Patrick Mayfield

"Curtis" is the debut album by American soul musician Curtis Mayfield, released in September 1970. Produced by Mayfield, it was released on his own label Curtom Records. The musical styles of Curtis moved further away from the pop-soul sounds of Mayfield's previous group The Impressions and featured more of a funk and psychedelic-influenced sound. The album's subject matter incorporates political and social concerns of the time. "Curtis" sold well at the time charting at #1 on the Billboard Black albums (for five nonconsecutive weeks) and #19 on the Billboard Pop albums charts. Only the single "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" charted in the United States; however, an edited version of "Move On Up" would spend 10 weeks in the top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.

100 All Time Classic Dance Hits Of The 1970s, a Various Artists Compilation. Released 1988 on Connoisseur Collection.

100 All Time Classic Dance Hits Of The 1970s, a Various Artists Compilation. Released 1988 on Connoisseur Collection.

As one of the most popular California pop/rock bands of the '70s, the Doobie Brothers evolved from a mellow, post-hippie boogie band to a slick, soul-inflected pop band by the end of the decade. Along the way, the group racked up a string of gold and platinum albums in the U.S., along with a number of radio hits like "Listen to the Music," "Black Water," and "China Grove." The roots of the Doobie Brothers lie in Pud, a short-lived California country-rock band in the vein of Moby Grape featuring guitarist/vocalist Tom Johnston and drummer John Hartman.

Between May 17 and 25, 1962, Ray Charles, “The Genius”, returned to Paris for a series of memorable concerts. And he was at his peak, fronting his big band and accompanied by his Raelets led by a dazzling Margie Hendrix. This 3CD set prepared by Joël Dufour with the help of Michel Brillié and Gilles Pétard contains previously unreleased material and bonus tracks that include recordings made in Ray’s own studio, where he plays piano alongside his favourite artists, Percy Mayfield and Louis Jordan. And this set has a must: “Blue Stone” is a great instrumental with Ray playing alto, but he never recorded it in a studio. And you can listen to it here! Patrick FRÉMEAUX

As one of the most popular California pop/rock bands of the '70s, The Doobie Brothers evolved from a mellow, post-hippie boogie band to a slick, soul-inflected pop band by the end of the decade. Along the way, the group racked up a string of gold and platinum albums in the U.S., along with a number of radio hits like "Listen to the Music", "Black Water", and "China Grove".

Perception Productions, a New York based label that ran from the late 60s through until 1974, was a strangely eclectic affair. Its roster stretched from a radical Afro-American poet through to the pop band King Harvest whose hit ‘Dancing In The Moonlight’ became a massive hit for the UK band Toploader a couple of decades later. The inbetween points covered jazz, funk, vocal harmony soul and proto-disco. In fact distilled down into this compilation the label provides us a view of Manhattan’s black music scene of the period, from the established greats to the fresh young things who would make their mark in the coming years. The two men who ran the label, President Terry Phillips and Boo Frazier burned brightly for that half a decade before almost entirely disappearing from the music scene.

Years before she toured the world alongside Alicia Keys, wrote songs with John Legend, belted the Southern rhythm and blues with Muddy Magnolias and kicked off a solo career with 2019’s Phase, Jessy Wilson grew up in Brooklyn, listening to the diverse sounds that filled her family’s apartment.