Chico and his group perform tunes from the Rodgers & Hammerstein score to South Pacific – a surprisingly good choice, actually, as the Rodgers & Hammerstein tunes have a great exotic bent to them, working well with the off-beat rhythms and melodies of the combo. Players include Paul Horn on alto and flute, Fred Katz on cello, and John Pisano on guitar – and tunes include "Bali Hai", "Honey Bun", "Cockeyed Optimist", "Younger Than Springtime", and "Happy Talk". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark set of recordings cut for the Pacific Jazz label in the early 50s, and supposedly a major influence on the early bossa artists in Brazil! The tracks were cut by a quartet led by LA altoist Bud Shank, and featuring Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida, who was living in LA at the time. The mix of alto and guitar, in a jazzy vein, but with Latiny rhythms, is very similar to the early bossa jazz recordings – and even more so to the later American ones by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd. Supposedly, original 10" LPs of the material made their way to Brazil, and later influenced Jobim and Gilberto. Although we can't confirm that rumor entirely, you'll sure hear a similarity, and even if you don't, the stuff's still pretty darn great. Titles include "Terra Seca", "Amor Flamenco", "Atabaque", "No No", "Noctambulism", "Tocata", and "Carinoso". LP, Vinyl record album

A landmark set of recordings cut for the Pacific Jazz label in the early 50s, and supposedly a major influence on the early bossa artists in Brazil! The tracks were cut by a quartet led by LA altoist Bud Shank, and featuring Brazilian guitarist Laurindo Almeida, who was living in LA at the time. The mix of alto and guitar, in a jazzy vein, but with Latiny rhythms, is very similar to the early bossa jazz recordings – and even more so to the later American ones by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd. Supposedly, original 10" LPs of the material made their way to Brazil, and later influenced Jobim and Gilberto. Although we can't confirm that rumor entirely, you'll sure hear a similarity, and even if you don't, the stuff's still pretty darn great. Titles include "Terra Seca", "Amor Flamenco", "Atabaque", "No No", "Noctambulism", "Tocata", and "Carinoso". LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful guitar/trombone session that features Jim Hall, Jimy Raney, and Brookmeyer – with titles that include "Arrowhead", "Street Swingers", "Hot Buttered Noodling", "Musicale Du Jour", and "Jupiter". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic lost set from Evans – one that features Mingus trumpeter Johnny Coles as the lead soloist in front of Evans-led modern groups that include players like Elvin Jones, Ray Crawford, Steve Lacy, Budd Johnson, Rod Levitt, and Chuck Wayne. Despite the "standards" in the title, most of these numbers are modern tunes from the 50s – like "Joy Spring", "Ballad Of The Sad Young Men", "Django", "Straight No Chaser", and "Chant Of The Weed" – all given Evans' unique style of arrangement, tweaked up a few notches to give them a really edgey quality. Coles is clearly standing in for Miles here, but the format works well overall! CD

One of the grooviest albums ever from pianist Clare Fischer – and one of the few to really get at the bossa nova spirit that's only hinted at in some of his other work! Clare's bossa touches had a great effect on other artists in the 60s – most notably Cal Tjader – but here, he's on his own and at the head of the pack – working in sweet small combo formation with some really great rhythms! Fischer plays both piano and organ – the latter of which is totally great, and which almost adds a Walter Wanderley charm to the set – and other players include the great Dennis Budimir on guitar, Bob West on bass, and Colin Bailey on drums. The track list is a mix of tracks by Jobim and Fischer – and titles include "Ornithardy", "One Note Samba", "Carnavel", "Pensativa", and "Quiet Nights". LP, Vinyl record album

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A cool musical take on this part of the Bagavad Gita – but with narration from Ravi Shankar! LP, Vinyl record album

Tight funky organ work from Billy Larkin and his hard-swingin Delegates combo! This stuff was the west coast equivalent of New Jersey organ combos – and you can bet your bippy that Billy & Co were blasting loud out of every jukebox on Central Ave during the 60s. This album's still got the group working in a straight soul jazz mode – and the original trio's been expanded to include Fats Theus on tenor and Leon Flowers on trumpet. Titles include "Next Time You See Me", "Red Wine", "Love For Sale", "Don't Stop", "Unit Seven", and a groovy version of "Sunny". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Billy Larkin's early tight little records, with his excellent organ combo The Delegates, and their trademark hard guitar and keyboard sound. Lots of nice groovers, including "Hot Sauce", "Hot Toddy", "Soul Beat", "Little Mama", and their version of the title cut, which was one of those minor 60s hits which were hotly disputed as to who had the original recording! LP, Vinyl record album

Wild work from the legendary Lord Buckley – a key postwar figure of hipness on the west coast, delivering routines that include "The Naz", "The Gasser", "Supermarket", Willie The Shake", "God's Own Drink", and "Subconscious Mind". LP, Vinyl record album

A weird album of spoken philosophy from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi – known to most of the world at the time as the spiritual teacher of The Beatles! The recording quality is pretty odd – just the voice of the Maharishi, recorded almost in ethnographic form – with kind of a tinny quality that brings out his already nasal tone. The ideas are pretty interesting, if a bit optimistic, and the album comes in a cool gatefold with photos and notes on the inside. LP, Vinyl record album

Great stuff from Marisa Monte – and a record that's criss-crossed with influences, thanks to production by Arto Lindsay, and performances by Marc Ribot, Bernie Worrell, John Zorn, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Nana Vasconcelos, and Ed Motta! Maybe a bit slicker than the current American press hype would have you expect – but a record that's filled with some great songwriting, and plenty of nice moments. Titles include "Beija Eu", "Ainda Lembro", "De Noite Na Cama", "Rosa", "Borboleta", and "Eu Sei". CD

A beautiful record of Japanese sounds – featuring the leader on both koto and shamisen, alongside more koto, shamisen, shakuhachi, oboe, and flute! LP, Vinyl record album

A great Jean Luc Ponty album – quite possibly his best, with a hip approach that's more MPS than World Pacific! The record has Ponty working under the supervision of George Gruntz, with an incredibly hip group that includes Carmell Jones on trumpet, Leo Wright on alto and flute, Daniel Humair on drums, and Gruntz himself on piano – a really great lineup that brings together late 60s Europea and Cali groovy styles! Tracks are skittish, jaunty, exploratory, and even a bit funky – in that groovy late 60s MPS/Saba way – and the album features some nice originals that include "Pacific Drove", "Fort Ord Canon", "Pebble Beach Walk", and "3 + 2 = 1". LP, Vinyl record album

Early work by Don Randi – recorded years before he'd become too ensconced in the LA studio scene, back when he was just a fresh faced young jazz musician – with a light touch and a real talent for an understated groove! The set's a nice little sleeper with some good mellow moments – Don tinkling the keys with bass and drums behind him – the former handled by Hershey Hamel, the latter by Gene Stone. The tracks are all quite sprightly, and surprisingly soulful at times – and titles include the originals "Feelin Like Blues" and "Buddha's Mood", plus the tracks "Jada", "Summertime", and "Blues For Miti". CD

A pretty hip record – a lot cooler than you'd expect from Buddy Rich! The record features Rich playing with a group of Indian musicians lead by Alla Rakha on tabla, conducted by Ravi Shankar, who also wrote all the material on the album – and Paul Horn also joins the group for a bit of flute on some tracks. The tunes are mostly in the Indian idiom, with less jazz touches than you might expect from Rich's presence – and Buddy mostly supplys fills and some harder drum riffs on the tracks. Titles include "Khanda Kafi", "Duet In Dadra", "Tal Sawari", and "Nagma E Raksh". LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of under-discovered artists from the Oakland scene – all working with arrangements and musical direction by Jimmy McCracklin! LP, Vinyl record album

5 years after they made their first set of groundbreaking Braziliany jazz tracks together, Bud Shank and Laurindo Almeida went back into the studio to record another great batch for Pacific Jazz. That second set of sessions is captured here in its entirety, and it features Shank and Almeida playing with the looser rhythm team of Gary Peacock and Chuck Flores on a number of short groovy tracks that clearly had a big influence on the bossa generation. 10 tracks are included in this volume: "Simpatico", "Little Girl Blue", "Mood Antigua", "The Color Of Her Hair", "Carioca Hills", "Choro In A", "Nocturno", "Lonely", "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Rio Rhapsody". LP, Vinyl record album

A smoking little set from George Harmonica Smith – an album recorded in late 60s LA, but done with plenty of Chicago blues touches! The players here are all top-shelf – and include Muddy Waters on guitar and Otis Spann on piano – who definitely help keep a Windy City vibe going on the record – that spare, raw, but electrified approach to the music that was still wonderfully fresh at the time of the sessions. And Smith's vocals alone are totally great – very deeply soulful – but also alternate strongly with sharp lines on harmonica too. Titles include "Mellow Down Easy", "Key To The Highway", "You Better Watch Yourself", "Last Night", "West Helena Woman", "Tell Me Mama", "Juke", and "Everything Gonna Be Alright". CD features 3 bonus tracks – "Love With A Feelin", with vocals by Lucille Spann – plus "Just A Feelin" and "Goin Down Slow". CD

A classic from the west coast scene of the 50s – and not to be confused with other similar-titled Chico Hamilton albums at the time! This one sports an abstract painting on the cover, and was recorded in 1956 at the Forum Theater in Los Angeles – not live, but using the space as a very open-sounding studio – with really amazing results! The lineup features Hamilton on drums, Paul Horn on alto and tenor sax and clarinet, John Pisano on guitar, Fred Katz on cello and Carson Smith on bass – kind of a second-generation of Hamilton's group, with Horn taking over wonderfully from Buddy Collette, and playing with even more sensitivity than before. The work's very much in Hamilton's best sprightly chamber jazz mode – with some great originals that include "Chanel #5", "Beanstalk", "Mr. Jo Jones", and "Reflections" – plus Hamilton-ized versions of "Satin Doll", "Caravan", "Soft Winds", "Siete-Cuatro", "I Know", and "Lillian". LP, Vinyl record album

A really great take on the sound of the Pacific – a set that mixes together the growing electro instrumental world of Japan in the late 70s, with some of the breezier styles put forth in older Hawaiian and island music too! The music is a nice instrumental extrapolation of ideas that Haruomi Hosono had been exploring on his own solo albums – but is more open and spare overall, with a strong focus on keyboard bits, guitar lines, and the dreamier overall sound of the record. Effects are used alongside Fender Rhodes, Korg Polyphonic, and other keyboards – and the record has a very dreamy sound overall. LP, Vinyl record album

Warm 70s soul from Pacific Express – a South African group, but one who maybe have more of a west coast American vibe than you might expect! The music here is really well put-together – maybe on the more soulful side of the AOR spectrum, but without any of the too-polished modes you'd get on a major label – just a strong focus on tuneful instrumentation and rock-solid hooks on most of the tunes! There's plenty of jazzy instrumentation in the mix – including nice use of Fender Rhodes, and some work on tenor sax by South African jazz legend Basil Coetzee – on titles that include "I Hear Music", "Dream", "Give A Little Love", "Saturday Night", "Angel Of Love", "We Got A Good Thing Going On", "The Way It Used To Be", and "Reaching Out For Your Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A jazz soundtrack double-header – one that features both the small combo and larger band version of the soundtrack to The Sweet Smell Of Success! The first half of the CD features the Chico Hamilton Quintet's album of music – a wonderful bit of cinematic jazz from the 50s. The combo was a key part of the LA scene at the time, but are oddly featured as a regular club act in the movie's New York setting – but we'll gladly forgive that geographic error, given that the music on the set is so great. The quality's a bit like some of the Hamilton Quintet work on World Pacific – but there's a slightly freer, more urgent feel here too – work that's sometimes somewhat driving, and beautifully blended from the guitar of John Pisano, clarinet of Paul Horn, cello of Fred Katz, piano of Carson Smith, and drums from Chico. Side one features a lot of short incidental cuts – like "Susan", "Cheek To Chico", "Jam", and "Night Beat" – and side 2 is an extended "Concerto Of Jazz Themes From The Soundtrack Of Sweet Smell Of Success". The second half of the CD features the full orchestral version of the Sweet Smell Of Success soundtrack – but done in a style that's almost as jazzy and swinging as the small combo one! Elmer Bernstein's at the helm here – and the music's a wonderful pastiche of modes that's right up there with his sublime score for The Man With The Golden Arm – done in a similar blend of driving jazz, somber moments, and some slightly more raucous touches! As with that album, the players are all great – and soloists on the album include Pete Candoli, Ted Nash, and Shelly Manne – west coast players despite the New York setting of the film, and playing here with a fair bit of grit in their groove. Titles include "The Street", "Hot Dogs & Juice", "Toots Shor's Blues", "Nite Spot Rock", "Love Scene", and "Out Of Darkness". CD

A groundbreaking record that was done as something of a gimmick in the late 60s – but which has gone on to be a funky world classic over the years! Producer Alan Lorber was trying to cash in on the big love of "Eastern" styles in the late 60s – sitars, meditation, yoga, and other elements borrowed from the other side of the Pacific – but in putting the session together, he actually knocked it out of the park – and created a mix of jazz, funk, and Indian elements that's right up there with some of the more serious projects of the time! Part of the strength of the record is the lineup – as Colin Wolcott plays tablas, years before his own jazz/Indian experiments in the 70s – alongside Vincent Bell on sitar, and Jerome Richardson on flute and tenor – both great jazz players who really make the whole thing shine. The album contains the sitar version of "Up, Up and Away" that's one of the all time eastern kitschy classics from the 60s – and it's also got loads of other great tracks, like spooky versions of "The Look of Love" and "Mas Que Nada", plus some very groovy originals like "The Flute Thing" and "Djellaba". LP also features unissued bonus tracks – "Echo Of The Night", "Where (version 2)", "I Heard The Rain", and "Serpent & The Hawk". LP, Vinyl record album

The sounds here aren't that unusual at all – and in fact, they're mostly pretty darn groovy – a superb selection of sound library funk from the glory days of the European scene – collected here together in support of the book of the same name! In case you're new to the scene – the Euro sound library world of the 60s and 70s was a place where extremely creative musicians could come together and create their own sort of grooves without a worry for placement on the record charts – as most of these cuts were locked in the vaults, then licensed briefly for use on radio, TV, or commercials – which led to a few of these gems getting some famous, but anonymous play on classic cop or crime shows at the time. The compilation brings together some of the best examples of this scene – loads of cuts that have been our favorites over the years – a whopping 20 tracks that include "Half Forgotten Daydreams" by John Cameron, "Funky Fanfare" by Keith Mansfield, "Weeping Eelgrass" by Mladen Franko, "Mild Maniac" by Peter Patzer, "Dream Number Two" by Roland Hollinger, "Soft Wind" by Gary Pacific Orchestra, "Tropicola" by Stringtronics, "Survivor" by Klaus Weiss, "La Dimonstrazione" by Daniele Patucchi, "Feeling Tense" by Stefano Torossi, "Xenos Cosmos" by Janko Nilovic, "Night Breeze" by Franco Micalizzi, and "Fancy Good" by Electric Machine. LP, Vinyl record album

The sounds here aren't that unusual at all – and in fact, they're mostly pretty darn groovy – a superb selection of sound library funk from the glory days of the European scene – collected here together in support of the book of the same name! In case you're new to the scene – the Euro sound library world of the 60s and 70s was a place where extremely creative musicians could come together and create their own sort of grooves without a worry for placement on the record charts – as most of these cuts were locked in the vaults, then licensed briefly for use on radio, TV, or commercials – which led to a few of these gems getting some famous, but anonymous play on classic cop or crime shows at the time. The compilation brings together some of the best examples of this scene – loads of cuts that have been our favorites over the years – a whopping 20 tracks that include "Half Forgotten Daydreams" by John Cameron, "Funky Fanfare" by Keith Mansfield, "Weeping Eelgrass" by Mladen Franko, "Mild Maniac" by Peter Patzer, "Dream Number Two" by Roland Hollinger, "Soft Wind" by Gary Pacific Orchestra, "Tropicola" by Stringtronics, "Survivor" by Klaus Weiss, "La Dimonstrazione" by Daniele Patucchi, "Feeling Tense" by Stefano Torossi, "Xenos Cosmos" by Janko Nilovic, "Night Breeze" by Franco Micalizzi, and "Fancy Good" by Electric Machine. LP, Vinyl record album

Vintage live work from Bud Shank – material recorded right around the same time as his classic quartet albums on Pacific Jazz, but with a more freewheeling sort of sound! The group here are all familiar from the studio albums – Claude Williamson on piano, Don Prell on bass, and Chuck Flores on drums – but the overall style here is more focused on Shank's solos, which stretch out in a more unfettered way than we might have expected – really getting a nice edge on the numbers with alto sax! Titles include a great exotic take on "Out Of This World", done with really great flute – plus "Lover Man", "Ambassador Blues", "I Heard You Cried Last Night", and "How About You". CD