Sly

Jazz purists may turn up the nose at this jazz-reggae summit meeting, but that's their loss. It's not that they wouldn't have the right to be suspicious - experiments in jazz-reggae fusion do not have a distinguished history. But the combination of Jamaican-born jazz pianist Monty Alexander and reggae godfathers Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare works beautifully here for a number of reasons: first of all, Alexander is a gifted melodist with an unerring sense of groove (not always a given with jazz players), and second of all, Sly and Robbie emancipated themselves long ago from reggae's rhythmic strictures, so there's lots of variety on this album…

When Sly and The Family Stone were still taking us higher in 1973, their appearance on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert TV show also confirmed a new phase in their career. Appearing with the spin-off venture Little Sister, the collective muscle of the Family Stone provides a prized selection of songs spanning their past five albums and latest hit If You Want Me To Stay. This performance offers fans a rare treat for the ears, capturing the hallmark charisma and flamboyant presence of a legend. Rox Vox proudly presents the entire performance of Sly and The Family Stone, live on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert from 9th October 1973.

Released in 1970 during the stopgap between Stand! and There's a Riot Goin' On, Greatest Hits inadvertently arrived at precisely the right moment, summarizing Sly & the Family Stone's joyous hit-making run on the pop and R&B charts. Technically, only four songs here reached the Top Ten, with only two others hitting the Top 40, but judging this solely on charts is misleading, since this is simply a peerless singles collection.

Influenced by Serge Gainsbourg's dub album Aux Armes et Cætera, the seventh studio LP from Bob Sinclar, Made in Jamaica, was recorded in Kingston with legendary producers Sly & Robbie. Featuring old-skool reggae interpretations of his biggest hits "World Hold On," "I Feel for You," and "Love Generation" alongside nine other tracks lifted from four of his previous albums, it also includes new collaborations with Shaggy, Costi Ionita, and Queen Ifrica.

Erik Truffaz is a Swiss-born French contemporary jazz trumpeter, infusing elements of hip hop, rock and roll and dance music into his compositions. He signed with the French EMI label in 1996. Truffaz gained international attention with his second album on Blue Note, The Dawn, produced together with Pat Muller, Marcello Giuliani and Mark Erbetta.