Degiorgio

not strictly correct... Roy Ayers Ubiquity: S/T, has the bonus "He Gives Us All His Love" - previously available only on a rare promo 7".

just a heads up on my in-depth article on Herbie Hancock's Warner Bros period (1969-1972), in the latest issue of Wax Poetics magazine. enjoy! WAX POETICS ISSUE 29 KD

I love both these labels. Pretty much all the albums I have on either BJ or Tribe have at least a killer tune - usually more. My Black Jazz highlights would be: Walter Bishop Jr: Waltz for Zweetie, Coral Keys, Soul Turn Around, Keeper of My Soul, Soul Village Rudolph Johnson: Diswa, Little Daphne, Fonda Henry Franklin: Plastic Creek Stomp, Theme for Jojo Roland Haynes: Second Wave, Eglise, Aicelis both The Awakening albums are essential as are the Doug Carn's. There are a couple worth picking up just for individual tracks: Kelee Patterson for Maiden Voyage, Chester Thompson for the super bass heavy 'Powerhouse' and one of the rarer ones Calvin Keys for 'Shawn-Neeq' - beautiful mellow title track. Tribe albums that I love include Doug Hammomd's 'Reflections In the Sea of Nurnen' - the track Fidalgo Detour is killer - the Japanese CD issue also features a rare 7" only Tribe release called 'Kai'. Phil Ranelin's 'Message from the Tribe' and 'Vibes from the Tribe' are both essential. Marcus Belgrave's Gemini II is worth picking up for the killer tune 'Space Odyssey' and 'Glue Fingers Pt II' as is the Harold McKinney album Voices and Rhythms of the Creative Profile' for a crazy Moog workout 'In the Moog' and 'Ode to Africa'. Also worth checking is Mixed Bag 'First Album' - led by Detroit keyboardist Eddie Russ and features an early version of his fusion classic 'Zaius'.

Not only do I love Axelrod's productions for Cannonball Adderley, but his albums as leader for Capitol are amongst my very favourites. They are highly original, distinctive and unique. No wonder they have been plundered for samples - the combination of Earl Palmer's funk breaks and Carole Kaye's snaking basslines are a real winner. A nice touch of psychedelia with fuzz-guitar and vibrato-less strings. Song Of Innocence, Song Of Experience, Earth Rot and The Auction are all proof IMO that Axelrod does not stink... at all. I also highly rate 2 of his mid-70's albums: Seriously Deep (Polydor) and Heavy Axe (Fantasy).

I love Byrd's 'electric period' and think these albums are vastly underrated.. they are very lengthy compositions but rather than directionless I think of them as 'mood pieces' similar to the lengthy pieces on Miles' Bitches Brew , Big Fun, etc. If anything Byrd's 'electric' experiments are more overtly 'funk' than Miles'. I would say this brave period in Byrd's career starts with The Weasil on Fancy Free and continues thru the 2 sessions that make up Kofi, plus Electric Byrd and Ethiopian Knights.... everyone who knows my previous posts knows that I LOVE the Mizells production sound... so I also enjoy Black Byrd thru to Places & Spaces. I can dig even later Byrd - especially the Isaac Hayes produced stuff for Elektra - Love Has Come Around and Lovin' You were/are HUGE rare groove hits here in the UK.

yes, correct - Solid Air has already been remastered and has been available for a coupla years. and yes, I agree the Deluxe Edition of One World is pretty essential. Some nice alternative versions/live cuts and out-takes. KD

John Martyn's first 7 albums have been remastered and expanded in the Island Remaster series... 2 have been out a month, whilst 5 others are due out today... http://www.hillarby.freeserve.co.uk/hotnews.htm the remasters in this series sound superb... I'll be picking them up for sure... KD

"Original LPs of Mizell Brothers-produced albums are coveted among DJs and crate-diggers, and have been sampled by A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, De La Soul, Tupac, Pete Rock, and countless others." (from the Blue Note site...) infact - you'd be hard pushed to find a single Mizells produced album that hasn't been sampled.

I think his artistic judgement was fine teaming up with the Mizells. The Shadow Do.. remains a jazz-funk classic and has been sampled to death by TCQ and many other rap artists making it a hugely influential and relevant record today - which is more than can be said of many other 'jazz' albums of that period. "Bartz had better enjoy whatever benefits this sort of thing may bring him now, because there is no longevity in it" - way off the mark as I hear bits of this album today a lot more than I hear Bartz excellent early Milestone albums. The only problem I have with the album is Bartz' singing but you are clearly missing the whole uplifting nature of the Mizell's music if you can't get any enjoyment from 'Mother Nature', 'Gentle Smiles', etc. Donald Byrd, Bobbi Humphrey, Johnny Hammond, LTD, A Taste of Honey, Gary Bartz, Roger Glenn, Rance Allen Group - are all artists who made great albums with the Mizells. I love the way they strip down the jazz format and restrict artists to short solo's and work them into a format that for me is less pop but more 'funk' or 'RnB'. They must be amongst the most heavily sampled producers in music history after James Brown. Pioneers...

I love the Mizells sound... funky wah wah guitars, fender rhodes, arps, moogs, usually Harvey Mason on drums and those gorgeous vocal harmonies... for me they represent the peak of uplifting 70's soul-jazz-fusion... Johnny Hammond: Gambler's Life....

this is astonishing news... hope these get tapes get the treatment they deserve by whomever releases them. I have all the so called 'Deluxe Editions', 'Complete Quartet' etc, on Impulse! but would happily pay all over again for updated editions with these new found sessions included. KD

I have seen albums by this artist but never checked them out I'm afraid... KD

cool - i will look for that... Kirk

yeah - had plenty of email queries and requests to end the auction early...but I didn't get that much for my copy of Inner Glow which I reckon is much rarer than Oblique. Wish they'd re-issue that session too... KD