The followup to Lucien’s 1973 surprise breakthrough album Rashida, Mind’s Eye brings even more of the baritone singer’s Caribbean roots into his delicate and deeply romantic soul-jazz sound. Bossa […]
Soul
One of the greatest funk records of the ’80s, Patrice Rushen’s landmark album Straight from the Heart was released during a time when many jazz artists were exploring […]
Chicago-born singer-songwriter Terry Callier followed up his first album with Chess Records legend Charles Stepney, Occasional Rain, with What Color is Love. The album was meant to be […]
An essential soul album produced by Stevie Wonder (as Scorbu Productions), Minnie Riperton’s Perfect Angel is best known for its international hit “Lovin’ You.” The album crucially featured […]
A throwback to the golden era analog production of ’70s progressive pop/rock (think Todd Rundgren, Brian Wilson / Beach Boys, Paul McCartney), The Lost Album began as a […]
Released in 1985 on The Specials’ Ghost Town’s producer John Collins’ Local Records imprint, Love with A Stranger is a cult classic early street soul jam released when […]
With 18 tracks and not a bum one among them, the brilliant Blood & Fire compilation Darker Than Blue is just what its subtitle says: soul covers and […]
Bradley Miller aka CKtrl is a reed player, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who has previously released on South London-based label and event series Touching Bass and collaborated with ISC […]
A collection of impossible to find self-released 12-inches along with unreleased archival material, Changes presents the soulful, dubby street soul sound of underground Manchester artist Bernadette Mosoph aka […]
Now signed to Peanut Butter Wolf’s iconic Stones Throw Records, Eddie Chacon continues his triumphant return to music with Sundown, a collection of balearic downtempo soul songs written […]
The first record to be released under Prince’s newly formed label Paisley Park Records, Around The World In A Day sidesteps the obvious next move of another Purple […]
I’m Just A Prisoner is the debut album from Candi Station aka the first lady of southern soul. Born in 1940 in Alabama, Candi made a name for […]
One of his best post-Brian Jackson Arista albums, Reflections is Gil Scott-Heron’s return to spoken word and more poetry-oriented songs versus the more pop and hook-driven approach of […]
The Crusaders were a prolific jazz group popular in the early 1970s that released over 40 albums. Primarily a sextet comprised of Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor […]
The Main Ingredient was a Harlem based soul group composed of lead singer Donald McPherson, Luther Simmons, Jr., and Panama-born Tony Silvester. They got their name came from […]
When Cincinnati-based soul group The 24-Carat Black released their debut in 1973, the album struggled to find its place in the market and didn’t achieve commercial success. However, […]
Formed in 1976 by the great drummer Norman Connors, Aquarian Dream brought together a collective of talented musicians who effortlessly blended soul, funk, jazz, and disco to create […]
By far the most sampled female artist of all time, Lyn Collins was discovered by James Brown after he heard a demo recording of her powerful and commanding […]
In release notes accompanying his surprise-released 2014 masterpiece, D’Angelo describes his third album as being “about an idea we can all aspire to. We should all aspire to […]
Al B. Sure! got his start in 1987 when he was handpicked by Quincy Jones as the winner of the Sony Innovators Award, an annual talent showcase for […]
Excuse the G- sleeve, this one’s hard to come by in good condition! I Want To Feel Your Love is a remarkable album from the daughter of the […]
When two musical geniuses like Stanley Clarke and George Duke come together, magic happens. The highly anticipated sophomore album from the two legends who made their names in […]
A seminal ’70s soul album, Back Stabbers not only solidified The O’Jays’ place in soul music history, but also helped define the Philadelphia Sound. With silky vocal harmonies […]
A heavily underrated bargain bin jam, Bill Wolfer’s debut album Wolf is an unexpected hit featuring some of the greatest artists to ever do it including Stevie Wonder, […]
Korean pop star 장필순 (Jang Pil-Soon)’s debut album 어느새 / 내작은 가슴속에 (Suddenly/In My Little Heart) was produced by pioneering Korean soul artist Kim Hyun-Chul. The album takes […]
Sweetback was an English band comprised of members of the band Sade, but not including front woman Sade Adu. The group’s members Stuart Matthewman, Paul Denman and Andrew […]
Faze-O was a mellow funk group that emerged in the late ’70s from Dayton, Ohio. Produced by Clarence Satchell of the Ohio Players, their 1977 debut album Riding […]
New York vocalist Saundra Hewitt, also known as Sandy, released her one and only album in 1976 on the Japanese label Discomate. While this is Saundra’s only solo […]
Chicago-born singer-songwriter Euegene Record released his first solo album titled The Eugene Record in 1977 showcasing his impressive range and musicality. The album was recorded after Record’s departure […]
Dr. John’s seventh studio album In The Right Place features a number of classic tracks, including the hit single “Right Place Wrong Time,” which is one of the […]
Dynasty’s second album Adventures In The Land Of Music is a ’80s R&B and funk classic filled with catchy hooks, danceable rhythms, and strong vocal performances. The album […]
Active in the 1970s, Allspice was a funk/soul band from Hartford, Connecticut composed of nine members, including five vocalists and a horn section. Their self-titled debut album was […]
Recently reissued by Numero Group, Cheryl Glasgow’s “Glued to the Spot” is a perfect sunshine clubber that fuses together Sade-adjacent lovers rock vocals with street soul, boogie, synth […]
One of the quintessential balearic comps, Psychemagik’s Magik Sunset Part 1 has all the hard-to-find psychedelic soul, funk and disco classics that one might need to get a […]
Greg Perry had a highly successful career writing and producing hits for other artists including Chairmen of the Board, Freda Payne, and his wife Edna Wright, the lead […]
Full Moon is a nine track soul album featuring the “ultimate morning song” A3 “Changin’” that was played at legendary NYC parties like the Loft and Paradise Garage. […]
Toronto’s Invisible City Editions celebrated their 10th anniversary last year with a string of excellent DJ-friendly reissues including a private press modern soul rarity from Detroit, CD-only Guadeloupean […]
Beyond the Willow Tree traces the early recordings of singer, songwriter, and cardiologist Cleveland Francis. During a time when the music industry was very much segregated (“If you […]
Anita Baker is pure elegance and a powerhouse vocalist best known for her quiet storm work in the ’80s. Her path to stardom wasn’t exactly smooth… At 16, […]
Los Angeles native Micheal Wycoff started his musical journey at just three years old playing piano at home and the church close by. Hearing Donny Hathaway’s voice inspired […]
One of Queens’ finest, Tom Browne recorded his album Love Approach in 1980 featuring the smash hit “Funkin For Jamaica(N.Y.)” which charted number one on the US Billboard […]
Don “Minister of Funk” Blackman had an illustrious musical career starting when he was only 15 years old with Charles McPherson, who was his neighbor growing up in […]
One of the all time great duet parings in the history of R&B, Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack released two classic albums together in the ’70s. The pair […]
With a four-octave vocal range and multiple Grammy’s to her name, Deniece Williams is one of the greatest soul singers of her time. Williams started out as a […]
Nino And Radiah is the 1974 cult classic album from Italian-born French singer-songwriter Nino Ferrer and American model, singer, actress Radiah Frye. The duo are a perfect musical […]
International disco-funk group Heatwave was founded by Johnnie Wilder, an American serviceman who was stationed in West Germany and sang in nightclubs and taverns. After being discharged from […]
Debra Laws is the sister of Hubert Laws, Ronnie Laws & Eloise Laws; talent obviously runs in the family. Very Special is the first solo record Debra made […]
Jeannie Reynolds was the sister of L.J. Reynolds, a member of The Dramatics. Though her career wasn’t as significant in comparison to her brother’s, Jeannie made some truly […]
Linda Lewis is a UK singer/songwriter who didn’t get much recognition in the US, but had success in Japan. While not a household name, Lewis was very much involved […]
David Ruffin is best known for being in The Temptations but his solo career is nothing to overlook. Raised by a baptist minister, David intended to follow in […]
L.J. Reynolds started his recording career at the age of 11 and didn’t stop after that. He was in a band with some family members called The Relations, […]
Played at the Paradise Garage by Larry Levan, Aretha Franklin’s “Jump To It” is an instant party starter produced by Luther Vandross with his songwriting partner Marcus Miller. […]
Arranged and produced by the great Charles Stepney (The Dells, Ramsey Lewis, Earth Wind & Fire), The Rotary Connection was a Chicago-based acid rock meets soul jazz group […]
MFSB, which stands for Mother Father Sister Brother, was the studio band for Philadelphia International Records. The collective of over 30 musicians worked closely with production duo Gamble […]
An essential album from the great Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, Bridges is the first from the duo to feature production assistance and synthesizer programming from Malcolm Cecil […]
“Pre-dotcom electro-funk from the long-running S.F. collective New World Music” reissued by the great Numero Group. The three tracks featured here were compiled from the group’s highly sought […]
Seu Jorge’s weathered baritone takes on canonical classics by Jorge Ben, Tim Maia, Michael Jackson, Roy Ayers, and more. While not a novel or interesting concept by any […]
The very first album to fully replace drummers with a drum machine, Timmy Thomas’ Why Can’t We Live Together stands as one of the most remarkable soul albums […]
Released in the same year and in a similar echelon of visionary, conscious soul music as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Roots is the somewhat underrated second solo […]
A classic from legendary British R&B group Loose Ends, A Little Spice is perfect ’80s boogie for dance floors of yesterday and today. Much like their contemporaries S.O.S. […]
Leroy Hutson might not be a household name, but you might’ve heard his work through another great soul singer, Donny Hathaway. Hutson was Hathaway’s roommate at Howard University […]
Gil Scott-Heron was barely twenty-one years old when he signed a record deal with legendary Impulse! producer Bob Thiele’s Flying Dutchman imprint. Thiele had gotten a hold of […]
Originally released with a waving red, white, and blue flag on the cover, Sly & the Family Stone’s essential classic There’s a Riot Goin’ On speaks to a […]
Featuring a classic breakbeat that’s been used by Madlib, Big Daddy Kane, Rodney P, The D.O.C, Pete Rock, and countless others, Foster Sylvers is the self-titled debut LP […]
Prior to releasing her excellent debut Cult Survivor, Sofie Fatouretchi, one of the original crew of Boiler Room, put together a 24-track compilation of the best in underground […]
Yukihiro Takahashi may not have had as prolific a solo career as the other two members of Yellow Magic Orchestra, but that’s a hard comparison to make as […]
One of the early pioneers of boogie and R&B, Kashif (born Michael Jones) cut his teeth with 70’s funk group B.T. Express and later made a name for […]
Master of the “wah wah” pedal, Melvin Ragin aka guitarist Wah Wah Watson served in the Motown house band throughout the 70’s and has played on albums by […]
Produced by the great Norman Connors, Back For More is the major label solo debut of Al Johnson from Washington D.C. soul group the Unifics. Johnson had spent […]
Here’s an interesting one… Two young musical brothers meet the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and create, possibly the first of its kind, Hare Krishna soul / soft […]
Nobody can be you, but you! The powerful and positive opener on Steve Arrington’s Hall Of Fame Vol. I contains a classic drum break and was a favorite […]
Considered the bridge between his punk-funk experiments on Dirty Mind and his first mainstream hit 1999, Controversy sees Prince take a step out of the deep eroticism of […]
One of the giants of Japanese pop music, Taeko Ohnuki began her career as a founding member of Japanese pop band Sugar Babe alongside Tatsuro Yamashita. Though the […]
Included on the excellent Aloha Got Soul (Soul, AOR & Disco in Hawai’i 1979-1985) compilation, Lemuria was a jazz-funk and soul group formed by Kirk Thompson, an influential […]
The underrated Bobby Caldwell album, Carry On sees the pop funk soul singer dive into deeper subjects beyond love and simple attraction. A2 “Sunny Hills” almost sounds like […]
Featured in the “Mellow” section of Chee Shimizu’s Obscure Sound disc guide, Only Love Can Sustain is Argentinian rock legend Luis Alberto Spinetta’s first album released outside his […]
A landmark album that inspired an entire musical programming format and genre, Smokey Robinson’s A Quiet Storm was a return to form for the influential Motown songwriter and […]
One of the more underrated Prince side projects released on Paisley Park Records, The Family’s self-titled debut is, like many Prince projects, essentially a collection of Prince songs […]
The follow up to Sade’s brilliant debut, Promise builds on the smooth soul jazz of Diamond Life with even tighter rhythms and elegant compositions. Led by singer Sade […]
The last EWF release before the group broke into superstardom with That’s The Way Of The World, Open Our Eyes is a stripped back, jazz, funk and R&B classic […]
Compiled by Egon (Now Again) for Stones Throw Records, The Complete Works by Bay Area soul-jazz singer/songwriter Matthew Larkin Cassell comes with a bit of a story. Hip-hop […]
Often credited as the “Mother of Hip-hop”, Sylvia Robinson was a seminal blues-turned-soul singer, producer, and writer who released a slew of sultry and sensually charged records in […]
Tommy McGee never got a chance to make it in his day, but this comp by Numero Group has made a classic of McGee’s soulful funk. I’m A […]
Leon Thomas might not be a household name in jazz, but you’ve likely heard his voice if you’re a fan of Pharoah Sanders. Thomas was the vocalist and […]
Cymande’s sound is equally exploratory as much as it is soulful. Formed in London in 1971, the band had their roots in a handful of former colonies of […]
J.O.B Orquestra’s Open the Doors to Your Heart is a highly underrated album from the 1970’s New York afro-spiritualist movement that would later become a favorite amongst hip-hop […]
Kevin “Mr. Groove” McCord had his hand in a lot of 70’s and 80’s Detroit records… With almost 300 writing credits, he wrote, performed, or arranged a wide […]
Legendary Motown songwriter Leon Ware’s sensual masterpiece Musical Massage is a soul classic that should honestly be a lot more popular than it is. Some say its failure […]
It’s hard to pick a favorite out of the many classic albums by the “king of city pop” Tatsuro Yamashita, but if we absolutely had to, we’d probably […]
Celestial Sky is an underrated disco-funk gem by Norman Connors’ Starship Orchestra. Connors is a brilliant composer/producer and one of the more unsung jazz greats even though he’s […]
Craig T. Cooper is an LA-based guitarist who recorded two incredible smooth-jazz influenced funk records in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Both albums contain a slew of […]
The one and only recorded release from the ambitious German jazz-rock group that would eventually share their name with a majorly successful US boogie outfit, Shake It showcases […]
When Bernard Wright released his debut album ‘Nard in 1981, he was only 18 years old. The only son of Roberta Flack had generated quite a bit of […]
When Prince entered the studio to lay down the tracks on For You, the stakes were high. He would be the youngest artist in Warner Bros. history to […]
Motown’s Syreeta Wright is a bit of an unsung hero. Although her voice was not as outright powerful as the other soul divas of her day (Aretha, Diana, […]
A masterpiece of uncanny soul, In a Mood is a holy grail find and one of only two albums by the late-great outsider guitarist Harry Case. A bit […]
A truly transcendent crossover gospel album by Chicagoan pastor and activist T.L. Barrett and his beloved youth choir. Barrett was the pastor at the Mount Zion church, whose […]
Much more than just a rare groove classic, Eugene McDaniels’ Headless Heroes Of The Apocalypse is a psychedelic-soul jazz album with a powerful message. McDaniels, who is also […]
Another archeological music discovery by Numero Group, Edge of Daybreak’s Eyes of Love was a long lost prison letter and portrait of incarcerated soul. It was recorded entirely […]
Arthur Verocai’s eponymous 1972 debut album is considered one of the greatest Brazilian albums of all time. Copies of the original are known to go for more than […]
A great way to travel when you’re stuck at home is to listen to Houston-based trio Khruangbin, whose band name is the Thai word for “flying engine” or […]
Ever wonder how many amazing unreleased or unheard acetates currently sit in total obscurity, on a shelf somewhere, with decades’ worth of dust, unreleased, or perhaps even completely […]
A true summertime album, whether you’re melding the sunshine of the Lijadu Sisters’ sound with real life Vitamin D, or need to dial in the feeling of sunshine […]
Essential UK street soul recently reissued by Toronto’s Invisible City, “Street Soul” compiles the most beloved tracks by Soul Connection, a late 80’s duo made up of producer/pioneer […]
Hard Candy, Ned Doheny’s blue eyed soul opus, offers a lesson in everything going right for a record, yet still failing commercially. After his debut album failed to […]
Jon Lucien is known as one of the most focused and emotional balladeers to ever step in front of a microphone, but it’s his soothing baritone voice that […]
Stepping Into Tomorrow is a classic jazz-funk bomb from the great Donald Byrd featuring an all star cast including Gary Bartz on saxophone, Chuck Rainey on bass, and […]
An In Sheep’s Clothing nighttime favorite, Barbara & Ernie’s only release is a complex combination of soul, folk rock, and late 60’s psychedelia. At first listen, it doesn’t […]
One of the most sensual records of all time. Janis Gaye, whom the album is dedicated to, recalls “I’m pretty sure if you took a poll of how […]