A stylistically rich set of remixes of the deep grooves mined over the years by Berlin's Sonorama label – killer jazz, funk, soul and Afrobeat material – remixed and spliced with club grooves, hip hop beats, electro free range funk by Eva Be, Rob Smith, Ben Human, Dr Rubberfunk, Smooth Pilots and others! The range is pretty incredible, and it's loaded with deep material! The CD version features 18 tracks from all over the Sonorama catalogue, a number of which are previously unreleased, with titles including "Hang 'Em High" (Chadeo re-edit) by Memphis Black, "Massai" (Dr Rubberfunk re-spice) by Mombasa, "Exotic Drums" (Devil McDoom rmx) by Berry Lipman, "Sax On The Rocks" (Minimatic rmx)" by Berry Lipman, "Happy Little Sunbeam" (Ben Human rmx) by the Elsi Bianchi Trio, "You And I" (Rob Smith rmx) by Gretje Kauffeld, "Dreaming" (Ben Human rmx) by Edgar Schlepper and more. CD

Something of a split single from Don Cuco – a set that features him remixing a track by Ibeyi on side one – really expanding on the warm vocals of the sister duo, with beats that are gentle and glowing, but which move nicely in a strong sort of Afro House mode! The flipside features two originals by Don – "Milan" which is a nicely moody club track, almost like the sort we used to love on early Nu Groove, with keyboards doing as much as the beats – and "Agua Es Vida", a track that does a nice job of mixing acoustic percussion samples with beats, all in a warm global sort of vibe! 12-inch, Vinyl record

A rare jazz gem from tenor saxophonist Fitz Gore – originally issued on the Gorbra label in Germany in a very tiny quantity! The record's a bit unlike anything else of the time – spiritual jazz, certainly, but with all these different approaches that vary from track to track, as does the lineup – really showing a richness that leaves us breathless once the record is done! Gore's got this nicely edgey tone on the tenor – a tendency to maybe craft the occasional angles you might hear from an alto, but with a deeper sound overall – and other players on the record include Ulrich Gore on piano, Gerhard Ebbo on bass, and Phillipe Zobda Quitman on drums – although one track has gamelan, another has vibes, and another has congas – all of which makes for a nice shift in flavors! At times, Fitz has this slow-burning quality, at others he almost echoes a Coltrane ballads mode, and at one point he sings a bit – really surprising us with his mellifluous voice. Titles include "Steal Away", "Requiem For Julian Cannonball Adderley", "Delilah", and "A Sinner Kissed An Angel" – most nice and long. LP, Vinyl record album

Freddy Cole is Nat King Cole's brother – hence The Cole That Nobody Knows – but although Freddy may not have hit the heights as Nat, he's had a wonderfully rich career that's lasted for decades – and yielded some real gems like this in the process! The album's one of Freddy's greatest – a swinging, soulful, and yet wonderfully understated little session – one that makes some real magic from just a bit of piano, bass, and drums alongside Freddy's vocals – giving some of these tunes a really great groove that's perfect for Cole's easygoing style! The tunes are quite fresh – hardly the sort you'd find on similar, sleepier albums of this type – and Cole's definitely got an ear out to the hipper side of early 70s jazz vocals, especially on some of the tunes that use electric piano instead of acoustic. Titles include "Moving On/A Place In The Sun", "Brother Where Are You", "Correct Me If I'm Wrong", "Miss Otis Regrets", "Wild Is Love", "He'll Have To Go", and "I Keep Going Back To Joe's/Waiter Ask The Man To Play The Blues". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest records ever from German jazzman Helmuth Brandenburg – a rare sound library session that's got plenty of funk, and which is billed as an "instrumental fantasy for 11 keyboards and rhythm and brass combination"! There's definitely lots of keyboards on the record, although they never all play at once – and instead provide a shifting sonic soundscape that keeps things interesting as the set moves on – a record with a really nice mix of modes that's somewhere in the best territory of Italian sound library material of the period, especially in the way the acoustic and electric elements come together in the mix! Titles include "Pru Urebu", "Athbasch", "Schem Ajin Beth", "Thariah", "Neschamah", "Tardema", and "Amram". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet sound library funk from Joy Unlimited – an early 70s German combo heard here on their rarest record ever! As with the group's commercial releases, there's a wicked blend of funky jazz and hard-riffing instrumentation – and unlike other records, this one's got an even leaner, meaner groove – all instrumental, and with a great focus on key elements of the sound – funky flute here, sweet keyboards there, and lots of tightly-played guitar lines – which really help give the music a nice edge! The set's got a sound that's a lot like some of the best MPS funk of the time – no surprise, given that it comes from the same scene – and instrumentation includes Fender Rhodes, flute, guitar, saxes, marimba, trumpet, and lots of sweet drums. Titles include "Jamara", "Soul Gravy", "Homunkulus", "Breeding Ground", "Jigsaw Man", "Blue Box", "Parabolica", "Spectrum", "Herbie", and "Laguna Seca". LP, Vinyl record album

A sublime blend of spiritual jazz and African rhythms – and one of the few 70s recordings made by Mombasa, a European group put together by LA trombonist Lou Blackburn! The record's got a much more righteous sound than any of Blackburn's work of the 60s – a boldness and sense of pride that comes from its blending of percussion, acoustic bass, and soaring horn lines on trombone, trumpet, and bamboo flute! Other African elements slide into the music too – like bits of kalimba – and the lack of piano or keyboards on the record makes for an especially earthy sound, one that trades rhythm from the percussion with melodies from the horns in a really magical way. Tracks are long, and the set was recorded with the same post-colonial energy as similar work from Paris or London at the time – a really righteous groove that longs to be rediscovered! Titles include "Nairobi", "Massai", "Holz", "Kenia", "Makishi", and "Shango". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic celebration of the 100th release by the Sonorama label – and one that offers up what the label does best – a collection of never-heard jazz recordings from the European scene! The work here isn't collected from other Sonorama reissues, but instead is comprised from tracks that never added up to a full reissue project – but which easily rival all the better-known sounds you'll hear from the French scene of the new wave years, the hip Scandinavian modern scene, or the German scene of 60s MPS/Saba fame! Most numbers are hardbop or modal jazz, and the leaders alone are some of our favorite talents of this generation – players who never fully got their due in the US, but whose music continues to excite us over the decades. Titles include "Blues For Koebes" by Francy Boland, "Gigi's Pad" by Fast Sadi, "Straight No Chaser" by Rolf Ericson, "Tempus Fugit" by Barney Wilen, "Ginger" by Jack Sels, "Psychophysis" by Roland Kovac, "Ole Coltren" by Joki Freund, "Warm Up" by Helmut Brandt, "You Stepped Out Of A Dream" by Attila Zoller, "Inspiration In 6/8" by Hermann Mutschler, "Futurity" by Michael Naura, and "Bag's Groove" by Rolf Kuhn. LP, Vinyl record album

The jazz community here is pretty small – just a sextet, but one that had a huge impact on the Swiss jazz scene at the time! The group have a vibe that's maybe a bit earlier than the date of the material here – maybe more like some of the early 70s expressions from the American, German, and British jazz worlds – with lots of modal energy in the rhythms, and solos that are strong and freewheeling, but never too far outside – working with a really great sensibility between the members of the group. The music is dynamic, but never in a way that's forced or showoffy – and the set's filled with great originals by members of the group – who include Hans Kennel on trumpet, Paul Haag on trombone, Heiner Althaus on tenor, Armin Keil on piano, and Alex Bally on drums. Titles include "Snobben", "Keiler", "Welcome", "Incarnation", "Leaving The City", "Segara Village", "Fjorden", and "Paris Minor". LP, Vinyl record album