The great Algerian diva of Arab song — a Dilla favourite, incidentally — accompanied by a full-sized orchestra, augmented by electric guitar and organ, in a characteristically grooving, classy composition by her old man Baligh Hamdi. This reissue features newly remastered audio, the original cassette artwork, and a two-page insert with a new introduction by Mario Choueiry from the Institut du Monde Arabe

The CD is newly remastered — it sounds magnificent —  adding two out-takes and two extended versions. (The ending of Slim Slow Slider is startling.) Surely a must at the price.
Rhino vinyl.

‘A playful, joyous album in which Hancock clearly had a great time, this music was composed for the pilot of a children’s TV show, redirecting the post-bop of his five-year stint with Miles towards new r&b and funk styles. Flying high with three horn players — Joe Henderson, Garrett Brown and Johnny Coles — alongside Hancock’s soaring Fender Rhodes, the group could swing freely on a track like the rousing Fat Mama and emote precisely on the subtle Tell Me A Bedtime Story.’

‘Herbie took the basic instrumental tracks of Quasar and Water Torture to Patrick
Gleeson’s Different Fur Studios, hoping to learn how to play the Moog synthesizer. Instead, Hancock let Gleeson contribute layers of sound to both pieces: on Quasar extending the horn playing of Bennie Maupin, Julian Priester and Eddie Henderson through electronic accents; on Water Torture providing a ghostly counter melody on the Mellotron (using samples from string instruments). These studio enhancements give Crossings an
otherworldly dimension, making the album feel bigger and more fantastical, yet the Sextet’s playing — recorded without much in way of edits or overdubs — keeps everything grounded. Indeed, Gleason’s additions are often so natural that it is hard to pick out what’s acoustic and what’s synthesized.’
The second LP by the sextet aka the Mwandishi Band, and Herbie’s last for Warner Brothers, clearing the way for the Headunters.
LP from Music On Vinyl.

We love this LP; it’s an old favourite. You can hear Teddy adjusting the influences of Hawk and Bird to meet the challenge of Rollins and Coltrane. You can’t go wrong with any of his West Coast albums from 1960-67, for Pacific, Contemporary and Prestige. Classy, bluesy, no frills West Coast jazz; cultured but tasty and with-it. This one has the warmth, purposefulness and swing of a classic Blue Note. Phineas Newborn plays a blinder, too.
Here’s the Penguin Guide: ‘One of the best mainstream albums of its day… beautifully and almost effortlessly crafted.’

‘After releasing their Warner Bros. debut, the Herbie Hancock Sextet underwent a major transformation in the early ’70s. Over the course of a year, every member was replaced (except Herbie Hancock himself and bassist Buster Williams) and each adopted Swahili names. Hancock chose the moniker Mwandishi (‘composer’), and the Sextet became unofficially known as the Mwandishi Band.
‘The lineup’s first album reflects Hancock’s new aesthetic and spiritual directions. Stretching out from the r&b/jazz-fusion of Fat Albert Rotunda, the pianist would draw inspiration from his time with Miles Davis…
‘Dedicated to Angela Davis, Ostinato is an extended jam with stunning rhythmic complexity — enhanced by such studio effects as Echoplex delay. On You’ll Know When You Get There, Hancock’s tight arrangements are saturated in reverb, which gives an ever-shifting dimensionality. Side-long closer Wandering Spirit Song, written by trombonist Julian Priester, goes even further out: alternating between dynamic soloing and group improvisation, the Sextet fully manifests the radical potential of their collective identity/energy.
‘A bold and expansive statement, even after nearly fifty years.’

Her third, 1970 album, the brilliant summation of her folky start — with favourites like Woodstock, Big Yellow Taxi and The Circle Game.
The LP is newly remastered by Bernie Grundman under the supervision of Joni Mitchell.

‘A psychedelic voyage into the afterlife’, with Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Herbie Hancock, Thundercat… The 4LP set adds the instrumentals, all on 180g vinyl in printed inner sleeves, outer sleeves and rigid box and lid, with a download code card.

The triumphant return of Dog — king of Shangaan electro.

The sublime 2001 swansong of James Stinson, of Drexciya. ‘By turns luminous and melancholic, low-key and sensuous, wry and soulful’ (Pitchfork).