Back catalogue: All genres

Review: Two powerful soul sessions from Alice Clark's eponymous debut 1972 album. "Don't You Care" is a hard-hitting soul standard (that became very popular in acid jazz scene in the early 90s) where Alice opens her heart for all to see while her incredible band ebb and flow with Clark's emotions. "Never Did I Stop Loving You", meanwhile, languishes in sentiment at a slightly lower tempo that allows her to really dig deep for those low notes. The real fun happens as we reach momentum towards the end and every band member brings out their A-game and bounces off each other - backing up Alice every step of the way. You will care about this.

Review: Gary Bartz, a titan of the saxophone, has left an indelible mark on the jazz landscape through collaborations with luminaries like McCoy Tyner, Art Blakey and Miles Davis. BGP's selection of 'Celestial Blues,' featuring the soulful vocals of Andy Bey, encapsulates the essence of spiritual jazz, epitomizing Bartz's musical strength. Paired with 'Gentle Smiles (Saxy),' famously sampled by A Tribe Called Quest, this release offers a glimpse into Bartz's multifaceted artistry and enduring influence on contemporary music.

Review: Detroit musician and producer Dave Hamilton hears two fantastic early emissions of his reissued via BGP. Known originally as a guitarist and an early member of the Motown house band, Hamilton's influence on music, especially the later Northern soul firestorm in the UK, is perhaps understated. His guitar contributions to the likes of Marvin Gaye's 'Stubborn Kind Of Fellow' and John Lee Hooker's 'Boom Boom' are indeed cherished additions to the Michigan funk and r&b canon, but perhaps it's his later outings as Dave Hamilton and the Peppers - and later founding of the labels Demoristic and TCB - that house the real trinkets. 'The Deacons' and 'Pisces Place' both came out via the TCB label, and brought vibraphonic blues and astrologic easy listens respectively to wax.

Review: Defiant, spruce and intractable, Hodges James Smith & Crawford's 'Nobody' marks this brilliant new funk reissue with a caustic grip-quip after at the slippery satins of love: "nobody's gonna tell me that you don't love me, baby. They just don't know that you're an angel..." Walking a universal tightrope of ambivalence - this is a situation that we'd wager everyone of one stripe or another is familiar with - this record could function either as a tell of blind infatuation with a ne'er-do-well, or a real statement of loving intention for a misunderstood penitent. 'It Cracks Me Up' backs up the B with an ensouled, ensemble-armoured musing on "girls with shiny faces" and "superdudes", resolving on a tonic note of equal sexual charge. The West Coast vocal group outdid themselves back in 1971, so much that original copies of this fetch unholily exorbitant prices; high time for a repress!

Review: Freddie Love was a blind singer from Baton Rouge in the United States. He recorded two incredible 45s for Eddie Shuler's ANLA label and his debut release featured the dynamic two-sided track 'Crazy Girl'. It is a heart-swelling soul sound with slow but funk drums and bass riffs under a brilliantly expressive vocal heavily influenced by James Brown. On the B-side is Part 2 which has more guitar action laced in. This has long been a sought-after record and it is now receiving its first-ever vinyl reissue which will bring renewed attention to Love's powerful sound.

Review: Before NWA, Wu-Tang, A Tribe Called Quest or Run DMC, there was James Bromley Spicer. Active during the late 1970s and early 80s, Spicer's best known hit was 'Money (Dollar Bill Y'all)', which fewer heads know is the referent source of Wu-Tang's latter-day touchstone record 'C.A.S.H.'. Both songs deal with the embittered centrality of money in the waking daily lives of just about everybody, sympathising with the grim reality of the situation whilst also insisting we get with it. Yet Spicer's original lacked the distinctively streetwise tang of 'Tang's later interpretation of the theme, going with a rather excitable and impish mood, which went with the melting-pot territory of hip-hop in the 80s. Spicer's flows are gnarly and rabid rather than affected and cool, revealing the roots of moneybagging hip-hop as fanatically on-beat. "It takes money to pay rent to eat, without which you're hungry and on the street..."

Review: BGP's 33rpm 7" release features two sought-after cuts by Leon Thomas, both full-length versions that have become favorites among DJs. From his 1973 Flying Dutchman LP Full Circle, 'It's My Life I'm Fighting For' is a standout track featuring top New York session players like Pee Wee Ellis, Joe Farrell and Neal Creque. Clocking in at ten minutes, it's a funky jazz classic with an apocalyptic feel. The second track, 'Shape Your Mind To Die,' is a dramatic five-minute piece also penned by Thomas and Creque. Originally appearing on Thomas' Blues And The Soulful Truth album in 1972, this track is fueled by Pee Wee Ellis' amazing soprano saxophone.

Review: First released back in 1973, Flying Dutchman aver their grand standing on the parapet that is the New York jazz scene with a timely new reissue of Leon Thomas' 'Just In Time To See The Sun', which now appears with a different B-side counterpart. Shaker-uppers, these sonic sailers are! Where As 'Just In Time...' itself first surfaced as the B-side to a stirring album cut 'Never Let Me Go' - which also graced the pimpin' Tennessee blues-jazz musician's later record Full Circle - it now comes paired with the pentatonic skiffle 'China Doll'. FD's new curative duopoly on Thomas' bellowing sound flaunts the singer and musician's deep range, contrasting the styptic funk explosions of the titular Santana cover on the A with the shaker-laden Orientalist groove on the B.

Review: Chris Bangs' varied and eclectic musical journey is a key reason he was chosen to curate a compilation for Ace. With a background ranging from space rock with The Mighty Om to DJ residencies across London, Bangs' career spans numerous genres, from jazz, funk, to soul. Bangs' DJ sets and parties - in such time-honoured venues as Special Branch in Brentford, London - were seminal in the evolution of the acid jazz genre alongside Gilles Peterson, where "acid jazz was never meant to be more than a pisstake". His foray into production, such as the proto-acid jazz classic 'Psychedelic Jack' with Peterson on vocals, cemented his legacy, but it's curation highlights such as this that really get our gears going. Hold tight as we scour early acid jazz brilliants from Gunky to Vera Cruz to Brazilian Skies to Jubilation.

Review: Funkadelic superstar George Clinton knew many a side project as a producer; one was the ingenious, part-cyborg duo, The Brides Of Funkenstein. It was Clinton's idea that two other backing singers, Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva, become the Brides Of Funkenstein, a character he invented for the 1976 Parliament LP, The Clones Of Dr Funkenstein. So popular were the brides that Clinton wasted no time in signing them to Atlantic Records; their debut album here followed the rip-roaring fan feedback that ensued from their debut single 'Disco To Go' / 'When You're Gone' in the US. The decision to break the male-fronted P-funk mould was intentional: simply *that many* Clinton instrumentals could not be credited to the man alone. "He's got thousands of tracks. He's got a whole cupboard full of them. He's got enough tracks to keep him in albums for two years," once chimed Mabry. Enchanting each jam with mecha-augmented femme flair, we're urged to be taken to the limit, across a blistering seven, smackout tracks. Mark 'Warship Touchante', the star tune by far: a wonky hi-NRG nutter, splattered with surreal, performative electronic vocal effects.

Review: Parliament-Funkadelic offshoot project Brides Of Funkenstein was masterminded by George Clinton but fronted by Lynn Mabry and Dawn Silva, whom originally served as the two core backing singers for Sly & The Family Stone. Funk Or Walk was their cyber-augmented opening statement as a duo, combining archly histrionic vocals with truncated funk struttage, and crossing into wonky hi-NRG at points. The record’s wonky and experimental bent epitomises the P-funk sound whose name Clinton helped coin, and which is finessed in the myriad usages of ARP String and Hohner Clavinet, best heard on the light-handed claps of ‘Birdie’ or the polyvalent brass-off ‘Amorous’. The weird brides of Parliament did go on to record two further great records, but this is by far their chef-d'oeuvre.

Review: Legendary keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith worked with jazz greats like Dakota Staton, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, and Roland Kirk, formed a notable partnership with Pharoah Sanders and Leon Thomas, toured Europe with Gato Barbieri and played Fender Rhodes with Miles Davis, all before putting out his own solo album. Smith's debut, Astral Traveling, released on Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label features his Cosmic Echoes and includes life-affirming cosmic jazz tracks like 'Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord' and 'In Search Of Truth.' This reissue includes a gatefold sleeve and liner notes by jazz critic Nat Hentoff.

Review: Johnny Lytle was a key figure in the early acid jazz scene who became renowned for his anthem 'Selim.' The Ohio vibraphonist also gained fame with his 1965 album The Village Caller on Riverside and after it closed he teamed up with label owner Orrin Keepnews for two albums on Detroit's Tuba. Ace reissued The Loop last year, and now BGP does the same with New And Groovy featuring a stellar lineup: Milt Harris (organ), Wynton Kelly (piano), George Duvivier (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), Montego Joe (congas), and Lytle on vibes make this a gem that includes original tracks like 'The Snapper' and 'The Pulpit,' plus the radical reworking of Miles Davis' 'Miles.' Though poorly distributed in 1967, this record has been acclaimed by DJs like Gilles Peterson.

Review: This Is The Breaks is a 12-track journey through the history of influential breaks in jazz, funk and soul. Each track featured has not only shaped the golden age of sampling but continues to be used by contemporary artists. The album opens with Millie Jackson's 1974 version of 'If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Want To Be Right', famously sampled in 2023 by NLE Choppa. It also includes Debbie Taylor's soulful 'Let's Prove Them Wrong', used by JID in 2021. The collection highlights the enduring appeal of atmospheric tracks like Little Ann's 'Deep Shadows', which has been sampled by Grand Puba, Loyle Carner, and others. DJ Premier's masterful use of Joe Simon's 'Drowning In The Sea Of Love' for Gang Starr's 1997 hit 'You Know My Steez showcases his unparalleled production skills. Classic breaks like Lowell Fulsom's 'Tramp' and Fatback Band's 'Gotta Learn How To Dance' add to the album's richness, alongside iconic cuts from Bernard Purdie and Lonnie Liston Smith. These original songs continue to inspire, making This Is The Breaks a timeless celebration of musical innovation.

Review: This Is Retro Soul 1969-1979 offers a vivid journey through the golden age of soul, spanning from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. Featuring a carefully curated selection of tracks, the album highlights the creativity and innovation of artists like Isaac Hayes, Millie Jackson and cult figures like George Jackson and Darrow Fletcher. From the deep emotion of ballads to infectious dance grooves, each track offers a fresh experience for both longtime soul fans and those new to the genre. Songs like Millie Jackson and Isaac Hayes' duet 'Sweet Music, Soft Lights And You' and George Jackson's 'Love Highjacker' evoke the elegance and passion of the era. Meanwhile, rarer gems like Cesar's 'See Saw Affair' and Ty Karim's 'Lightin' Up' reveal the depth of the soul scene's more obscure talents. The diversity of this collection, blending funk, r&b, gospel and jazz influences, creates a lively and sophisticated atmosphere. This Is Retro Soul is more than a trip down memory laneiit's a timeless reminder of the depth and brilliance of soul's most innovative period, inviting listeners to rediscover this iconic music anew.