orlando julius -- super afro soul

orlando throws down with the afrosounders and the modern aces. some time back i heard a track or two of his from a compilation of stuff out of lagos in the '70s. thanks to whoever it was put that dynamite up.

warm up first.

ray barretto -- eye of the beholder

with help from joe sample and studio luminaries. ray lights the fusion.

big black and his congregation -- if you're diggin' what you're doin' keep on doin' what you're diggin'

with joko t ninie wu, cucumalou, and chuka devi on special effects, sargeant sonny and albert ingrum on guitar, ron "organic n****r" johnson on bass, gary raider alexander on timbales, john boudreaux on trap drums, doug carns on organ, bill henderson and his violin trio. dope.

bill withers -- two

two of my favorite bill withers records. there is something uniquely satisfying about this guy, for me anyway. the music is fantastic but there is a countryfied emotional quality to these songs that i cannot compare to anything else. bill is the man.

the meters -- struttin'

the funky meters doin' the thing while wearing some striped bell bottoms. produced by allen toussaint.

the brothers johnson -- right on time

strawberry letter 23 and brother man stand out for me, but this is a strong effort produced and arranged by quincy "i am jazz" jones. with wayne vaughn, kenny pickens, george johnson, alex weir, richard heath, louis johnson, ray brown, marc johnson, and ricky lawson.

bernard purdie -- shaft

pretty purdie laying it down with gerry thomas, danny moore, charlie brown, willy bridges, neal creque, billy nichols, gordon edwards, norman pride, houston person, and lloyd davis.

DAVE PELL -- I HAD THE CRAZIEST DREAM

Great west coast stuff from my collection. Pretty rare, pretty swinging. Hope you like it.

agostinho do santos -- vanguarda

some cool swinging bossa by agostinho. mix up a few caipirinas and give it a spin.

george benson -- the george benson cookbook

sure enough cooking with gas here. with lonnie smith, benny green, ronnie cuber, jimmy lovelace and marion booker.

george benson -- bad benson

george doing his thing.

gladys knight and the pips -- anthology

these guys are good. some solid tracks in here

gladys knight and the pips -- claudine soundtrack

not that you would need me to tell you once you heard it, but this stuff is written and produced by curtis mayfield. ms knight and the pips getting a little deeper than usual. kind of makes you wonder if pushed, they might cut you up. pretty cool.

gladys knight and the pips -- imagination

gladys and the pips singing some of their many hits.

miles davis and gil evans -- quiet nights

classico.

george freeman -- new improved funk

this is, in fact, funkified. with von freeman sax, john young piano, leroy jackson bass, bob guthrie or marion booker drums, bobby blevins organ.

bayete` (todd cochran) -- worlds around the sun

never heard of this guy, but this is a pretty solid effort. features bobby hutcherson, mulobo, james leary lll, oscar brashear, thabo vincar, mganda, wayne wallace, hadley caliman.

groove merchant sampler

has tracks by organ players like groove holmes and mcgriff, also lucky thompson, basie, levy, corea, etc. pretty good batch.

all i got

sort it out.

taj mahal -- the natch'l blues

i really like this record. check into it.

dave bailey sextet -- gettin' into somethin'

i could do without the spoken intro before each track, however: nice lineup, nice sides. recorded live someplace, no information given. clark terry, curtis fuller, charlie rouse, horace parlan, and peck morrison.

fafa lemos -- trio do fafa

i love this guy. i ripped this and sent it to zeca after his links were killed, but he don't seem to want it. a little crisp, but still sounds fantastic. dope. no credits.

little feat -- waiting for columbus

i posted this elsewhere not that long ago, but here i am listening to it once again. finer than fine, a perfect double album. dig it or don't. i could give a rat's ass.

astor piazzolla -- tango en hi-fi

hi-fi might be a bit of a stretch for this one on music hall records, but a little crispyness aside another typically great effort from astor. i like the cover too.
elvino vardaro plays violin, jaime gosis plays piano, jose bragato plays mean cello, juan vasallo bass and jorge sobral on the voice.

cal tjader -- latin kick

these guys never quit. with manuel duran, carlos duran, luis miranda, bayardo velarde, and brew moore.

cal tjader -- concert on the campus

cal and the lads roasting the campus area in san jose and sacramento circa 1959. with lonnie hewitt, eddie coleman, willie bobo, and mongo santamaria.

willie colon -- cosa nuestra

willie threw down a monster here. some say this one was instrumental in the formation of the new york sound; i don't know how it fits into the timeline but if you don't know what the 'new york sound' is, here is a good place to start. hector lavoe does the vocals, johnny pacheco and jerry masucci direct and produce respectively. no other credits.

cal tjader -- demasiado caliente

hot chamingas. the small band was recorded at the blackhawk in san francisco with willie bobo, mongo santamaria, jose lozano, lonnie hewitt, and victor villegas. the large band was assembled in LA by eddie cano and has all mckibbon on bass and no other credits.

cal tjader plays mambo

early latino cal. three sessions with a baseline of manual duran on piano, bayardo velarde timbales, carlos duran bass, edgard rosales conga. on four tracks add woody herman's third herd trumpet section: al porcino, dick collins, charlie walp, and john howell. on four luis miranda replaces rosales.

joe strummer and the mescaleros -- global a go-go

i can't remember who it was that posted streetcore, but i have been digging it. so has the wife. bought this today and have to say i am digging it also. these guys had it going on. i am too drunk to read the liner notes, but this is some first rate stuff. check into it; buy it if you like. i did.

three for bacoso

cal and eddie just tearing it up. creed taylor, claus ogerman, and rudy van g oversee cal and eddie with george castro, tommy lopez, manny oquendo, ismael quintana, jose rodrigues, mark weinstein, julian priester, bobby rodriguez, and barry rodgers. this is for the mighty bacoso.

















mongo funks it up. slips into a porno sountrack vibe occasionally, but absolutely rips too. lady marmalade for god's sake.
with justo almario, al williams, ray maldonado, greg peachy jarmon, armon donelian, william allen, steve barrios, roscoe mackey, bob porcelli, victor paz, tom malone, bernard pretty purdie, and paul griffin. a who's who of nyc studio luminaries.
















this was one of the first tjader records i bought after i had figured out how good he was. cool mambos with manuel duran on piano, carlos duran on bass, and edgard rosales on percussion. cal plays conga on mamblues, gourd on autumn leaves, and vibes on the rest.

mongo santamaria -- el pussy cat

with marty sheller on trumpet, hubert laws on flute and tenor, bobby capers on alto and baritone and flute, carmello garcia timbales and drums, rodger grant on piano, and victor venegas on bass.

hold on to your hat.