Great later blowing from John Klemmer – clear, clean, and extremely well-focused – with nary a dull moment throughout! The album's a mostly acoustic one – save for some keyboards from Milcho Leviev – and the sound is tremendous, very much in keeping with the farther-reaching modes that Klemmer was exploring at the start of the 70s – imaginative, always-creative solos that really take off in the freedoms of the post-Coltrane years, yet which always stay focused and soulful throughout. Other players include Oscar Castro Neves on guitar, Ray Armando on percussion, and Roy McCurdy on drums – and tracks include "Tropical Snowflakes", "Love Affair", "Paradise", "Arabesque", "Touch", and "Summertime". LP, Vinyl record album

Joe Pass joined by Oscar Castro Neves, Ray Brown, Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson, and Paulinho Da Costa. Tracks include "Satin Doll", "Que Que Ha", "How High The Moon", "On Green Dolphin Street", and "Summertime". CD

An underappreciated soul set from George Duke for Epic – his Rendezvous from '84 – an engagement worth keeping! Given the mid 80s release date, you might be expecting a whole lot of programming and drum machine action – there's a bit of it, but this is a really lively set with some great musicianship across the board – and the songs are pretty strong, too. Duke produced, sings and handles an array of instrumentation from keys to synths and programming, with Stanley Clarke, Paulinho Da Costa, Ernie Watts, Oscar Castro Neves and other great players in the mix. Titles include "Got To Get Back To Love", "Take It On", "She Can Wait Forever", "Stay Awhile", "Thinking Of You" (with some nice extended string arrangements), "Secret Rendezvous", and "Ipanema Lady" LP, Vinyl record album

A really great genre-hopping Christmas collection – one that features jazzy tunes, vocal numbers, and a few rock and country tracks as well – all of which really live up to the vintage spirit of the image on the cover! The set follows nicely in the style of the similarly-titled predecessor – and features an array of 29 postwar tracks that come from that moment when the marketing of Holiday spirit was a very big part of the music business! There's plenty of familiar tunes here, done in unusual versions – and some more obscure Christmas cuts that definitely make the set worthwhile – on titles that include "Mrs Santa Claus" by Nat King Cole, "Peace On Earth" by Peggy Lee, "Hello Mr New Year" by The Coolbreezers, "Merry Christmas To You All" by Elton Britt, "Christmas Candy" by Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely, "It's A Marshmallow World" by Vic Damone, "Snowbound For Christmas" by The DeCastro Sisters, "Be A Santa" by McGuire Sisters, "When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter" by Gene Autry, "Sleigh Ride" by Johnny Desmond, "Here Comes Santa Claus" by Sammy Kaye with Don Cornell, "Christmas Is A Feeling In Your Heart" by Andy Williams, "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" by 101 Strings, "Jingle Bell Rock" by Eddy Arnold, and "Snowy White Snow & Jingle Bells" by Vaughn Monroe. CD

That's quite an image on the cover, and Curly Castro follows through strongly with all the Afro-Futurist expectations it might trigger – not just in his words, but in the way the album comes together – as some sort of a moody, unified document – powerful words in the frontline, but all this sort of darkly shimmering static at the back! The intensity of the record never lets up, and contributions from Billy Woods, Mr Lif, Margel The Sophant, and Breeze Brewin only seem to add fuel to the fire – on tracks that include "Kill Her Priest", "Freehuey Fitteds", "Killmonger Was Right", "Khujo Taught Me", "Bleek Shadows", "F Stands For Hampton", "Black August", "Weapon 13X", and "Raynathan & Romello". LP, Vinyl record album

A true revolution in Cuban music – not the familiar cha cha and pachanga modes of the pre-Castro years, but instead the huge wave of fresh styles and combinations that sprung up in the years to come! The tracks here aren't the kind of Cuban sounds that are locked in time by the all-star representations of the scene that circle widely – and instead, this music represents the younger, more experimental side of the scene – continually creating new styles and hybrids during the 70s and 80s, even at a time when most of the records weren't making it out to the world at large! Make no mistake, there's certainly elements of older Afro Latin rhythms, and Latin jazz instrumentation – but those are blended with new approaches to rhythm, instrumentation, and the overall role of the musicians and singers – on tracks that will really open up your ears. Gilles Peterson helped put the package together for Soul Jazz – and the whole thing's got the same hybrid hallmarks as his more recent recording forays in Havana – with cuts that include "Cancion Con Todos" by Grupo De Experimentacion Sonora Del Icaic, "Hast Las Cuantas" by Grupo Monumental, "Luna Wanestain" by Emiliano Salvador, "Te Quiero Porque Te Quiero" by Pablo Milanes, "Un Lamento Heco Cancion" by Los Reyes 73, "Dacapo" by Raul Gomez, "La Patica" by Paquito D'Rivera, "Rompe Cocorioco" by Juan Pablo Torres, "Mi Ritmo Caliente" by Juan Formell & Los Van Van, "Chequere Son" by Grupo Irakere, "El Son Del Campeon" by Conjunto Rubavana, and "Con Cadencia Y Con Dulzura" by Las D'Aida. CD