MUSIC

Finally this ghost gem left by Jiro Inagaki's Soul Media has been repressed on vinyl for the first time thanks to Cinedelic Records. ‘Woodstock Generation’ is a masterpiece of Japanese jazz/rock funk/soul that for some it even considered better then the acclaimed "Head Rock" in terms of perfection; surely there are many points in common between the two albums having been made a few months later, in 1970. Behind "The Soul Medium" name hides saxophonist Jiro Inagaki, an iconic figure of the japanese Jazz Rock scene during the late sixties to the early seventies. Jiro is supported by his legendary quintet "Soul Media" under its first incarnation featuring Ryo Kawasaki (g) Yasuo Arakawa (b) Masaru Imada (org) Sadakazu Tabata (ds) with Tetsuo Fushimi & Shunzo Ohno on trumpet in addition. "Woodstock Generation" is a tribute album to the Woodstock Festival including cover of songs performed on the stage by Sly & Family Stone (I Want To Take You Higher) The Who (Summertime Blues) or Ten Years After (Spoonful) but also Woodstock (written by Joni Mitchell in honor of the Festival) and Mamma Told Me (Not To Come) written by Randy Newman for Eric Burdon and The Animals. Titles include also variations on the "Head Rock" theme "The Ground For Peace” and original composition of Masahiko Sato "Knick Knack". All tracks arranged by Jiro Inagaki. Artwork by Eric Adrian Lee. Jiro Inagaki - tenor saxophone soprano saxophone Masaru Imada – organ Ryo Kawasaki – guitar Yasuo Arakawa – bass Sadakazu Tabata – drums Tetsuo Fushimi, Shunzo Ohno – trumpet

The last chapter of Lou Ragland’s Cleveland career was perhaps the most monumental. By its completion, Understand Each Other—more often referred to as The ConVeyor, with that uppercase V intentional but unexplained—featured generations of Cleveland luminaries, and representation from most scenes, both sexes, and several ethnicities. The album’s credits read like the guest list for a Lou Ragland episode of This Is Your Life. Kathy Grant was brought in to arrange the massive Cleveland Orchestra, inviting her father Frank in as first chair cello. A pre-O’Jays Dunn Pearson handled keys, and Richard Shann, the man who Pearson would replace in the O’Jays, got an arranger’s credit as well. The horn section was rounded out by Mother Brain Tree trombonist Ulysses Young, Bell Telefunk trumpeter Watson Vaughn, and future Dazz Band trumpeter Pierre Demudd. Lou’s live-in girlfriend Elaine Hines and her First Light singing mate Joyce Jenkins, both on break from stints with Terry Knight’s Grand Funk Railroad project, contributed backing vocals. One-time Co-Co co-owner Leonard Jackson brought his Temps knock-off the True Movement in as a male counter to First Light. In the middle of his stumbling career on the Miystic Insight label, Sonny Lovall adds another voice. Hot Chocolateers past and Seven Miles Highers present Tony Roberson, Herbert Pruitt, R. C. Johnson, Tom Tichar, James Johnson III, Joe Jenkins, and Pam Hamilton are all accounted for. Understand Each Other opens with the socially conscious title track, gutting out a second place finish to Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" in both its mission and its mix. Like Gaye's own conceptual title track, there is not a dull moment in Ragland’s, as strings, horns, percussion, and vocal motifs rise and fall organically through the monumental piece. Lou testifies throughout, matching the complicated terrain of the dynamic opener. Two songs later, “Since You Said You’d Be Mine” gets its 30-second intro back and looks all the stronger for it. On Side B, Ragland revisits Love For Dollars And Cents’ “Into The Next World”—issued on Co-Co in 1972—stretching the song out toward the five-minute mark but truncating its title. The album closes with an instrumental “Understand Each Other,” reminding the listener to flip the record over and begin again. The album’s jacket must be the most curious element of the package. The cover drawing, from the pen of Remus Peterson, depicts Lou Ragland as peacemaker, standing between a sabre-toothed tiger and a dove, asking them literally to “Understand Each Other.” On the reverse, that message is taken to the spiritual extreme. Sometime in 1977, Lou had taken on Lateef Mahmud as his spiritual guru in a brief flirtation with Islam (the Arabic on the sleeve translates to “God Is The Greatest”). Mahmud somehow snagged a producer credit, but he was also called on to pen an album preface. His notes conceive of music as a cosmic language, with this very LP itself compiled as a tribute to the “ghetto masters—those who master the ghetto and have become among those who help shape the destiny of this land.” Lou Ragland is deemed The Conveyor: “…the conveyor of harmony thru the ethers manifested in words, songs, and deeds to bring into focus the universal, educational, and inspirational plane of consciousness.” So Mahmud wasn’t all that far off, it turns out.

弊店でも毎度瞬殺完売必至の大人気レーベル、濃密な音楽体験をお約束する”Cairo Records”の最新タイトルとなる第８弾コンピレーション！Mississippi recordsがディストリビューションする、このコアな黒人音楽遺産レーベルの最新作は著名アーティストから発見することすら困難なオブスキュアな無名アーティストまで超絶ディープなバラッドを収録した、Harry SmithのAnthology Of American Folk Musicのソウル版とも言うべき、鋭い審美眼による選び抜かれた豪華ソウル・ミュージックを25曲収録。場末の酒場は今日も歌へと酔いしれ、哀歌へと沈み、黄昏の夕日へと焦がれる毎日。遥か遠い日を夢に見る男と女の心打つバラッドの数々に乾杯です！金箔プリント・カバー&ブラック・インナー・スリーヴ仕様。28ページにも渡るフルカラー・ライナーノーツが付属。完全限定盤。同レーベルからのコンピは再プレスもなく、瞬時レア化しているため今回も争奪戦が予測されます。この機会を絶対にお見逃しなく！全音楽好きに大・大・大・大・大推薦です！

弊店でも毎度瞬殺完売必至の大人気レーベル、濃密な音楽体験をお約束する”Cairo Records”の最新タイトルとなる第七弾コンピレーション！Mississippi recordsがディストリビューションする、このコアな黒人音楽遺産レーベルの最新作は今日までヴァイナルでのリリースも為されてこなかったデモ曲含め、著名アーティストから発見することすら困難なオブスキュアな無名アーティストまで超絶ディープなバラッドを収録した、Harry SmithのAnthology Of American Folk Musicのソウル版とも言うべき、鋭い審美眼による選び抜かれた豪華ソウル・ミュージックを36曲収録。場末の酒場は今日も歌へと酔いしれ、哀歌へと沈み、黄昏の夕日へと焦がれる毎日。遥か遠い日を夢に見る男と女の心打つバラッドの数々に乾杯です！金箔プリント・カバー&ブラック・インナー・スリーヴ仕様。28ページにも渡るフルカラー・ライナーノーツが付属。完全限定盤。同レーベルからのコンピは再プレスもなく、瞬時レア化しているため今回も争奪戦が予測されます。この機会を絶対にお見逃しなく！全音楽好きに大・大・大・大・大推薦です！

Beyond The Willow Tree is a hauntingly beautiful anthology of folk songs chronicling the experience of a young black man growing up in the segregated south. A balanced mix of covers and originals, Cleveland Francis’ body of work seamlessly blends deep, soulful vocals with the stripped down acoustic instrumentation of folk. In the late 60’s Francis coined the term “soulfolk”, playing his genre bending music across college campuses and coffee shops while earning a medical degree at William & Mary. These songs serve as a missing link between soul and folk music, suppressed by the harsh political landscape of a music industry heavily influenced by racial stereotypes. “If you were black, you played blues or soul music … I wanted to play folk music,” Cleveland professed. Included in this double LP set is Cleveland Francis’ entire 1970 self released album Follow Me, featuring the original artwork and liner notes printed inside the gatefold. The second LP takes you Beyond The Willow Tree with unreleased demos recorded in 1968 along with one 45 only single recorded in 1970. “These recordings are a look into my soul through a long and lonely journey to understand feelings of my childhood, poverty, racial segregation, bigotry, war, love and hope. It represents my attempt to express and come to terms with all that I have seen and felt as a Black man growing up in America.” – Cleveland Francis

Benny says, “First and foremost, I’m a beat-maker. I started making music in the mid-90s while listening to De La Soul. When I write songs, I always start with the beat. Like a songwriter strumming their guitar, I drag kicks and snares.” After releasing his album Music in April 2021, Benny had several beats he hadn’t used, and decided to follow up his original self-released Beat Tape (2018) with a new collection. “The idea came to me to ask some rappers to join on the beats, to pay homage to where it all started: hip-hop. It was all very effortless, because there wasn’t a higher goal of wanting to write the perfect song. I was just having fun doing what comes naturally.” The many guests on Beat Tape II include British R&B singer JONES on “Look What We Do”, Stones Throw MC The Koreatown Oddity on “Song 13”, and Mocky, Cola Boyy, and Marc Rebillet on “Beat 100”. Kenny Beats produced “Don’t Look” with Cory Henry, while Canadian rapper and singer Rae Khalil appears on “Beat 5” and “CGEOOL”. PawPaw Rod, MadeInTYO, St. Panther, Oddisee and Faberyayo also feature. Benny says: “I feel so grateful to have all these new and established talents on here that make Beat Tape II what it is. I got people who are not very well known for rapping to rap. Mocky’s first albums, which I played a lot when I was younger, were rap albums, so it was great to ask if he would do that again, go back in time. Cola Boyy is a great singer, but his voice is perfect for rapping, so I was really excited to hear him do that. I’m also excited for my first collab with Kenny Beats. Hope this can be a start of some new stuff, who knows :)”

As a grade-schooler listening to the radio in his dad’s car, Stimulator Jones thought Prince was singing “round spiritual ring” on the hook of “Raspberry Beret.” The adult Stimulator Jones, aka Sam Lunsford, now knows all the lyrics to “Raspberry Beret” – and can play the song on virtually any instrument, from bass to sitar – but when the time came to title his new album, he decided to name it after that misheard lyric. Round Spiritual Ring shows a more personal and vulnerable side than Stimulator’s debut Exotic Worlds and Masterful Treasures, with lyrics that touch on his struggles with depression and chronic pain. But Sam is an optimist at heart, and his album’s overarching message is that love and connection are the forces that will ultimately save us. Round Spiritual Ring also symbolizes the connectedness of everything, what Sam calls “repetitive forces in the world” – think DNA, the planets, or vinyl records.

〈Record Store Day〉限定商品！オリジナルは五万円越えの高値もつける鬼レア盤につき絶対にお見逃しなく。1970年にイギリスのアーティスト、Christine Harwoodによって、同国のスモール・レーベル〈Birth〉からリリースされた唯一のアルバム『Nice To Meet Miss Christine』がアナログ・リイシュー。King Crimson OBのIan McDonald（サックスとフルート）に、天才ドラマーPete York、Roger Suttonを始めとした英国のプログレとサイケ・フォーク・シーンの銘酒をフィーチャーした傑作であり、ブルーアイド・ソウルからアシッド・フォーク、ヨット・ロック・マニアまでも必見の一枚！

Los Retros - Looking Back is 7 tracks recorded 2017-2018, written and produced by Mauri Tapia, aka Los Retros. “Likewise” and “Moon Ride” written by Chaisson Nuusolia & Los Retros. Mastered by Jake Viator. Cover art by Gabriel Alcala.

Have you ever heard of a record called "Chorus Big Demonstration with Japanese Songs"? The "Tokyo Academy Mixed Chorus" covered Kumamoto's folk song "Tawarasaka. The arrangement is a thrilling jazz-funk style with Toshio Fukui (former Tokyo Cuban Boys pianist/arranger), and it is also a remarkable work. This time, ZKA FOR GRUNTERZ has mastered the original recording in the presence of MACKA-CHIN and released it as a remastered version in 2022, respecting the original source material and emphasizing the bass line, which can be said to be the axis of modern music. There is no doubt that this is a sound source that deserves attention as a new interpretation of the dance music scene after a lapse of about 50 years.

Following a 1997 compilation album on Carl Craig's Planet E label, Moodyman's virtually first album, released in 1998 on the prestigious UK label Peacefrog, is being reissued on limited edition clear vinyl.

Vinyl reissue of "Brother, Brother, Brother", the Isley Brothers' tenth album released on their own T-Neck label in February 1972. The album is a melodic and warm soul/funk masterpiece, filled with gorgeous songs such as "Pop That Thang," a killer tune that climbed to the top of the R&B charts, and a cover of Carole King's "It's Too Late"!

The last album released in 1971 by Rotary Connection, a psychedelic soul group known that Minnie Riperton was a member.

Terry Callier, famous for his spiritual soul trilogy for Cadet in the 70's, released his first album on Prestige in 1968, recorded at the age of 19. The album is a masterpiece of spiritual jazz-folk, with elements of traditional folk under the influence of Bob Dylan, and a jazzy, acoustic performance by two bass players influenced by Coltrane.

Tim Zha aka Organ Tapes makes a hyperjump to DJ Python's Worldwide Unlimited label with an emotionally slushed set of singer-songwriter pearls spiked with his own idiosyncratic production moves. An investigation into avant pop, it sounds like a DIY inversion filtered thru the autotuned hypersonix of Ecco2K, Yves Tumor or Palmistry. For over a decade now, Organ Tapes has been masterminding his own obsessively-curated and unique style, attempting to reconcile not just his interests in pop and experimental modes, but also his identity as a British-Chinese artist who's spent his life between Shanghai and London. Through production work for Triad God and releases for Tobago Tracks, Genome6.66Mbp and Berlin’s much loved Creamcake, he’s developed a style that’s pretty much inimitable, with autotuned vocals informed by a long-term love of dancehall, afrobeats and Soundcloud rap, and songs that slip into folk and country, with a compositional mindset that’s unmistakably non-Western. "Chang Zhe Na Wu Ren Wen Jin De Ge Yao" (sing the song that no one cares about) expands on the misty landscapes of 2019's TT-released "Hunger In Me Living”, but while that album retained a wisp of R&B and a vague whiff of ambient, this new one feels firmly grounded in a bedroom pop aesthetic, allowing beams of sunlight to crack through his usually dense, textured clouds. Weft around guitar and vox, Organ Tapes bends the form by employing muffled field recordings, squashed drums and dreamy synths, assembling his tracks with the sort of diaristic warmth you’d expect to find on a claire rousay record. Zha positions himself a few feet away from indie and emo, instead channeling more sparkling influences like TV themes and advertising jingles. His earworm compositions drip with familiar-but-alien riffs, with hooky choruses rendered personal and heartfelt through low-key, lo-fi production smarts. In different hands, it might have all sounded overly exuberant, but anchored by Zha’s muted voice and shaved arpeggios, it's touching and indelible. There’s no cynicism here - the songs work because they come from a genuine place. Just listen to 'Heaven can wait' and tell us you ain't feeling it.

An American soul vocal group that would go on to shape the sound of pop music much farther beyond their imaginations, The Ponderosa Twins Plus One featured two sets of identical teenage twins, Alfred and Alvin Pelham, and Keith and Kirk Gardner, along with Ricky Spicer. The group released a couple of singles and a lone album for Cleveland's Saru label in 1971, breaking up and disbanding as adolescence waned. A recent sample darling of both Kanye West and Tyler The Creator, "Bound" has revealed the Ponderosa Twins Plus One as the real Midwest kid soul deal. Numero is proud to present the first official American repressing of the original 1971 release, with fresh remasters from the original analog tapes, two previously unissued bonus tracks, and a replica tip on sleeve, making this an album you're bound to fall in love with.

To enter the world of Sally Townes and Roberta Vandervort is to be swept away into a dimension of unique sound. Embellishments of smoldering jazz funk, seductive soft rock, breezy AOR, and misty folk, all paint a picture of the worlds which they inhabited; from the endless flat expanse of Dallas, the hot and humid bustle of a Bourbon Street night club, to the late night buzz of a Los Angeles studio session. While Sally Townes and Roberta Vandervort never crossed paths in our reality, their supernatural union on this compilation feels like the meeting of old, yet familiar friends, set in a parallel dimension with lives intertwined. The songs feel like old friends, too — a comforting time capsule of the popular sounds of the era, yet offering something completely new. Bridged by the striking similarities in their musical confidence, vocal conviction, and boundless creativity, both women encapsulate an uncompromising passion for living, loving, and creating on their own terms.

Wendell Harrison was born in Detroit in 1942 where he began formal jazz studies for piano, clarinet and tenor saxophone. At 14, while still in high school, Harrison started performing & recording professionally with artists such as Marvin Gaye, Grant Green, Sun Ra, Hank Crawford … and many others. In 1971, Harrison began teaching music at Metro Arts (a multi-arts complex for youth) where he also connected with Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney and Phil Ranelin…soon after they formed the (now legendary) Afro-centric TRIBE record label and artist collective. TRIBE used the Metro Arts complex as a vehicle to convey a growing black political consciousness. Wendell Harrison also published the very popular TRIBE magazine, a publication dedicated to local and national social and political issues, as well as featuring artistic contributions such as poetry and visual pieces. In 1978 Harrison and McKinney co-founded REBIRTH, a non-profit jazz performance and education organization, in which many notable jazz artists have participated. Around the same time Wendell Harrison also created the WENHA record label and publishing company, which released many of his (now classic) recordings as well as those of other artists, such as Phil Ranelin, Doug Hammond and Reggie Fields (The Real ShooBeeDoo). In the early 1990s, Wendell Harrison was awarded the title of “Jazz Master” by Arts Midwest. This distinction led Harrison to collaborate with fellow honorees and gave him the chance to tour throughout the United States, Middle East and Africa. Even to this day Wendell Harrison’s recordings for the TRIBE, WENHA and REBIRTH labels have a large worldwide fanbase. It is on WENHA that Harrison released the opus: DREAMS OF A LOVE SUPREME (1980), which we are presenting you today. DREAMS OF A LOVE SUPREME is a monster album that features an all-star line-up that includes Phil Ranelin (Freddie Hubbard, Solomon Burke, Mulatu Astakte) on trombone, Harold McKinney (Tribe) on Keyboards and Roy Brooks (Yusef Lateef, Chet Baker, Mingus) on percussion. Although you can hear the 80ies creeping in with a smoother sound, more synths, and disco/R&B vocals… this remains a very spiritual (and soulful) jazz record. The record’s an irresistible blend of soul jazz combined with funky electric instrumentation…a groovy sound which is very much of its time, yet overtly timeless and as relevant today as it was back when it was initially released. Tidal Waves Music now proudly presents the first ever vinyl reissue of ‘Dreams of A Love Supreme’ since its release in 1980. This official reissue is now available as a deluxe 180g BLACK vinyl edition (limited to 500 copies) and comes with an unreleased bonus track.

A marvelous compilation as tribute to the genius of Allen Toussaint, one of the greatest musicians, composers and arrangers in the history of American popular music as well as an incredibly influential figure in the New Orleans r&b tradition. "Nola Soul" features a selection of 16 Toussaint's productions within the crucial time frame 1960-1963. 16 gems performed by the cream of the New Orleans Scene, Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, Aaron Neville... The best of southern soul music experience, What else?

Brother Theotis Taylor is a 92-year-old spiritual singer and piano player known throughout South Georgia and beyond for his powerful voice and heavenly falsetto. His music took him from his home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to the stage with Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, to Harlem’s Apollo, and even to Carnegie Hall.

Though his releases are limited to six stunning and rare singles on the Pitch label and a single small-press LP, his recorded archive is vast. For much of his life, Brother Taylor kept a reel-to-reel recorder atop his piano at home.

“The music just comes down on you,” Brother Taylor told us late last year. “You always have your machine where you can catch everything. ‘Cause what you can catch today you can’t remember tomorrow.”

Brother Taylor recorded himself on his DIY home setup only when he was inspired by a higher power, often fasting and praying for days before recording. These intimate home recordings were digitized in 2020 and are being heard for the first time with this release.

Revisiting these old songs brought Brother Taylor to tears. “[When I hear this music] I pick up the same spirit that I did it in. And you see me cryin’. It made me feel good ‘cause I know I did it and I did it well. And I want to see it get out, because if it made me feel good, it make somebody else feel good. Right? This is spiritual music.”

A reissue of the classic 1977 vocal fusion album that has been the source of many hip-hop samples. It features Narada Michael Walden (Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, George Benson) on drums. Long out of print, and coveted by collectors, Chiaroscuro provides an official faithful reissue.

Soul singer Barbara Massey and jazz guitarist Ernie Calabria paired up for this rare 1971 album. With Calabria having worked with Nina Simone and Harry Belafonte, among others, and Massey having sung backup for artists including Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens, and Herbie Hancock, the pairing was an inspired one and resulted in this superb soul-jazz outing. Massey has a dry yet passionate and evocative vocal quality that often brings to mind Grace Slick. Fittingly, the duo takes on Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love," turning the Summer of Love anthem into a steamy and hypnotic soul-funk jam. Elsewhere, the duo touches upon such varying styles as folk, Latin, and psychedelic rock with cuts like "For You" and "Do You Know?," bringing to mind such similarly inclined acts as the Free Design and Bill Withers. Anyone who has even a passing interest in this kind of '70s cross-genre aesthetic will certainly want to seek out Prelude To.... ~ Matt Collar

This is the 1976 album by Weldon Irvine, an American jazz piano player who has a huge following among jazz and rare groove enthusiasts.

Limited cassette edition with 6 additional tracks not included on the vinyl. Brother Theotis Taylor is a 92-year-old spiritual singer and piano player known throughout South Georgia and beyond for his powerful voice and heavenly falsetto. His music took him from his home in Fitzgerald, Georgia, to the stage with Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, to Harlem’s Apollo, and even to Carnegie Hall.

Though his releases are limited to six stunning and rare singles on the Pitch label and a single small-press LP, his recorded archive is vast. For much of his life, Brother Taylor kept a reel-to-reel recorder atop his piano at home.

“The music just comes down on you,” Brother Taylor told us late last year. “You always have your machine where you can catch everything. ‘Cause what you can catch today you can’t remember tomorrow.”

Brother Taylor recorded himself on his DIY home setup only when he was inspired by a higher power, often fasting and praying for days before recording. These intimate home recordings were digitized in 2020 and are being heard for the first time with this release.

Revisiting these old songs brought Brother Taylor to tears. “[When I hear this music] I pick up the same spirit that I did it in. And you see me cryin’. It made me feel good ‘cause I know I did it and I did it well. And I want to see it get out, because if it made me feel good, it make somebody else feel good. Right? This is spiritual music.”