These 14 tracks lean heavily on the earliest phase of Santana. Nine of them, in fact, were recorded prior to 1972, and just one postdates 1978. As 1969-71 was Santana's most vital period, however, that's no cause for complaint, and indeed the later cuts really pale in comparison. For someone who wants a little more than a greatest hits collection but wants to stop after two volumes, this is good enough, with first-rate items like "Persuasion," "Se Acabo," and "Guajira." Nothing here is rare, and note that the versions of "Black Magic Woman" and "Europa" are live ones.

First reissue of Bobby Hutton's 1973 LP "Piece of the Action". This special release includes bonus tracks on the CD, featuring everything Hutton recorded between 1969 and 1974, all meticulously remastered from the original master tapes. Additionally, two 7” reissues are also available, providing further gems from his catalogue.

"Good Life" is the first new album from Rockie Robbins in 24 years. He recorded for A&M and MCA records in his heyday with US national hit "You And Me". This new album reunites Rockie with producer Ricky Peterson (George Benson, Chaka Khan, Rosie Gaines) with smooth and funky soul grooves his fans will love.

The Paradise Projex; a music project started and developed by Music Director musician, songwriter, producer Phil Edwards, co-founder of 80s group Paradise (“One Mind, Two Hearts”) from London. “I Am You” is a creative venture with inclusive approach. The message is simple, music has the power to unite minds across the continents, cultures, generations and decades. It features the digital single “Here & Now” (former No.1 UK Soul Breakers chart) and 7” vinyl release of two brand new songs “Magic Night” and “Someone Like You”. Guest vocalists include Judy La Rose, Everett Peters, Charlotte Kelly, Lee Callaghan, Emma Callaghan.

The first solo release from Breeze McKrieth, known for his work over many years with Light Of The World, Beggar & Co and The Brit Funk Association. Highly regarded for his unique style of rhythm guitar playing, the album focuses more on his lead guitar. With influences taken from bands like Caldera, Crusaders and Santana, Breeze embellishes the music, much of which are his own composition, in a style that shows his affinity with his instrument. Joined on the album by many of his stalwart fellow musicians through the years there are many surprises throughout. As well as long time friends and colleagues David Baptiste, saxophone, Kenny Wellington, trumpet and flugelhorn there is great contribution by Toby Baker, Peter Hinds and Luismi Valles on keyboards, Pat Clahar on saxophone, Rolando Domingo, trumpet, Camelle Hinds, Ernie McKone, bass and Billy Osborne on drums. The songs show a different side to the music usually associated with Breeze and are clearly chosen on a more personal and introspective level, as showcased in tracks like ‘Return To Valencia’ and This Is Paradise’. The cover versions in the main are interpreted in different ways to the original version and crafted in a manner befitting the direction of the album.

Charting Island’s rise from its very origins in to the modern age, War Ina Babylon not only provides a fascinating insight into the changing sound of Jamaican music over the past 40 years, but also brings together some of the greatest ska, rock steady and reggae recordings of all time.

Sandra Feva may be an unfamiliar name to those who didn't follow indie soul scene in the early 80s, but she certainly was not unknown to real soul enthusiasts at the time. On the contrary, it seemed that every connoisseur rated her very high, and compared her to Gladys Knight, Betty Wright, Margie Joseph and other songstresses of the same calibre. Fellow Soul Express scribe Heikki Suosalo wrote in early 1983 that he "hasn't heard a better album by a female singer this decade", John Abbey in Blues & Soul considered Sandra on a par with Gladys, and Clive Richardson cites in the liner notes of this reissue release that "here was a new voice to match the newly-solo Gladys Knight and the vibrant Patti LaBelle".

"Songs For Evolution" the only album recorded by the group Anglo-Saxon Brown, considered a much sought-after collectable LP among rare groove music buyers and DJs alike. An expanded edition with one bonus track (the lone 1976 single, "Straighten It Out" released by Atlantic), "Songs For Evolution" was produced & mostly written by the Philadelphia team of Joseph Jefferson & Charles Simmons, who had penned a number of classic ‘70s hits for the Spinners including "Games People Play," "Mighty Love" and "Love Don’t Love Nobody") and recorded at famed Sigma Sound studios in Philly with string arrangements by Jack Faith, featuring the Don Renaldo Strings along with guitarist Bobby Eli. An accomplished ten member band based in Richmond, Virginia.

Absolute glorious collection of Mellow Soul, Jazz & Funk tunes. Well put together compilation CD from Sony music Japan, features George Duke, Mtume, Webster Lewis, Pattie Labelle, & Alphonso Johnson. Essential collection for any soul music fan.

War Ina Babylon is the 1976 album by Max Romeo & The Upsetters. It was produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry, whose band backed up Romeo for this recording. This is the 2004 Limited Edition, Numbered, Reissue, Remastered, Digipak Edition.

In fact this is the most complete and most symphonic album by Dutch band Finch from the Hague. Unfortunately there had been this dramatic turn of the tide in which Punk rock flushed away all good music without having been carefully listened to. This appeared to be fatal for a quality band like Finch and "The Galleons Of Passion" sadly sunk away in an ocean of musical oblivion. True progfans however should certainly check out this album, because it shows Finch at their best.

Legendary artist Alicia Keys has just announced she will be releasing a deluxe edition of her latest album “Keys” called “Keys II”. The updated version of the album will release on August 12th and will include two new songs featuring Brent Faiyaz and Lucky Daye respectively. The deluxe edition will also feature two remixes of the superstar’s hit song “In Common” which has never appeared on an album previously.

Few singers have possessed a baritone as rich and comforting as that of Bill Withers. Even smaller in number are the songwriters who have shared the West Virginian's natural ability to articulate a comprehensive range of emotions and perspectives – jubilation and gratitude, jealousy, and spite – with maximal levels of conviction and concision. Late to arrive, the everyman R&B paragon had just turned 33 when "Ain't No Sunshine," the unfading ballad off Just as I Am (1971), made him a sudden and unlikely success story, within one year an aircraft mechanic-turned-million-selling, Grammy-winning artist. Through the next ten years, Withers continued to meld soul, gospel, folk, and funk with rare finesse. He collected more gold singles with "Lean on Me" and "Use Me," both off the similarly successful Still Bill (1972), reached the same height with Menagerie (1977), led by "Lovely Day," and was handed a second Grammy for "Just the Two of Us" (1981), his collaboration with Grover Washington, Jr. Early to leave, Withers made his last statement with Watching You Watching Me (1985), closing a songbook that has served as a bountiful resource for artists from a multitude of stylistic persuasions. Given his flowers before his death at the age of 81, Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Before becoming a bandleader, pianist/organist/composer Lonnie Liston Smith made essential contributions to important recordings by Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri, and Miles Davis. After founding the Cosmic Echoes, he issued six influential electric albums for Flying Dutchman between 1973 and 1977 – including Astral Traveling and Visions of a New World – that established him as a jazz-funk innovator. Between 1978 and 1980, his four Columbia outings – including Exotic Mysteries and Love Is the Answer – consciously stitched together funk, disco, and smooth jazz. After a spiritual awakening, Smith spent the next two decades recording for Dr. Jazz and Startrak Records, through 1998's Transformation. Following that, he turned to session work for 25 years. He started recording under his own name again with Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge on 2023's Lonnie Liston Smith JID017.

The tragic death of 31-year-old Minnie Riperton in 1979 silenced one of soul music's most unique and unforgettable voices. Blessed with an angelic five-octave vocal range, she scored her greatest commercial success with the chart-topping pop ballad "Lovin' You." Riperton was born in Chicago on November 8, 1947. As a youth she studied music, drama, and dance at the city's Abraham Lincoln Center and later contemplated a career in opera. Her pop career began in 1961 when she joined a local group called the Gems, signing to the famed Chess label to release a handful of singles as well as lend backing vocals to acts including Fontella Bass, the Dells, and Etta James. After graduating high school, Riperton went to work at Chess as a receptionist. Following the Gems' dissolution, she also signed with the label as a solo act, releasing a single, "Lonely Girl," under the alias Andrea Davis.