Unreleased live work from Les McCann – recorded at a time when the soulful giant was really breaking it up in clubs around the country, and just about to unleash a whole new righteous side of his talents! The tracks here resonate strongly with some of the earlier Pacific Jazz live work that Les was cutting earlier in the decade – but also show a new evolution that's partly the confidence he had as one of the key soulful musicians on the west coast, but also a shift in his style past some of the more standard soul jazz modes that others were taking from his bag – leaving McCann to keep on growing in new directions of his own. All tracks here are trio titles – recorded in Seattle or at the Village Vanguard – and players include Stanley Gilbert and Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Frank Severino and Paul Humphrey on drums. Titles include "The Grabber", "Could Be", "I Can Dig It", "Doin That Thing", "Sunny", "The Shampoo", "Blues 5", "Out In The Outhouse", "Lavande", "Da Da", "Yours Is My Heart Alone", and "Wait For It". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent lost classic from Detroit soul jazz powerhouse Phil Ranelin – now a legendary figure, but recording here back at the start of his career in the Motor City! Trombonist Ranelin was one of the key figures in the city's Tribe Records scene – and this album is one of the greatest that the label ever issued – a perfect blend of the spiritual currents that were bubbling under in the scene, and some of the funky touches that helped make Ranelin and the label legendary over the years. The set features Ranelin on trombone, Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Kenny Cox on electric piano, and Harold McKinney on piano – plus other luminaries from the incredibly strong Detroit scene of the time – and titles include the funky classic "Sounds From The Village", the slow spacey breakbeat number "Vibes From The Tribe", and the jazzy groover "For The Children". Also includes "He The One We All Knew", an extended piece that features members of The Griot Galaxy that takes up all of side two! LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent lost classic from Detroit soul jazz powerhouse Phil Ranelin – now a legendary figure, but recording here back at the start of his career in the Motor City! Trombonist Ranelin was one of the key figures in the city's Tribe Records scene – and this album is one of the greatest that the label ever issued – a perfect blend of the spiritual currents that were bubbling under in the scene, and some of the funky touches that helped make Ranelin and the label legendary over the years. The set features Ranelin on trombone, Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Kenny Cox on electric piano, and Harold McKinney on piano – plus other luminaries from the incredibly strong Detroit scene of the time – and titles include the funky classic "Sounds From The Village", the slow spacey breakbeat number "Vibes From The Tribe", and the jazzy groover "For The Children". Also includes "He The One We All Knew", an extended piece that features members of The Griot Galaxy that takes up all of side two! CD

Well, they certainly got the title right on this one! Dee Dee sings all the hits (or some of them, at least!) in her youthful gutsy soul style. Tracks include "Snap Your Fingers", "Seven Day Weekend", "Playboy", "Don't Play That Song", "Village Of Love", "Loco-Motion", and "The Wah-Watusi". Production's uncredited, but it's in the usual stormin' Cameo/Parkway vein! LP, Vinyl record album

A cool little album from the Kansas City scene – a mix of jazz, soul, and vocals – played by a mixed group that includes organ, guitar, vibes, and percussion! The sound is swinging soul jazz, but with vocals out front at times – and the sound is nicely rough around the edges, hardly the commercial affair you might guess from a group with "slick" in their name! These guys are clearly well suited to handling a variety of crowds, as you can tell from the shifting moods of the record – but they've also got a good talent for cooking up some good soulful tunes of their own, like the bossa-inspired "People's Choice", the mellow steppin "Voodoo Village", or the soul jazz groover "Crisco" – which begins with a really great break! The whole thing's pretty nice, and there's a few tasty cuts that also feature scatting vocals going together with the guitar. Titles include "Somewhere Along The Way", "Teach Me Tonight", "Gypsy In My Soul", and "Next Time You See Me". CD

Bouncy soul from Grover Washington – a set that returns to his earlier roots in a space between soulful fusion and R&B! The slinky Washington soprano sax gets plenty of space in this set – blown with those seductive notes that always made Grover one of the most distinctive players on the instrument – and the backings often have this gentle R&B groove that's even stronger on the few cuts here with vocals. Titles include "Soulful Strut", "Bordertown", "Village Groove", "I Can Count The Times", "Headman's Hunt", and "Can You Stop The Rain". CD

Although Joe first came to big fame in the US as a funky vamper and soloist behind Cannonball Adderley's big group of the 60s, this early album as a leader has a much more mature sound than Joe's funky work with Cannon – and it rightly earns the "third stream" tag in the title through the use of an enlarged ensemble that includes cello and viola, in addition to the core group of soulful players like Jimmy Owens, Richard Davis, and Freddie Waits. William Fischer's also on the record on tenor, and many of the tracks are his own compositions, with that kind of weird off-kilter, slightly serious approach he used on other Atlantic/Vortex sessions at the time. The mix of soul and serious scoring is actually a pretty darn compelling blend – as you'll hear on tracks like "Lord, Lord, Lord", "Soul Of A Village", and "The 5th Canto". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible document of the Kingston scene in the 70s – and one that really opens up our understanding of reggae culture at the time! The set features portions of two radio shows hosted by Winston Williams – one from 1977, one from 1978 – both complete with announcer intros and a really great blend of music – reggae cuts from the time, including a number of exclusive disco mixes, served up at just the right vibe for the audiences in Jamaica at the time. The 1977 show has a surprising current of soul – right down to the intro theme song, which is a reworking of Johnny Lytle's "Village Caller" – and both programs really open up the music in a wonderful way, especially as Williams puts the sounds in local context with some of his spoken bits – done in this very cool English-accented voice! CD

A wild little concept album from the Four Seasons – one that's packaged in newspaper-style cover, and which presents tunes that almost have that late 60s British "snapshots of life" approach to pop – particularly that put forth by The Kinks on Village Green Preservation Society. The album's a true genius effort from Bob Gaudio – now risen to the ranks of producer for the group, and also the key songwriter for the album too – working here in tandem with the great Jake Holmes, a wonderful choice for a record like this! Arrangements are inventive, playful, and definitely at a level that shows some influence from Pet Sounds or Sgt Peppers – but there's also a focused, all-pop approach to the tunes too – one that's hook-heavy even when trippy, and which shows that the Four Seasons were as great at psychedelic and Sunshine Pop as any of the groups they'd inspired over the years. Titles include "Saturday's Father", "Wall Street Village Day", "Wonder What You'll Be", "Soul Of A Woman", "Something's On Her Mind", "American Crucifixion Resurrection", and "Mrs Stately's Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

Unreleased live work from Les McCann – recorded at a time when the soulful giant was really breaking it up in clubs around the country, and just about to unleash a whole new righteous side of his talents! The tracks here resonate strongly with some of the earlier Pacific Jazz live work that Les was cutting earlier in the decade – but also show a new evolution that's partly the confidence he had as one of the key soulful musicians on the west coast, but also a shift in his style past some of the more standard soul jazz modes that others were taking from his bag – leaving McCann to keep on growing in new directions of his own. All tracks here are trio titles – recorded in Seattle or at the Village Vanguard – and players include Stanley Gilbert and Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Frank Severino and Paul Humphrey on drums. Titles include "The Grabber", "Could Be", "I Can Dig It", "Doin That Thing", "Sunny", "The Shampoo", "Blues 5", "Out In The Outhouse", "Lavande", "Da Da", "Yours Is My Heart Alone", and "Wait For It". CD

One of the best-ever Hank Mobley albums on Blue Note – and a killer batch of soulful hardbop that was cut right around the same time as the classic No Room For Squares LP. In fact, the album contains work from 2 different sessions that filtered over to the Squares album – one that featured Mobley with Freddie Hubbard, Barry Harris, Paul Chambers, and Billy Higgins; and another that included Herbie Hancock, Donald Byrd, Butch Warren, and Philly Joe Jones. The work is incredibly sharp – with that wonderful mix of soul jazz, hardbop, and nascent spiritualism that Mobley brought to his best work of the 60s. Titles include "My Sin", "Straight Ahead", "The Turnaround", and "East Of The Village". LP, Vinyl record album

Way more than just another soul group – as The New Birth are almost big enough to be their own sort of soul music village – complete with different neighborhoods along the way! Vocals are handled by the combined groups of The Mint Juleps and Now Sound – gals and guys that soar together wonderfully with backings from The Nite-Liters – who help give the record a righteous undercurrent at most points, which makes the whole thing sound way hipper than any other projects of this nature! Vernon Bulllock acts as the music director for the whole group – really pulling things together with a tightness that's outta sight – and leadership of the project comes from Harvey Fuqua – who arranged and produced as well. There's some massively heavy talent on board for this initial outing, and you can definitely hear it all come into play beautifully – a wonderful harmony of rich talents, without any egos or issues to get in the way. Vocals chance nicely throughout – sometimes a female lead, sometimes male – as do the grooves, which are funky one minute, and mellow the next! Tracks include "All The Way", "Pretty Words Don't Mean A Thing", "One Way Bus", "It's You Or No One", "Do The Funky Chicken", "The Unh Song", and "What'll I Do". Great reissue – with excellent sound, and very detailed notes! CD

A wonderful soundtrack to one of the most important films to Latin music in the 70s! This double-length set features a huge array of work from the movie – not only important musical bits, both live and in the studio, but also snippets from TV, concert introductions, and lots lots more that show the range and cultural impact of the early 70s New York scene – stretching way past a simple understanding that you might have from other records! Players include Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, Larry Harlow, Pacheco, and Bobby Valentin – and tracks include "Drum Story", "The Sugar Cane", "Hollywood", "Barrio", "Mi Gente", "Congo Bongo", "Slave Ship", "African Village", and "Soul Makossa". Also features guest appearances by Geraldo Rivera, Dezi Arnaz, Ismael Quintana, Carmen Miranda, and Al Jolson! LP, Vinyl record album

Miles Jaye once played the cop in the Village People, but don't hold that against him – because by the time of this debut set, he'd really crafted his style as a soul singer – which makes the record a key part of a new trend in male soul for the late 80s! Jaye's got a cool, sophisticated style – one that gets some nice warm touches on the arrangement and production, which include lots of touches from Miles himself – plus help from luminaries like Dexter Wansel, Hubert Eaves, and Branford Marsalis. Titles include "Lazy Love", "Special Thing", "I've Been A Fool For You", "Desiree", "Happy 2 Have U", "Come Home", "I Cry For You", and "Let's Start Love Over". LP, Vinyl record album

A key 70s album from Blue Mitchell – and a set that's perfectly balanced between the lyricism of his mid 60s sides for Blue Note, and the electric funk of later years! The tracks are long, and have a really great vibe – plenty of room for Mitchell's sweet trumpet in the lead, with longer solos than on his last funk albums for Blue Note – and given a nice sense of bounce, a groove that's almost modal at times, by a group that features Walter Bishop on piano, Larry Gales on bass, and Doug Sides on drums. Bishop's clearly playing some Fender Rhodes at times – ala his Black Jazz albums – and the group also features some of the most righteous tenor work we've ever heard from Jimmy Forrest, an artist we really know best for sides from a decade before. Titles include a killer reading of "Soul Village" – later recorded famously by Bishop – plus "Blues For Thelma", "Queen Bey", "Mi Hermano", and "Are You Real". CD

One of the best-ever Hank Mobley albums on Blue Note – and a killer batch of soulful hardbop that was cut right around the same time as the classic No Room For Squares LP. In fact, the album contains work from 2 different sessions that filtered over to the Squares album – one that featured Mobley with Freddie Hubbard, Barry Harris, Paul Chambers, and Billy Higgins; and another that included Herbie Hancock, Donald Byrd, Butch Warren, and Philly Joe Jones. The work is incredibly sharp – with that wonderful mix of soul jazz, hardbop, and nascent spiritualism that Mobley brought to his best work of the 60s. Titles include "My Sin", "Straight Ahead", "The Turnaround", and "East Of The Village". CD

A key recording from one of our favorite tenor talents of the 80s – the amazing Ralph Moore, a player who really carries on a strong legacy from the 60s work of Hank Mobley! Like Mobley, Moore's got a very rich-voiced sound that's steeped in tradition, but which is also never afraid to take chances too – a way of handling the tenor that few of his contemporaries could match, which is probably why Ralph's presence really upped the ante on so many dates at the time as a sideman. He's even better as a leader, though, and this standout set for Landmark is a real gem – a record filled with freely creative energy throughout, and a never-ending sense of soul – as Moore's tenor is set up nicely in a core group with Benny Green on piano, Peter Washington on bass, and Kenny Washington on drums – the latter of whom brings some of the same magic to this set that Billy Higgins did to Blue Note in the 60s. Terence Blanchard plays trumpet on 4 of the album's tracks – and titles include "Punjab", "Freeway", "Enigma", "Blues For John", "One Second Please", and "Episode From A Village Dance". Also includes the CD-only bonus track "Morning Star". CD

One of the last John Patton albums for Blue Note, and one of the best! A young James "Blood" Ulmer's on guitar, and Marvin Cabell (who we only know from Patton LPs) is on tenor and flute. The sound is deep and soulful, and despite the "accent on the blues" of the title, the feel's more Blue Note soul than it actually is bluesy. Ulmer's guitar is great, with this raspy edge that gives a nice depth to the album – and titles include reat versions of Harold Mabern's "Rakin' & Scrapin" and Eddie Harris' "Freedom Jazz Dance", plus some excellent originals by Cabell like "Captain Nasty" and "Village Lee". Plus, this CD reissue also features 4 other tracks, 3 of which are unreleased titles like "Sweet Pea", "2 J", and "Buddy Boy". CD

An excellent lost classic from Detroit soul jazz powerhouse Phil Ranelin – now a legendary figure, but recording here back at the start of his career in the Motor City! Trombonist Ranelin was one of the key figures in the city's Tribe Records scene – and this album is one of the greatest that the label ever issued – a perfect blend of the spiritual currents that were bubbling under in the scene, and some of the funky touches that helped make Ranelin and the label legendary over the years. The set features Ranelin on trombone, Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Kenny Cox on electric piano, and Harold McKinney on piano – plus other luminaries from the incredibly strong Detroit scene of the time – and titles include the funky classic "Sounds From The Village", the slow spacey breakbeat number "Vibes From The Tribe", and the jazzy groover "For The Children". Also includes "He The One We All Knew", an extended piece that features members of The Griot Galaxy that takes up all of side two! LP, Vinyl record album

A wonderful set of unreleased Arthur Russell songs – great tunes that he cut in more of an eclectic singer-songwriter approach than some of his other work – emotionally upfront, understated material that is simply beautiful! The songs range from very stripped down and folksy on the earlier recordings – kind of like an East Village Townes Van Zandt (we s**t you not) with Arthur singing and playing acoustic guitar and occasionally his cello – with an intuitive, true understanding of folk and Americana at its most honest and direct, while still working in some avant flourishes. As the set and the years of recording progress, the accompaniment gets busier and more pop, soul and experimental sounds are filtered in – but the song-based approach carries all the way through. For a noted perfectionist and experimentalist, it's a really unfussy batch of material, and very rewarding. Highly recommended! Tracks include "Close My Eyes", "Goodbye Old Paint", "Maybe She", "Oh Fernanda Why", "Eli", "Habit Of You", "Janine", "Big Moon", "The Letter", "Your Motion Says", "Love Is Overtaking Me", "Planted A Thought", "Love Comes Back" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A classic performance by one of the most groundbreaking soul jazz groups of the 70s! Tolliver's leading his Music Inc ensemble here – an important quartet that featured him on trumpet, Stanley Cowell on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jimmy Hopps on drums. During their time recording for the Tolliver/Cowell owned label Strata East, the group forged a strident spiritual approach to jazz – one that took all of the experiments of Coltrane, and fused them with a soulful sound that was packed with all of the righteousness of the time. The group's at their finest here – working before a very friendly crowd at the legendary Slugs nightclub in the East Village – and tracks on this first volume include "Drought", "Felicite", and "Orientale", all done in nice long readings! LP, Vinyl record album

A classic performance by one of the most groundbreaking soul jazz groups of the 70s! Tolliver's leading his Music Inc ensemble here – an important quartet that featured him on trumpet, Stanley Cowell on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jimmy Hopps on drums. During their time recording for the Tolliver/Cowell owned label Strata East, the group forged a strident spiritual approach to jazz – one that took all of the experiments of Coltrane, and fused them with a soulful sound that was packed with all of the righteousness of the time. The group's at their finest here – working before a very friendly crowd at the legendary Slugs nightclub in the East Village – and tracks on this second volume include "Spanning", "Wilpan's", and "Our Second Father", all done in nice long readings!h LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic collection of rare funky nuggets – put together by the folks at the Numero Group, and an album that's billed as "the only funk album you'll ever need"! That might be a big claim, but the record is pretty darn great – a set that features a few older underground classics, plus a number of cuts we haven't heard before – all brought together from the farther reaches of the Numero universe, into one fantastically funky set! Instrumentals sit nicely next to vocal tracks – and the whole thing is filled with heavy drums, riffing guitars, and other great elements – all chosen by the sorts of folks who really know their thing. Titles include "Corruption Is The Thing" by Creations Unlimited, Slow Burner" by Swithold, "Human Race" by Human Race, "First Thing I Do In The Morning" by Joyce Williams, "Soul & Sunshine" by Harvey & The Phenomenals, "The Vibration" by Sonny Harris, "Jungle" by The Young Senators, "Ghet-To Funk" by Doralcha, "So Dam Funky" by Hot Chocolate, "Akiwana" by Village Callers, and "Iron Leg" by Mickey & The Soul Generation. LP, Vinyl record album

Now out of print, and a heck of a great little set of rare and unissued tracks from the glory days of the Blue Note funk scene! For most of the 80s and early 90s, Blue Note US used to bad mouth the stuff from this period – but by the mid 90s, demand for the funky stuff from collectors and DJs led Blue Note to dig back in the vaults, and come up with this tasty batch of goodies! Titles include "It's Your Thing" by Grant Green, "Brother Soul (alternate)" by Lou Donaldson, "You Want Me To Stop Loving You" by Stanley Turrentine, "Dancin In An Easy Groove" by Lonnie Smith, "Village Lee (alternate)" by John Patton, "The Scorpion (alternate)" by Lou Donaldson, and "Hold On, I'm Comin" by Reuben Wilson. CD

A pair of gems from the Riverside years of Cannonball Adderley! First up is Cannonball Adderley Quintet In San Francisco – one of the greatest Cannonball Adderley albums from the Riverside years – a completely smoking live date recorded in San Francisco, often with long tracks that really let the group open up and do their thing! The lineup here is that classic one that first grabbed attention – the group with brother Nat on cornet, Sam Jones on bass, Louis Hayes on drums – and a young Bobby Timmons on piano, really cooking things up with tremendous drive, energy, and a sense of the groove! Titles include a great workout on Timmons' classic "This Here", plus originals "You Got It" and Spontaneous Combustion", and a great version of "Hi Fly". Soul jazz at its best, by one of the groups who gave the genre its name in the first place! Next is Cannonball Adderley Sextet In New York – rock-solid live material from the classic Cannonball Adderley Sextet – a combo who could usually groove even better on a concert date then they could in the studio! The album's one of a number of key live sides from Cannon in the 60s – and although it pre-dates his work on Capitol, it's done in a similar spacious mode – with plenty of longish tracks that build upon the core groove set down by Joe Zawinul's piano, Sam Jones' bass, and Louis Hayes' drums – a perfect backdrop for the creative and complicated solos of Cannon on alto, Nat Adderley on cornet, and Yusef Lateef on tenor, flute, and oboe! The date was recorded live at the Village Vanguard in 1962 – and titles include "Gemini", "Planet Earth", "Dizzy's Business", "Syn-anthesia", "Scotch & Water", and "Cannon's Theme". LP, Vinyl record album

Cecil's smoking on the cover, and he's smoking on the record too – really cooking things up in the best old school soul jazz style of his Muse Records years! The album was recorded live in New Jersey, and it's proof that plenty of great jazz was still coming from west of the Hudson in the early 90s – a time not nearly as documented as earlier years on the Jersey scene, but still a time of great players and hip local nightspots like the Trumpets club in which the album was recorded. Brooks' tight work on drums is very firmly at the helm of the set, and other players include Antonio Hart on alto, Ravi Coltrane on tenor, Jack Walrath on trumpet, Stephen Scott on piano, and Lonnie Plaxico on bass – working with Cecil in a set that also includes a fair bit of original numbers by the group. Titles include "Gordon's Maze", "Fried Bananas", "And Another Thang", "2AM In The Village", "The Third", and "Montclair". CD

Wonderful live material from John Coltrane – recorded in Sweden in the early 60s, with sound that's surprisingly good, given the small label for the album! The work here is a beautiful illustration of the freedoms that Coltrane was exploring in a live setting – and the overall sound is similar to Trane's great Village Vanguard work of the time – long tracks that feature tremendously-blown solos – filled with soul, fire, and imagination! The groups shift somewhat here – and the CD features 4 tracks from November 1961 – "Impressions", "Blue Train", and "Spiritual" – with Eric Dolphy on alto or flute, McCoy Tyner on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums. Two more – "Traneing In" and "Naima" – are from October 1963, and feature Tyner on piano, Jones on drums, and Jimmy Garrison on bass. CD

A sparkling debut from Detroit's Dwele – a sweet vocalist in the Donny Hathaway tradition, but with a tight, beat heavy soul sound that glides between 70s soul jazz, mellowed-out Jay Dee synth hop groove, and the natural soul vibe ?uestlove brings to his productions! We first caught wind of Dwele on Slum Village's "Tainted" single, and that's a good indication of the sound you'll find on the debut. Mellow, trippy keys and sound washes drench the album from beginning-to-end, with Dwele's often deeply layered vocals weighing the bright, modern groove aspects of the sound with a rich sense of soul history. There's a slight 70s soul jazz vibe, too, in spots – a sophisticated studio groove with bright bass and some sunny, soulfully strummed electric guitar. Dwele finds some truly nice middle ground between the natural soul scene, modern groove, and the mellower beats and grooves of the best Detroit hip hop of recent years – a scene that Dwele indeed was a player in before finding his soul muse. Great stuff – similar enough to some of his contemporaries – but still wholly unique in Dwele's embrace of a bright, sunny, polished sound that still manages to maintain naturally soulful grit and grease! The title track is a classic – crackly, thumping beats, sweetly chiming keys, and capital M Moody vocals – and many others are nearly as strong! Includes "Truth", "Find A Way", "Day At A Time", "Subject", "Sho Ya Right", "Possible", "Money Don't Mean A Thing", the bonus track "Let Your Hair Down", and more. 15 in all on the CD. CD

Amazing stuff – and the beginning of a strong tradition of west coast funky Latin groups! El Chicano were one of a number of groups to emerge from LA of the 60s – rising forth on a wave of Mexican American pride to come up with a west coast version of the Latin Soul sound that had been emanating from Spanish Harlem a few years earlier. The group had an organ-heavy sound that first scored big on their rendition of Gerald Wilson's "Viva Tirado" – done as a single by the group with a stepping jazz beat that was missing from the earlier version, which worked great with their bubbly organ sound. The album was recorded to follow up the hit – done as a live set after hours at the Kabuki Sukiyaki Restaurant in south LA, and filled with tight jazzy covers 60s groovers like "Cantaloupe Island", "Eleanor Rigby", "Hurt So Bad", and "Coming Home Baby". The record's also got an amazing version of "Quiet Village" – and while it may not be as Latin as some of the group's later work, it's the beginning of a great tradition, and has a sound that was copied endlessly – but rarely matched! LP, Vinyl record album

3CDs, and one DVD – a heck of a lot of music in one groovy little box set! The 3CDs each feature a different overseas performance by American tenor legend Johnny Griffin – working in very familiar territory of Copenhagen, in long, open-ended recordings that really show his inventive strengths on the tenor sax! CD 1 features a 1964 performance with Kenny Drew on piano, Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, and Art Taylor on drums – on titles that include "Doctor's Blues", "Night In Tunisia", "Wee Dot", and "Body & Soul". CD 2 features a 1984 performance with Eddie Lockjaw Davis joining Griff in the frontline on additional tenor – with rhythm by Harry Pickens on piano, Curtis Lundy on bass, and Kenny Washington on drums – on titles that include "Funky Fluke", "Hey Lock", "Lester Leaps In", "Blues Up & Down", and "Oh Gee". CD 3 features a 1989 date, with Drew on piano again – on titles that include "Just Friends", "Isfahan", "Slukefter Blues", and "Hush A Bye". The set also features a DVD – with 3 tracks from a Village Vanguard performance by Griffin in 1981, with Ronnie Matthews on piano – on titles that include "A Monk's Dream", "56 & Closing", and "Opening/Blues For Gonzi". DVD also features 2 more 1985 tracks by Eddie Lockjaw Davis (without Griffin) – "S'Wonderful" and "Shiny Stockings" – both recorded in Copehagen. CD

A real cooker of a set – and one that features Wynton's piano over some great larger backings from Claus Ogerman! The style of the set is really wonderful – as Wynton plays with a core smaller group that includes Kenny Burrell on guitar, plus regulars Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums – all of whom make more than ample space for Ogerman to come into the mix and fill up the tunes with some sweetly grooving 60s backings – often using electric bass to punch up the bottom, and rollick things around in a stepping style that's a nice mainstream take on the soul jazz groove that Kelly virtually helped invent! A few tracks are more in a small combo mode, but even those manage a pretty darn smoking groove – and overall, the album's got a lot more depth than even some of Kelly's best for the Vee Jay label from previous years! Titles include the bossa groover "Cesar & Cleopatra" – plus "Quiet Village", "If That's The Way You Want It", "Comin' In The Back Door", and "Theme From Burke's Law". LP, Vinyl record album

A key 70s album from Blue Mitchell – and a set that's perfectly balanced between the lyricism of his mid 60s sides for Blue Note, and the electric funk of later years! The tracks are long, and have a really great vibe – plenty of room for Mitchell's sweet trumpet in the lead, with longer solos than on his last funk albums for Blue Note – and given a nice sense of bounce, a groove that's almost modal at times, by a group that features Walter Bishop on piano, Larry gales on bass, and Doug Sides on drums. Bishop's clearly playing some Fender Rhodes at times – ala his Black Jazz albums – and the group also features some of the most righteous tenor work we've ever heard from Jimmy Forrest, an artist we really know best for sides from a decade before. Titles include a killer reading of "Soul Village" – later recorded famously by Bishop – plus "Blues For Thelma", "Queen Bey", "Mi Hermano", and "Are You Real". LP, Vinyl record album

Brilliant brilliant work by Sleep Walker – a soaring, soulful album of spiritual jazz – one that we'd rank right up there with our favorites from the era of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders on Impulse Records! The vibe here is incredible – jazz played live on tenor, soprano sax, piano, bass, and drums – spinning out in modal lines that groove tremendously, but not with any tricks or gimmicks that get in the way of genuine jazz expression. Sleep Walker are easily one of the deepest and most talented combos of the current club jazz scene – and their music never resorts to fake samples or heavy-handed rhythms to move the tunes along – just glows in the genius of its own bright light, spreading forth in waves of soul and sound that are tremendous from the first note of the album to the last! The record features guest work by Pharoah Sanders and Bembe Segue – and titles include "Ai No Tabi", "The Southern Cross", "Voyage", "Reminiscence", "Lost In Blue", "Kaze", "Afloat", and "Into The Sun". CD

An excellent double-length set from Horace Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra – an extremely righteous ensemble that was one of the hippest things going on the LA jazz scene of the 70s! The vibe is free and spiritual, but it also has a wonderful groove pulsating underneath many of the tracks – that heir to the Impulse Records style that Tapscott and other Nimbus Records artists carried on well into the early 80s. The group here features some of Tapscott's Nimbus labelmates – including Sabir Matteen and Billy Harris on tenor saxes, Linda Hill on piano, Adele Sebastian on flute, Roberto Miranda on bass, and Jesse Sharps on soprano sax – and in a way, the album's almost a live summation of all the mighty talents brewing on the Nimbus label at the time! Tracks are all quite long, and titles include a great version of Sebastian's "Desert Fairy Princess", plus "Macrame", "Future Sally's Time", "Noissessprahs", "Village Dance", "LTT", and "Lift Every Voice". CD

A classic performance by one of the most groundbreaking soul jazz groups of the 70s! Tolliver's leading his Music Inc ensemble here – an important quartet that featured him on trumpet, Stanley Cowell on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jimmy Hopps on drums. During their time recording for the Tolliver/Cowell owned label Strata East, the group forged a strident spiritual approach to jazz – one that took all of the experiments of Coltrane, and fused them with a soulful sound that was packed with all of the righteousness of the time. The group's at their finest here – working before a very friendly crowd at the legendary Slugs nightclub in the East Village – and tracks on this first volume include "Drought", "Felicite", and "Orientale", all done in nice long readings! LP, Vinyl record album

A classic performance by one of the most groundbreaking soul jazz groups of the 70s! Tolliver's leading his Music Inc ensemble here – an important quartet that featured him on trumpet, Stanley Cowell on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jimmy Hopps on drums. During their time recording for the Tolliver/Cowell owned label Strata East, the group forged a strident spiritual approach to jazz – one that took all of the experiments of Coltrane, and fused them with a soulful sound that was packed with all of the righteousness of the time. The group's at their finest here – working before a very friendly crowd at the legendary Slugs nightclub in the East Village – and tracks on this second volume include "Spanning", "Wilpan's", and "Our Second Father", all done in nice long readings! LP, Vinyl record album

Very cool stuff – and a fittingly cool collection of work from the great ESP label! If you've never seen one of their samplers before, they're sort of a mad mix of many different styles – putting together tracks in short little blips, filtered out of longer original ones on albums, into a cool collage of sounds and moods – that includes material by Marion Brown, Sunny Murray, New York Art Quartet, The Fugs, Henry Grimes, Albert Ayler, Pearls Before Swine, Pharoah Sanders, and many others! This album features a number of great bits from records we've never seen, mixed together with some more classic moments, all packaged in a cool cover. Includes bits from "East Village Other" by Ishamael Reed, "The Lovebook Record" by Andrei Vozenensky, "Movement Soul" from a record of traditional recordings, "Ni Kantu En Esperanto" from an Esperanto recording, "The Coach With Six Insides" from a musical based on Finnegan's Wake, "Assemblage" by Gunter Hampel, "East Village Other" by Allen Ginsberg, "Call Me Burroughs" by William S Burroughs, "Zitro" by James Zitro, "Of Love & War" by Randy Burns, and lots more by some of the usual suspects. LP, Vinyl record album

Funky Funky New Orleans is back – in this 2-part part 2 series! (Confusing, ain't it?) Like the now-famous first volume, both of these second volumes feature a stunning array of rare funky tunes from the Crescent City – obscure funky 45 numbers that go way way past the hits you might find on some of the more general New Orleans compilations, to feature a wealth of material that even we haven't heard before. The sound is a bit rough on a few of these numbers – in a stone-heavy garage funk style that makes the grooves come across even more strikingly than they might otherwise – and there's also a fair bit of 70s jazz funk jamming on these tunes, freer and more upbeat than the usual heavy New Orleans groove. Titles on this first volume include "Quiet Village (parts 1 & 2)" by Dome City Rock Orchestra, "Dull Knifin" by Trick Bag, "Git It" by Sam & The Soul Machine, "Get Down (parts 1 & 2)" by Gary Brown & Soul Machine 2, "Funky Sweep" by Isaac Price II, "Thief" by The Enticers, "Keep The News To Yourself" by Larry Hamilton, "The Joke" by Leonard Harris, and "Gossip" by Larry Hamilton. LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet little mix of London and New York grooves – all of them plenty darn soulful, and all coming from the great catalog of UK-based Sole Records! There's a positive-grooving feel here that hangs on throughout – a love of deeper soul mixed with vibrant dancefloor rhythms, in a way that many other labels try for, but never seem to do this well. Titles include "Back To The Top (Waiwan rmx)" by Open Door, "The Bottle (Richard Earnshaw rmx)" by Overstreet with Sharlene Hector, "Galaxy Of Sound" by Milton Jackson, "Do What You Wanna (Terry Hunter rmx)" by Bugz In The Attic present Homecookin, "Funkatuca" by DJ Spinna, "Rhythm Revolution" by Guiro featuring Kriminul, "Flyin" by Steviesole, and "FF To The Money Shot (Dave Storm rmx)" by Guiro featuring Angela Johnson. CD

An excellent compilation that's very much in the spirit of the 100% Dynamite sets on Soul Jazz! This time, Soul Jazz dig through the vaults of the legendary Studio One catalog – some of the most important reggae and rocksteady ever recorded, virtually all of it produced under the tutelage of Clement "Coxone" Dodd. Much of this material has been floating around over the years, but we'd be hard pressed to think of a better collection of it – especially when considering the excellent fidelity of the set, which is way better than an of Dodd's own reissues of the material. Plus, the folks at Soul Jazz have gone out of their way to put together the tracks as an extremely well-thought out introduction to the music, not just a scattered batch of tunes that happened to be available. The set also includes a recent interview with Clement Dodd, plus loads of great rocksteady and early reggae tracks. Titles include "Surfin" by Ernest Ranglin, "Real Rock" by Sound Dimension, "Feel Like Jumping" by Marcia Griffiths, "Greedy G" by Brentford All Stars, "Village Soul" by Lennie Hibbert, "Ethiopia" by Cedric Brooks, "Crabwalking" by Prince Jazzbo, "Hot Milk" by Jackie Mittoo, "Badder Dan Dem" by Lone Ranger, and "Bobby Bobylon" by Freddy McGregor. CD

The most straight up hip hop record from DJ Spinna in quite a while, and it's a tight one! The spacey soul beats Spinna works with get plenty of space to do their thing on Sonic Smash, but there's a tighter, funkier, grittier vibe, too – with some veteran MCs and upstarts on board – include Phonte of Little Brother, Elzhi of Slum Village and Jigmastas, plus Torae, John Robinson, Dynas and more! Titles include "Guaranteed" feat Phonte of Little Brother & Yahzarah, "More Colors" feat Elzhi from Slum Village, "Elemental" feat Sputnik Brown, "Lyrics Is Back" feat Torae, "Lights Out" feat John Robinson, "New York (Duck For Cover)" feat Jigmastas, "Call Me Senor" feat Senor Kaos, "Get On Down" feat Fresh Daily, Homeboy Sandman, & P Casso, "Making Your Way In The World" feat Breeze Brewin & J-Treds, "More" feat Dynas, CD

Miles Jaye once played the cop in the Village People, but don't hold that against him – because by the time of this debut set, he'd really crafted his style as a soul singer – which makes the record a key part of a new trend in male soul for the late 80s! Jaye's got a cool, sophisticated style – one that gets some nice warm touches on the arrangement and production, which include lots of touches from Miles himself – plus help from luminaries like Dexter Wansel, Hubert Eaves, and Branford Marsalis. Titles include "Lazy Love", "Special Thing", "I've Been A Fool For You", "Desiree", "Happy 2 Have U", "Come Home", "I Cry For You", and "Let's Start Love Over". CD

A pretty incredible set from sax player Masato Nakamura, aka Masa – late of the trailblazing Japanese jazzy explorers Sleep Walker – here leading a new combo and some fellow Sleep Walker alum on a set of cover tunes selected by some of his (and some of our) favorite modern groove figures! The group brings fresh jazzy life a batch of all great tunes by Yusef Lateef, Julius Hemphill, Mary Parks (and Albert Ayler), Milton Nascimento and others. Beautiful stuff with timeless soul jazz inspiration – here's hoping Deep Cover isn't simply a one off project and we'll hear much more from Masa Sextet! Song selectors include Kyoto Jazz Massive, Patrick Forge (who also produces the album), Yoshihiro Okino of Kyoto Jazz Massive, Dilip Harris of Two Banks Of Four, Jurgen V Knoblauch of Jazzanova, Shuya Okino of Kyoto Jazz Massive and Gilles Peterson. Many of the numbers skew to the long side, with 7 great tracks the run a total of 55 minutes. Includes "Waiting For Marvin", "Look Into Tomorrow" and "Healing Is The Healing Force Of The Universe" (both with vocals by Bembe Segue), "Winds Of Change", "The Hard Blues", "Nem Premisou Mais Um Sol", and "Before Dawn". CD

A wonderful look at the 60s scene in East LA – filled with cuts from some of the underground groups who made the area one of the hippest hotbeds of music at the time! There's a great blend of soul, R&B, and Latin elements bubbling under in most of these tracks – echoes of east coast modes, but touched with some of the styles that would show up more strongly in later Chicano rock – still at a very early level here. Harmony soul modes get plenty of play – and titles include "Come Swim With Me" by Little Ray, "My Heart Cries" by The Romancers, "Get Your Baby" by The Premiers, "Nau Ninny Nau" by Cannibal & The Headhunters, "Hector (part 1)" by Village Callers, "Rainbow Stomp (part 1)" by The Mixtures, "Please Answer" by The Heartbreakers, "One Like Mine" by The Salas Brothers with The Jaguars, "My Girl" by Phil & Del with The Mixtures, and "Destiny" by Larry Tamblyn. CD

A smoking funky set from early 70s Stax Records – the only album we've ever seen from Roy Lee Johnson & The Villagers, and a stone cooker all the way through! The sound is hard and heavy on most numbers – with loads of funky 45-styled riffs – and the core group is a nicely self-contained unit, with a lot of focus on the rhythm section – but they also get some great help here from the Memphis Horns, who blow over the top beautifully, and add a nicely soulful vibe to the record! Drums are nice and hard – and titles include the killer "The Dryer (parts 1 & 2)", plus "Razorback Circus", "Robot", "Midnight At Riley's", "Don't Tell Me Nothing About My Woman", "Patch It Up", and "I'll Be Your Doctor Man". CD

A great blend of funky jazz and wooden flute – the Japanese shakuhachi reed instrument, blown by Kifu Mitsuhashi here – then mixed with some larger backings that almost have a CTI Records sort of groove! The approach is similar to some of the best 70s projects from Hozan Yamamoto – and like those, updates older Japanese styles with just the right dose of jazz – never getting in the way of the soulful lines from the lead instrument, but also really warming things up nicely with Fender Rhodes, bass, guitar, and drums – in wonderful arrangements put together by Kiyoshi Yamaya. Titles include "Yagi Bushi", "Yosakoi Bushi", "Hokkai Bon Uta", "Kuroda Bushi", "Otemoyan", and "Mamuro Gawa Ondo". LP, Vinyl record album

Soulful brilliance from Woody Shaw – a searing live set that matches the power of earlier classics like Moontrane and Blackstone Legacy! The album's got Woody working with a heck of a great group – Carter Jefferson on tenor and soprano sax, Onaje Allan Gumbs on piano, Clint Houston on bass, and Victor Lewis on drums – all of whom come together with just the right mix of earthy grooving and spiritual searching that puts Woody in his best light. Jefferson is especially great – as it's his soaring work on reeds that really give the album a sense of spirit – but credit should also be giving to the well-knit rhythm team, whose ability to push out in flowing lines of power really raises the energy of the performance. Titles include "Stepping Stone", "In A Capricornian Way", "Seventh Avenue", and "Theme For Maxine". CD features 3 bonus tracks, 2 unissued – "Blues For Ball", "All Things Being Equal Are Not", and "Escape Velocity". CD

An unusual project from the team of tenorist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd – and one that really represents the compelling directions they've taken in recent years! The group here is a trio, with key contributions from Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx – who provides all these extra sonic touches and additional live instrumentation to create a rich tapestry of different elements, which are still grounded strongly by the acoustic performances of Binker and Moses! Golding is especially great in the setting – almost set free a bit more than usual, which creates some wonderfully soulful passages on his tenor – on titles that include "First Light", "The Spanish Master", "Tigris", "Ted", and "Cesca". LP, Vinyl record album

The only "west" these guys have gone is the West Village – the home of their aesthetic, and a post-Stonewall playground that was getting very firmly noticed by the mainstream by this point! The album's their last big one for Casablanca – and features arrangements from Horace Ott, who gives the record a surprisingly soulful core in the grooves – something that's also enforced by the production at the New York branch of Sigma Sound! Titles include the massive hit "In The Navy", plus the tracks "Go West", "Citizens Of The World", "I Wanna Shake Your Hand", "Manhattan Woman", and "Get Away Holiday". LP, Vinyl record album

An unusual project from the team of tenorist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd – and one that really represents the compelling directions they've taken in recent years! The group here is a trio, with key contributions from Simon Ratcliffe of Basement Jaxx – who provides all these extra sonic touches and additional live instrumentation to create a rich tapestry of different elements, which are still grounded strongly by the acoustic performances of Binker and Moses! Golding is especially great in the setting – almost set free a bit more than usual, which creates some wonderfully soulful passages on his tenor – on titles that include "First Light", "The Spanish Master", "Tigris", "Ted", and "Cesca". CD

A real gem from Phil Woods' back to basics years of the 80s – a time when he seemed to be able to make magic happen anywhere – no matter the label, no matter the setting! Here, Phil's in some very familiar territory that really has him opening up with ease – not just the Village Vanguard, but a warm quartet with Hal Galper on piano, Steve Gilmore on bass, and Bill Goodwin on drums – an easygoing ensemble that really lets Woods' solo lines spin out like magic! Titles include "Very Early", "Webb City", "Prelude To A Kiss", and a sublime soulful take on "Springsville". CD

John Coltrane returns to the Village Vanguard – but his sound here is a lot more far-reaching than a few years before! The album's a great counterpart to the first Vanguard session – as it takes all of the bold, soaring energy of that date, and balances it with the newly introspective sound of the later Coltrane years – plus some of the freedoms learned from the Love Supreme era. The group here showcases the new territory explored by Coltrane – with Trane himself on tenor, soprano, and a bit of bass clarinet (echoing earlier Dolphy), plus Pharoah Sanders on additional tenor, Alice Coltrane on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Rasheid Ali on drums. The album only features 2 long tracks – an incredibly soulful version of "Naima", and a very firey version of "My Favorite Things", but one that begins with a haunting bass solo by Garrison! LP, Vinyl record album

Prime post-Coltrane material from Elvin Jones – featuring his "power trio" style of operation, with one great sax player out front, and Jones kicking it in the back with the bass player! In this case, the sax player is George Coleman – who's really finding a voice of his own in these late 60s years, and really makes the most of the extended space of the album to stretch out, soar, and show off his ever-growing talent for a powerful solo! Wilbur Little is on bass, playing nice round warm notes to offset Jones' edgey playing – and the group's joined by trumpeter Hannibal Marvin Peterson on one track – who brings in a soulful edge that's mighty nice. All tracks are nice and long – and titles include "Laura", "Mister Jones", and "By George". CD