... CD

Funky Divas is right – as this classic album by En Vogue is one that had the group really redefining the sound of girl group soul for a whole new generation! The girls do a wonderful job of blending together hip hop beats and warmer mainstream soul – at a level that marked one of the key bridges between R&B and hip hop in the 90s – almost making the group kind of a trans-generational healing force in African American music. After all these years the beats are still pretty great, and the vocals even better – and titles include "My Lovin (You're Never Gonna Get It)", "Free Your Mind", "Giving Him Something He Can Feel", "Give It UpTurn It Loose", "Hooked On Your Love", "Love Don't Love You", "This Is Your Life", "Desire", "Hip Hop Lover", and "It Ain't Over Till The Fat Lady Sings". CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A heavy helping of work from Francoise Hardy – a massive 2CD set that features 50 tracks from her best years in the 60s! The package spans the years 1962 to 1967 – a time when Hardy was ahead of the pack in the world of French female pop – not only setting new standards for other singers to follow, but also evolving her own music strongly over the years – moving from simple catchy modes at the start, to a headier brew of hipper sounds for the late 60s. Backings on the tracks are by Charles Blackwell, Johnny Harris, Mickey Baker, Jacques Denjean, Marcel Hendrix, and others – and the set also features English notes on Hardy's music, which is something you won't find in French collections of her work. Titles include "C'Est Le Passe", "Pas Gentille", "Et Meme", "Je Veux Qu'Il Revienne", "Mone Amie La Rose", "Nous Etions Amies", "J'Suis D'Accord", "Dans Le Monde Entier", "Le Temps De Souvenirs", "Tout Ce Qu'On Dit", "Il Se Fait Tard"," Je T'Aime", "Voila", "Si C'Est Ca", "Quel Mal Y A-T-Il A Ca", and "Rendez-Vous D'Automne". CD

Music from Joe Turner, Gerry Mulligan, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Frank Foster, Roy Eldridge, Thelonious Monk, Lucky Thompson, Dizzy Gillespie, Zoots Sims, and more. CD

Nice French issue of some small group and solo material from the great Earl Hines! LP, Vinyl record album

Classic postwar recordings – done by tenorist Don Byas for the Vogue label in France – with titles that include "GDB", "Remember My Forgotten Man", "Blues For Don Carlos", "Time On My Hands", and "If I Had You". LP, Vinyl record album

There's nothing little about the talents of Roy Eldridge on the trumpet – as you'll hear in this hip set of tracks from the start of the 50s – material recorded in Paris with help from some great American sidemen! Half the tracks feature Roy's trumpet in a quintet with Zoot Sims on tenor, Dick Hyman on piano, Pierre Michelot on bass, and Ed Shaughnessy on drums – grooving in the relaxed, swing-based style that you'd expect from Eldridge's 50s work on Verve. Roy sings just a bit on the set – scatting alongside the lead vocals from Anita Love on a version of "It Don't Mean A Thing" – and singing a duet with Anita on the R&B-ish "There Ain't No Flies On Me". Other tracks include "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams", "The Man I Love", "Wild Driver", "Easter Parade", and "Just Fooling". LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic pop from The Matchmakers – a group who only went by that name on some of their records – as they were more of a studio project from UK producers Mark Wirtz and Kris Ife, and also issued work as The Guards, Fickle Finger, Krimson Kake, Happy Confusion, Cellophane Mop, Father's Brown, and Astronaut Alan & The Planets! Yet despite all those many names – which all appear here in the credits for the songs – the group had a unified sound in their unabashed love of a good hook, and the genius production they received on their tunes – often in that groundbreaking style you'll know from other Wirtz work of the 60s, with a compressed quality that's a strong precursor to the direction UK rock production would take in the 70s – peppered with just a touch of the American bubble gum pop sound of the time. Titles include "Fantastic Fair", "Turn Me On"," Two Timing Man", "Wooly Wooly Watsgong", "Tell Me A Secret", "Goody Goody Goody", "Cellophane Mary Jane", and "This Time It Must Be Love". LP, Vinyl record album

With Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax, Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone, Red Mitchell on bass and Frank Isola on drums. Tracks include "Laura", "Soft Shoe/Utter Chaos", "Lady Is A Tramp", "Love Me Or Leave Me" and "Lullaby Of The Leaves". CD

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Quintet, quartet, and sextet sessions from 1946 and 1947 with sidemen that include Erroll Garner, Duke Jordan, Jay Jay Johnson, Miles Davis, and Max Roach. LP, Vinyl record album

Double-length brilliance from the mighty Sahib Shihab – a set that collects a number of killer 60s sessions with members of the Clarke Boland Big Band – all of them great! The small combo work here is amazing – hard-hitting modal jazz that matches, if not tops the best MPS/Saba sounds of the time – all produced to perfection with a really sharp edge, and a cutting approach to jazz that's gone onto inspired countless others in the current scene – including artists on Schema and Ricky-Tick Records, as well as most Japanese club jazz combos! But long before any of those cats started copping his groove, Sahib Shihab had it all totally together – a great ear for his own amazing solos on baritone and flute, and a way of hooking up with players like Francy Boland on piano, Fats Sadi on vibes, Benny Bailey on trumpet, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums. All players here were Shihab's partners in the Clarke Boland Big Band, and they use these small combo sessions to explore some great new ideas – stripped-down groovers that are heavy on rhythm, and really allow full expression from all the players involved. Titles include "Companionship", "Om Mani Padme Hum", "Bohemia After Dark", "Serenata", "Yah Yah Blues", "Balafon", "Talk Some Yak-ee Dak", "The Turk's Bolero", "CT + CB", "Jay Jay", "Stoned Ghosts", "Just Give Me Time", and "Dijdar". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the coolest albums ever from French saxophonist Barney Wilen – a set that's legendary not only for its famous cover image, but for all the wonderful music underneath! The record's maybe the strongest to deliver on the modern promise that Wilen exhibited in his music during the 60s – but also has a tightness that makes it quite different from some of his more loopy projects – a way of putting things together that's bold and modern, yet also wonderfully controlled as well! As you might guess from the title, the record's based around the twelve phases of the Zodiac – and each tune has a slightly different sense of energy – all delivered by Wilen on tenor, with Karl Berger on vibes and piano, JF Jenny Clark on bass, and Jacques Thollot on drums – all players who are reaching towards free jazz modes, but often hang slightly inside, which makes for a beautiful balance overall. Titles include "Cancer", "Lion", "Vierge", "Capricorne", "Balance", "Scorpion", and "Poissons". LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Double-length brilliance from the mighty Sahib Shihab – a set that collects a number of killer 60s sessions with members of the Clarke Boland Big Band – all of them great! The small combo work here is amazing – hard-hitting modal jazz that matches, if not tops the best MPS/Saba sounds of the time – all produced to perfection with a really sharp edge, and a cutting approach to jazz that's gone onto inspired countless others in the current scene – including artists on Schema and Ricky-Tick Records, as well as most Japanese club jazz combos! But long before any of those cats started copping his groove, Sahib Shihab had it all totally together – a great ear for his own amazing solos on baritone and flute, and a way of hooking up with players like Francy Boland on piano, Fats Sadi on vibes, Benny Bailey on trumpet, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums. All players here were Shihab's partners in the Clarke Boland Big Band, and they use these small combo sessions to explore some great new ideas – stripped-down groovers that are heavy on rhythm, and really allow full expression from all the players involved. Titles include "Companionship", "Om Mani Padme Hum", "Bohemia After Dark", "Serenata", "Yah Yah Blues", "Balafon", "Talk Some Yak-ee Dak", "The Turk's Bolero", "CT + CB", "Jay Jay", "Stoned Ghosts", "Just Give Me Time", and "Dijdar". CD

A legendary album from saxophonist Sahib Shihab – a record that's gone onto become the birth of all things modal and club jazz in the current scene! Shihab always sounded great, no matter what the setting, but there was definitely something magical going on with this session – a one-of-a-kind energy that made his baritone and flute work sound incredibly soulful, searching, and searing – set up with a tight small combo that includes Francy Boland on piano, Fats Sadi on vibes, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Kenny Clarke on drums – a hip slice of the Clarke Boland Big Band that works beautifully together! Every tune here is wonderful, and you're bound to recognized a few covered or sampled classics over the years – on cuts that include "Seeds", "Peter's Waltz", "Who'll Buy My Dream", "Another Samba", "Jay Jay", "Uma Fita De Tres Cores", and "Mauve". LP, Vinyl record album

A real step forward for the amazing Francoise Hardy – a singer who was already great at the start, but who reaches out a bit more globally here – as she works with Brit arranger Charles Blackwell, in a mode that's got a bit of groovy 60s London in the mix! The tracks include many originals by Hardy, and a few by Blackwell as well – and the music has less of the acoustic guitar you'd hear on some of Francoise's other albums, and some fuller, bouncier backings that mix French chanson with some groovier 60s pop elements – all in a blend that's completely sublime for the lovely vocals of the lady. Titles include "Je Veux Qu'll Revienne", "Tu N'As Qu'Un Mot A Dire", "Et Meme", "Pars", "Pourtant Tu M'Aimes", "La Nuit Est Sur A Ville", "Pas Gentille", and "Mon Amie La Rose". CD

One of the most important early records by Elvis Costello – and maybe one of a small handful that we'd deem completely essential out of his massive catalog over the decades! Elvis and The Attractions are in perfect form here – coming across with all the biting energy of the punk generation, but not punk at all – and instead finding a way to open the door to a global audience, especially American, that some of his contemporaries weren't able to reach at the time – thanks to some incredible songs that even Elvis might not have thought would go on to become pop and rock standards over the years! Titles include "This Year's Girl", "Hand In Hand", "Chelsea", "Lip Service", "Little Triggers", "Pump It Up", "No Action", "Lipstick Vogue", and "Living In Paradise". US version also includes "Radio Radio" and "Big Tears". LP, Vinyl record album

A collection of rare recordings for the Selmer, Ca-Song, Circle, and Vogue labels, with titles that include "Hawk's Variations", "The Old Songs", "The Man I Love", "I'll Know", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from the late 50s by Chet! Although Baker's trumpet playing in the early part of the decade became known as one of the trademark "cool" sounds of the west coast, he started to move towards a sound that was a lot more hardbop at the end of the decade – as you'll hear on this tasty album. The session's got a great (and unlikely) batch of players accompanying Chet – like firey young soul jazz pianist Bobby Timmons, modal grooving bassist Jimmy Bond, and cool tenorist Phil Urso. The set's a great one, and pushes Chet's sound way past the usual stereotypes. Titles include "Medium Rock", "Lucius Lu", "Revelation", and "To Mickey's Memory". LP, Vinyl record album

A nice album compiling of some of the less-collected work by Clifford Brown – 1953 recordings done in Europe for the Metronome and Vogue labels, recorded with a great larger group. Sides feature Brown working with Quincy Jones, Gigi Gryce, Anthony Ortega, Juimmy Cleveland, and others alongside Parisian and European players that include Henri Renaud and Pierre Michelot. The set features "Brown Skins", "Keeping Up With Jonesy", "Bum's Rush", "Chez Moi", "All Weird" and "No Start No End". CD

US issue of some of Gerry's classic Vogue recordings, done in Paris in 1954 with a quartet that featured Bob Brookmeyer on valve trombone, Red Mitchell on bass, and Frank Isola on drums. This is Gerry at the height of his powers, and playing classic piano-less material with supberb accompaniment by Brookmeyer. Tracks include a number of originals, including "Utter Chaos", "Five Brothers", and "Walkin' Shoes", plus others like "Bernies Tune", "Come Out Wherever You Are", and "Laura". LP, Vinyl record album

Music from the Vogues, Bobby Fuller Four, Shelby Flint, Darrell Banks, Butterfield Blues Band, Jeannie Seely, Link Cromwell, Darrow Fletcher, Judy Collins, Sir Douglas Quintet, the American Poets, Little Hank, Gene Vincent, Joe Simon, the Strangeloves, the Righteous Brothers, the Association, Barbara Lynn, the Intruders, Shirley Ellis, Ray Stevens, the Ronettes, We the People, the Critters, Love, Leroy Pullins, Roy Head, and Ike & Tina Turner, CD