5CDs, and a set that's overflowing with classic tracks from the legendary Stax Records – with an especially heavy emphasis on the label's genius moments from 1968 to the mid 70s! There's way too much here to list, but some of the more unusual tracks include "What A Man" by Linda Lyndell, "Gettin Funky Round Here" by Black Nasty, "Funky Robot (part 1)" by Rufus Thomas, "Circuit's Overloaded" by Inez Foxx, "Gettin Funky Round Here" by Black Nasty, "Sweetback's Theme" by Melvin Van Peebles, "Help" by David Porter, "Starting All Over Again" by Mel & Tim, "I Could Never Be President" by Johnnie Taylor, "How Can I Be A Witness" by RB Hudmon, "What Goes Around Must Come Around" by Sons Of Slum, "Harlem Heaven" by Rance Allen, "Mother's Day" by 24 Carat Black, "Bump & Boogie (part 1)" by The Wrecking Crew, "Chains Of Love" by Jimmy Hughes, "Itch & Scratch (part 1)" by Rufus Thomas, "What's Usual Ain't Natural" by Eric Mercury, "Lovin You Lovin Me" by Sandra Wright, "What Do You See In Her" by Hot Sauce, "The Creeper Returns" by Little Sonny, and "It's Worth A Whippin" by Shirley Brown. CD

... 78 RPM, Vinyl record

Raw funky blues from the Cleveland scene – unreleased recordings from the obscure singer Fred Davis, who hardly ever set his music to wax back in the day! The album's got a gritty blend of blues inflections and soulful expressions – similar to some of the hippest west side work from Chicago around the same time, but maybe even grittier and more stripped down – as the whole thing wasn't done by a bigger, professional label! Titles include "Express Train", "Midnight Is Falling", "Euclid Avenue", "Five Long Years", "Piano Boogie", "Time When You Say You Love Me", "Express Train", and "Wine Hop". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest moments ever from the great Galt MacDermot – an album that he recorded for his own small label, in the time after he scored big bucks with the soundtrack to Hair – and was able to work on so many other different creative projects! The album's fantastic – tight, funky, with lots of choppy bits, but also some spare keyboard moments too – sampled famously by a few hip hoppers over the years, but more than great enough on its own. Titles include the classic "Space" – plus "Tango", "Woman Is Sweeter", "Moving Clothes", "Perfume Bottles", "Merry Go Round", "Princess Gika", and "Radio Rock" – plus some cool "Fragments" tracks. LP, Vinyl record album

One of the last truly outside albums recorded by Archie Shepp in the 70s – a French performance that's very similar to the open-ended, freely-blown recordings he did for the BYG/Actuel label a few years before! The record captures Shepp in territory that's different than some of the more structured recordings and sets of standard material he'd soon be giving the world – and he blows tenor with unbridled energy on long live tracks – working with a very cool group that includes the great Charles Greenlee on trombone, plus Dave Burrell on piano, Cameron Brown on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums! The band plays with a perfect style that matches freer soloing with soulful modal rhythms – and as a French-only release, it's one of the more obscure Archie Shepp sessions from the period. Titles include "Hipnosis", "U-Jaama", "African Drum Suite", and the amazing "Blues For Don L Duck". LP, Vinyl record album

An album that really lives up to its name – as the music here definitely has a sense of shape in space – really careful construction of tracks with keyboards and electronics, in ways make for a very unique project overall! The album's got a headier vibe than you'd expect from work on a sound library label – maybe much more at home on Brian Eno's Obscure label, and even a match for some of the best of his early Ambient projects too – as Reinhard Vandbergen has a wonderful sense of sound, tone, and space – really letting these electronic elements flow out in a gentle way as they find shapes of their own. Titles include "Pentagon", "Hexagon", "Rhombus", "Star", "Trapezium", "Triangle", "Circle", and "Parallelogram". LP, Vinyl record album

Five really inventive albums from the great Mason Williams – presented here in a single package! First up is the Mason Williams Phonograph Record – amazing stuff, one of those records you see for years, and always pass by – but which yields some real surprises once you dig in! Mason Williams is one of the cooler cats in the Warner Brothers stable of the late 60s – but he's also one of the more subtle, too – a folkie at heart, but an artist with a really great sense of wit, warmth, and variety – very much in the best genre-stepping style of the Burbank scene of the time. The set features, of course, Mason's huge hit "Classical Gas" – an instrumental you'll recognize instantly – but next to that is the sublime "Baroque A Nova", a very cool scatting harmony track that's like some lost late 60s Hugo Montenegro gem – and the camp psych gem "The Prince's Panties" – done with all the wit of late 60s Warner – as is the whole album! Other tracks include "Wanderlove", "Overture", "All The Time", and "She's Gone Away". Next is the Mason Williams Ear Show – a wonderfully weird record from the mighty Mason Williams – a set that's filled with lots of cool little surprises at each new twist and turn – yet which also comes across with a really solid, tuneful feel overall! The album's got a bit of folk, a bit of moog, and a bit of kitsch – but has a way of serving it all up with the kind of warmth and wit we love so much in that unique late 60s Warner Brothers moment – the same sort of vibe you might get from Van Dyke Parks or Harpers Bizarre at their best. Some tunes have Mason Williams singing these beautifully poetic lyrics straight, while others evoke the playful feel of his appearances on the Smothers Brothers Show – but things are really balanced throughout, and give the record that sense of discovery we hardly ever find in albums these days. Titles include a new version of "Baroque A Nova" from Mason's first album, the cool electronic "Generatah Oscillatah" instrumental, the groovy "Last Great Waltz", a "One Minute Commercial", and a wild remake of "Cinderella Rockefella" – plus "Saturday Night At The World", "$13 Stella", and "Whistle Hear". Music By Mason Williams is sublime genius from Mason – one of the most subtle talents in the Warner hip stable at the time – more so than even Jack Nitzsche or Van Dyke Parks! The album is a non-ironic blend of soundtrack styles, country music, and even some pseudo classical numbers – all handled with that youthful sense of nostalgic loss that seems to oddly characterize so much of the best work of the late 60s Warner scene. Titles include "Cowboy Buckaroo", "J Edgar Swoop", "Sunflower", "A Major Thang", "The Brothers Theme", and "Bucko's Memoirs". Handmade is a record that's lovingly handmade by Warner studio genius Mason Williams – an artist who, like so many of Warner's great talents of the late 60s, started out in folk, but soon exploded to great new heights in the recording freedom offered by the label – as you'll hear in this really incredible set! Williams mixes acoustic instrumentation with larger arrangements, offbeat rhythms, and occasional vocals – post-folk, post-sunshine pop, and with these hip undercurrents that were barely understood in the right way at the time – even though Mason himself was enough of a popular figure for some folks. The songwriting is smart, and the instrumentation and arrangements even more so – as you'll hear on a great reworking of his famous "Classical Gas", plus "Jose's Piece", "Find A Reason To Believe", "Saturday Night At The World", "Tomato Vendetta", and "It's Over". Sharepickers is the last album in an amazing run of records that Mason Williams did for Warner Brothers – impossible to define in easy terms, as the whole thing is a mix of acoustic instrumentation, larger arrangements, occasional vocals, and this wonderful interplay between underground artists and top-shelf studio talents on the LA scene of the time! Williams' instrumental chops alone would have made the record great – but he really knocks it out of the park with his overall conception, which fits in that unique late 60s/early 70s Warner space perfectly, next to albums by Van Dyke Parks, Neon Philharmonic, John Hartford, and some of the other genre-breaking talents on the label. Titles include "Train Ride In G", "Poor Little Robin", "Godsend", "Linda Crest Lament", "A Little Bit Of Time", "Largo De Lux", and "Here I Am Again". CD

The only full album from Johnny Ace – a key figure in the Memphis scene of the 50s, and one of the first great casualties of rock and roll! Johnny was one of the first singers to record for the legendary Duke label, and worked in a mode that helped transform the smoother style of the west coast postwar R&B singers into a rougher, rawer mode that would pave the way for Memphis soul in years to come. And although Johnny died a tragic early death (and partially because of it), the impact of his work was tremendous, even in the few short years for which he recorded for Duke – leading to countless posthumous collections, mostly illegitimate, which often presented Johnny's work in less-than-superior conditions. This set is still the best – and features 12 tracks that Ace recorded for the Duke label. Titles include "How Can You Be So Mean", "My Song", "The Clock", "Cross My Heart", "Anymore", "Don't You Know", "Saving My Love For You", "So Lonely", and "Pledging My Love". LP, Vinyl record album

An interesting early side by Cannonball that captures him before he'd really found his voice – and when the folks at Mercury still didn't really know what to do with him. The record's a tightly arranged set of tracks from Duke Ellington's musical "Jump For Joy" – with arrangements by Bill Russo, and small group playing that includes Emmett Berry, Bill Evans, Barry Gabraith, Jimmy Cobb, and a small string section. The sound's actually quite haunting – and Cannon's alto solos remind us more of some of the best "with strings" soloing heard on Verve in the early 50s than they do his later soul jazz classics on Riverside or Capitol. That's ok with us, though – because the session's still got a lot to offer in that respect, and Cannonball handles the solos wonderfully! Titles include "Bli Blip", "Just Squeeze Me", "Nothin", and "The Tune Of The Hickory Stick". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful early work from Cannonball Adderley – and a record that's quite different than most of his better known sets from the time! The album's more spare and stripped-down than usual – with Cannon's alto in a quartet alongside Bill Evans on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Connie Kay on drums. The style is almost more that of Evans than it is Cannonball – lightly lyrical, with a good sense of space – in a way that has Adderley playing out front very strongly, cutting some beautiful lines with his solos, in a really unfettered way! Titles include versions of two of Evans' tracks – "Waltz For Debby" and "Know What I Mean?" – plus nice moody takes on other material, like John Lewis' "Venice", Clifford Jordan's "Toy", and Gordon Jenkins' "Goodbye". LP, Vinyl record album

Rare bossa jazz from the start of the 60s – two great albums on a single CD! First up is Jazza Nova by Paulo Alencar – an amazing lost bossa jazz session recorded in Brazil, but issued here in the US by Atlantic! Paulo Alencar's group is supposedly filled with "all stars" – and even though they're not actually named, the record's got this fantastic jazzy vibe throughout – very much like some of the new experiments in bossa and samba jazz from some of the bigger names of the time – including the larger combo recordings by the young, pre-Brasil 66 Sergio Mendes! Fast rhythms and jazzy solo work throughout – on titles that include "West Samba", "It's Really Bossa", "Bossa No 2", "Where Was I", "Hello, America", and "Zirigidoom". Next is the album Cool Samba – a very nice album of bossa instrumentals, released in the US under the obscure name of "Joao & His Bossa Kings". Joao is listed on the label as Joao Meirelles – also known as JT Meirelles on his more famous Brazilian recordings – and we wonder if Battle gave him the name of "Joao" to make folks think he was Joao Gilberto, who was selling a lot of records at the time! Whatever the case, though, this is a great album of tight little bossa jazz tracks – served up with small combo instrumentation that includes alto, flute, piano, trumpet, and percussion. Titles include "Nacao Nago", "Solucao", "So Danco Samba", "Samba Toff", "Samba Sem Nome", and "Essa Nega Sem Sandalia". CD features the bonus track "Moeda Quebrada" by Paulo Alencar. CD

A strange title, but the record's a pretty nice collection of Mose Allison's early work for Prestige – a collection that focuses only on his instrumental work as a pianist, and doesn't include any of his better-known vocals! Mose is a pretty great talent on the keys, and these tracks have him stretching out in a way that doesn't always occur on his vocal-oriented sessions – always in trio formation with mostly Addison Farmer on bass, and a variety of drummers that include Ronnie Free, Frank Isola, and Nick Stabulas. Titles include "It's Crazy", "You Belong To Me", "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place", "My Kinda Love", "Strange", "Kissin Bug", and "If I Didn't Care". LP, Vinyl record album

A really lovely record from pianist Misha Alperin – a set that might initially seem to be one of the ECM New Series albums, but which has more of the sensitive feel of older work on the label! Misha plays piano with this gently lyrical feel, mixed with these earthy lines on French horn and flugelhorn from Arkady Shikloper – who blows spaciously to really feel out the edges of the recording – almost opening up new space in sound to make way for Alperin's carefully understated notes. Anja Lechner also plays cello, to underscore some of the subtle feelings in the music – and titles include "Vayan", "Her First Dance", "A New Day", "Frozen Tears", and "April In February". CD

A fantastic record from the late 60s years of Herb Alpert – a time when the trumpeter was really opening up his sound, and starting to hit some of the same cool styles of his other great acts on the A&M label! Gone are the trademark Cali-Mex arrangements of the early Tijuana Brass records – and in their place are these soaring, soulful styles that draw heavily from the late 60s changes in Brazilian music, American soundtracks, and jazz! Shorty Rogers helped a bit with the charts, and you can definitely hear his cool touches in the mix – and the trumpet solos are nicely changed up from previous records too. Herb does a great job with Nilsson's excellent cut "Without Her", and the band grooves nicely on Brazil cuts "The Sea Is My Soil" and "Zazueira", plus "Pretty World", "To Wait For Love", "Sandbox", "Marjorine", and "The Continental". LP, Vinyl record album

Miller Anderson's a singer you might know from work in the Keef Harley Band – but here, he's a very different voice entirely – using his really unique sense of phrasing in a way that's nicely personal and surprisingly soulful at points – all with a quality that makes the record another one of those lost gems on Deram/Decca from the start of the 70s! It's always such a great surprise when we find a record like this – a moment when someone got a chance to really give things their all, and definitely did so – and even if the label never promoted the set, they certainly did the work to allow it to exist – setting Anderson up with help in the studio from Harry Beckett on flugelhorn, Mick Weaver and Peter Dines on organ, and Lyn Dobson on flute. Anderson handles most of the guitar and wrote all the tunes – and titles include "Grey Broken Morning", "Bright City", "Alice Mercy", "Shadows Cross My Wall", and "Nothing In This World". Features bonus tracks – the single b-side "Another Time Another Place" – and BBC Sounds Of The 70s recordings of "High Tide High Water", "Shadows Cross My Wall", "On A Ship To Nowhere", "Alice Mercy", and "To Whom It May Concern". CD

A funky treasure trove from Apple & The Three Oranges – a group we hardly know at all, but who really blow us away with the cuts on this collection! The groove is plenty hard right from the get-go – the best of the funky 45 underground of the early 70s – which means that there's more 60s rawness on the record than you'd get from bigger-label funk at the time – as Ed "Apple" Nelson still works here with a mostly underground vibe! Ed plays drums – which are mighty hard on most numbers – and his vocals have this offbeat, off-kilter, over the top quality that almost reminds us a bit of the Hank Ballard/James Brown recordings for late 60s King – particularly in the way that Nelson's completely unbridled with his energy. The whole thing's great – one of the best funky collections we've heard in years – and presented with a rich amount of notes and historical information too. Titles include "Free & Easy (parts 1 & 2)", "Moon Light", "Curse Upon The World", "What Goes Around Comes Around", "Down Home Publicity", "True Love Will Never Die", "Gotta Stand For Something (parts 1 & 2)", and "I'll Give You A Ring". CD features a massive 52 page booklet, too! CD

A the time they were taking Paris by storm, the Art Ensemble recorded this brilliant message to folks everywhere – one of their best early albums, and a landmark in Chicago avant garde jazz! The record features the group at their best – playing very tightly, but also with a sense of whimsy and imagination. Side two features the extended track "A Brain For The Seine", a real classic by the band – and side one features versions of "Dexterity" and "Old Time Religion", plus the Roscoe Mitchell composition "Rock Out". This is the second pressing of this material – on the UK Affinity label. LP, Vinyl record album

Really hard-jamming work from keyboardist Brian Auger – the first of a 2-part live set from the US, and easily some of his greatest work on record! The tracks are all very long and stretched out here – an extrapolation of the territory Auger was already exploring on studio sides, taken into even more cosmic realms through the lively nature of the set. As with other records from the time, Alex Lighterwood sings on some cuts – but the real highlight is the keyboard work of Auger – served up on both organ and electric piano, and hitting a great blend of funk, fusion, and keyboard soul! Titles include a really great funky remake of "Bumpin On Sunset", the original break track "Don't Look Away", and the tunes "Truth", and "Beginning Again". LP, Vinyl record album

The first chapter in the career of the Average White Band, Show Your Hand, was originally issued in the US as Put It Where You Want It. Average White Band are most clearly associated with Atlantic Records during the 70s – and that label's genius move to record white soul acts for the crossover market – but this first album was recorded for MCA, and very much in the same vein as their later work. The record's not as over the top funky as some of their best work – and perhaps shows kind of a rock style that was always lurking in the group's sound – but the roots of the later greatness are still there, and the album's got more than a few nice cuts. The best track is "Reach Out", but there's some other nice groovers like "TLC" and "Twilight Zone". CD

A landmark recording – Albert Ayler's first album for the ESP label, and a record that hit the jazz world like a bullet! Spiritual Unity sets the stage for a format that would become huge in the European avant scene of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and even today – the sax-driven power-trio, tenor against bass and drums, working freely with less rhythmic constraints than before, searching for new sounds and new modes of expression, working through changes in a style first proposed by Sonny Rollins, but taken to new intensity by the New York underground of the 60s. That sound is summed up here perfectly by Ayler, Gary Peacock, and Sunny Murray – working together with an edgey brilliance, on classic tracks that include "Ghosts: First Variation", "Ghosts: Second Variation", "The Wizard", and "Spirits". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful stuff from LaVern – and a record that combines the testifying hit "Saved", with some more great R&B material as well as some grandly accented vocal tunes – great stuff all around! LaVern's talent was great enough that she could slip between a number of styles and pull it all off beautfully – so the set may not have so coherent of of a flow, but as a batch of great songs by a wonderful vocal diva it's hard to beat. Titles include "Shake A Hand", "Bumble Bee", "Senor Big & Fine", "Must I Cry Again", and "For Love Of You". LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe not the first album from the legendary Band – but a record in which the group get everything completely right all the way through – and sparkle with that special sound that continues to influence generations of music makers, and music lovers! All the great elements the group were bringing to their work with Bob Dylan are in place here – but the focus is completely different, with this warm glow that really fits the vocals of Levon Helm, and a sense of unified vision that makes it really hard to even come up with a match for the energy of the group on this album. The great John Simon adds a few special touches to the overall sound – and titles include "Rockin Chair", "Across The Great Divide", "When You Awake", "Up On Cripple Creek", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Look Out Cleveland", and "King Harvest". LP, Vinyl record album