An undisputed masterpiece, and a record we never tire of hearing – unabashedly the inspiration for our years of jazzy exploration as adults, even though it was probably the closest thing we ever got to the genre as wee lads! Walter Becker & Donald Fagan raise their already-high bar to new heights here – creating one of those rare records that flows together so beautifully, it's hard to remember where some songs begin and others end. There's a sense of perfection in everything about the record – the sound, the songs, the instrumentation – all woven together beautifully without any sense of self-consciousness. One majestic flow that starts with "Black Cow", and runs through classics that include "Aja", "Deacon Blue", "Peg", "Home At Last", "I Got The News", and "Josie". CD

The first album from Steely Dan, and a really nice chapter in their career – one that's maybe a bit less iconic than the late 70s records, but in a way that really keeps things interesting! There's definitely less jazz and polish than on the later albums – but already, the group are writing the kinds of songs that nobody ever seemed to pen before, and which few other groups could match later – despite the countless legions who tried! The guitars are all nice and strong – that sharp Skunk Baxter edge that helped get the group firmly onto the charts right away – on titles that include their classic singles "Do It Again" and "Reelin In The Years", the oft-showcased "Dirty Work", and other cuts that include "Kings", "Midnite Cruiser", "Only A Fool Would Say That", "Fire In The Hole", "Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me", "Change Of The Guard", and "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again". LP, Vinyl record album

The first album from Steely Dan, and a really nice chapter in their career – one that's maybe a bit less iconic than the late 70s records, but in a way that really keeps things interesting! There's definitely less jazz and polish than on the later albums – but already, the group are writing the kinds of songs that nobody ever seemed to pen before, and which few other groups could match later – despite the countless legions who tried! The guitars are all nice and strong – that sharp Skunk Baxter edge that helped get the group firmly onto the charts right away – on titles that include their classic singles "Do It Again" and "Reelin In The Years", the oft-showcased "Dirty Work", and other cuts that include "Kings", "Midnite Cruiser", "Only A Fool Would Say That", "Fire In The Hole", "Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me", "Change Of The Guard", and "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again". LP, Vinyl record album

Superb work from Steely Dan – and a record that really shows them hitting perfection in the studio! The core sound of this one's jazzier than before – with some great help on instrumentation from Victor Feldman, Lanny Morgan, Bill Perkins, and other west coast jazzers – all helping the group sound great on some of the tightest tracks ever written by the team of Becker and Fagan! Ecstasy is definitely in reach with the sound of this set – a sublime effort all the way through that really set a whole new standard in 70s rock! Includes classics like "Bodhisattva", "Your Gold Teeth", "My Old School", and "Show Biz Kids". LP, Vinyl record album

A classic collection – with 14 cuts that include "Kid Charlemagne", "My Old School", "Black Friday", "Deacon Blues", "Bodhisattva", "Hey Nineteen", "Peg", "Do It Again", and "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" – plus their great theme to "FM", which wasn't on any of their albums! CD

The last album in the classic run of Steely Dan – the final taste we'd have of the group until their surprising revival in the 90s! Gaucho picks up beautifully where Aja left off – warmly produced with a deep undercurrent of jazz, but perhaps a bit more down to earth feel at times too – not in the music, which is still up there in the heavens, but in some of the subject matter of the tunes, which almost takes us back to Royal Scam territory. Donald Fagan's vocals are wonderful throughout – a sound for which there's no referent or real description – and the balance in the instrumentation is near perfect on tunes that include "Babylon Sisters", "Hey Nineteen", "Time Out Of Mind", "My Rival", "Glamour Profession", and "Gaucho". CD

... CD

Steely Dan really hitting the heights – moving into hipper, more sophisticated territory than before – pushing the envelope with both their music and lyrics, which are completely sublime! It's hard to put our finger on the magic of this one, but it's the perfect summation of everything that's come before, with a bit of a nod towards the future – yet all with a simple, song-based charm that we really love. The Becker and Fagan team get some key studio help here – showing a move away from previous group-based recordings – and Phil Woods turns in some especially nice work on his sublime solo for "Doctor Wu". Other tracks include "Black Friday", "Bad Sneakers", "Any World That I'm Welcome To", "Your Gold Teeth II", "Daddy Don't Live In That New York City No More", "Throw Back The Little Ones", and "Everyone's Gone To The Movies". LP, Vinyl record album

Magical music from the team of Donald Fagan and Walter Becker – one of those records that seems to state its existence in simple, straightforward terms – but which is also filled with undeniably complex moments! There's a definite echo of older jazz here – heard famously in the Horace Silver riff stolen for "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", or the Duke Ellington cover of "East St Louis Toodle-oo" – as well as in the group's own "Parker's Band" – one of the strangest songs you'll ever hear about Bird! Yet there's also a lot more going on too – complicated changes and timings, oblique lyrics, and a warmly produced sound that really sparkles on tracks like "Any Major Dude Will Tell You", "Monkey In Your Soul", "With A Gun", "Pretzel Logic", "Night By Night", and "Charlie Freak". LP, Vinyl record album

Magical music from the team of Donald Fagan and Walter Becker – one of those records that seems to state its existence in simple, straightforward terms – but which is also filled with undeniably complex moments! There's a definite echo of older jazz here – heard famously in the Horace Silver riff stolen for "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", or the Duke Ellington cover of "East St Louis Toodle-oo" – as well as in the group's own "Parker's Band" – one of the strangest songs you'll ever hear about Bird! Yet there's also a lot more going on too – complicated changes and timings, oblique lyrics, and a warmly produced sound that really sparkles on tracks like "Any Major Dude Will Tell You", "Monkey In Your Soul", "With A Gun", "Pretzel Logic", "Night By Night", and "Charlie Freak". LP, Vinyl record album

An undisputed masterpiece, and a record we never tire of hearing – unabashedly the inspiration for our years of jazzy exploration as adults, even though it was probably the closest thing we ever got to the genre as wee lads! Walter Becker & Donald Fagan raise their already-high bar to new heights here – creating one of those rare records that flows together so beautifully, it's hard to remember where some songs begin and others end. There's a sense of perfection in everything about the record – the sound, the songs, the instrumentation – all woven together beautifully without any sense of self-consciousness. One majestic flow that starts with "Black Cow", and runs through classics that include "Aja", "Deacon Blues", "Peg", "Home At Last", "I Got The News", and "Josie". LP, Vinyl record album

An undisputed masterpiece, and a record we never tire of hearing – unabashedly the inspiration for our years of jazzy exploration as adults, even though it was probably the closest thing we ever got to the genre as wee lads! Walter Becker & Donald Fagan raise their already-high bar to new heights here – creating one of those rare records that flows together so beautifully, it's hard to remember where some songs begin and others end. There's a sense of perfection in everything about the record – the sound, the songs, the instrumentation – all woven together beautifully without any sense of self-consciousness. One majestic flow that starts with "Black Cow", and runs through classics that include "Aja", "Deacon Blue", "Peg", "Home At Last", "I Got The News", and "Josie". LP, Vinyl record album

The complete initial run of Steely Dan – every single early album – plus "FM" too – a song that was not on any of their records. CD

The second Steely Dan album in the last three years, and only their third in the previous 20! On Everything Must Go, the Dan take a more laidback, easy funk approach to the arrangements than the incredibly grand scale of their mid-to-late 70s work. The tunes are comparably minimal, in fact, but don't fret it. For one thing, they have nothing left to prove in the grand jazz rock vein – they've already reached the top of that mountain. There is no need for Becker and Fagen (or we fans) to stress over topping Aja all these years into their career, especially when they can crank out a wonderfully hummable groove and barbed, incisively witty lyrics in their sleep. They are still way, way, WAY more interesting in 2003 than pretty much all of their poorly-aging 70s contemporaries, and the fact that we still have these guys in fine form is something we refuse to take for granted! Tracks include the title song, "The Last Mall", "Blues Beach", "Godwhacker", "Slang Of Ages", "Green Book", and more. CD

We've always considered Steely Dan one of the quintessential 70s "Album Oriented Rock" bands, in that all of there albums work so well as a whole, so the idea of a greatest hits collection doesn't exactly work for us. Still, taken out of context, these songs are still gems, and listening to them in sequence really lets you hear the groups progression from their intellectual rock roots to their later sophisticated jazz influenced style. 18 tracks in all: "Do It Again", "Reeling InThe Years", "My Old School", "Bodhisattva", "Show Biz Kids", "East St Louis Toodle Oo", "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", "Pretzel Logic", "Any Major Dude", "Here At The Western World", "Black Friday", "Bad Sneakers", "Doctor Wu", "Haitian Divorce", "Kid Charlemagne", "The Fez", "Peg" and "Josie". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Magical music from the team of Donald Fagan and Walter Becker – one of those records that seems to state its existence in simple, straightforward terms – but which is also filled with undeniably complex moments! There's a definite echo of older jazz here – heard famously in the Horace Silver riff stolen for "Rikki Don't Lose That Number", or the Duke Ellington cover of "East St Louis Toodle-oo" – as well as in the group's own "Parker's Band" – one of the strangest songs you'll ever hear about Bird! Yet there's also a lot more going on too – complicated changes and timings, oblique lyrics, and a warmly produced sound that really sparkles on tracks like "Any Major Dude Will Tell You", "Monkey In Your Soul", "With A Gun", "Pretzel Logic", "Night By Night", and "Charlie Freak". CD

My God, what a record! This one's genius through and through – a set that sometimes gets eclipsed in the brilliance to come, but which is easily one of our favorites ever by Steely Dan! There's a beautifully focused feel here – thanks to Donald Fagan's incredible lead vocals, and a sense of songwriting that never takes any left turns – no odd forays into different styles or previous genres, just all steeped in Steely, as the group should be by this point! John Klemmer turns in some wonderful sax work that really helps shape the sound, and titles include the wonderful "Caves Of Altimira", "Kid Charlemagne", "Don't Take Me Alive", "Green Earrings", and "The Royal Scam". CD

An undisputed masterpiece, and a record we never tire of hearing – unabashedly the inspiration for our years of jazzy exploration as adults, even though it was probably the closest thing we ever got to the genre as wee lads! Walter Becker & Donald Fagan raise their already-high bar to new heights here – creating one of those rare records that flows together so beautifully, it's hard to remember where some songs begin and others end. There's a sense of perfection in everything about the record – the sound, the songs, the instrumentation – all woven together beautifully without any sense of self-consciousness. One majestic flow that starts with "Black Cow", and runs through classics that include "Aja", "Deacon Blue", "Peg", "Home At Last", "I Got The News", and "Josie". CD

An undisputed masterpiece, and a record we never tire of hearing – unabashedly the inspiration for our years of jazzy exploration as adults, even though it was probably the closest thing we ever got to the genre as wee lads! Walter Becker & Donald Fagan raise their already-high bar to new heights here – creating one of those rare records that flows together so beautifully, it's hard to remember where some songs begin and others end. There's a sense of perfection in everything about the record – the sound, the songs, the instrumentation – all woven together beautifully without any sense of self-consciousness. One majestic flow that starts with "Black Cow", and runs through classics that include "Aja", "Deacon Blues", "Peg", "Home At Last", "I Got The News", and "Josie". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare French album of funky fusion from drummer Daniel Bechet – dedicated to his father, the famous saxophonist Sidney Bechet – yet served up in a style that's nothing at all like the elder's musical legacy! Instead, Daniel works here in a warm blend of guitars and keyboards, especially the latter – as the set rolls along with a warm soulful vibe throughout, so that even the drums, while grooving, are wrapped up strongly as part of the overall sound! There's almost a Steely Dan level of perfection to the record – recalling the sound of the Hoops McCann project in the 80s – and titles include "Sweet Stuff", "Night Clouds", "Brother Jacques", "Saturday Night Flavour", "Don't Be Shy", "Astral Dance", and "Jacqueline's Mood". LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant set of post-post-post Konitz jazz – a late 70s Warne Marsh session, produced by Donald Fagan and Walter Becker of Steely Dan! Despite the smooth jazz feeling of Becker & Fagan's own work, the pair are completely respectful to Marsh and his twin-tenor frontman Pete Christlieb – recording them along with Lou Levy on piano, Jim Hughart on bass, and Nick Ceroli on drums, in a setting that's got a warm, acoustic feel. There's no tricks or electricity on the set – just a tight, angular approach to modern jazz – crafted in the twin-sax mode that Marsh recorded in often during the 50s. Titles include "Magnatism", "317 E 32nd", "Rapunzel", and "Tenors Of The Time". CD also features 3 bonus tracks – "Lunarcy", "Love Me", and "How About You". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from the mighty Norman Connors – a set that's heavy on grooves, but which has all the jazzy depth of his early work too! The set features arrangements by some killer modern soul talents – Al Johnson, McKinley Jackson, and Paul Riser – who beautifully blend their own sweet touches with Connors' rich ideas – carried out here with some sublime vocals by Al Johnson himself, plus work from Jean Carn, Glenn Johnson, Adaritha, and The Jones Girls too! The instrumental vibe is as strong as well – with great solos from Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Gary Bartz on alto – and the combination of all these talents alone is testament to the continuing great vision of Norman Connors – one of the few cats who could make an album like this work so well! Titles include a great version of Steely Dan's "Black Cow", plus "Melancholy Fire", "Take It To The Limit", "Justify", "You've Been On My Mind", and an excellent remake of "I Don't Need Nobody Else". CD

Includes other tracks by Michel Legrand, Cat Stevens, Chico O'Farrill, Elton John, Steely Dan and more! CD

Two post-CTI gems from Deodato – back to back on a single CD! Whirlwinds is sweet keyboard soul from Deodato – a set that steps off nicely from the strengths of his big hits on CTI, hitting a similarly flowing groove that's really great! The instrumentation here is a bit more expanded than before, but never in a way that buries the keyboards – and Deodato's right out front on a range of electric keys that get some great support from John Tropea's finely-honed work on guitar! Titles include "Havana Strut", "Whirlwinds", "West 42nd Street", and a nice cover of Steely Dan's "Do It Again". And heck, even the album's version of Glen Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" manages to come off like a funk tune! Artistry is a live set from Deodato – but one that's very much in the mode of his best CTI studio sessions – with soaring, over the top keyboard work that's totally great – backed by some tightly compressed guitar, bass, and drums, with just enough funk in the mix to keep things interesting! As with other Deodato records from the time, there's a mix of moods here that comes together nicely – a range that goes past his easy hits, and shows Deodato to be one of the hippest, most soulful keyboard talents of his generation. Titles include a great version of "Super Strut" that grooves for over 8 minutes, and which has some firey guitar that really competes with Deodato's work on the keys – and other tracks include "Farewell To A Friend", "Pavane For A Dead Princess", "Rio Sangre", and "Jivin". CD

An excellent little live set from Deodato – hard to believe because the sound's just as tight and funky as his studio albums, and possibly even more interesting because he manages to pull it off equally well in a live setting! The record features percussion by Airto, guitar by John Tropea, and vocals by Flora Purim – and those are just the marquee names of a large and amazing grew of great musicians! All tracks are long and complicated, for very hynotic feel throughout. The funkiest number is "Tropea", which has a nice long 8 minute groove – and the set also features a cover of Steely Dan's "Do It Again", plus the tracks "Parana", "Branches", "Baubles, Bangles And Beads" and "Skyscraper". Amazing! CD

A surprisingly nice album from the better half of Steely Dan! This one kind of got cut out immediately when it was issued in 1993, but it's got a heck of a lot of charm – and given the success and style of the re-formed Steely Dan's Two Against Nature, this one sounds pretty great when we look back over our shoulder. And oddly, it's got some nice little modern soul arrangements that struck a strong note with the soul underground – and we can testify to the fact that the record was selling big with the stepper's scene in Chicago, even when it was stiffing in the pop racks elsewhere! Nothing fancy, but there's some nice moments, and with Walter Becker doing the production, it's kind of a Steely Dan album anyway. Titles include "Trans Island Skyway", "Countermoon", "Tomorrow's Girls", "On The Dunes", and "Snowbound". CD

Obscure pre-Steely Dan work from the team of Walter Becker & Donald Fagen – tracks done for the soundtrack to a 1970 film called You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It, and sounding somewhere between the pair's work on Can't Buy A Thrill, and some of their excellent early demos that have been floating around for years! While the music here is missing some of the polish of the later studio sides by Becker and Fagen, it is a great example of how early their genius emerged – and how even working in an obscure setting like this, they could come up with some really striking tunes! Titles include "You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It", "Flotsam & Jetsam", "Dog Eat Dog", "Red Giant/White Dwarf", "If It Rains", and "Roll Back The Meaning". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet jazzy keys from Mike Mandel – grooving here in a fuller jazz funk mode that's a bit like the best work of the 70s on Kudu Records! The approach is quite nice – with Mike handling all the electrics, and getting solo support from and array of jazzy players who include David Sanborn on alto, Gary Anderson on tenor, Darryl Thompson on guitar, and Wilbur Bascomb and John Lee on bass! The sound's a nice blend of funky and slick – and the album sports a great instrumental cover of Steely Dan's "Peg", as well as the original tunes "As Fine As You Are", "Pyramids", "Elephant & Castle", "Another Kind Of Spring", and "Jupiter Finger". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful work from Makoto Matsushita – and one of those Japanese city pop records that slides right into the best sort of jazzy soul from the US during the late 70s! Makoto sings in English and Japanese, and the backings are wonderfully jazzy – lots of fusion at the core, which keeps things warm and soulful throughout – better than mainstream AOR, but with equally superb sorts of production! There's a perfection here that rivals the strength of Steely Dan at their late 70s best – with just the right balance of vocals and instrumentation. Titles include "First Light", "One Hot Love", "Lazy Night", "I Know", "Love Was Really Gone", "This Is All I Have For You", and both English and Japanese versions of "September Rain". LP, Vinyl record album

The Crusaders are really going strong at this point – in near-hit status, almost acting as the Steely Dan of LA jazz. The sound is certainly slicker than before, but in a way that's actually pretty darn nice – as Joe Sample, Wilton Felder, Stix Hooper, and Larry Carlton come together with effortless ease – dipping, turning, twisting, and still hitting a nice groove on the best tunes. Tracks include "Nite Crawler", "Feel It", "River Rat", "Free As The Wind", and "Sweet N Sour". LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet keyboard soul from Deodato – a set that steps off nicely from the strengths of his big hits on CTI, hitting a similarly flowing groove that's really great! The instrumentation here is a bit more expanded than before, but never in a way that buries the keyboards – and Deodato's right out front on a range of electric keys that get some great support from John Tropea's finely-honed work on guitar! Titles include "Havana Strut", "Whirlwinds", "West 42nd Street", and a nice cover of Steely Dan's "Do It Again". And heck, even the album's version of Glen Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" manages to come off like a funk tune! LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent little live set from Deodato – hard to believe because the sound's just as tight and funky as his studio albums, and possibly even more interesting because he manages to pull it off equally well in a live setting! The record features percussion by Airto, guitar by John Tropea, and vocals by Flora Purim – and those are just the marquee names of a large and amazing grew of great musicians! All tracks are long and complicated, for very hynotic feel throughout. The funkiest number is "Tropea", which has a nice long 8 minute groove – and the set also features a cover of Steely Dan's "Do It Again", plus the tracks "Parana", "Branches", "Baubles, Bangles And Beads" and "Skyscraper". Amazing! LP, Vinyl record album

One of our favorite albums ever from The Crusaders – a set that really sums up all the tightness they'd forged in the 70s, while still showing a new sense of soul and funk as well – expertly balanced with flawless LA production! The album may well be the group's equivalent of a Steely Dan album – no surprise, given the work they'd done on sessions for that group – and the title cut is the massive extended version of "Street Life", with killer vocals from Randy Crawford – and other titles include "My Lady", "Night Faces", "The Hustler", and "Rodeo Drive". LP, Vinyl record album

A bit of jazzy magic from Fagen – stepping out from the cover of Steely Dan after the Gaucho album, and sounding pretty darn great on his own! The record is almost nostalgic, going back to a 50s of Brubeck, abstract expressionism, and pre-Castro Havana – filled with images that are a bit less oblique than those of Fagen's work with Steely Dan, and a love for the subject matter that makes us like the record even more. Musically, the set follows strongly from Gaucho, but has perhaps a bit more straight jazz – and titles include "The Goodbye Look", "Walk Between Raindrops", "IGY", "Green Flower Street", and "New Frontier". LP, Vinyl record album

2 CD's worth of sublime, breezy pop from Sean O'Hagen, one of the most talented Brian Wilson worshippers of the last couple of decades – a songwriter so great that throughout the mid-to-late 90s he actually came pretty close to filling the void that Brian left all those years ago! Of course there's much more going on in the best Llama's material than a simple repackaging of earlier ideas – there's a lot of subtle twists and turns, as well as some pretty sweeping arrangements in both traditional instrumention and bright electronic touches. The mood can go from simple waltz-pattern hooks, to sweet synth backdrops, to an almost Steely Dan level of studio sophistication. All-in-all some of the best pop song writing of the past decade or so! Disc 1 functions as a retrospective with 16 tracks from the group's cannon including "Checking In And Checking Out", "Glide Time", "Ill-Fitting Suit", "Literature Is Fluff", "Green Coaster", "Triads", "The Dutchman", and "The Sun Beats Down". The second disc features nearly another hour of rarities and instrumentals, a set of tunes that really demonstrates O'Hagen's talent as a composer of moods – full of sunny string backdrops, blips, bloops, and soundscapes. Tracks include "It Might As Well Be Dumbo", "Harmonium", "Stop Trainer", "Elliot Bridge", "In The Yacht", and a lot more! CD

Recent work by Mark Murphy – but as sublime as most of his best stuff from the 70s! The set was recorded in Europe, with the kind of respectful backing you'd expect from a scene that's loved Murphy's work for years – and which have done quite a bit to keep his unique style of jazz vocals alive over the past 30 years. Murphy's lost none of his magic – and the set swings with the best quality of any male jazz vocal set we've heard over the past decade. A few tracks have keyboards that are a bit tinny, but they're well offset by the warm quality of Murphy's vocals. Titles include "Sugar", "Lament", "Song For The Geese", "I Wish You Love", "We Two", "You Go To My Head", "Baltimore Oriole", and a nice little cover of Steely Dan's "Do It Again". CD

Kind of a goofy 80s DJ tool mix you may remember, that predated the whole "mash up" craze by years, pasting together Steely Dan's "Do It Again" vocals with a recut of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". 12-inch, Vinyl record

A really standout bit of blue-eyed soul from Gino Vannelli – the kind of record that shouldn't be so great, but really holds up well over the years! The style is tight and studio-oriented – somewhere in the mode of Bobby Caldwell and some of Gino's other cross-over contemporaries – but the album avoids most adult contemporary cliches, and keeps things sounding pretty real overall with some good studio backing, and a sense of jazz amidst the tightness – a bit like Steely Dan, but more poppish. Titles include "The River Must Flow", "I Just Wanna Stop", "Love & Emotion", "Feel Like Flying", "Brother To Brother", "Wheels Of Life", "The Evil Eye", and "People I Belong To". CD

A great run of music from Grover Washington Jr – five full albums, plus lots of bonus tracks too! First up is Paradise – one of those records you see so much it's easy to forget how great it is! Grover's a real genius with the sax on this record – taking a "less is more" cue from Stanley Turrentine's 70s work, and toning down his playing to an even tighter style than on the Kudu albums of earlier years, to a level of ultimate economy that really leaves us breathless. Grover hits a rarified level here that we'd only reserve for a small few – like Steely Dan or The Crusaders, both groups who teeter on the same brink, and make it work perfectly. Titles include "Asia's Theme", "Tell Me About It Now", "Feel It Comin", "Icey", and "The Answer In Your Eyes". Winelight is a smooth smooth classic from Grover Washington Jr – a set that has a classy image on the cover, and a classic groove within – a completely sublime blend of jazz, soul, and funk, all given the sort of masterful finish that you might have found on the best records by The Crusaders at the time! The difference, though, is that Washington's the lead soloist throughout – crafting some especially nice lines on his trademark soprano sax – which he used in ways that made him one of the most important mainstream jazz artists of his time – and one of the few to really open the doors of the music to folks who might not have been listening otherwise. Grover's sense of space and timing is wonderful throughout – and titles include the classic debut with Bill Withers on "Just The Two Of Us" –plus "Winelight", "Let It Flow", "In The Name Of Love", "Take Me There", and "Make Me A Memory (Sad Samba)". On Come Morning, Grover Washington blows over some great arrangements from William Eaton – full, but lean too – and with the same sort of slinky groove that always worked best for Grover back at Kudu Records! The sound is tight, but never too slick – that magically soulful approach that always made Grover a real standout from his contemporaries – one of the few cats who could smooth out jazz without ever losing its soul – thanks to lots of well-crafted lead lines on soprano sax! Titles include "East River Drive", "Jamming", "Little Black Samba", "Be Mine", and "Reaching Out". Best Is Yet To Come is a set that strongly continues the special spirit that Grover Washington brought to his music during the Elektra Records years – as one of the few artists who really found a way to move forward from the style of 70s jazz funk, but not fall into some of the smoother jazz cliches that were about to envelop his contemporaries! Part of the strength of the record lies in Grover's strongly soul-based sense of timing – allowing for just the right amount of space between the notes to remind you that you're listening to a jazz soloist first and foremost, even when a guest like Patti Labelle might step in for a bit of vocals. Titles include "Brazilian Memories", "Mixty Motions", "Can You Dig It", "I'll Be With You", "Things Are Getting Better", and "The Best Is Yet To Come". Inside Moves has Washington soaring to the skies on soprano sax – as expressive a voice on the record as any soul singer might be – and maybe even more so on the few spots that do include vocals. Jon Lucien sings a bit on the record – and if you read these pages, you know how much we love him – but Grover's still the giant here, with a sense of timing and phrasing that few of his contemporaries could ever hope to match in a setting like this. Titles include "Jet Stream", "Sassy Stew", "Dawn Song", "Inside Moves", "Watching You Watching Me", and "Secret Stew". 5CD set features 19 more bonus tracks – all the single edits of songs from the albums! CD

A loving portrait of key figures in Jamaican music – a book done during the 21st Century, but filled with classic artists from back in the day – dozens of giants pictured in full color images, alongside some words on their art and music, plus standout tracks and details of their best qualities! The book is on an academic press, but it's a great read for anyone – and features a brief introduction by the author, before diving into the dozens of entries – of subjects who include Derrick Harriott, Ras Michael, Mr Fix It, Bobby Aitkin, Deadly Headley, Bob Andy, Cedric Im Brooks, Max Romeo, Ken Parker, Lee Scratch Perry, Boris Gardinier, Gladdy Anderson, Steely & Clive, Sly Dunbar, and many others. The softcover edition is 230 pages, with full color photos throughout, and features helpful indexes on key recordings and the locations and timing of the interviews within. Book