Benita “Time For A Change” (Athens Of The North)
via AOTN: You probably don’t know this disco banger. There is about four or five known copies on 7″, and everyone who has a copy has been keeping it quiet. I first heard it from David Haffner about 4 years ago and had been after it since then. Time For …
Seaquence “Mix Faze” (1980, High Jazz)
via Juno: Seaquence was a short-lived Disco-Funk and Soul outfit from San Diego who only ever released one album via private press. That album, “Mix Faze”, has long been considered something of a slept-on classic amongst record collectors, so it’s little surprise to see it finally get the reissue treatment. …
Mankunku Quartet “Yakhal’ Inkomo” (1968, Jazzman)
via Various Sources: Recorded on 23 July, 1968 in the Johannesburg Studios of Manley Van Niekerk. This is the LP that every Jazz fan has been waiting for. Listen to it from side one to the last note on side two then you’ll agree that this is Jazz, dished out …
Dadawah “Peace & Love: Wadadasow” (1974, Dug Out)
A true Jamaican gem of a record. “Peace and Love” was Dadawah’s debut and remains his only album released under this artist name. It is a dark but deeply spiritual reggae LP (originally released in 1974 on Wild Flower) that shares hymns of Rastafarian love, nationality, and hope. Constructed with …
Dr. Mary Sullivan Bain “Do You Know Black History” (1985, Backatcha Records)
via Backatcha: A teacher by trade, Dr Mary Sullivan Bain recorded her musical works to be used as an educational and motivational tool in the Miami-Dade public school system she taught in. Dr Bain’s daughter Pruchelle explains, “She found a lot of children didn’t know anything about black history and …
George Mukabi “Furaha Wenye Gita” (Olvido / Raw Music / Mississippi Records)
via Olvido: An almost mythical figure of African acoustic guitar, George Mukabi’s reinvention of fingerstyle quickly spread from western Kenya throughout East Africa before his tragic death in 1963. Hailing from the Luhya-speaking Kisa Region, George Mukabi combined local elements of the nyatiti lyre and sukuti drum into the bouncing …
Sun Ra “Exotica” (1956–1968, Modern Harmonic)
Across the history of Jazz, there is no wilder, more future-forward composer and performer than Herman Poole Blount, aka Sun Ra. Known as much for his wild on-stage persona as his innovative compositions, Sun Ra was the avant-garde bleeding edge of the Jazz genre, introducing modal composition and electronic instrumentation …
Bernie Worell “All The Woo In The World” (1978, Tidal Waves Music)
When “All The Woo In The World” was originally released on Arista Records in 1978, it was thought to possibly be a cast-off Parliament-Funkadelic record that just happened to bear Bernie Worrell’s name, giving him a long overdue début release… which is not necessarily a bad thing. Trust. Anything from …
Michel Sardaby “Gail” (1974, World Seven)
By the time he recorded “Gail”, Michel Sardaby was already an established player on the European Jazz scene. Even before he set foot in Media Sound Studio in New York City in February ’75, the Martinique-born pianist had made a string of memorable guest appearances and released two well-regarded albums. …