Gotta Travel On is an album by pianist Ray Bryant recorded and released by Cadet Records in 1966. Raphael Homer "Ray" Bryant was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Bryant was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 24, 1931. His mother was an ordained minister who had taught herself to play the piano; his father also played the piano and sang. His brothers were the bass player Tommy, drummer and singer Len, and Lynwood. Ray began playing the piano around the age of six or seven, following the example of his mother and his sister, Vera. Gospel influences in his playing came from being part of the church at this stage in his early life. He had switched from classical music to jazz by his early teens, and played the double bass at junior high school. He was first paid to play when he was 12: "I would play for dances, and they'd sneak me into bars. I'd get four or five bucks a night, which was good money then." He turned professional aged 14, and immediately joined a local band led by Mickey Collins.

One of a handful of true greats in the jazz vocal world, Carmen McRae has always been considered a singer s singer. Never content to remain static, Ms. McRae was constantly evolving throughout her 40+ year career and eventually was recognized as one of the most influential jazz vocalists of the 20th Century alongside Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald. It was in the mid-seventies that Ms. McRae experienced a strong resurgence that was capped off by her performance on this incredible session from 1978. Showcasing her impressive powers alongside a veritable who's who of young jazz greats including Freddie Hubbard, Hubert Laws, Grover Washington Jr., Hank Crawford, Jorge Dalto, Cornell Dupree and Chris Parker, Ms. McRae recorded one of the greatest albums of her impressive career. Featuring songs written by Al Jarreau, Billy Joel, Carol Bayer Sager and other modern writers - Ms. McRae proved that she could not only handle any type of material, but she could deliver the songs as if they written for her and her alone.

If told about a band that consisted of only keyboards and drums, one wouldn’t be faulted for thinking, “Where’s the rest of the group?” But one listen to Amendola Vs. Blades—the funky California-based duo of Wil Blades on Hammond organ and clavinet and Scott Amendola behind the kit—and all fears will be assuaged. Blades’s cutting solos and deep bass lines make for a thick stew of soulful harmony and daring improvisation. And Amendola’s beats are simply unstoppable, simultaneously pushing the duo to heights unknown and sending the listener into a joyful sonic trance. But, in a move away from their debut album, ‘Greatest Hits,’ the new album from Amendola Vs. Blades is bursting not only with creativity, but with personnel. ‘Everybody Wins’ features only three tracks that are exclusively duo. The rest of the album sees contributions from guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise), saxophonist Skerik (Les Claypool, Garage A Trois), percussionist Cyro Baptista (Herbie Hancock, Sting), and keyboardist Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio, Laurie Anderson).

What you see is what you get, an excellent little compilation of the various faces of soul-jazz as presented by the Verve label with their amazing array of artists from Hugh Masekela to Willie Bobo and Herbie Mann on the one hand, and Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Hendricks (in an outstanding reading of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man") the Heath Brothers, and Teddy Edwards on the other. The track list is wonderfully varied, too: there's a smoking version of Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" by Masekela, a pair by Jimmy Smith, and a big band – a new entry by the acid jazz group the James Taylor Quartet, but they get it deep; and Wynton Kelly goes deep into soul and blues with "Escapade." Anyway you cut it, it comes out great.

Throughout the 1970s, Chuck Mangione was a celebrity. His purposely lightweight music was melodic pop that was upbeat, optimistic, and sometimes uplifting…

After the release of Mardi Gras in 1975, Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack) left Atlantic Records. In late 1977, he signed with A&M's Horizon imprint – a label whose purpose was to showcase the jazz side of its parent company. City Lights is the better of two recordings he cut there. Produced by Tommy LiPuma and Hugh McCracken, City Lights was recorded at New York's Hit Factory Studios with a band of studio aces: drummer Steve Gadd, guitarists Cornell Dupree and John Tropea, bassist Will Lee, and Richard Tee as an additional keyboardist; Arthur Jenkins added percussive effects. The five-piece horn section included both David Sanborn and Ronnie Cuber. What's really startling, however, is the material. For most of the 1970s, Rebennack had been playing well-known tunes by other Crescent City luminaries and pop songwriters, contributing precious little of his material to his albums. On City Lights he wrote or co-wrote everything on the set. His songwriting partner for part of this date was none other than Doc Pomus. The best of both men is captured on the opener, "Dance the Night Away with You," a strolling New Orleans R&B number.

Since winning a talent contest at the Apollo Theater in 1949 Salena Jones has recorded and released over 40 albums. As with every album Salena records she pours her heart and soul into each recording making every one a memorable experience. "Ballad With Luv" is the same and does not disappoint the listener. Containing 10 of her favorite interpretations of such well know songs including "I Can See Clearly Now", "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "You Light Up My Life" this record is a pleasure to listen to. Mastered by First Impression Music using JVC's impressive K2HD format it creates an unbelievable sound surpassing other formats.

Closing in on 20 years since their last album, the whole gang is here, pretty much – the core of Don and David Was and Sir Harry Bowens and Sweet Pea Atkinson, along with Was (Not Was) vets Luis Resto, David McMurray, Wayne Kramer, Donald Ray Mitchell, and Randy Jacobs, as well as roughly a couple dozen additional accomplices, from Booker T. Jones to (of course) Kris Kristofferson. Mixing and matching funk, rock, and soul with a little jazz and blues, and enhanced on occasion by some seamlessly incorporated electronics, Boo! delivers robust party material with plenty of straight-faced, sidesplitting/head-scratching humor…precisely what you'd expect from them, then. They've remained ageless all along, balancing their adolescent pranksterism with sharp social observations and deliriously random humor, deploying it all over sturdy grooves that roam unselfconsciously across the history of R&B.

Compilation from English vocalist who kind of has a Sade thing going on. Big following in France. 13 tracks including 'Sally', 'More, More, More', 'Bad Day', 'I'm Not Afraid Of You' and a cover of 'It's All In The Game' which appeared on the soundtrack to 'She's Having A Baby'.

Arnett Cobb's debut for Prestige and his first recording as a leader in three years (due to a serious car accident in 1956) is an explosive affair. Cobb is matched up with fellow tough tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and there are plenty of sparks set off by their encounter. With organist Wild Bill Davis, bassist George Duvivier, and drummer Arthur Edgehill keeping the proceedings heated, Cobb and Davis tangle on a variety of basic material, alternating uptempo romps such as "Go Power" and "Go Red Go" with slightly more sober pieces highlighted by "When I Grow Too Old to Dream." This is a great matchup (reissued on CD through the OJC imprint) that lives up to its potential.

"20/20" is the 22nd studio album by George Benson, released on the Warner Bros. record label in 1985. The lead single by the same name reached #48 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA. "You Are the Love of My Life" is a duet with Roberta Flack; it was one of numerous songs used for Eden Capwell and Cruz Castillo on the American soap opera Santa Barbara. Also included on 20/20 is the original version of the song "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" which would later become a smash hit for Hawaiian singer Glenn Medeiros.

Debut album by innovative Soul-Jazz-Funk-Beats-Trio led by Ed Motta-MD Matti Klein (formerly of Mo' Blow). Co-produced by Axel Reinemer of Jazzanova at Jazzanova studios, Berlin. With his various vintage keyboards and as MD for Brazilian soul superstar Ed Motta, or with his band Mo 'Blow, Klein earned a reputation as one of the most interesting young groove jazz musicians, appearing in renowned clubs like Ronnie Scott's, the Blue Note Tokyo, or the Highline Ballroom in New York, sharing stage and studio with stars like Nils Landgren, Jimmy Somerville, or David T. Walker.

"The First Minute of a New Day" is an album by American vocalist Gil Scott-Heron, keyboardist Brian Jackson, and the Midnight Band - an eight-piece musical ensemble. It was released in January 1975 on Arista Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in the summer of 1974 at D&B Sound in Silver Spring, Maryland. It was the follow-up to Scott-Heron's and Jackson's critically acclaimed collaboration effort Winter in America. The First Minute of a New Day was the first album to feature "Winter in America", the title track of Scott-Heron's previous album which was not featured on its original LP release. The album was reissued on compact disc by Scott-Heron's label Rumal-Gia Records in 1998.

Ray Charles's time on ABC Records was about more than adding strings, choirs, and country tunes to his approach. By 1972's "A Message From The People", he was turning out tracks full of funky soul, largely devoid of the overproduction plaguing much of his ABC discography. As was so often the case with Ray, a gospel feel mixed with R&B locomotion is the engine that drives things here, but he also uses it to transform Melanie's "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma" into a syncopated strut, and bring a Sunday Baptist church feel to the Dion hit "Abraham, Martin and John."

"Rotary Connection" is the eponymous debut album by the American psychedelic soul group of the same name. The album rose to #37 on the Billboard 200 chart and includes several cover songs by The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Lovin' Spoonful and Sam & Dave.