An amazing recording finally sees the light of day – a beautiful set of duets between Fred Anderson on tenor and Steve McCall on percussion – both very important players of the second wave of AACM musicians in the 70s, even though both artists never fully got their due! The material was recorded in 1980, not too long before we lost McCall – and the interplay is wonderful, and really represents a shift in the energy of the AACM scene – maybe some influence from the loft jazz world of mid 70s New York, which in turn drew inspiration from late 60s Chicago – but also delivered with a sense of soul that marks Anderson as part of a key lineage of Chicago tenorists that includes Clifford Jordan, Johnny Griffin, and John Gilmore! McCall is great too – a sensitive soul, but a strong force throughout – as the duo improvise on two long tracks, "Within" and "Wandering". CD

Tenorist Fred Anderson made some fantastic albums for the Okka Disk label during the later years of his life – and this wonderful set has the legend making tremendous new fire with the label's excellent DKV Trio! Given that the group already features Ken Vandermark on saxes, the pairing of Anderson and Ken is a heck of a match – driven on strongly here by the bassist Kent Kessler, who's at the height of his powers during these years – and drummer Hamid Drake, whose range is maybe even more bold here than usual. Titles include "Planet E", "Lady's In Love", "Aaron's Tune", "Black Woman", "Our Theme", and "Dark Day". CD

An incredible leap forward for Antibalas – a record filled with bolder sounds and deeper grooves than ever before – and one that even tops the already-great sound of their previous albums! The mix of modes here is really amazing – some of the group's familiar Afro-Funk at the core, but also a much wider range of influences too – bits of dub, choppy Latin guitar, Sun Ra-like organ lines, and gamelon-styled metal bits – all wrapped together in a groove that has some particularly hypnotic undertones! The set was produced by John McIntire, who's no doubt a big influence on the sound here – and the record really shatters any expectations you might have from the group – proof that they're way more than just another Afro Funk combo. Titles include "Beaten Metal", "Filibuster X", "Sanctuary", "Hilo", "War Hero", "ICE", and "Age". CD

One of the most creative albums ever from UK composer Neil Ardley – and that's saying a lot, given the complexity of his other work! The set's got a wonderful blend of jazz arrangements and some freer passages – scored by Ardley with some of his most sensitive, most beautiful music ever – almost as if the whole thing's an extended soundtrack for a passage in time – or at least a sonic journey that's filled with some wonderful twists and turns! There's definitely some jazz/rock elements in the music, but the main focus is jazz – and Ardley has that same strong sense of large charts and forward-moving rhythms that you'd find in the best early work of Mike Westbrook, particularly his albums for Deram. Players are a very familiar, and very top-shelf batch of British musicians – including Barbara Thompson, Dick Heckstall-Smith, and Don Rendell on reeds; Harry Beckett and Henry Lowther on trumpets; Derek Wadsworth on trombone, Frank Rocotti on vibes, and Stan Tracey on both piano and celeste. Ardley plays prepared piano, and Ivor Cutler makes a great guest appearance on one track – reciting "The Dong With A Luminous Nose" – and Norma Winstone sings on "Will You Walk A Little Faster". The title track – "A Symphony Of Amaranths" – is dedicated to Duke Ellington and Gil Evans – with a feel that more than lives up to both! CD features the bonus track "National Anthem & Tango". CD

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Brilliant work from this well-matched trio of improvisers – a group who definitely smash and grab in a highly sonic way – thanks to cello and electronics from Fred Lonberg-Holm, drums and percussion from Paal Nilssen Love, and alto, tenor, and baritone saxes from the great Dave Rempis! If you know the players in other formats, you'll know what they're capable of – and if you've heard them as Ballister before, you'll know that they really seem to set each other on fire – often working with an intensity that's breathtaking, very much at the level that Paal serves up on some of his own work as a leader. Fred uses the cello in a very different way than most other classical and jazz – and Dave, as always, is incredible with his freeform sense of creativity throughout. Titles include "Smash", "Grab", and "Even More Smashing". CD

Brilliant work from this well-matched trio of improvisers – a group who definitely smash and grab in a highly sonic way – thanks to cello and electronics from Fred Lonberg-Holm, drums and percussion from Paal Nilssen Love, and alto, tenor, and baritone saxes from the great Dave Rempis! If you know the players in other formats, you'll know what they're capable of – and if you've heard them as Ballister before, you'll know that they really seem to set each other on fire – often working with an intensity that's breathtaking, very much at the level that Paal serves up on some of his own work as a leader. Fred uses the cello in a very different way than most other classical and jazz – and Dave, as always, is incredible with his freeform sense of creativity throughout. Titles include "Smash", "Grab", and "Even More Smashing". LP, Vinyl record album

Just an EP, but a record that packs more of a punch than most full length hip hop sets of the time! The album was the Beatnuts' first, and maybe they wisely thought they'd keep things lean, and leave the audience wanting more – as they mix together six key tracks with some shorter interludes – really mastering things right from the start with production that embraces all the jazzy changes and thoughtful sample inspirations of the time! The record's right up there with massive classics from Pete Rock, Pharcyde, and other contemporaries – and cuts include "Reign of the Tec", "No Equal", "World's Famous", and "Psycho Dwarf." LP, Vinyl record album

That's no snake oil in the bottle, it's fantastic music from this razor-sharp quintet – maybe one of the most fantastic projects that saxophonist Tim Berne has given us in many years, and a group that just seem to get better and better with each new record! There's a combination of reed and percussive elements here that's really wonderful – alto from the leader, bass clarinet from Oscar Noriega, piano and tack piano from Matt Mitchell, and drums, vibes, gongs, tanbou, and glockenspiel from Ches Smith – all then strung together by guitar work from Marc Ducret, whose range of sounds really matches those of the other players! Mitchell also adds in a bit of modular synth – and titles include "Surface Noise", "Rolo", "Dear Friend", "The Amazing Mr 7", "Third Option", "Rose Colored Assive", and "The Fantastic Mrs 10". CD

Big Pun was maybe the biggest of the "big" rappers of his generation, and he left our planet way too early – but not before delivering this final sendoff as a record that most folks didn't hear until after Big Pun passed away! The set does a great job of mixing wit and edge, augmented by appearances from Tony Sunshine, Fat Joe, MOP, Cuban Link, and Donnell Jones – who help Pun strike just the right balance on tunes that include "Leather Face", "Wrong Ones", "Laughing At You", "Watch Those", "Off Wit His Head", "We Don't Care", "My Dick", "New York Giants", "It's So Hard", and "Ms Martin". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Art Blakey's first true moments of genius! This transitional version of the Jazz Messengers included two parts – Lee Morgan and Bobby Timmons – of the holy Morgan/Shorter/Timmons trilogy, and it's also got the added bonus of Benny Golson on tenor, who was at the height of his power at this point. The record really shines in ways that few Blakey albums shone since his days with Horace Silver – in that it's a forum for fresh new writing, most importantly Golson's landmark compositions "Blues March" and "Along Came Betty", and Timmons' instant classic "Moanin". The whole album's wonderful, though, and Golson's edgey modernism adds a strong dimension to the group's usual soulful romping groove! (And in fact, as a tribute to the group's success, the album was initially named Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, but quickly retitled Moanin in this version, after the big hit single!) CD also features a bonus version of "Moanin". CD

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The instrumental/dub versions of all the tracks from the Criminal Minded LP – one of the most important albums in the history of hip hop – the first full LP from KRS One, and a landmark batch of tracks recorded with the late Scott La Rock! The track list alone is a full chapter in the hip hop book of legends – with tunes like "Poetry", "Elementary", "South Bronx", "Super-Hoe", "Bridge is Over", and the "P is Free" remix – plus "Criminal Minded", "Dope Beat", and "9mm Goes Bang" CD

A sublime second chapter of work from Booker T & The MGs – pulled from a time when Stax Records was stepping out of the influence of Atlantic, and really opening the door to a wide variety of new soul sounds! That approach is definitely in place here – as the tracks really evolve past the early hits of the group – with more unusual rhythmic patterns, laid down by the great Al Jackson on drums and Donald Duck Dunn on bass – while Steve Cropper provides all the riffing genius on his guitar, and Booker T pushes things over the top with completely sublime work on organ! All players are really changing up their groove, especially as the singles here progress from the 60s into the 70s – and the package features a-sides and b-sides, and even a few post-Booker T cuts by the MGs. Titles include "Kinda Easy Like", "Melting Pot", "Sunday Sermon", "Something", "Fuquawi", "Sugarcane", "Blackside", "Neckbone", "Soul Clap 69", "Slum Baby", "Meditation", "Johnny I Love You", "Time Is Tight", "Jamaica This Morning", "Over Easy", "Heads Or Tails", "Mrs Robinson", and "Soul Limbo. LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic double-length set – two full albums of music, essential for any fan of Brazilian jazz – or even jazz in general! First up is Esperanto – an incredible album from one of Brazil's greatest reed players of the 70s – the mighty Victor Assis Brasil – a free-thinking spirit who really took Brazilian jazz in bold new directions at the time! The record shows Victor absorbing a lot of post-Coltrane influences, and blending them with a tight approach to rhythm – laid down here by Dom Salvador on piano (and organ), Edison Lobo on bass, and Edson Machando on drums. The group is completed by Helio Delmiro on guitar, and Claudio Roditi plays trumpet on one track – but the real highlight is the amazing reed work by Brasil, which is filled with soul and warmth, plus a deep sense of exploration. The whole session was put together by Roberto Quartin in 1970 – and it's still extremely fresh today. Titles include "Children", "Gingerbread Boy", "Senegal", and "Marilia". Next is Toca Antonio Carlos Jobim – a fantastic album from this legendary Brazilian saxophonist – and one that's way different than the usual instrumental reading of the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim! The setting is less of a bossa-inspired one than a post-Coltrane mode – as Victor Assis Brasil blows alto sax, and a bit of soprano – on long, stretched out versions of Jobim compositions – often given a bit of modal energy, thanks to the group's strong piano and organ performances by Dom Salvador. The rest of the players are all great, too – Helio Delmiro on guitar, Edson Lobo on bass, and Edison Machado on drums – all players who grew up in the bossa jazz years of the 60s, but who here are set free to explore new territory by producer Roberto Quartin. The whole thing's wonderful – and titles include "Bonita", "Wave", "So Tinha De Ser Come Voce", and "Dindi". CD also features two bonus tracks – alternate takes of "Ao Amigo Quartin" and "Marilla". CD

A massive set, and one that features way more material than this legendary group released back in the day – all the full albums from Brinsley Schwarz, plus unissued studio material and other rarities too! The group were named after their guitarist, Brinsley Schwarz – but the group also featured key work from a young Nick Lowe, sounding wonderful here before going out as a solo act – and, with Schwarz, really helping to craft that smaller group, pub rock-styled approach that was such a strong antidote to prog and classic rock excesses of the period! There's a very down to earth vibe on many of these cuts – not entirely the roots rock of the US scene, but not far off – and also already echoing some of that tunefulness that Lowe would continue in his own recordings and productions – almost a secret evolution of a mod aesthetic, but hidden amidst other 70s trappings. Maybe we're pitching it wrong – but the records don't lie, and have plenty to tell here – full albums Brinsley Schwarz, Despite It All, Silver Pistol, Nervous On The Road, Please Don't Ever Change, The New Favourites Of Brinsley Schwarz, and It's All Over Now – plus dozens of bonus tracks, both live and studio – including work as The Brinsleys, The Hitters, and Limelight. 132 tracks on 7CDs, with very detailed notes! CD

Very rare, very obscure material from this important free jazz trio of the German scene in the 70s – a set that features one long performance originally issued on the JG label, despite the FMP-like image on the cover – plus two more tracks from the same year that appear here for the first time ever! "Just For Altena" offers up the power trio at their best – very freewheeling piano from Fred Van Hove, drums from Han Bennink, and tenor from Peter Brotzmann – with intensity that may well surpass the Machine Gun years, and an understanding of each players strengths that means that there's almost no tentative moments at all in the improvisation! "Filet Americain" and "ICP No 17" are from earlier in 1971 – and showcase a different, more sonic side of the trio – some tones that are at the farther end of hearing, which ruminate then blossom into bolder statements, but still often with a very abstracted approach to each instrument. Great stuff – and every bit as essential as any of the better-known Brotzman recordings of the time! CD

A landmark album that forever changed the face of live recordings – and soul music too! As has been told and retold often, King records not only had the genius idea of bringing recording equipment into the Apollo Theater to catch James in a smoking live setting – the sort of show that really set his fans on fire – but they also went out of their way to record and re-record the audience, creating a wonderful interplay on the record between James and the crowd. The result is the stuff of legend – and the record's filled with loads of nice tracks like "I'll Go Crazy", "Try Me", "I Don't Mind", "Lost Someone", "Think", "Night Train", and the massive medley featuring "Please Please Please/You've Got The Power/I Found Someone/Why Do You Do Me/I Want You So Bad/I Love You Yes I Do/Strange Things Happen". This newly remastered edition features five bonus tracks/single mixes of original LP tracks! CD

Stunning duets from these key improvisers – a set recorded in Paris, and done with a stripped-down and freely playful vibe that's very much like some of the best AACM material of the time! Wadada Leo Smith blows trumpet, Marion Brown is on alto – and both players bring percussion into the mix too – as they shift between shorter and longer improvisations, all handled with that special ear for sonic textures that makes them such subtle giants in their field! The style is very different than the more spiritual vibe of some of Brown's larger group performances from the period – and very much in the spirit of more intimate improvisational recordings that Wadada would issue more often in years to come. Titles include "Rhythmus 1", "Centering", "And Then They Danced", and "Njung Lumumba Malcolm". LP, Vinyl record album

Mindblowing minimalism from the legendary Sandy Bull – an artist who might have had acoustic roots in folk music, but who was instantly turning his music into something else – drawing on modal styles of Eastern music, European generations of expression on guitar, jazz-based improvisation – and maybe even prefiguring work to come from composers like Terry Riley and La Monte Young! This album's one of Bull's first, and it's pure genius right from the start – with a side-long performance on the incredible "Blend", which features slight drums from jazz musician Billy Higgins – which Sandy extrapolates these long passages on acoustic guitar. Side two features the fantastic "Carmina Burana Fantasy" on banjo – a kind of trans-historical performance that's right up there with John Fahey's best of the decade – alongside equally mindblowing "Non Nobis Domine" and "Little Maggie" – and the closing electric guitar genius of "Gospel Tune". LP, Vinyl record album

A Donald Byrd treasure – and an album that was almost left in the vaults by Blue Note, until they briefly released it at the end of the 70s! The cover and title are a bit unfamiliar, but the music is right up there with Byrd's classic sessions with baritonist Pepper Adams – a great player here, with a deftness on his horn that's incredible – matching all the sharp changes and soulful undercurrents of Byrd's sparkling trumpet! There's a nice hard sound to the whole thing – almost the raw power of the pair's albums for the Warwick label – and as with those, Herbie Hancock is on piano – giving the whole thing an excellent soul jazz groove that really kicks the main soloists into action! Titles include "Great God", "I'm An Old Cowhand", "That's All", "You're Next", and "Chant". CD

A landmark set of grooves by this excellent Detroit group – a trio who recorded for the local indie Karen, but got a much bigger boost towards fame when their record was picked up by Atlantic! The set's one of the killer 60s Motor Town sets produced by Ollie McLaughlin – and like the rest, it's got a really special edge – music that goes way past any simple 60s soul cliches, and which will make the set one of the real standouts in your collection. Arrangements are by Dale Warren, Riley Hampton, and Mike Terry – and titles include The Capitols' big hit "Cool Jerk", and also includes loads of other great tracks written by Donald Storball of the group – like "Dog & Cat", "Zig Zaggin", "The Kick", and others – plus versions of "Hello Stranger", "Love Makes The World Go Round", and "Good Lovin". LP, Vinyl record album

The cover's a striking one – and it definitely supports the music inside, given that most of these Bo Carter tunes are vintage blues tunes with a decidedly erotic bent! The metaphors are obvious, but they're put together beautifully – without any of the heavy-handed schlock that later copycats would never get quite right – and set to spare acoustic lines that complement Carter's vocals wonderfully. And in a case where a title is definitely more than enough to get you started – let us say simply that the tracks include "Pig Meat Is What I Crave", "What Kind Of Scent Is This", "Mashin That Thing", "Pin In Your Cushion", "Ram Rod Daddy", "Ants In My Pants", "Pussy Cat Blues", and "My Pencil Won't Write No More". LP, Vinyl record album

Johnny first LP collaboration with his soon to be wife June Carter, and it's a nice one! Carryin' On has it's share of sweet, lovely moments shared by the two, but also has a lot more cool 60s oddball touches than one would expect. The couple cover Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" and two Ray Charles tunes, "I Got A Woman" and "What I Say". All three sound pretty strange coming out of hard-nosed Johnny, and prove to be quite fun and endearing, and very indicative of the freedom he had at Columbia to do whatever the heck he wanted. Other tracks include "Shantytown", "Pack Up Your Sorrows", "Jackson", "What A Good Thing We Had", and "No, No, No". Includes two bonus tracks from the sessions, and new liner notes by old pal Carl Perkins. CD

What can we say? Trane's work for Atlantic is still some of his best – and the versions of tunes on this album remain as some of the best-remembered tracks in his rich rich bag of songs. Titles include "Giant Steps", "Naima", "Cousin Mary", "Equinox", and the fantastic original 13 minute reading of "My Favorite Things". LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing set of work by John Coltrane – some of his best recordings ever, tracks that form a pivotal point between his later 50s work with Miles Davis and his mid 60s spiritual searching years. The set's unbelievably exhaustive – and includes every track that was ever issued by Coltrane on an Atlantic album, plus some great alternate takes, plus a 72 page hardbound book of photos and writings, plus a whole CD of rare material that was never issued before! (The folks at Atlantic say that they would have loved to make an even bigger set – but after a fire in their warehouse in the 70s, this one CD of tapes is all that ever remained!) The whole package is incredibly well put together – in a small discrete box with some great fold-out CD cases, and a wonderful mechanism for storage that's as great as the music in the set. Titles include "Syeeda's Song Flute", "Ole", "My Favorite Things", "Cousin Mary", "Giant Steps", "Mr Day", "Blues To Elvin", "Satellite", "Liberia", "Dahomey Dance", and sooooo much more! CD

One of the few albums ever cut by the brothers Conway – working here in Atlanta with a mix of 80s styles and older modes! Titles include "Por-Sha", "I Can't Fight It", "Why You Wanna Do Me Like You Do", "BOC", "If You Love Me", and "Ohio Jam" – a jam of Ohio Players tracks! LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet soulful jazz from reedman Hank Crawford – one of his killer Kudu sessions from the 70s – all of which really helped Hank redefine his sound! The setting here is large and full – put together beautifully by Bob James, with that sense of space for the soloist that makes his CTI/Kudu arrangements so crucial – and light years ahead of what other arrangers were doing at the time. The tracks are longish, but never overdone – and the record has all the soulful alto sounds of Crawford's 60s work at Atlantic, but with a definite 70s bent overall. James plays Fender Rhodes, Arp, and clavinet – and other players include Joe Farrell on tenor and flute, Idris Muhammad and Bernard Purdie on drums, and Richard Tee on additional keyboards. Titles include "Jana", "Sho Is Funky", "Don't You Worry Bout A Thing", "Groove Junction", and "All In Love Is Fair". CD

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A set originally issued as a Record Store Day goodie back in 2021, and a record that provides the full Czarface experience by combining a very cool comic book with the tracks on the set! Inspectah Deck drops out here, as the set's really an instrumental set – and works almost like one of those cool 70s Power Records comic/record combos – although more as a soundtrack to use while you're reading the comic! And even if you don't have the book, the music's pretty great on its own – with titles that include "Winged Fingers", "Voyage Dans Le Temps", "Rise Of Czar Noir", "Avant Czar", and the cuts "Czarface Theme 3099" and "Czarbot Theme" – which feature vocals from Kendra Morris! LP, Vinyl record album

Maybe the deepest, darkest album ever recorded by Danny Brown – a set done at a time when the rapper was at a personal crossroads, and responded to some changes in his life with some incredibly powerful tracks! The production feels more textured and layered than some of Danny's other albums – and the lyrics open up in ways that are very personal, but very sharply pointed as well – echoed by key contributions from Kassa Overall, Mike, and Bruiser Wolf along the way! Titles include "Tantor", "Shakedown", "Hanami", "Bass Jam", "Down Wit It", "Celibate", "Jenn's Terrific Vacation", "YBP", and "Dark Sword Angel". CD

The final album from Betty Davis – and a killer cap to her stunning run of female funk classics in the 70s! The album was recorded at the end of the decade, but has a sharpness that's every bit as great as her earlier work for the Island and Just Sunshine labels – grooves that are more than sharp enough to match that raspy edge in Betty's vocals – given support with instrumentation that's a lot more mid 70s funk than some of the more disco-oriented productions in mainstream soul at the time! There's a fullness to the record that sometimes recalls Labelle at their best, or maybe even solo work from Nona Hendryx – but as always, Betty is very much her own woman, and opens up some new doors on a few mellow cuts or jazzier moments that come as a nice surprise, and which balance out the album in a great way. The set features work from Herbie Hancock on keyboards and Alphonse Mouzon on drums – and titles include "Quintessence Of Hip", "She's A Woman", "I've Danced Before", "I Need A Whole Lot Of Love", "Hangin Out In Hollywood", "Crashin From Passion", "You Take Me For Granted", and "No Good At Falling In Love". LP, Vinyl record album

Lean later work from Philippe Doray and his anti-social associates – material that draws heavily on some of the cold wave electronics of the early part of the 80s, and which also has some of the playful presence of the German new wave too! The music is definitely out of time – very different than anything recorded in the French mainstream of the mid-80s – and delivered with a style that clearly knows the darker reaches of the sonic spectrum, but which never lingers there too long. Doray handles a variety of keyboards and synth, and since both straight and with a vocoder – alongside contributions from others on guitars, keyboards, saxes, and flute. Titles include "Flash Back", "Le Petit Geant", "Aurora Day (edit)", "Choc D'Amour", "Le Composant Compositeur", and "Secoue Le Flipeur". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the few albums cut by this oft-overlooked southern soul diva – and one that mixes Muscle Shoals production with some nice uptown touches! Produced by Jerry Williams, Jr., aka Swamp Dogg! While the title comes of a bit flamboyantly, in truth, this record is an honest, personal, and earthy southern soul should-be classic. It's not only a personal triumph for Doris Duke, it's also one of greatest Swamp Dogg-produced records! Includes "I Wish I Could Sleep", "It Sure Was Fun", "He's Everything I Need", "Since I Fell For You", "Let Love Touch Us Now", "Bad Water", and a cool cover of "By The Time I Get To Phoenix". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes 66 tracks on 3 CDs. Notable sidemen include Wallace Jones and Cootie Williams on trumpet, Rex Stewart on cornet, Tricky Sam Nanton and Lawrence Brown on trombone, Johnny Hodges on alto and soprano sax, Ben Webster on tenor sax, Fred Guy on guitar, Jimmy Blanton on bass, and Sonny Greer on drums. CD

Faada Freddy already has a very striking style – a blend of gospel and soul with some elements of his Senegalese roots – yet here, he pushes the boundaries even more by just working with voice and human percussion elements, but in a mode that makes for a mighty full groove! Freddy's voice mixes with others in the group, rising up with a very righteous vibe that's wonderful – served up with English lyrics that, if there were any justice in the world, would get Faada some exposure on our side of the Atlantic too! The approach is great – hardly gimmicky at all, and really lean and stripped down to just the groove and voice – on titles that include "The One For Me", "Tables Will Turn", "Happy Together", "Day To Day Struggle", "Aladdin", and "Truth & Lies". CD

Faada Freddy already has a very striking style – a blend of gospel and soul with some elements of his Senegalese roots – yet here, he pushes the boundaries even more by just working with voice and human percussion elements, but in a mode that makes for a mighty full groove! Freddy's voice mixes with others in the group, rising up with a very righteous vibe that's wonderful – served up with English lyrics that, if there were any justice in the world, would get Faada some exposure on our side of the Atlantic too! The approach is great – hardly gimmicky at all, and really lean and stripped down to just the groove and voice – on titles that include "The One For Me", "Tables Will Turn", "Happy Together", "Day To Day Struggle", "Aladdin", and "Truth & Lies". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the great, lost, under-discovered albums on Atlantic from the late 60s – the little-circulated debut of singer Scott Fagan – a very unusual talent who mixes soulful currents with a very personal singer-songwriter approach! Scott's sound is never too polished – he's certainly not trying to be a blue-eyed soul act here – but the music has these currents of organ, electric bass, and occasional groovy rhythms that make for a very compelling counterpoint to his raspy, island-bred vocals. All tunes are originals by Scott – and arrangements are by Horace Ott on most numbers, which might account for the soulful vibe. The album is completely unique – one of those sets that, if you dig it, you'll never find anything to match it – and titles include "In My Head", "South Atlantic Blues", "Crying", "Nothing But Love", "Tenement Hall", "Crystal Ball", and "In Your Hands". LP, Vinyl record album

A sublime little set – quite possibly the greatest album ever from Brazilian keyboardist Manfredo Fest! Manfredo first cut his teeth on the bossa scene of the 60s – but by the time of this rare indie session, he'd moved up to the US – and was working with sweet keyboards to really electrify his groove! The record's a wonderful blend of 70s Brazilian fusion modes and just a dash of American soul – and in addition to Manfredo's wonderful work on Fender Rhodes, the set also has these brilliant vocals from Roberta Davis – a singer who works wordlessly, using her voice as an instrument in this really cool way – sliding along with the grooves, and making the album sound unlike anything else we can think of. The overall feel is a bit like Joao Donato's excellent Quem E Quem album – and titles include "Jungle Cat", "Facing East", "Who Needs It", and "Brazilian Dorian Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

A deep dive into the work of pianist Raymond Fol as a leader – material that includes a number of rare broadcast tracks, and a handful of records that have Fol in the spotlight – something that didn't happen all that much, even though Raymond played on dozens of important sessions for other musicians on the French scene! The set begins with Fol's initial four track EP for Columbia, a trio date that's followed by more live recordings in Paris – then steps into an assortment of unusual dates from the late 50s – including two tracks with singer Annie Fratellini, three with trumpeter Nonzio Rotondo and tenorist Enzo Scoppa, and more trio recordings as well. CD2 features rare broadcast material from the 60s – including one title with Donald Byrd on trumpet, and six more with a septet that also includes Ivan Jullien and Roger Guerin on trumpets! The package has copious notes on Fol and his contribution to the postwar scene in Paris – and the 2CD collection features a massive 38 tracks in all, with titles that include "Hush", "Melancholia", "Scandinavian", "Lazy Lady Daisy", "John's Groove", "Tune Up", "Circeo", "Thrilling", "Oh My Lord", "Out Of Art", "Where Is Salvador", and "Little Niles". CD

Lyrical magic from pianist Ryo Fukui – a lost gem from the Japanese scene of the 70s, and a beautifully flowing album throughout! Fukui's got a wide-open touch to the piano that we totally love – and is easily one of the best of his contemporaries on the Japanese trio scene of the time – working in the open-ended mode that was allowed by labels in Tokyo during the 70s, a style that was never too far outside, but which really allowed the pianist to soar with a driving, rhythmic intensity. There's a bit of a modal groove to some of the tracks on the album, but more than that, there's just a beautiful sense of freedom – a love of sound and texture that's never reduced to mere experimentation, and which has Ryo taking full command of the keys to soar to the skies on waves of acoustic soul. The group on the set features Yoshinori Fukui on drums and Satoshi Denpo on bass – and tracks include "I Want To Talk About You", "Scenery", "Autumn Leaves", "Early Summer", and "It Could Happen To You". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic lost psych album – with a moody spacey sound augmented by lots of organ, harpsichord, and electric piano! The best cuts are short and echoey – with kind of a trippy pop feel that sounds like post-Brit invasion lyricism, mixed with LA stoner freedom, and a good dash of Love-esque soul. Titles include Tim Hardin's great "You Upset the Grace of Living", "Hang Onto A Dream", and "Never Too Far" – plus a very cool version of "Nature Boy", and the tracks "Tiffany Rings", "I Watch The Moon", and "Me About You". (Note: This item is not for sale online until 7:00am on Sunday, April 21. It is in limited supply – and by nature of the Record Store Day rules it will be offered for sale first to customers who visit the Dusty Groove retail outlet in Chicago the morning of Saturday, April 20. It will not be pre-sold or reserved in any way. However, after 7:00am on April 21 we will offer up whatever we have left for sale online.) LP, Vinyl record album

Never-heard music from pianist Red Garland – working here with a unique trio that features Leroy Vinnegar on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums – a lineup that only existed for this one set of performances from 1977! The material is great – maybe better than most Garland albums issued at the time – and the tracks were recorded with great care at the Keystone Korner club in San Francisco – at a level that's similar to the best Fantasy Records live dates from the venue, which were often like this album – a great chance for the artist to really stretch out and do something new! Garland still has that fluid, lyrical sensibility we love in his famous 50s sides – but there's also a much richer, more sophisticated approach to the piano as well – an even deeper sense of tonal color that comes through on the album's long tracks. Jones is great too – increasingly complex during these years, as you'd hear on his own recordings – and a great accompaniment to Red's new modes of expression. The whole thing presents 150 minutes of unreleased music, plus some great notes and photos too – and titles include "Love For Sale", "Billy Boy", "Blues In Bebop", "On Green Dolphin Street", "Dear Old Stockholm", "Bag's Groove", "On A Clear Day", "Straight No Chaser", "Autumn Leaves", and even a version of "The Christmas Song" (since the material was recorded a few weeks before Christmas!) CD

One of the coolest, moogiest records we've ever heard from Mort Garson – and that's saying a lot, given that the man gave us the Wozzard Of Iz and a host of moog-based astrological records too! The album's billed as "mood music especially composed to aid the growing of your plants" – and while we doubt that claim, it's more than groovy enough without any herbaceous activity at hand – these cool keyboard lines that are often sweetly tuneful, but nicely tripped-out too – played by one of the best cats to really grab hold of the moog right at the start of its great musical run! Titles include "A Mellow Mood For Maidenhair", "You Don't Have To Walk A Begonia", "Concerto For Philodendron & Pothos", "Ode To An African Violet", and "Plantasia". LP, Vinyl record album

A great solo set from tenorist Binker Golding – an artist we usually hear on the Gearbox label as part of the Binker & Moses combo, but who maybe sounds even bolder and stronger here in the lead on his own! The set's a quartet date, with a relatively straight group – but the sound is wonderful – overflowing with new ideas, and this sense of voice from the leader that gets fantastic support from Joe Armon-Jones on piano, Daniel Casimir on bass, and Sam Jones on drums! Nobody's pushing too hard, or trying any tricks – yet there's a freshness and individual spirit to the record right from the very first note – unusual rhythms from the trio, and more confidence in Golding's sound than we've ever heard before. Titles include "Skinned Alive Tasting Blood", "Fluorescent Black", "You That Place That Time", "And I Like Your Feathers", and "Exquisite She Green". LP, Vinyl record album

A great solo set from tenorist Binker Golding – an artist we usually hear on the Gearbox label as part of the Binker & Moses combo, but who maybe sounds even bolder and stronger here in the lead on his own! The set's a quartet date, with a relatively straight group – but the sound is wonderful – overflowing with new ideas, and this sense of voice from the leader that gets fantastic support from Joe Armon-Jones on piano, Daniel Casimir on bass, and Sam Jones on drums! Nobody's pushing too hard, or trying any tricks – yet there's a freshness and individual spirit to the record right from the very first note – unusual rhythms from the trio, and more confidence in Golding's sound than we've ever heard before. Titles include "Skinned Alive Tasting Blood", "Fluorescent Black", "You That Place That Time", "And I Like Your Feathers", and "Exquisite She Green". CD

Fierce funky grooves from the legendary Nico Gomez – a set cooked up in Europe, but heavy with influences from the other side of the Atlantic – from Havana all the way up to New York! There's definitely a Latin groove to the record – one that's similar to other Gomez productions – but there's also lots of heavy funk at the bottom – with basslines that drive most numbers along boldly, really raw percussion played with a nice sense of spontaneity, and these super-tight keyboards and guitars that you might find in American funk! The mix of modes is very much in the best spirit of contemporary groups like Chakachas or Lafayette Afro Rock Band – and titles include "Caballo Negro", "Lupita", "Baila Chibiquiban", "Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!", "One Note Samba", "Cuba Libre", and "El Condor Pasa". LP, Vinyl record album

A dozen previously-unreleased tracks from the great James Govan – presented here with work from some of his rare singles from Fame Records! All the music was recorded at Muscle Shoals when the scene was at its height – headed up by production whiz Rick Hall, and backed by the great Fame studio musicians – but it's Govan himself who really makes these tunes sparkle – singing with this rich voice that's clearly rooted in the 60s modes of Otis Redding, but which also stretch forth in a new style of his own! James has this earnest appeal on record that really echoes his image on the cover of the set – and there's a charm to these tunes that really goes beyond the usual southern soul of the period –far past any overdone cliches or commercial modes. The discovery of these dozen sides is a great thing for fans of southern soul – and they make a great counterpart to the few Fame singles that Govan ever issued. Titles include "I've Gone Too Far", "Something", "Stuck On Her", "Way Over Yonder", "I Shall Be Released", "You Get A Lot To Like", "Just Like A Woman", "Take Me Just As I Am", "Jambalaya", and "Wanted Lover No Experience Necessary". CD

A rare funky treasure – lost live material from Grant Green's hippest years at Blue Note – recorded in the early 70s funky years, but unissued for decades! The set's an incredibly smoking one – with loads of long tracks that really stretch out in a hard-hitting, bottom-heavy funky mode – no surprise, considering that Idris Muhammad's on drums, as part of a lineup that also includes Ronnie Foster on organ, Houston Person on tenor, and the more obscure Clarence Thomas on soprano sax and tenor! The groove here is a bit more Prestige jazz funk than Blue Note – the kind of rough-edged and spontaneous vibe that Rusty Bryant, Leon Spencer, and others cooked up during the early 70s on some of their best classics for that label – but Green's a perfect person to catch the spirit of that wildfire, and jams long and nicely here on 8 tracks that include "Farid", "Jan Jan", "One More Chance", "Patches", "I Am Somebody", "More Today Than Yesterday", "Bottom Of The Barrel", and "Walk On By". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic mid 60s album from Grant Green – but one that never got its due originally, because it was unreleased at the time – and didn't come out until a Japanese version in the late 70s! Despite that oddly long gap, Matador is truly one Grant's best ever records – a really inventive session that goes way past his standard soul jazz roots – and which really shows the guitarist stretching out towards future styles of jazz! The session's a spare quartet date – with Green's guitar playing modal grooves over rhythm by by his incredible combo – with Bob Cranshaw on bass, Elvin Jones on drums and the incomparable McCoy Tyner on piano – blocking out bold changes that really drive the record strongly. Cuts are long, and there's a freewheeling quality to the material that's only ever matched by some of the Grant Green/Larry Young sessions from the same time – especially the Street Of Dreams Record. Titles include "Matador", "Bedouin", Green Jeans", and a killer version of "My Favorite Things", done in a very Coltrane-esque style. CD

A really strong debut from Anthony Hamilton – easily the strongest album we've ever heard on the usually much more commercial So So Def label! Anthony seriously vibrates the rich depth of southern soul on every cut here, as filtered through late-model natural hip hop beats and vibes. He's definitely influenced by Erykah Badu's sound and Voodoo-era D'Angelo (which HAS to be the most influential serious soul album of the last decade or so), but the groove is a lot sweeter and less tortured than D's. It's really warm and inviting all the way through – crisp beats, tight keys, bass and percussion, and light guitar accent Anthony's lilting and layered vocals very nicely. All of the elements are just familiar enough to let you cozy up to the material right off the bat, but Hamilton's his own man here – nothing's directly bitten, just nicely approximated. Tracks include "Mama Knew Love", "Cornbread, Fish and Collared Greens", "Since I Seen't You", "Charlene", "I'm A Mess", "Comin' From Where I'm From", "Lucille", "Float", "My First Love" and more. A nice record from the not-so-dirty south! CD

A spiritual jazz classic from the hip LA scene of the late 70s – led by saxophonist Billie Harris, and featuring a group that includes Horace Tapscott on piano! We don't know much about Harris, but he's got a freewheeling spiritual sound that's very much in the Coltrane-inspired mode, yet also steeped in the creative improvised style of Tapscott's scene in LA. Tracks are all long, with a sound that builds majestically over time – and the set leaves us wondering why Harris wasn't a bigger player at the time. The core tracks of the CD were recorded in the studio – with Tapscott, Harris, and added bass, percussion, and guest vocals by the enigmatic Lorelei. An additional longer track was recorded live, with a larger group that also includes Adele Sebastian on flute and Sabia Mateen on tenor. And a last track is an 8 minute solo piano number by Tapscott. Titles include "Why Don't You Listen", "I Want Some Water", "Many Nights Ago", "The Advocate", and "Prayer Of Happiness". CD

A really fantastic trio outing from pianist Fred Hersch – working here in a fluid style that really makes the album a standout classic in his career, thanks in part to superb work on bass from Steve La Spina, alongside drums from Jeff Hirschfield! La Spina has this round, warm tone that really complements Fred's piano lines – and the group choose some material that really allows them to show off their strengths in all the best ways – on titles that include Frank Foster's "Simone", Wayne Shorter's "Black Nile", Miles Davis' "All Blues", and a great take on the classic "The Dolphin", penned by Luiz Eca of the Tamba Trio! CD features two bonus tracks – "Unit Seven" and "Sometime Ago". CD

Two rare 60s soul albums – back to back on a single CD! First up is Soul Superman by The Hesitations – a wonderful album of rare Detroit soul – and quite possibly the best full length set ever recorded by this sublime 60s harmony group! There's a really righteous approach to most of the material – a deeper sound than you might expect from the group's more formal look on the cover – and the set was put together by Jack Ashford and the Pied Piper team – who give the record this great "in the shadows of Motown" vibe – that farther side of the Detroit scene, but with a quality that's top shelf all the way through! The vocal range of the group is fantastic – and not only that, there's a heck of a lot of great writing on the set – what we can tell, nearly every number is exclusive to this set. Titles include "Soul Superman", "You'll Never Know", "She Won't Come Back", "Soul Kind Of Love", "I'll Be Right There", "Wait A Minute", and "I'm Not Build That Way". Next is With A Dab Of Soul – the only full length record cut by Freddy Butler, a heck of a great singer with a really unique voice! Freddy hails from Detroit, and like the best of Detroit singers of the 60s – such as JJ Barnes or Darrell Banks – he's got a style that's got some rootsy touches, especially on the vocals, mixed with production that's tight and focused – which really gives the album a lot of swing! Instrumentation includes some nice use of vibes and piano – no surprise, since Jack Ashford and the Pied Piper team handled the recording – and the album also features some great early compositions by Nick Ashford. Titles include "This Thing", "You'd Better Get Hip Girl", "Never Let Love Go", and "I Fell In Love". CD

A great collection of Freddie's late 60s recordings for Atlantic – some of the best tracks pulled from the albums Backlash and High Blues Pressure! The groups on the albums are great – slightly larger than usual, but with wonderful players who make the most of the setting, coming together in a spiritual soul jazz style that hints at the sound of the 70s soul jazz underground. Players include James Spaulding, Ray Barretto, Benny Maupin, Kenny Barron, and Louis Hayes – and titles include "Backlash", "Echoes Of Blue", "Latina", and "On The Que-Tee". LP, Vinyl record album

Jazz funk genius from Freddie Hubbard in the mid 70s! Gleam was a Japanese-only double album from the jazz giant in its original release – mighty funky at times, too – right up there with some of the best Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock Japanese sets from the 70s! It's a live set captured in March of '75 at Tokyo's Yubin Chokin Hall – long numbers played by a group that includes Freddie on trumpet, Carl Randall on tenor and flute, George Cables on electric piano, Henry Franklin on bass, Carl Burnett on drums, and Buck Clark on percussion! Each player has plenty of space to groove, and it's very well captured – you can hear the most expressive solos and the most subtle nuances. Some great solos by Freddie and the rest of the players – breathless tenor & flute by Randall, keys by Cables that are jazz funk perfection and interplay between Burnett's drums and Clark's congas & percussion that's somehow tense and comfortable at the same time. The shortest number in the set runs more than the 7 minutes and the longest is more than 20 minutes – and none is one second shorter than necessary, actually leaving us pining for more – making it all the more vital in the double album format. Released on 2CDs for the first time ever here! How this great album has been so hard to find over the years is a mystery. Titles include "Kuntu", "Spirits Of Trane", an amazing cover of Stevie Wonder's "Too High", "Midnight At The Oasis", "Ebony Moonbeams", and "Put It In The Pocket". LP, Vinyl record album

An album with a classic modernist cover image – and one that's also got the same sort of sound to match – brilliant early work from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who's really coming into his own as a leader with this date! Freddie's really finding a voice here – a sharper edge than on some of his later albums, at the beginning of a more modernist phase in the mid-60s – when his efforts would mark him as one of the more straight ahead players of the "new thing" scene. There's a careful balance in Hubbard's work here – spurred on by youthful energy of group mates Herbie Hancock on piano, James Spaulding on alto and flute, Reggie Workman on bass, and Clifford Jarvis on drums. Hubbard is really brimming over with new ideas – as are the other players – and titles include "Lament for Booker", "Prophet Jennings", "Hub Tones", "For Spee's Sake", and "You're My Everything". LP, Vinyl record album

An album with a classic modernist cover image – and one that's also got the same sort of sound to match – brilliant early work from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who's really coming into his own as a leader with this date! Freddie's really finding a voice here – a sharper edge than on some of his later albums, at the beginning of a more modernist phase in the mid-60s – when his efforts would mark him as one of the more straight ahead players of the "new thing" scene. There's a careful balance in Hubbard's work here – spurred on by youthful energy of group mates Herbie Hancock on piano, James Spaulding on alto and flute, Reggie Workman on bass, and Clifford Jarvis on drums. Hubbard is really brimming over with new ideas – as are the other players – and titles include "Lament for Booker", "Prophet Jennings", "Hub Tones", "For Spee's Sake", and "You're My Everything". CD also includes 3 alternate takes of titles on the album. CD

An album with a classic modernist cover image – and one that's also got the same sort of sound to match – brilliant early work from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who's really coming into his own as a leader with this date! Freddie's really finding a voice here – a sharper edge than on some of his later albums, at the beginning of a more modernist phase in the mid-60s – when his efforts would mark him as one of the more straight ahead players of the "new thing" scene. There's a careful balance in Hubbard's work here – spurred on by youthful energy of group mates Herbie Hancock on piano, James Spaulding on alto and flute, Reggie Workman on bass, and Clifford Jarvis on drums. Hubbard is really brimming over with new ideas – as are the other players – and titles include "Lament for Booker", "Prophet Jennings", "Hub Tones", "For Spee's Sake", and "You're My Everything". CD reissue also includes 2 bonus tracks which are alternate takes of titles on the album! CD

Keystone bop indeed – a smoking little set from Freddie Hubbard, recorded during his great back-to-basics years of the early 80s! The tracks here are all quite long, and informed by a strong sense of hard bop – but they also open up with some sharper, more modern moments at times – of the sort that keenly reflect Freddie's best roots during his early years at Blue Note. The other players here are all quite strong – especially well-matched for the energy of such a record – with Bobby Hutcherson on vibes and Joe Henderson on tenor, plus rhythm from Billy Childs on piano, Larry Klein on bass, and Steve Houghton on drums. 3 lengthy tracks: "The Littlest One Of All", "One Of Another Kind", and "Body & Soul". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible performance from one of the greatest saxophonists to ever grace the Japanese scene – a player with a sense of power, tone, and phrasing that rivals avant greats like Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, or David Murray! Yet Karou Abe is also a player all unto himself – with a style that's completely unique, and often best heard in a setting like this – very open, with Abe stretching out with a sense of spiritual imagination that almost feels years ahead of its time. Abe blows alto on most tracks, but also uses a bit of bass clarinet, and even harmonica on one title – with accompaniment from percussionist Yasukazu Sato on a few titles, but mostly solo throughout. The package brings together 16 long tracks – previously scattered on short run CD releases in the 90s – finally here together. CD

A classic acoustic set on ECM – a pairing of guitarists John Abercrombie and Ralph Towner, working here together in a beautifully spare sound! The album predates the bigger wave of work like this that would soon become cliched by the start of the 80s – and both players stretch out with sensitivity not always found on some of their other albums. Abercrombie plays mostly acoustic, but also some slight electric guitar – mostly in the background – and Towner plays 12-string and classical guitars, and a bit of piano as well. Titles include "Sargasso Sea", "Fable", "Avenue", "Elbow Room", "Parasol", "Romantic Descension", and "Staircase". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning celebration of one of the greatest pairings in Brazilian music – and in American music as well, given that both Airto Moreira and Flora Purim recorded plenty of these cuts up in our neck of the woods! Airto's percussion is the stuff of legend – a key force in Brazilian recordings in the late 60s, and then equally important in American jazz – in famous recordings with Miles Davis and other artists, and plenty of great records on his own! Flora's vocals are equally crucial – a soaring, fluid approach that forever changed the way that female singers approached jazz – bred in 60s bossa, but instantly something new by the time the 70s came along – especially when Airto was supporting her with great grooves! This huge package brings together material that both artists recorded – often under the name of one or the other, but often with the other artist present on the recording – with a heavy batch of work from the 70s and 80s, but also crucial cuts from other years too! 3CD set features 37 tracks and a really great package – with titles that include "Love Lock", "The Happy People", "Hungry On Arriva", "The Road Is Hard", "Samba De Flora", "O Canto Da Sereia", "Jeito Bom De Sofrer", "Papo Furado", "Xibaba", "Back Streets Of Havana", "Vera Cruz", "Flora's Song", "When Angels Crie", "Celebration Suite", "Casa Forte", "Black Narcissus", "A Secret From The Sea", "O Cantador/I Just Want To Be Here", "Jump", and "Hot Sand". CD

A stunning celebration of one of the greatest pairings in Brazilian music – and in American music as well, given that both Airto Moreira and Flora Purim recorded plenty of these cuts up in our neck of the woods! Airto's percussion is the stuff of legend – a key force in Brazilian recordings in the late 60s, and then equally important in American jazz – in famous recordings with Miles Davis and other artists, and plenty of great records on his own! Flora's vocals are equally crucial – a soaring, fluid approach that forever changed the way that female singers approached jazz – bred in 60s bossa, but instantly something new by the time the 70s came along – especially when Airto was supporting her with great grooves! This huge package brings together material that both artists recorded – often under the name of one or the other, but often with the other artist present on the recording – with a heavy batch of work from the 70s and 80s, but also crucial cuts from other years too! 5LP set features 37 tracks and a really great package – with titles that include "Love Lock", "The Happy People", "Hungry On Arriva", "The Road Is Hard", "Samba De Flora", "O Canto Da Sereia", "Jeito Bom De Sofrer", "Papo Furado", "Xibaba", "Back Streets Of Havana", "Vera Cruz", "Flora's Song", "When Angels Crie", "Celebration Suite", "Casa Forte", "Black Narcissus", "A Secret From The Sea", "O Cantador/I Just Want To Be Here", "Jump", and "Hot Sand". LP, Vinyl record album

Incredible early work from Lorez Alexandria – the kind of albums that instantly set her apart from other singers of the 50s, reissued here properly for the first time in years! On This Is Lorez, the singer is working with sublime small combo backings from the group of pianist King Fleming – an unusual Chicago ensemble that includes Wilber Wynn on guitar, Ronald Wilson on flute and oboe, Vernel Fournier on drums, and Audrey Jones on bongos – a musical lineup that brings in a different sort of sophistication to the record, shading tunes with moody colors on flute and oboe that perfectly support Alexandria's soulful and sensitive interpretations of the tunes. The whole thing is pure genius, and a key look at the new levels of sophistication that were bubbling everywhere on the Chicago scene during the years of Jamal and Sun Ra. Lorez Sings Pres follows in a very similar mode – with backing by a Chicago group that again includes King Fleming piano, plus Charles Stepney on vibes, Paul Serrano on trumpet, and Vernel Fournier on drums – an extremely hip lineup that makes the record far more than just the Lester Young tribute promised in the title! But despite the instrumentalists, the real star on all sides is Alexandria – who sings with dark tones and deep colors that go far beyond conventional jazz vocals – all carried off with that slightly breathy mode that was one more unique aspect of her work! CD features all tracks from both albums – a total of 22 titles that include "Snowstorm", "I'm Glad There Is You", "The Sky Is Crying", "I'm Making Believe", "Necessity", "Penthouse Serenade", "DB Blues", "This Year's Kisses", "Easy Living", "No Eyes Blues", "Jumping With Symphony Sid", and a key early reading of "Baltimore Oriole". CD

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Early Atlantic Records work from the great Mose Allison – easily one of the most unique jazz artists of his time! Most started out as a pianist with a nicely bluesy vibe, but soon added in this excellent vocal approach that was maybe part New Orleans, part New York hipster – delivered here with a vibe that follows nicely from his earlier recordings for Columbia and Prestige Records! The sound is nice and stripped-down – none of the larger arrangements that Mose would soon use on Atlantic – and the set features accompaniment from Addison Farmer on bass and Osie Johnson on drums. Titles include the classic "Your Mind Is On Vacation" – plus "I Don't Worry About A Thing", "It Didn't Turn Out That Way", "Stand By", "Meet Me At No Special Place", and "The Song Is Ended". LP, Vinyl record album

5 years after they made their first set of groundbreaking Braziliany jazz tracks together, Bud Shank and Laurindo Almeida went back into the studio to record another great batch for Pacific Jazz. That second set of sessions is captured here in its entirety, and it features Shank and Almeida playing with the looser rhythm team of Gary Peacock and Chuck Flores on a number of short groovy tracks that clearly had a big influence on the bossa generation. Titles include "Waltz Frio & Calor", "Sunset Baion", "Mood Antigua", "Choro In A", "The Color Of Her Hair", and "Nocturno". CD

Incredible work from the amazing Dorothy Ashby – a brilliant set of funky and spiritual tunes, set to full backings from Chicago soul arranger Richard Evans! This album is easily one of Ashby's greatest, and it's dedicated to the writings of Omar Khayyam – one of the forces guiding Dorothy's more spiritual sound at the end of the 60s, clearly opened up in a way that's not unlike the direction of Alice Coltrane's work, but a lot more focused and a lot more funky! Ashby not only plays her usual jazz harp, but also koto as well, and even sings a bit too – and the larger group directed by Evans features work by Stu Katz on vibes and kalimba, Lenny Druss on flutes, and Cash McCall on guitar – all in a groove that's really a precursor to the Earth Wind & Fire generation of the Chicago scene! Titles include the amazing break "The Moving Finger" – worth the price of the album alone – plus "Dust", "Joyful Grass & Grape", "Heaven & Hell", "Wax & Wane", "Shadow Shapes", "For Some When Young", "Myself When Young", and "Drink". CD

Incredible work from the amazing Dorothy Ashby – a brilliant set of funky and spiritual tunes, set to full backings from Chicago soul arranger Richard Evans! This album is easily one of Ashby's greatest, and it's dedicated to the writings of Omar Khayyam – one of the forces guiding Dorothy's more spiritual sound at the end of the 60s, clearly opened up in a way that's not unlike the direction of Alice Coltrane's work, but a lot more focused and a lot more funky! Ashby not only plays her usual jazz harp, but also koto as well, and even sings a bit too – and the larger group directed by Evans features work by Stu Katz on vibes and kalimba, Lenny Druss on flutes, and Cash McCall on guitar – all in a groove that's really a precursor to the Earth Wind & Fire generation of the Chicago scene! Titles include the amazing break "The Moving Finger" – worth the price of the album alone – plus "Dust", "Joyful Grass & Grape", "Heaven & Hell", "Wax & Wane", "Shadow Shapes", "For Some When Young", "Myself When Young", and "Drink". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible revamping of some of the most important material recorded by Albert Ayler in the years before his too-soon death – a package that adds in over two hours of new music to the original three volume Fondation Maeght recordings – which were usually issued in low-budget packages without the care that this set receives! Ayler is fantastic here – very spiritual, and bridging the gap between his early material for ESP and his later work on Impulse – less of the experiments of the studio sets of those later years, and more of the searing longform improvisation that he could deliver at his best! The group features wonderful work from Mary Parks (Mary Maria) on soprano sax, plus Call Cobbs on piano, Steve Tintweiss on bass, and Allen Blairman on drums – and Parks delivers a sublime vocal on a version of "Music Is the Healing Voice Of The Universe". Ayler blows both tenor and soprano – and the set features a whopping 29 tracks, recorded on July 25 and 27 in 1970 – titles that include "Spirits Rejoice", "Thank God For Women", "Revelations", "Holy Family", "A Man Is Like A Tree", "Zion Hill", "Truth Is Marching In", "Love Cry", "Ghsots", "Speaking In Tongues", "Heart Love", "Island Harvest", "Masonic Inborn", and a few versions of "Revelations". CD

The second chapter of Erykah Badu's New Amerykah – recorded for the most part, quite incredibly, during the same period and with the same collaborators as the mind-altering, murky and righteous hip hop funk experimentalism that was Part One – some months that must be among the most dizzyingly creative in Badu's career! We're reluctant to call Return Of The The Ankh a lighter listen than its predecessor, but, it's a less dense and outwardly experimental batch in the sonic realm – the emotionalism and the head nodding warmth is at the forefront, yet she's as uncompromising and real as ever. The sound is still innovative, unique and her own on all fronts, but the songs chosen for Part Two are ones you want to approach and embrace from the opening seconds – there's not as much of a tripped out overall vibe and you don't need to acclimate from a distance – these songs pull you right in! Includes collaborations with James Poyser, Shafiq Husayn, Ta'Raach, Karriem Riggins, Madlib and Georgia Anne Muldrow. Includes "20 Feet Tall", "Window Seat", "Agitation", "Turn Me Away (Get Munny)", "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long", "Love", "Out My Mind, Just In Time" and more. CD

A nice one from Badu – one with a depth of feeling and genuine soulful vibes that live up to its title, despite the fact that she records for one of the world's biggest media conglomerates! It's all about the vibe here. Erykah rolls her syllables, scats and emotes feelings more than an actual narrative in the strongest of these cuts. It's not that she's forgone lyrics, but it's all about the ambience, not radio sing-a-longs. She also dives head first into her organic soul and hip hop hybrid sound a little more sparingly, but still better than most who that followed her lead post-Baduizm. She channels Donald Byrd on the great "Think Twice", which is pretty indicative of the vibe as a whole. The groove is sorta mellow, but in a very tripped-out way, with deep organ washes and synth tones, scratchy soul guitar, and crisp organic beats. There's an appearance by Dead Prez on "Steady On The Grind", and a really sweet old school flavored remake of the great "Love Of My Life" track from the Brown Sugar soundtrack with Queen Latifah and Bahamadia, but for the most part Erykah is sweating soul on her own spiritual plane here. It's gonna take a little while to sink in, but this may be her best album (despite whatever naysaying BS you may read in mainstream reviews.) Tracks include "Bump It", the great single "Danger", "Woo", "Back In The Day" and "I Want You". LP, Vinyl record album

The last-ever Chet Baker recording with a quartet – and a set that shows just how completely magical the legendary trumpeter was even up to the end! Chet at this time is completely different than Chet in the 50s or 60s – as he'd really found a way to make all these amazing new sounds on his horn, partly as a way of getting around some of his physical limitations, but also as a way of opening up some of those mid 60s ideas that he barely explored on record at the time. He's working here with a very important musical partner from the last decade – getting great help on guitar and flute from Nicola Stilo – plus Marc Abrams on bass and Luca Flores on piano – on titles that include "Portrait In Black & White", "Funk In Deep Freeze", "Arborway", "In A Sentimental Way", and "If I Should Lose You". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic classic from The Band – a set that's hardly got them cowering in the corner the way the "stage fright" title might imply – and which instead seems to have the group at their most confident during the early years, effortlessly spinning impeccable musicianship and some surprisingly biting lyrics! The young Robbie Robertson is on guitar, Garth Hudson warms things up with organ lines, and vocals are handled by the shifting array of other players in the lead – Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Richard Manuel. Titles include "The Shape I'm In", "Sleeping", "Strawberry Wine", "Just Another Whistle Stop", "Daniel & The Sacred Harp", "Stage Fright", and "Time To Kill". LP, Vinyl record album

A sublime second solo effort from Syd Barrett – and maybe his most perfectly-formed album ever! There's a sinister balance to the record right from the start – a gentle approach to the offbeat themes that is almost more unsettling than if the matter was undertaken more forcefully – weird little bits just tossed off by Syd as if they're really the ramblings of the madman promised on the cover of his first LP – almost with a deadpan quality that makes the whole thing even more unsettling with repeated listenings! Instrumentation is relatively lean – almost a folksy mix of acoustic guitar, electric, sullen bass, and some haunting keyboards – all as if someone picked apart Pink Floyd, then started to construct a rough sketch from the parts that lay scattered on the floor. The album's had an influence from psych through punk and many years beyond – and titles include "Baby Lemonade", "Gigolo Aunt", "Wolfpack", "Effervescing Elephant", "Winde & Dined", "Rats", and "It Is Obvious". CD

A collection of Basie work from the year 1941 – featuring a lineup that includes Dickey Wells, Tab Smith, Buddy Tate, Don Byas, Freddie Green, and Buck Clayton. Tracks include "Down For Double", "Diggin For Dex", "Jump The Blues Away", "The Jitters", "Tuesday At Ten", "Tune Town Shuffle", "Basie Boogie", and "Fiesta In Blue". Great 50s cover, with some cool geometric cat designs! LP, Vinyl record album

One of THE seminal Basie albums of all time – and a masterful pairing between the Count and arranger Neal Hefti! Hefti has an amazing ear for the Basie groove, and he works here to re-fit the overall sound of the group with a tighter, more fluid approach – one that ensured that they'd be alive and booming well into the 60s. The Hefti touch is one that's slightly lighter than the Basie of before – one that assumes the bump at the bottom, but never overdoes it – and instead almost uses the sound of no sound at all to carry the rhythm – while the horns at the top of the group are vamping around in these majestic charts that break out into fantastically searing solos. Basie's on piano, natch – and other players include Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Henry Coker, Al Grey, Frank Wess, Frank Foster, and Eddie Lockjaw Davis. Titles are all brilliant Hefti originals – and include "After Supper", "Flight Of The Foo Birds", "Teddy The Toad", "Splanky", "Fantail", and "Lil Darlin". CD features 5 bonus tracks too – including "The Late Late Show", "Sleepwalker's Serenade", and "Silks & Satins". CD

Stripped-down Count Basie from the start of the 60s – a great little set that has the Count working with some of the best players from his larger group, in a session of even more intimate small combo material! The sounds here echo the Basie groove of the earlier years, but the overall presentation is a fair bit more modern – nicely syncopated with that sense of space discovered by Basie in the 50s – and perfectly interpreted by players who include Thad Jones on trumpet, Frank Wess on flute, Frank Foster on tenor, Freddie Green on guitar, Eric Dixon on flute, and Basie himself on both piano and organ – the latter of which is quite a treat! Titles include "Secrets", "Count's Place", "I Want A Little Girl", "Tally Ho Mr Basie", "Senator Whitehead", "Whatcha Talkin", and "Shoe Shine Boy". CD