole thing's wonderful – a record we'd put right up there with Lee Fields' My World, or the Charles Bradley full-length – and a set we'll be digging for years! Titles include "How Long", "Cityscape", "Slim's Theme", "Reachin Higher", "Mar-Kays Theme", "Cool Breeze", and Help Me Now". LP, Vinyl record album

Funky funky funky! Lonnie plays live with a tight group that includes tenor, guitar, and some very heavy drumming – really wailing at a level that was surprising for funky organists of the time, and which really set the pace for a whole new generation! The players are more obscure than on the usual Blue Note sides – save for Ronnie Cuber, who played baritone with Mongo Santamaria, and is one of the most underrated 60s funky players. Recorded live at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, and with a deep raw funky sound that must have blown the roof off the club! Titles include "Move Your Hand", "Layin' In the Cut", "Charlie Brown", and "Sunshine Superman". One of his best ever! Plus, this CD reissue also includes a bonus cut – "Dancin' In An Easy Groove" – which does exactly that, for about 12 minutes long! CD

You gotta love a hip hop album that begins with an Alice Coltrane sample – and The Specifics follow suit with plenty more other jazzy bits too – almost evoking an old Tribe Called Quest generation with they way they use key samples, but also doing so at a level that's very understated too – light years from some of the earliest "jazz meets hip hop" experiments that now sound a bit embarrassing! This is definitely a hip hop album first, but one that has a great ear for jazz – used at a level that both links the old school and more contemporary efforts that sometimes tend to bury the lead, a mistake these guys avoid in a great way. Titles include "Lampin", "Look Alive", "L City", "My Tunes", "Life's Work", "Let's Get", and "You". LP, Vinyl record album

You won't find Joyce Street in the Country Music Hall Of Fame, but she's the kind of singer who definitely could have been huge, had she ever hit the big time – yet maybe one who's even more fascinating on this series of singles recorded for a variety of small labels in the 70s – all the kind of heartfelt, honest work that's very different than the arena-filling music of the outlaw generation! Joyce has a voice that recalls some of our favorite female country singers to emerge in the 60s, and hearing this work is like catching one of them before they were picked up by a major label – recording with a real since of sincerity that definitely does justice to her music. Titles include "Life Ain't Worth Livin", "Back Streets Of The City", "Love In My Heart", "California You're Slippin", "Mississippi Moonshine", "Woman Do Something Nice", and "That Man Of Mine". LP, Vinyl record album

Legendary vocal work from the postwar years – some of the earliest recordings from the enigmatic Yma Sumac – an artist whose records really laid the groundwork for an entire generation of exotica records to come! Sumac's authenticity has been debated over the years – but there's no denying that she's got this incredible vocal range – a many-octave approach that almost makes her sound like a human theremin – as she works with exotic backings from Les Baxter to offer up a take on Peruvian roots, styled towards a 50s bachelor pad listener! Titles include "Xtaby", "Wayra", "Taita Inty", "Monos", and "Tumpa". LP, Vinyl record album

A concept album from the Louisiana scene of the 70s, but one that's much more down to earth than big label projects of the time – and which comes across here in a really unique blend of southern rock guitar and some nicely complicated ideas! The approach is almost impossible to describe – there's part of the record that feels like a post-psych exploration of the sort you'd hear a decade later on Creation Records, but other moments with fuller guitar have elements that feel like they could find a home on the Capricorn label in the early 70s – a really great blend that's completely unique, and which has an instant appeal that even goes way past the concept of the set. Titles include "Kings", "Puppet City", "Third Estate", "Years Before The Wine", and "Look At Me". The set also includes the related, but never-issued Agonistes album – a record that maybe has more of a vibe that links it to British folk material – but again, with a special sort of quality that's all its own. Titles include "Agonistes' Funeral", "Resurrection", "Sun & The Season", "Sorrow's Death", and "Sing His Song". Also includes 5 more bonus tracks – a single by the Agonistes, and Third Estate recordings too! CD

Really wonderful work from the legendary Tony Williams – a set that has the drummer hitting a whole new sound at the start of the 90s – a groove that's rich and soulful, yet still every bit as sharp as before! The set's straight ahead, and graced with some very youthful energy by a new-generation lineup that includes Wallace Roney on trumpet, Bill Pierce on tenor and soprano sax, Mulgrew Miller on piano, and Robert Hurst on bass – all players who bristle with excitement from the very first notes, expressing a sense of confidence and vision of a new jazz generation that no longer has to battle between its inside and outside impulses. Williams' drumming is superb, and nicely understated at many points – and titles include "Native Heart", "City Of Lights", "Extreme Measures", "Liberty", and "Two Worlds". CD

One of the best Stevie Wonder albums ever! Stevie's moving into god-like territory here – handling a multitude of styles, all well, and crafting some of the most sophisticated soul of his generation. The album's got the same jazzy references you'll find on the best work by Donny Hathaway – best heard on the sublime track "Golden Lady", which gets our clear vote for one of the best songs ever! Just about every track is great, though – and the album features the big hits "Living For The City", "All In Love Is Fair", "Higher Ground", and "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing" – plus "He's Misstra Know It All", "Jesus Children Of America", and "Too High". CD

A fantastic debut from Chicago soul singer Jamila Woods – the kind of artist that makes us very proud to be located in the Windy City! Woods is an extremely inventive lyricist – strongly inspired by poetry, but also immediately trying to communicate in a wider spectrum with her sound – at a level that's maybe even smarter and more sophisticated than you'd guess from her look on the cover, which might make you think that she's just another pretty face in mainstream music! Instead, Woods seems ready to reinvent the role of the female singer in soul music – getting help from hip collaborators who include our hometown hero Chance The Rapper, as well as Nico Segal, Saba, Lorine Chia, and Noname. Titles include "Bubbles", "In My Name", "Popsicle", "Assata's Daughters", "Blk Girl Soldier", "Emerald Street", "Breadcrumbs", "Stellar", "Holy", and Good Morning" – plus "LSD", a tribute to our city's great lakefront! CD

An imagined soundtrack to a journey through London in the generation of Get Carter and Carnaby Street – and one that showcases not just the rich array of sounds and styles that were taking place in the city at the time, and in a way that highlights all sorts of different locations around town! This isn't a package of well-worn British rock classics – and as with other Bob Stanley sets on Ace Records, the music comes from a deep dig and decades-long understanding of records in many modes – which makes for a track selection that's as sublime as it is surprising, and another revelatory collection from Mr Stanley! There's two dozen gems on the collection – some we've never heard, some we'd forgotten about – all of which sound great in the company of each other – with titles that include "Hampstead Way" by Linda Lewis, "Cutty Sark" by John Barry, "Sunny Goodge Street" by Marianne Faithfull, "Marcel's" by Herman's Hermits, "London Bridge" by Cilla Black, "Mayfair" by Nick Drake, "Vauxhall To Lambeth Bridge" by Brian Auger & Julie Driscoll, "City Road" by Dave Evans, "Beckton Dumps" by Humble Pie, "Notting Hill Gate" by Quintessence, "Friday Hill" by Bulldog Breed, "Goodbye Post Office Tower" by Cressida, "Kew Gardens" by Ralph McTell, and "Euston Station" by Barbara Ruskin. CD

Keyboardist Kamaal Williams has given us some great records under his own name – and here, he turns in a stunning set for the DJ Kicks series – a record that's overflowing with a mix of cosmic jazz, soul, and club from some of Kamaal's key contemporaries – mixed with a few great contributions of his own! All the criss-crossing of styles that we love in Williams own music is present in his selections on this set – and there's a majestic flow that really shows an understanding of all the changes in the underground during the past decade or so – as Kamaal takes us on a musical journey through its landscape of sound! Titles include "Hey There" by Steve Spacek, "Buggin Out" by Seiji, "Summer Madness SA" by Karriem Riggins, "Stuck (orig)" by Peven Everett, "Southern Freeez" by Freeez, "Ein Kola Bitte" by Ratgrave, "Peace & Love's Comin" by Phil Asher, "He's So Crazy" by Wbeeza, "Pregnant" by Awanto 3, "It's All In The Groove" by City People, "Lowrider" by Yussef Kamaal, "Nuts" by Dego, "Cause I Love You" by Diggs Duke, and the cuts "Strings (ATL)", "Snitches Brew (live)", and "Shinjuku (DJ Kicks)" by Kamaal Williams himself. CD

A massive collection of work from these important years in music – and even if you don't know or care about Gary Crowley, who's pictured on the cover, you'll find plenty to love here if you dig UK sounds from the late 70s and early 80s! As indicated by the title, the set focuses on new wave and punk tracks – which also means that there's plenty of post-punk too – and the package does a really great job of offering up music that stands the test of time, even though much of it never got much play on American airwaves back in the day – music that really helped set the tone for a generation, and whose effects are still resonating all these many years later. As with volume one, the presentation is great – a very nice package, with detailed notes – and the 2LP version features 28 titles – with work by The Times, Shake, The Limps, Newtown Neurotics, The Slits, Gary Valentine, Basement 5, Dolly Mixture, Liquid Stone, The Subterraneans, Stiff Little Fingers, The Jam, Zounds, The Cure, The City Limits, Moving England, The Barracudas, Penetration, X-Ray Spex, The Limit, Magazine, Golinski Brothers, The Clash, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

Fuzzy guitars, analog electronics, moody production, and slightly sinister vocals – all elements you'll find in abundance here, in this well done look at UK work from a generation when the US scene was dipping into modes that were later dubbed "post-rock" – and helped to define the style of a generation! The British take on this territory is nicely different from American work of the time – and there's maybe a larger, wider palette of approaches going on – elements borrowed from other styles and generations, but woven into these wonderful waves of sound that made for a great farewell to the 20th century! The collection is in a slightly newer range than we're used to hearing from Ace Records, but they do an equally great job with the material – as the choice of cuts is superb, and the detailed notes provide plenty of direction throughout the musical journey. Titles include "City Poison" by Moonshake, "Second Language" by Disco Inferno, "Darling Effect" by Insides, "Starry Night" by Laika, "Every Day Shines (D mix)" by Earwig, "Play Away" by Electric Sound Of Joy, "Through You" by Seefeel, "Loose Threads" by Pram, "In The Light Of Time" by Flying Saucer Attack, "The Weight" by Hood, "A Street Scene" by Bark Psychosis, "Naturally Occurring Anchors" by Spoonfed Hybrid, In The Event Of Just Looking" by Appliance, "Sun Drawing" by Movietone, and "A Cherry Wave From Stranded Youngsters" by Mogwai. CD

Fuzzy guitars, analog electronics, moody production, and slightly sinister vocals – all elements you'll find in abundance here, in this well done look at UK work from a generation when the US scene was dipping into modes that were later dubbed "post-rock" – and helped to define the style of a generation! The British take on this territory is nicely different from American work of the time – and there's maybe a larger, wider palette of approaches going on – elements borrowed from other styles and generations, but woven into these wonderful waves of sound that made for a great farewell to the 20th century! The collection is in a slightly newer range than we're used to hearing from Ace Records, but they do an equally great job with the material – as the choice of cuts is superb, and the detailed notes provide plenty of direction throughout the musical journey. Titles include "City Poison" by Moonshake, "Second Language" by Disco Inferno, "Darling Effect" by Insides, "Starry Night" by Laika, "Every Day Shines (D mix)" by Earwig, "Play Away" by Electric Sound Of Joy, "Through You" by Seefeel, "Loose Threads" by Pram, "In The Light Of Time" by Flying Saucer Attack, "The Weight" by Hood, "A Street Scene" by Bark Psychosis, "Naturally Occurring Anchors" by Spoonfed Hybrid, In The Event Of Just Looking" by Appliance, "Sun Drawing" by Movietone, and "A Cherry Wave From Stranded Youngsters" by Mogwai. LP, Vinyl record album

A really great collection of jazzy groovers – one that effortlessly combines older material and newer recordings, all with a great ear that never tires in its pursuit of the groove! The blend of old and new is a bit like some of the collections we used to love from Gilles Peterson back in the last century – but Paul Murphy definitely has his own style and way of choosing a tune, and like Peterson, he has a great way of setting a new sort of fire with jazz – one that will burn strongly for generations to come! Titles include "Yatra-Ta" by Terje Terasmaa, "African Mailman" by Rhythmagic Orchestra, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Blue Mode, "Foot In The Door" by Onward International, "Zombie" by Art Ensemble Of Chicago, "Emnete (live)" by Imperial Tiger Orchestra, "4 Beat Cha Cha Cha" by Lucas Van Merwijk & His Cubop City Big Band, "Tribute To Mulatu" by Patchworks, "Koumba Fri Fri" by Mamelon, "Sorrow Tears & Blood" by Shola Adisa Farrar & Florian Pellissier Quartet, and "Mambo De La Pinta" by Art Pepper. LP, Vinyl record album

A great entry in this series that not only always delivers the goods, but does so at a price that's a hell of a great bargain for all the excellent music involved! Expansion Records brings together a handful of titles from their own releases in recent years, plus other neo soul gems from the global underground – both American and British artists, some better-known names, some great up-and-comers waiting to be discovered – all of which makes for a package that packs plenty of punch! Most tracks appear here on CD for the first time ever – and the 3CD set features 35 titles that include "I'd Rather Be In Love With You (the sax way)" by Sheree Brown, "Intoxicated Love" by Castella, "If You Wanna Know What's Missing" by Julian Jonah with Dutch Robinson, "Think About" by Sugar & Heath, "Soul N'Samba" by Tyrone Lee, "Baby Let's Go (soul mix)" by Narada Michael Walden, "Step With Me" by Victor Haynes, "I Love Me Too" by Carol Riddick, "Do You Remember" by Steven Thad, "I Found Love" by Rose Spearman & Soul City Connection, "Harvest For The World" by Patrice Isley, "Keep On Giving (rmx)" by Shaila Prospere, "Smooth" by Con Funk Shun, "Elementary" by Robert Imtume Owens, "Sometimes" by Brian Power with Cornell CC Carter, "Right The Wrong" by Natasha Watts, and "Could It Really Be" by Mike Lindup with Tony Momrelle. CD

An incredible collection – and one that fills in a crucially under-documented side of the New York dancefloor generation – the wealth of special mixes and edits that were made for that city's important DJs for their own use in clubs! The package sorts through a mountain of never-issued acetates, and goes way past conventional disco or rare club collections – to showcase the special mixing talents these DJs brought to their re-presentation of the material – which was usually done on tape, then pressed onto acetate discs for their own private use! Those rare treasures are brought forth here – in a beautiful package that's also overflowing with fantastic notes that finally give this lost history its due – all handled by Al Kent – who's a hell of a mixer himself, as well as an underground club historian. Vinyl part 1 features five different records, all with lots of space for the tunes to stretch out – and titles include "I Just Wanna Say I Love You (John Luongo rmx)" by Leon Collins, "What About Love (Tony Gioe rmx)" by Marboo, "Ten Percent (Walter Gibbons Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Double Exposure, "Inside America (Rick Gianatos disco queen acetate edit)" by Juggy Murray Jones, "Dancing Free (John Luongo rmx)" by Hot Ice, "Black Water Gold (Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by The Sunshine Band, "Magic Bird Of Fire (Francois Kevorkian Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Salsoul Orchestra, "It's Good For The Soul (Jay Negron Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Salsoul Orchestra, "My Love Is Free (Walter Gibbons disco madness rmx)" by Double Exposure, "Reaching Out For Happiness (Jonathan Fearing rmx)" by Fay Hauser, "Let Me Be Your Fantasy (Tom Savarese rmx)" by Love Symphony Orchestra, "The Beat Goes On & On (Jim Burgess rmx)" by Ripple, "I Wanna Be Near You (John Morales Sunshine Sound acetate edit)" by Ruby Andrews, "I've Been Looking For Somebody (Walter Gibbons rmx)" by TC James & The Fist O Funk Orchestra, "The Disco Scene (Rick Gianatos rmx)" by Lake Shore Drive, "Bumpsie's Whipping Cream (Tom Savarese rmx)" by TC James & The Fist O Funk Orchestra, and "Janice (Bobby DJ Guttadoro rmx)" by Skip Mahoney. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible collection – and one that fills in a crucially under-documented side of the New York dancefloor generation – the wealth of special mixes and edits that were made for that city's important DJs for their own use in clubs! The package sorts through a mountain of never-issued acetates, and goes way past conventional disco or rare club collections – to showcase the special mixing talents these DJs brought to their re-presentation of the material – which was usually done on tape, then pressed onto acetate discs for their own private use! Those rare treasures are brought forth here – in a beautiful package that's also overflowing with fantastic notes that finally give this lost history its due – all handled by Al Kent – who's a hell of a mixer himself, as well as an underground club historian. Vinyl part 2 features five full records – all with lots of space for the tracks to stretch out – and titles include "My Number's Up (Tee Scott rmx)" by The Salsoul Orchestra, "The Love Bug Done Bit Me Again (David Todd rmx)" by Skyliners, "LA Sunshine (Robert Ouimet rmx)" by Aura, "Love Has Come My Way (Jim Burgess rmx)" by Tony Valor Sound Orchestra, "Handsome Ma (Bobby DJ Guttadoro rmx)" by Sparkle Tuhran & Friends, "Love Thang (Tee Scott rmx)" by First Choice, "Burn Me Up (Jellybean Benitez edit)" by Kay Gees, "Love Is The Message (Tee Scott rmx)" by Brooklyn Express, "Changes (Jellybean Benitez rmx)" by Chain Reaction, "J'Ouvert (Frank Sestito rmx)" by John Gibbs & The Jam Band, "By The Way You Dance (Bobby DJ Guttadaro rmx)" by Bunny Sigler, "It's Good For The Soul (Walter Gibbons disco madness version)" by Salsoul Orchestra, and "It's A Better Than Good Time (Walter Gibbons rmx)" by Gladys Knight & The Pips. LP, Vinyl record album