Masterpieces of Modern Soul

2022 collection. This volume in our acclaimed Masterpieces Of Modern Soul series is as strong as ever and drips with brand new, old recordings. An amazing 12 tracks are previously unheard and a further two are very different versions of already popular numbers. Some rare-soul household names have new material featured on here. Ronnie McNeir hits a wicked dance groove with 'Let's Make A Move' and Dee Ervin offers a superbly soulful 'You Make Me Happy' - sure to become a modern classic. We've drifted into the late 70s / early 80s disco sound with numbers found on tape that were just crying out to be heard. Joe Simon cut the unknown group Cynic on 'I Want You' at Spring early in 1982.

Stunning soul from the deepest depths of the American underground – upbeat groovers that mix a clubby vibe with deeper vocals – but all without hitting a disco sound at all! Some of these numbers are from the years before Studio 54, but showcase a changing style of soul – more sophisticated, a bit more funk in the mix – and this fantastic blend of instrumentation, arrangements, and production – all of which give the songs a level of perfection that definitely deserves the "masterpiece" in the title! Most of these tracks are from rare singles, but a few haven't been issued before – and together, the cuts really show the ever-evolving understanding we have of classic soul – always shaped strongly by excellent collections like this.

When people think of the masterpieces of art, painters such as Gauguin or Picasso might spring to mind. But thousands of years before these modern masters put brush to canvas, artists from all over the ancient world, from France to Egypt to South America, created a trove of masterpieces—artwork stunning for its opulence, its realism, its utility, and its visual drama.

Smokey Robinson wrote those words in 1971. They were written in admiration of - and out of respect for - his soon-to-be erstwhile colleagues the Miracles, whose elegant vocal backups had graced many of Robinson's compositions during the previous decade and a half. In these simple words - and whether or not he fully realised he was doing so at the time - Smokey was also paying tribute to an important, even indispensible, sub-genre of American black music, and to the multitude of other exceptional vocal outfits that have enhanced that sub-genre since the mid 60s. "

Smokey Robinson wrote those words in 1971. They were written in admiration of - and out of respect for - his soon-to-be erstwhile colleagues the Miracles, whose elegant vocal backups had graced many of Robinson's compositions during the previous decade and a half. In these simple words - and whether or not he fully realised he was doing so at the time - Smokey was also paying tribute to an important, even indispensible, sub-genre of American black music, and to the multitude of other exceptional vocal outfits that have enhanced that sub-genre since the mid 60s. "

Original albums from one of the most important independent jazz labels of the 1950s.
Including milestones by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Eric Dolphy, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd and also swing greats like Coleman Hawkins and Arnett Cobb. This 10 CD wallet box follows the successful "Blue Notes" series and presents "Prestigious Hits": original albums and stars playing the best of modern jazz from the 1950s. Bob Weinstock, who started his own label in 1949, is hardly a household name today except among specialists, but his productions and artists are all the more so.

Original albums from one of the most important independent jazz labels of the 1950s.
Including milestones by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Eric Dolphy, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd and also swing greats like Coleman Hawkins and Arnett Cobb. This 10 CD wallet box follows the successful "Blue Notes" series and presents "Prestigious Hits": original albums and stars playing the best of modern jazz from the 1950s. Bob Weinstock, who started his own label in 1949, is hardly a household name today except among specialists, but his productions and artists are all the more so.

Original albums from one of the most important independent jazz labels of the 1950s.
Including milestones by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Eric Dolphy, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd and also swing greats like Coleman Hawkins and Arnett Cobb. This 10 CD wallet box follows the successful "Blue Notes" series and presents "Prestigious Hits": original albums and stars playing the best of modern jazz from the 1950s. Bob Weinstock, who started his own label in 1949, is hardly a household name today except among specialists, but his productions and artists are all the more so.

Original albums from one of the most important independent jazz labels of the 1950s.
Including milestones by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Sonny Rollins, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Eric Dolphy, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Thelonious Monk, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd and also swing greats like Coleman Hawkins and Arnett Cobb. This 10 CD wallet box follows the successful "Blue Notes" series and presents "Prestigious Hits": original albums and stars playing the best of modern jazz from the 1950s. Bob Weinstock, who started his own label in 1949, is hardly a household name today except among specialists, but his productions and artists are all the more so.