One of the odder 60s LPs from the Supremes, the soundtrack to a film that starred the group, with some guest appearances by The Temptations – in Motown-show versions of tracks that often feature the singers lapsing into medleys of other tunes, or doing some popular hits of the day. Titles include "Respect", "Somewhere", "Stop In The Name Of Love", "TCB", "For Once In My Life", "Hello Young Lovers", "I Hear A Symphony", and "The Impossible Dream". LP, Vinyl record album

A long-overdue tribute to one of the hippest labels in 60s soul – the short-lived but excellent GWP label, home to a flurry of great indie singles at the end of the decade! GWP was a key precursor to styles that would show up more strongly in later years on east coast indies like All Platinum/Stang and Perception/Today – and the company also employed some great studio talents who would emerge even more strongly on these other labels – like Ed Bland, George Kerr, and Ray Dahrouge, all key figures in soul production at the start of the 70s. The CD does a great job of pulling together the richness of the GWP sound – a mix of uptown soul, sock-soul, sweet soul, and some deeper soul numbers that really round out the sound of the set nicely. 24 tracks in all – including "He's What I Need" by Little Rose Little, "I've Been Down For So Long" by Benny Gordon, "Let's Prove Them Wrong" by Debbie Taylor, "I Don't Know How" by The Persians, "No Defense" by Bobby Penn, "Gotta Find A Way" by The Hesitations, "Heaven's Will" by Alice Clark, "Keep Your Love Warm" by Lilly Fields, "Doin The Gittin Up" by The Devonnes Band, and "I'm Ready" by Milton Bennett. CD

George Gruntz on pinao joined by Clark Gayton on Luis Bonilla on trombone, John Riley on drums and others. CD

Features Abraham Burton on tenor, Riley Mullins on trumpet, Dave Hazeltine on piano, Santi Debriano on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. CD

Features Jerome Richardson on saxophone, Dave Hazeltine on piano, Russell Malone on guitar, George Mraz on bass, and Lewish Nash or Dennis Mackrel on drums. CD

Features vocals by Urszula Dudziak. CD

Features Kurt Weill on vibes, Christoph Grab on saxophones, Stefan Stahel on piano, Mark Egan on bass, Danny Gottlieb on drums, and guest guitar from Joe Beck. CD

With Martien Oster on guitar and vocals, Christoph Sprenger on bass, and Alberto Canonico on drums. CD

Dedicated to Bill Evans! CD

With Lynn Seaton on bass and Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums. CD

Titles include "So You Are", "Samba Du Nancy", "Franco's Delight", "Get Me Back To The Apple", and "You Don't Know What Love Is". CD

Buster Williams on bass – with a great group that includes Gary Bartz on alto and tenor saxophone, Carlos McKinney on piano, Steffon Harris on vibes, and Lenny White on drums. CD

Lynne Arriale on piano, Jay Anderson on bass, and Steve Davis on drums. CD

Early 70s issue of a record recorded for the Warwick label in the early 60s – mostly led by Curtis Fuller, and under the name Soul Of Jazz Percussion. The record is a strange batch of soul jazz tracks that features a number of different groups with players like Fuller, Waldron, Little, Donald Byrd, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Pepper Adams, and others – all playing soul jazz tracks with lots of added percussion. The percussion takes the form (mostly) of booming drumming which augments the deep grooves of the tracks. Most of the tracks on this one have been pulled together to emphasize the sound of the trumpeters – and tracks include "Ping Pong", "November Afternoon", "Call to Arms", and "Wee Tina". LP, Vinyl record album

Includes the songs "Steam Passage","Palace Of Love","Valencia","Two As One","Little Dancer","Song Of Two Suns","Nere's Blues",and "Brain Play". CD

Featuring Lee Konitz. CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Buster Williams on bass and vocals, Stefon Harris on vibes, Geri Allen on piano, and Lenny White on drums. CD

A classic Miles Davis group – captured here in 1960 with incredible sound! The format is wonderful – as the tracks are quite long, and allow for lots of space for long trumpet solos from Miles, and tenor from John Coltrane – both supported beautifully by the trio of Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums! Coltrane's definitely in fine form – and has this commanding way of playing that almost blows away Davis – especially since Miles usually starts out most numbers here on his own, then lets Coltrane come in second – a move that almost makes the trumpet dim by comparison. Titles include "Fran Dance", "So What", "All Blues/Bye Bye", and "If I Were A Bell". CD

A wonderful live performance from Stan Getz – and a special set that seems to combine both of his best modes of the late 50s – as it features piano from Swedish genius Jan Johansson, plus rhythm from the Oscar Peterson team of Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums! The set's got an unusual balance that sets it apart from even other Getz albums of the time – a vibe that might have made it a special Verve album, had it gotten released at the time – recorded beautifully with a clarity that matches any of Stan's studio albums too! Tracks are nice and long, with wonderfully fluid tenor lines from Getz – and titles include "Land's End", "Pernod", "Woody N You", "Gone With The Wind", and "I Remember Clifford". CD

A searing live performance from this great large group – featuring Gerry Mulligan in the lead on baritone – with Zoot Sims on tenor, Bob Donovan on alto, Gene Quill on alto and clarinet, and trumpets from Nick Travis and Conte Candoli – all in a large group, with no piano at all. CD

Storming soul from Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford – one of the hardest-hitting duos of the early 60s, and a pair who set the tone for countless other acts to come! The style here is definitely soul, but steeped in plenty of R&B too – partly from Dee Dee's smoking work on Hammond, and the way her vocals come together with Don's – almost more live than any other studio work of its type – with a spontaneous vibe that always kept the Gardner/Ford singles mighty interesting! Don had worked previously with Jimmy Smith and Groove Holmes as the organist in his group – but when Dee Dee hit the mix, the sound really took off – as Gardner's rich vocals found their perfect counterpart in the energy of the young keyboardist and singer. The set's one of the best we've ever seen to bring together their work for the Fire label – and features their full album I Need Your Lovin, plus 18 more bonus tracks from singles – titles that include "You Said", "Make The Girl Love Me", "I Need Your Lovin", "I Left There Crying", "This Lonely Place", "Dog Eat Dog", "The Quicker The Better", "Bad Luck", "TCB", "Forever In Your Lover's Arms", "Everybody Needs Love", "Lead Me On", "Let's Go To The Party", and a rare complete unedited version of "I Need Your Lovin". CD

A great little album from Diana Ross – maybe one of her lesser-known efforts with The Supremes, and a set that really points the way towards the solo years to come! One of the reasons for that is that the set really just features Diana out in the lead, with different backing singers behind – all the great songs from the show, but recast with these sophisticated soul arrangements by Gil Askey – very groovy, very Motown, but also with a lot stronger focus on Ross upfront than usual! In a way, the shift is a fantastic nod to Diana's growing role as a star – really claiming her as the black Streisand, a position that she's clearly confident with, and maybe even beats Barbara on the vocal tip too. Titles include "Funny Girl", "The Music That Makes Me Dance", "Don't Rain On My Parade", "People", "Cornet Man", "His Love Makes Me Beautiful", "Sadie Sadie", and "I'm The Greatest Star" – the last of which would make a nice theme song for Diana's 70s years! This expanded version not only marks the first time the record has been on CD – it also features both the stereo and the mono mixes of the record – plus the original recording of the album, with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong – the real Supremes recording of the set! There's also five more bonus tracks – "Cornet Man (alt)", "His Love Makes Me Beautiful (alt)", "Sadie Sadie (alt)", "I'm The Greatest Star (live TCB outtake)", and "My Man (live)". CD

The final live performance of Diana Ross with The Supremes – with titles that include "TCB", "It's Alright With Me", "The Impossible Dream", "Someday We'll Be Together", and "Love Child" – as well as some spoken bits from Diana, and a few nice medley tracks too! LP, Vinyl record album

A killer little set that's as heavy as it sounds from the title – a wealth of rare material pulled from the studio of Detroit producer Dave Hamilton – a good deal of it previously unreleased! Hearing this set is like finding a pile of rare 45s stuffed in the back corner of a long-lost record shop – because although much of the work was never issued, it crackles with the intensity of the best funky 45s – lots of funky drums, offbeat guitar, and raspy soul vocals – produced with a real edge to all the work, so that all of the hardest elements of the tunes really come through in the mix! The work that was issued here came out on the TCB, Tayster, and New Day labels – and although the artists are often not well known, the work's got a really unified feel – thanks to the funky vision of Dave Hamilton. CD features 20 tracks in all – including "Brand New Girl (part 1)", "You're Wasting My Time (parts 1 & 2)", and "I Got Some (parts 1 & 2)" by Billy Garner; "The Grown Folks Thing" by OC Tolbert, "Party Time" by James Carpenter, "Going To The Moon" by Dave Hamilton, "Funky Trip" by Johnny Walker, "The Devil Is Gonna Get You" by The Future Kind, "Just A Mistake" by The Barrino Brothers, "Hunchin" by Gip Roberts, "Bump With Me" by The Webb People, "Sweet Thing (part 1)" by Bobby Dee, and "Can You Dig It" by Chico & Buddy. CD

Funky soul from Detroit – the second foray into the uber-rare and unreleased funk treasures recorded at Dave Hamilton's Motor City studio – and an even deeper look at what's turning out to be one of the greatest long-buried funk catalogs to come to light in recent years! The collection includes some singles released on Hamilton's own TCB and other imprints, some that were licensed to other labels, plus a wealth of unreleased material. There's straight ahead funk vocals and instrumentals, and numbers that have more of a freewheeling, adventurous vibe – albeit with a raw funk backdrop! Includes numbers by The Deacons, Prophet & His Disciples, Chico & Buddy, Billy Garner, OC Tolbert, Little Ann, Dave Hamilton himself, The Webb People, The Pepper and more. 22 tracks in all: "A Drop In The Bucket" by The Deacons, "You Fool, You Fool Pt 1" by Prophet & His Disciples, "A Thing Called The Jones" by Chico & Buddy, "The Bad Things (You Said To Me)" by The Barrino Brothers, "Ghetto Stride" by Dave Hamilton, "Who" by Jackie Dee, "Love Bandit" by OC Tolbert, "Simon Says' by The Future Kind, "Clap Your Hands" by The Tokays, "I'm Sending Vibrations" by The Webb People and more. CD