Born and raised in Philadelphia, Grammy Award winner BILLY PAUL began singing at the age of 12 and sometimes performed on local radio shows. Drawing inspiration from his family's collection of 78's, Paul would incorporate Jazz, R&B and Pop into his style, resulting in a unique sound that became synonymous with Philadelphia International Records throughout the 1970's. Billy became well known on his local circuit, singing in clubs and later around college campuses all over the country, which later led to him performing live with some of the biggest names in black music of the 60's and 70's including Dinah Washington, Miles Davis, Nina Simone and Roberta Flack to name a few.
Loleatta Holloway was a dance music legend. Her amazing vocal talents gained her the reputation as one of the premier vocalists of soul and dance music during the 70’s and 80’s. Holloway started her singing career with Queen of Gospel, Albertina Walker (and her Caravans) before striking out on her own. She released her first single "Rainbow ‘71” on the fledgling Apache label before moving to Aware to record her first two albums prior to her work with Gold Mind/Salsoul.
In the early '90s, Sony issued a CD combining the two albums it made in 1969 and 1971 with "classicist at heart" street musician Louis Hardin, better known as Moondog. The Sony reissue arrived at a time when interest in Moondog was at an all-time low, as he had lived in Germany for two decades and his popular first Columbia album had been out of print nearly half that time; the second album was so obscure it barely survived its initial release. It is nice to have these two available again, and as both albums were short to start with, both made for CBS, and both produced by James William Guercio, it is only natural that they should be combined onto one CD.
Award-winning San Diego power rock band EARTHLESS has completed work on its brand new album From the Ages. The first new studio album from the globally celebrated trio since the release of 2007′s critically acclaimed Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky, the LP was recorded in San Francisco with producer Phil Manley (Trans Am, The Fucking Champs, SubArachnoid Space). An hour-long double LP, From the Ages will see an October 8 release date via Tee Pee Records.
This difficult to find recording is worth the search; it contains some of the finest recorded work of Al Haig's enigmatic career. Haig was an important figure in the early development of bebop piano and can be heard as a sideman on many seminal recordings from the 1940s, including Salt Peanuts and Hot House. His refined classical technique was relatively unique at the time, and he was admired as a superb accompanist. Between the mid-'50s and the early 1970s there is a curiously large gap in his recorded output evidently due to personal problems. In fact, Al Haig Today! appears to be his only release as a leader during the '60s.
The one astounding studio album of proto punk/abrasive psych genius from the Monks – a true masterpiece if their ever was one, a record that's been ripped off by myriad more famous groups in both the mainstream and rock underground of the past 40 years! The group's status as discharged G.I.'s informs some of spewed vitriol, but beyond that there's little connection to any trends or scenes, the Monks are true originals in a world of imitators, and that adds a layer of excitement to an already mind blowing listen.
The 1962 live engagement at the Village Gate marked Sonny Rollins’ first recording ever with Don Cherry, as well as one of th earliest made by the saxophonist following his three-year long selfimposed musical exile. It was all recorded in a piano-less quartet format with Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums.
Three Blind Mice Blu-spec CD reissue series! Limited paper sleeve edition! Now's The Time captured two groups who performed at the Three Blind Mice's own jazz festival called "5 Days in Jazz 1974." The first group was the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio with guest soloists Isao Suzuki on cello and Sunao Wada on guitar. They performed two songs on Side A of the original vinyl LP.
Miles Davis toured Japan for the first time during July 1964 with a quintet that included saxophonist Sam Rivers, pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. Although several Japanese concerts were booked, only three performances are known to have taken place: the well known July 14 show at Kohseinenkin Hall, in Tokyo (which was issued on LP), and the previously unissued July 12 & 15 concerts, presented on this set. Both concerts appear here for the first time ever. No other recorded collaborations between Miles and Rivers exist apart from the three shows in Japan!