Soul

Bill Withers' Live At Carnegie Hall was recorded almost 40 years ago on a rainy Friday evening, but it is still regarded as one of the best live performances in the history of soul music.

With some of the best DJs and selectors there is a certain mysterious sound or underlying feeling which unites the music they play, regardless of genre, year or tempo.

Pieces of a Man is the debut studio album by American poet Gil Scott-Heron. It was recorded in April 1971 at RCA Studios in New York City and released later that year by Flying Dutchman Records.

Recorded in 1971 by a 27-year-old pastor and an after school program choir, Like A Ship is a stirring and powerful meditation on the wayward aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement.

Classic jazz / funk / folk from the mercurial Callier. Possibly the greatest album ever by the legendary chicago soul singer Terry Callier!

Sly and the Family Stone might have psychedelicised soul music, but Marvin Gaye personalised it. Although the powers-that-were Motown didn't even want to release the record, the unexpected success of What's Going On, issued in 1971, inspired Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, and just about every other black artist on the planet to take greater responsibility for their music and its meaning.

For Thee Sacred Souls, the first time is often the charm. The band’s first club dates led to a record deal with the revered Daptone label; their first singles racked up more than ten million streams in a year and garnered attention from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and KCRW

The musical styles of 'Curtis' moved further away from the pop-soul sounds of Mayfield's previous group The Impressions and featured more of a funk and psychedelic-influenced sound.

The xx producer and percussionist Jamie Smith takes a stab at recontextualizing Gil Scott-Heron's excellent 2010 album, I'm New Here.

Four decades have failed to dull the album’s power and awe-inspiring scope. It’s been cited as a favorite by figures like Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey – and Wonder himself. “Of all the albums, Songs in the Key of Life I’m most happy about,” he told Q magazine in 1995. “Just the time, being alive then. To be a father and then letting go and letting God give me the energy and strength I needed.” Credit: Rolling Stone

Aretha Franklin disproved the notion that once you leave the church, you can't go back. She returned in triumph on this 1972 double album, making what might be her greatest release ever in any style.

He has left behind a series of fantastic hits plus a handful of tracks which deserve the title of masterpiece, all Collected on this album.

Shuggie Otis was a musical visionary whose early 1970s recordings showed he could do it all, writing, arranging, performing, and producing some of the decade's most satisfying, innovative, and, unfortunately, overlooked music.

As the second of five consecutive albums which made up Stevie's classic period, Talking Book found Wonder at the top of his game, combining tight song writing with warm electronic arrangements and effervescent vocal performances

This new volume of the Diggin collection offers a selection of rare and groovy tracks ranging from Funk to Jazz Fusion and Soul.

Mr Bongo reissue of this 1977 LP by one of the great figures of Brazilian music.

Made of groovy tunes and dance killers, this album could be the crazy soundtrack of a 60s hippie village on the South China Sea.

1973's Innervisions swings between delicate and airy ballads, Latin-influenced rhythms and his own synth-heavy versions of raw funk and soul.

Strut present the first definitive retrospective of an icon of 1970s and ‘80s soul, jazz and disco, Patrice Rushen, covering her peerless 6-year career with Elektra / Asylum from 1978 to 1984.

Givin' It Back is the ninth album released by The Isley Brothers on their T-Neck imprint in 1971.

Compiling the follow-up to a very successful first album is always a tricky task, but just 12 months since the release of volume one in the 'With Love' series, miche has excelled himself once again with another glorious, deep dive into the world of rare soul.

Northern soul floor fillers of the Eccentric variety.

Originally released at the end of the '60s, Hot Buttered Soul set the precedent for how soul would evolve in the 70's - simultaneously establishing Isaac Hayes as a major music force.

Donny Hathaway's third solo studio album, 'Extension of a Man', followed the soul singer's lauded 1972 collaboration with vocalist Roberta Flack.

Nina Simone made her first trip into the studio in New York during 1957 to record her debut album Little Girl Blue.

Recorded in early 1971, Curtis / Live! finds Curtis Mayfield in top form at the intimate Greenwich Village club The Bitter End.

Nina Simone: The Montreux Years is released as part of a brand new Montreux Jazz Festival and BMG collection series “The Montreux Years”.

Born to an African-American opera singer and a Jamaican footballer who played for Celtic in Glasgow, Gil Scott-Heron was a ground-breaking musician and writer whose melding of poetry, soul and political activism paved the way for the arrival of rap and prefaced neo-soul by some decades.

Yaya Bey is one of R&B’s most exciting storytellers. Using a combination of ancestral forces and her own self-actualization, the singer/songwriter seamlessly navigates life’s hardships and joyful moments through music.

This is one of Nina Simone's more subdued mid-'60s LPs, putting the emphasis on her piano rather than band arrangements.

House of the Rising Sun features several guest performances by New York studio aces, including Joe Beck, Don Grolnick, David Sanborn, Fred Wesley and Michael Brecker amongst others.

A collection of the best gospel - soul thumpers from the Boddie Recording Company and BOS Records by way of The Numero Group.

Curating and ordering the tracks for a Mr Bongo Record Club is always special.

When Aretha Franklin passed away on August 16, 2018 we lost the Queen of Soul, acknowledged as the foremost female singer of her generation, someone who sold over 75 million records in her glittering career.

Head back to the floor with this brand-new 2LP compilation featuring 42 more of the world’s most remarkable Northern Soul tunes.

Having been brought up as much on albums as singles, it is a natural progression for Kent to make a 12-inch version of our “Masterpieces Of Modern Soul” CD series. The modern soul fan is used to wielding vinyl 12-inchers and our latest Kent LP is aimed squarely at them.

Officially reissued at last! Considered by many to be a genuine ‘holy grail’ of soul and funk. Featuring Miracles as sampled by Public Enemy, Basement Jaxx, Arrested Development and many more.

From 1967-1980, Kansas City’s Forte Records captured nearly every iteration of popular Black music.

UK funk outfit Cymande followed their eponymous debut LP with "Second Time Round", also from 1973. Fusing musical influences such as soul, Afro-beat, reggae and calypso, they created a unique British funk sound that became a favourite sample source for hip hop producers in the next two decades.

There's a relaxed vibe running through every note even in the more up-tempo songs and a consistency here that shows Bill at his best.

US cinematic outfit Whatitdo Archive Group return with 'Palace Of A Thousand Sounds', the band's sophomore album exploring the worlds of Mid-Century exotica and library music, out on May 5th.

All killers and no fillers on this fabulous 1969 Motown masperpiece. 

This album was another brainchild of Marshall Chess' regime at Chess Records. Here, he's getting Ramsey Lewis, supported by an orchestra conducted and arranged by Charles Stepney, to do jazz improvisations on ten songs from The Beatles (aka The White Album).

Deleted 1980 UK Motown label 8-track vinyl LP including My Old Piano Im Coming Out and Upside Down.

Otis Redding and the nine-man band, which includes a three-piece horn section, play a delightfully tough and varied set, delivering amazing, sweaty renditions of fiery up-tempo raves, swaggering, mid-tempo soul grinds, and intense slow numbers.

They don't come anymore classic than this.

Hotter than July is the nineteenth studio album by Wonder, originally released on Motown's Tamla label in September 1980, featuring hit songs including Happy Birthday.

Sam Cooke, inventor and true King of Soul, recorded Mr. Soul in the same year as Night Beat, and seems to be its more adult counterpart, with soulful ballads taking up most of the album.

Quincy Jones delivers pure sonic magic on You've Got It Bad Girl, a lush, groove-heavy journey through jazz, R&B, and soul.

Disregard the understated title; Small Talk at 125th and Lenox was a volcanic upheaval of intellectualism and social critique, recorded live in a New York nightclub with only bongos and conga to back the street poet.

This collection is drawn from throughout the sixties, though it does not entirely fit the commonly held belief that Northern Soul records are all ultra-rarities, because half of the tracks here actually were major hits in the US, and four of them were top twenty entries!

The Best of Isaac Hayes brings together 10 soulful cuts from Stax Records’ incomparable creative force.

A 24 carat compilation of the best of the “yellow” Stax, Volt and associated labels’ recordings, many of which crossed over into the American Pop charts.

Mahalia Jackson was the link between ‘Empress of the Blues’ Bessie Smith and ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin. Yet, she was not a Blueswoman, considering the Blues to be ‘songs of despair – Gospel songs are the songs of hope’.

Despite their name, the Chicago Gangsters were originally from Ohio. Formed by brothers James, Sam, Chris, and Leroy McCants, the group's sound ranged from heavy funk and disco to sweet, smooth balladry.

I’ll Be Your Rainbow is the only recorded album by classic soul singer Bobby Wilson. Originally released in 1975, the album is a perfect blend of the styles of soul that were running through the east coast underground of the early 70s.

Root Down was Hammond B-3 jazz legend Jimmy Smith's 1972 live album for Verve.

Mavis Staples returns with a brand new studio album produced and written by Ben Harper.

Well before Shuggie Otis cut his debut album, musicianship and performance had long been a part of his life.

The 1967 Impulse Records legendary Funk/Soul Instrumental masterpiece album Chicken Fat.

James Reese was as ambitious as he was talented, and his ouevre ranges from brutal, deep soul to sophisticated instrumental ballads to jazz-inflected funk.

The legendary release by Ronnie April's Positive Energy.

It happens at times that a stone cold classic from a bygone era gets rediscovered. But how often does that rediscovery happen when the band is still around? And how often does it lead to a new album? That’s the surprising circumstance behind the Staples Jr. Singers’ long-awaited second album, Searching (out June 14).

Sampled by Kanye and Tyler The Creator

Following the recent release of Dee C Lee’s latest single, Walk Away, Acid Jazz Records release Just Something, Dee’s first album since 1998.

Soul Portrait is a slice of Southern-fried soul, a blend of beat ballads and dancers.

The Newport Jazz Festival had always brought the best out in Nina Simone.

Wildfire was a household name in Tropical Island music circles due to their excellent albums and performances throughout Trinidad, Tobago, the Caribbean and US Virgin Islands and French Guadeloupe.

This is the story of how a tiny label from New Jersey changed the course of music history not once but twice. Cheri Records was established in 1974 in New Jersey and run by one Boo Frazier. Cheri's output was limited, producing a catalogue of just eleven releases between the years 1974 and 1982. On the face of it, this appears to be insubstantial output. However, if you dig a little deeper, the quality released on Cheri Records reveals an exceptional legacy of groundbreaking music.

Reissue of the legendary debut album from Magic In Threes.

Reissue of the legendary second album from Magic In Threes.

In 1963, Sam Cooke, the true inventor and King of Soul, recorded the album Night Beat, which was bluesier and moodier than anything we had heard from Cooke before. If Sam Cooke had lived longer, we might have had more music of this rare quality. As it stands, we must make do with the treasures he left behind

In 1965 in the face of social unrest, legendary Memphis label Stax Records put on two pulsating shows at the 5-4 Ballroom in Los Angeles, featuring Rufus Thomas, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, William Bell, Carla Thomas, Wilson Picket and more. 60 years later the recordings, newly mastered by Joe Tarantino, with lacquers cut by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl, have been collected with a bonus set of performances recorded at Club Paradise, Memphis to form Stax Revue – Live In ’65!.

A dazzling 11-track journey through the rich, handpicked gems of Numero’s finest.

Jujus / Alchemy of the Blues is Sarah Webster Fabio's third album for Folkways. 

Keep Your Soul Together” (1973) is Freddie Hubbard’s fifth studio album released on Creed Taylor’s CTI label.

Track Listing Sweet Music, Soft Lights and You Now Is the Time for Love Pt. 1 I'll See You in Hell First Love Highjacker I Can Fly It Hurts So Good See Saw Affair Lightin' Up Three Lonely Guys Spells & Incantations (With Debbie Lindsay) Midnight Affair When I Had You, Baby

Rare Seventies Big City Street Soul

Embraced in the early 90s by Britain’s rare groove scene and later sampled by Digable Planets and Jay-Z, Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth has since been known as 24-Carat Black’s first and final chapter, barely a footnote in the well documented history of Stax.

Mavis Staples is the debut solo studio by American rhythm and blues and gospel singer Mavis Staples. It was released on June 16, 1969, by Volt Records.