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.