Stokes, Memphis Minnie, Furry Lewis, Gus Cannon and co. 180g, well-pressed.

The classic 1970 debut with Beverley Martyn. Rehearsed in Woodstock, with Levon Helm guesting on a couple, Joe Boyd producing. Lovely.

This is terrific. The Duke totally fronts up; Mingus is dazzling. Les Fleurs Africaines is one for the desert island.

Featuring Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes, from 1958.

‘New levels of excellence… a poetic incantation of British identity far brighter than Michael Gove’s proposed GCSE history syllabus *****’ (The Sunday Times). ‘Magnificent ****’ (The Guardian).

Limited, gatefold LP version of the first SF CD release in 2003: droning beat pop, early Orkes Melayu songs, Batak Tapanuli, traditional Minang, and rare folk drama from the Indonesian island, from cassettes.

Early seventies Philly soul, with Van McCoy, Bobby Martin and Thom Bell at the desk. The title song was their big hit. Nice version of The Temptations’ I Wish It Would Rain.

A Brooklyn-1973 brew of Compas — carnivalesque Haitian party music — and other Carib styles, mixed with funk, soul, psych. Treated guitars, ain’t-no-stoppin’ percussion.

Chocolate Mena leading three lineups — featuring Joe Henderson, Jerome Richardson, Alfredo Armenteros, and co — through Lalo Schifrin and Duke Pearson arrangements of core Latin and Jazz classics.

Cutting his teeth at Impact! with Clive Chin.
The Heptones, Dennis, Swing Easy; an unforgettable lesson in dub, over the killer Ordinary Man rhythm.
‘Leave the studio, sah!’ ‘Leggo dat an hold dis.’ Listen everything.’
Crucial crucial crucial crucial.

First-time-out for these early-seventies recordings — countrified drafts of some classic Hurley, with backing from Vermont mates the Fatboys, aka the Deranged Cowboys.