The Bedevilled Aka Sum Moh (1975) Wei Lo, Reiko Ike, Chun Hsiung Ko, James Tien

Doug Sahm once sang, "You just can't live in Texas if you don't have a lot of soul," and, as a proud son of the Lone Star state, he seemed bent on proving that every time he stepped in front of a microphone. Whether he was playing roots rock, garage punk, blues, country, norteño, or (as was often the case) something that mixed up several of the above-mentioned ingredients, Doug Sahm always sounded like Doug Sahm – a little wild, a little loose, but always good company, and a guy with a whole lot of soul who knew a lot of musicians upon whom the same praise could be bestowed. Pulling together a single disc compilation that would make sense of the length and breadth of the artist's recording career (which spanned five decades) would be just about impossible (the licensing hassles involved with the many labels involved would probably scotch such a project anyway), but this disc, which boasts 22 songs recorded over the course of eight years, is a pretty good starter for anyone wanting to get to know Sahm's music.

During the 1970s, Roy Eldridge had a regular gig at Jimmy Ryan's in New York playing music that fell between swing and Dixieland. For this Pablo LP, he sought to play a program with his regular group (Joe Muranyi on clarinet and soprano, trombonist Bobby Pratt, pianist Dick Katz, bassist Major Holley and drummer Eddie Locke) that, although recorded in the studio, would sound like one of the Jimmy Ryan sets. So, in addition to such standards as "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "All of Me," Eldridge also performs (and takes occasional vocals on) some older tunes like "St. James Infirmary," "Beale Street Blues" and "Bourbon Street Parade." The music is quite joyful and spirited, with Eldridge in exuberant form.

Although it's only his debut record, American Music reveals Danny Gatton to already be an innovative and supremely gifted guitarist; here he tackles a sprawling range of music, moving easily from rockabilly to jazz to blues.

The final installment completing the entirety of Buck Owens’ historical Capitol singles.

In the early 1970s, as many jazz musicians looked directly to Africa for rhythms and inspiration, a group of students from Antioch College pushed even further, creating music that was so overtly African, you would have thought it was coming direct from Kenya or Senegal, not a small liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

For roughly half a decade, from 1968 through 1975, the Band was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world, their music embraced by critics (and, to a somewhat lesser degree, the public) as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Their albums were analyzed and reviewed as intensely as any records by their one-time employer and sometime mentor Bob Dylan. Although the Band retired from touring after The Last Waltz and disbanded several years later, their legacy thrived for decades, perpetuated by the bandmates' respective solo careers as well as the enduring strength of the Band's catalog…

Altoist Bud Shank (who doubles on flute) and acoustic guitarist Laurindo Almeida first teamed up in 1954 to make a couple of albums called Brazilliance that hinted at but greatly predated bossa nova. Shank and Almeida came together 20 years later to form the L.A. Four, a quartet also including bassist Ray Brown and drummer Shelly Manne. Their debut recording as a unit was made at the 1974 Concord Jazz Festival, and it finds the appealing musicians blending together well on bossa nova tunes (including "Manha de Carnaval"), Almeida's classical-oriented originals, and some swing. This was a particularly inventive chamber jazz band.