Not just cool jazz – despite what the title might say – and instead a whole host of soulful jazzy styles from the late 50s and early 60s – pulled forth from the kind of singles that once boomed from backroom jukeboxes in taverns on the south side of town! The collection is great – very much in the spirit of some of the Mod Jazz compilations on Ace, but maybe even a bit more farther-reaching too – and the tracks are a great mix of instrumental and vocal jazz numbers, put together with the same great ear as the soul collections on the Outta Sight label. Titles include "Like Young" by Ann Henry, "I Walk The Streets" by Lyn Avalon, "Scenes In The City (edit)" by Charles Mingus, "Comin Home Baby" by Dave Bailey, "Johnny With The Gentle Hands" by Cootie Williams & Wini Brown, "Baby Do You Ever Think Of Me" by Sonny Stitt, "Goodbye Old Girl" by Art Farmer, "Wayning Moments" by Wayne Shorter, and "Sack O Woe" by Ray Bryant. CD

A bit of a comeback for Chicago soul legend Syl Johnson – a set initially recorded for the smaller indie Erect, but picked up for bigger distribution by Boardwalk thanks to a catchy title hit! The sound here is quite different from Syl's Twinight or Hi Records years – still a bit bluesy overall, but also going for a much tighter boogie-based groove – in keeping with the sound of Erect at the time. Johnson's vocals still retain that nice kind of pinch that shows his down home roots, but the instrumentation is much tighter than before – often in an electric mode that's a bit like Malaco in the 80s, only slicker. Syl produced the record with General Crook – and titles include the nice groover "Ms Fine Brown Frame", plus "Sweet Thing", "You Don't Have To Go", "It Ain't Easy", "Groove Me", and "Keep On Loving Me". LP, Vinyl record album

The funkiest album that Syl Johnson ever recorded – filled with short, tight cuts that play more like a stack of funky 45s than the standard soul album of the time! The record draws from the great run of singles that Syl cut for Twinight Records at the end of the 60s – some of the hardest soul coming out of Chicago at the time, with a gritty feel that's right up there with some of James Brown's best late 60s work – or even better, some of the other obscure acts working in the American underground at the time. A few tunes are familiar from their popularity as classic 45s – but the album's got lots more wonderful numbers that are lesser-known – and all of them are great! Titles include the classic Syl Johnson sample cut "Different Strokes" – plus "Dresses Too Short", "I Can Take Care of Business", "Soul Drippin", "Sorry Bout Dat", "Same Kind Of Thing", and "Come On Sock It To Me". LP, Vinyl record album