Two of my favorite dance, soul and pop re-issue labels are Cherry Red and Omnivore. Matt Ingham at Cherry Red in London and four-time Grammy-winner Cheryl Pawelski at Omnivore Recordings are passionate about the music and about re-issuing worthy music buried by the passing years and forgotten. Best of all, fidelity matters to both of them, as do comprehensive and intelligent liner notes.
Here are a bunch of my favorite newly issued releases:
I See You Live on Love Street: Music From Laurel Canyon, 1967-1975 (Grapefruit). A three-CD box that covers California folk-rock artists who roosted in this fabled mountainous area of the Hollywood Hills in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The four-hour, 72-track set traces the scene's evolution. The first CD covers 1967-1968 with tracks like Love Street by the Doors, I've Got to Know by the Stone Poneys and You Don't Miss Your Water by the Byrds. The second CD covers 1969-1971 with songs such as the Turtles' Lady-O, Stephen Stills' Love the One You're With and Warren Zevon's Wanted Dead or Alive. The third CD, 1971-1975, includes Linda Ronstadt's Birds, Leon Russell's Tight Rope and Rosebud's Flying to Morning. A box that will transport you back in time, whether you were around back then or not. You'll find this boxed set here.
Here's Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys singing I've Got to Know...
The Stylistics—Love Is Back in Style (Omnivore). The Stylistics were one of Philadelphia's most successful vocal harmony groups specializing in ballads. During the early 1970s, the group had 12 consecutive R&B top-10 hits, including Stop, Look, Listen, You Are Everything, Betcha by Golly, Wow, I'm Stone in Love with You, Break Up to Make Up and You Make Me Feel Brand New. One of their last albums, released in 1996, was Love Is Back in Style, for Al Bell's Bellmark label—Bellmark being short for Al Bell Marketing. Most of the songs were written and arranged by Preston Glass. The album is as good as anything they released in the 1970s and remains a lost classic. You'll find the album here.
Here are the Stylistics singing Have You Ever Been in Love?...
Archie Bell & the Drells: The Albums: 1968-1979 (Cherry Red/Robinsongs). Archie Bell & the Drells were from Houston, Texas, and a group produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in the late 1960s before the duo formed Philadelphia International Records in 1971. The group was spectacular. Their hits included Tighten Up, I Can't Stop Dancing, Do the Choo-choo, There's Gonna Be a Showdown, Girl You're Too Young, Here I Go Again, Soul City Walk, Let's Groove, I Could Have Danced All Night and Don't Let Love Get You Down. All of their albums have been long out of print, but now they have been gathered together on this five-CD box. You'll find the boxed set here.
Here's Archie Bell & the Drells performing Tighten Up in 1968...
You Can Walk Across It on the Grass—The Boutique Sounds of Swinging London (Cherry Red/Grapefruit). London from 1965 to 1968 was the center of pop culture. Pop art began in London in the late 1950s, and in the early 1960s, British film made the scene with James Bond. Then came music with its big beat followed by fashion led by Twiggy and Mary Quant. I was in London in '68, but the city wasn't subsumed by rose-colored granny glasses and paisley jackets. Much of the city's daily pedestrian traffic was still conservative. But on Carnaby Street and King's Road, where all the trendy boutiques were located, the streets were alive with colorful clothes and music pouring from stores. This three-CD box will give you a sense of what London sounded like during this period. You'll find this boxed set here.
Here are tracks provided to YouTube by Cherry Red....
Silver Convention—Save Me (Omnivore/Good Time). This album was an early Euro disco release that was recorded in 1974 and came out the following year. It was the first album by Silver Convention, a German group consisting of three female vocalists and two producer-songwriters. Save Me was a big hit in Europe but didn't chart in the U.S. Instead, the runaway track was Fly, Robin, Fly, which topped the U.S. charts. Listening back, the album and its five bonus tracks deliver hypnotic funk and solid punch. You'll find the album in the CD format here and a digital download here on March 29.
Here's Silver Convention in 1975...
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Back in December, I posted a Backgrounder on the Brazilian Jazz Quartet and how alto saxophonist José Ferreira "Casé" sounds like Art Pepper and how pianist Moacyr Peixoto sounds like Russ Freeman (go here). So much so that if I just posted the tracks, you'd likely guess these were previously unreleased takes by those musicians. The album I featured, Brazilian Jazz Quartet: Coffee and Jazz (1958), was an LP I discovered on YouTube and has been long out of print. It was recorded in February 1958.
Now Fresh Sound has issued the album, remastered and coupled with an LP entitled The Good Neighbors Jazz, also featuring the two musicians mentioned above. The beauty of the second album, recorded in September 1958, is that the tracks run considerably longer and give the musicians a chance to stretch out. [Photo above of José Ferreira "Casé"]
The fidelity is terrific on both albums, and Case and Peixoto play as if they spent the 1950s in Hollywood studios. Case's alto saxophone is bone dry and lyrical, and Peixoto's piano has a chunky churn that's similar to Freeman's. If you've been wishing for this material to become available again, you're in luck. Not only is it on CD with excellent liner notes by Jordi Pujol, the music sounds clear as a bell and is warmly dynamic. [Photo above of Moacyr Peixoto]
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Brazilian Jazz Quartet and The Good Neighbors Jazz as part of Fresh Sound's "Rare and Obscure Jazz Albums" two-fer series here.
JazzWax clips: Here's Too Marvelous for Words from the first album...
And here's Out of Nowhere from the second...
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One of the most exciting Hammond B3 players today is Tony Monaco. He knows how to shake up the funk and turn it loose. He also brings enormous energy to his playing style, pouring it generously into the keyboard and pedals. And it's no wonder, since he was mentored by the incomparable Jimmy Smith. Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, he also was all over local players such as Don Patterson and Hank Marr. [Photo above of Tony Monaco]
Tony began on the accordion at age 8, and at age 12 fell in love with the organ after hearing Blue Note recordings by Smith. On Tony's 16th birthday, Smith called him (perhaps someone asked Smith to do it as a gift), and Tony studied with him for four years. Then Smith asked Tony to play with him at his California club. From 1980 to 2006, Tony worked at his family's Monaco's Palace Italian Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, and played in the lounge. [Photo above of Reggie Jackson]
He also attended Franklin University in Columbus, graduating in 1989. Then he went to work as the supervisor of Monaco Concrete, since his father needed a good manager and Tony's three daughters were nearing college age. He finally recorded as a leader in 2000, releasing Burnin' Grooves. Nearly two dozen albums followed.
Over and Over (Chicken Coup), his new one released this week, is his finest album to date. Every single track is electrifying and will set your legs and hands moving. At least that's what happened to me each time I gave a listen over the past few weeks. The rest of the group is spectacular—guitarist Zakk Jones, who has an early-1970s soul-funk flavor, and drummer Reggie Jackson, who knows how to snap the snare and kick the bass. What a dream trio.
The tracks are all Tony originals:
When Tony isn't gigging and recording, he's educating students as Artist in Residence at Hope College in Holland, Mich. Lucky students. An entire generation of Monaco-style organists must be poised to leave Hope in the coming years. For now, Over and Over is a must own. [Photo above of Zakk Jones]
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Tony Monaco's Over and Over (Chick Coup) here and at steaming platforms.
JazzWax clips: Here's Da Daddy...
Here's My Lil' Rosie Girl...
And here's Ready Set Go...
Bonus: Here's Tony a month ago live at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis with his trio—Derek DiCinzo on guitar and Reggie Jackson on drums...
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