Gloria Gaynor Experience (1975) [P Vine Records Pcd 7259, Japan]

Lonnie Smith - Afro-Desia (1975) {P-Vine Records Japan PCD-18728}
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© 1975, 2013 P-Vine Records | PCD-18728
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Fusion

Hopefully this is is not your first sample of Mr. Smith's incredible skills on the keys. Having many other choices for the palatte, I'd recommend his earlier works as a start. If this is your introductory taste, then you're probably unsure of where to place the priority in your future purchases of Lonnie's music. Afrodesia was not my initial introduction, but was my first purchase of his, and I was unsure exactly what to think.

Arnett Cobb - Chittlin' Shout (1971) {Japan P-Vine Records PCD-22214 rel 2005}
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© 1971, 2005 P-Vine Records | PCD-22214
Jazz / Jazz Blues / Soul Jazz / Saxophone

A stomping Texas tenor player in the tradition of Illinois Jacquet, Arnett Cobb's accessible playing was between swing and early rhythm blues. Cobb emerged in the big leagues by succeeding Illinois Jacquet with Lionel Hampton's Orchestra (1942-1947). After leaving the band, Cobb formed his own group, but his initial success was interrupted in 1948, when he had to undergo an operation on his spine. After recovering, he resumed touring. But a major car accident in 1956 crushed Cobb's legs and he had to use crutches for the rest of his life. However, by 1959, he returned to active playing and recording. Cobb spent most of the 1960s leading bands back in Texas, but starting in 1973, he toured and recorded more extensively.

Billy Wooten & Richard "Groove" Holmes - The Place To Start (2013) {P-Vine Records PCD-93740 rec 1986}
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© 1986, 2013 Billy Wooten / P-Vine Records | PCD-93740
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Vibes / Hammond Organ B-3

A lost chapter of genius from vibes player Billy Wooten – and a great one too! The set's a rare outing with Hammond giant Groove Holmes – laid out nicely here in a quartet setting that offers up plenty of Billy's great vibes mixed with the organ – in a mode that's very different than anything else Wooten ever recorded, and which really takes us back to the best soul jazz years of 60s Prestige Records! The group also features great tenor from Jimmy Coe – a player we don't really know at all – and drums from Jozell Carter, who works nicely with the rhythms from Holmes' work on the Hammond. Titles include "Blue Bossa", "Bags", "Groove's Blues", "It's A Groove Thing", and "I Remember April."

Chino Amobi - Airport Music For Black Folk (2016) {P-Vine Records Japan - PCD-24604}
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© 2016 NON Worldwide / P-Vine Records Japan | PCD-24604
Electronic / Experimental / Ambient

NON co-founder Chino Amobi heads up one of the label collective’s definitive releases, Airport Music For Black Folk; presenting his radical perspective on contemporary electronic music and his impressions of “the airport as an international space and yet a totally Eurocentric & Western manicured experience.” The title is an obvious, punning reference to Brain Eno’s classic ambient cornerstone, Music For Airports, but takes on greater meaning when filtered thru Amobi’s personal cultural coordinates, cannily incorporating his stance as a first-generation Nigerian who grew up in Virginia, US of A, as well as that of a convention-challenging and highly critical artist boldly holding a mirror up to western, white privilege.

The Helpful Soul - The Helpful Soul First Album (1969) {P-Vine Records Japan PCD-1532 rel 1996}
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© 1969, 1996 Victor / P-Vine Records Japan | PCD-1532
Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Blues Rock

Post here the group's second album, curiously titled First Album. 7 tracks bring great heavy psychedelic blues, acid and very stoned, getting clear influences of bands like Cream and Hendrix, some covers are present, as You Got Me Floatin' and Spoonful . Some good and long jams can be heard, highlight for noisy guitar and "nervous" drums, tracks as "Peace for Fools" , "Spoonful" and also "Crossroads" deserve to be heard with more attention, all the lyrics are in English .
Pearl of high quality, highly recommended for those who enjoy heavy acid blues.

Walter Bishop Jr. - Coral Keys (1971) {P-Vine Records Japan, Paper Sleeve PCD-22087 rel 2005}
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© 1971, 2005 Black Jazz Records / P-Vine Records Japan | PCD-22087
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Music / Piano

It was a dark day for jazz in early 1998 when a fatal heart attack cut down 70-year-old pianist Walter Bishop, Jr. He had been one of the premier pianists in jazz for several decades, as his many colleagues knew so well. But Bishop was often overlooked by the jazz public and press in his lifetime, and, in the years since his demise, his music continues to be neglected. One hopes the reappearance of Coral Keys will generate wide interest.

Lonnie Smith - Funk Reaction (1977) {P-Vine Records Japan PCD-18725 rel 2013}
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© 1977, 2013 LRC / P-Vine Records Japan | PCD-18725
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Fusion

A sweet 70s groover from the great Lonnie Smith – a soulful little session that has the keyboardist really stretching out in some great ways! At the time, Smith fares a lot better than some of his late 60s jazz organ contemporaries – as he's got a great lean style, perfect for the decade's increasing use of electric keyboards and larger backings! This set's a great example of that style – as Smith moves way from his 60s soul jazz roots, into the soaring blend of jazz, funk, and soul that you'd also hear on Johnny Hammond albums of the time – almost more soul than jazz, given the presence of vocals on some cuts – but still always with more than enough room for the leader to stretch out and solo. Backings are nice and tight – and handled by Brad Baker (of B Baker Chocolate Company fame).

Although 1979's "I Will Survive" is Gloria Gaynor's most famous recording, it was hardly her first. In 1975, the singer established herself as one of disco's early divas with her debut album Never Can Say Goodbye, which dance club DJs went wild over. With side one of this LP, Gaynor helped to popularize the art of the nonstop dance mix, a concept that was still alive and well when the 21st century arrived 25 years later. There are no breaks between songs on side one; the intoxicating opener "Honey Bee" segues into Gaynor's hit remake of "Never Can Say Goodbye" and that Clifton Davis gem (which had been recorded by the Jackson 5 and Isaac Hayes in the early '70s) segues into a stunning interpretation of the Four Tops' "Reach Out, I'll Be There." Put those three gems together and you have a nonstop 19-minute dance mix that thrilled the club DJs of 1975 to no end. Meanwhile, side two isn't as club-driven; all of the songs are under four minutes, and there are breaks between them. In other words, side two is more typical of R&B LPs from the mid-'70s.

The elusive Chicago harpist's one and only full-length album, originally issued on Steve Wisner's short-lived Mr. Blues logo and later picked up by Rooster Blues (but not available on CD as yet). Cut in 1975, this set shows that Charles never left the 1950s stylistically – backed by a nails-tough combo, he pays tribute to both Sonny Boys and his ex-boss Jimmy Rogers while betraying more than a hint of Little Walter influence.

Charles Kynard - Your Mama Don't Dance (1973) {Mainstream-P-Vine PCD-23933 rel 2007}
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© 1973, 2007 Mainstream Records / P-Vine Records | PCD-23933
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Organ Hammond B-3

Recorded in 1973 for Bob Shad's Mainstream label, the cast for the album is a dream ticket who's-who of funky cats: as well as Kynard himself, there's bass-meister Chuck Rainey, who I grew to know and love through his work with Steely Dan (check his nifty bass solo here on 'So Much Trouble'), guitarist Arthur Adams (wicked throughout, you gotta love his volume knob-twiddlin' solo on 'Superstition'!), and groove assassins Paul Humphreys and Ray Pounds on kit. Dunno which of the two drummers played on which tunes, but the slinky grooves of 'Mama Jive' and 'Zambezi' are pure rhythmic pleasure, and I love the buzz rolls at the end of 'Summer Breeze'. There's some fulsome horn charts too, courtesy of Richard Fritz, which lean towards soundtrack/big band vibes in places, with unison figures, stabs, punches and the like, kind of karate horns if you will.