Inside Life
Artist: Incognito
Community Score: 7.00
Miles 2 Go
Artist: Mark Ledford
Community Score: 10.00

It took sessionman/singer/producer/jingle-writer Ledford two years to put together his first record as a leader, and although the eclectic results betray the patchwork recording schedule, it is an absorbing, at times exciting debut. Miles Davis is the unifying element; most of the selections are Miles chestnuts and standards that he made his... Read More

Freezone 3: Horizontal Dancing
Artist: DJ Morpheus

Another two-disc set of future production, Freezone, Vol. 3 continues to play down the downtempo influences and increases the BPMs. Tracks by American producers like Claude Young, Glenn Underground and Josh Wink go hand in hand with European beat-merchants including laid-back junglists JMJ+Richie, PFM, Kid Loops and Phume, as well as trip-hop... Read More

Liquid Soul
Artist: Liquid Soul
Community Score: 10.00

On its largely instrumental and mostly live debut album, Liquid Soul serves up precise horn charts and tight dance grooves at the junction where early-'70s old-school funk à la the J.B.'s meets new-school mix culture. And jazz, too, as strong versions of John Coltrane's "Equinox," Wayne Shorter's "Footprints," and Miles Davis' "Freddie the... Read More

Light to Dark
Artist: Ronny Jordan
Community Score: 10.00
Ima
Artist: BT
Community Score: 7.57

Arguably BT was in some ways late in the game by the time Ima came out because if there was anything like a "golden age" of uplifting/transcendent/progressive house, it happened in the early '90s rather than the latter half. However, sometimes nothing makes an artistic effort stand out more than being defiantly out of sync with the times. While... Read More

The Bobby Byrd Got Soul: The Best of Bobby Byrd
Artist: Bobby Byrd

As is the case with the JB's and other James Brown protégés, Bobby Byrd's legacy is spread over numerous out-of-print, difficult-to-find vinyl records. So this 22-song retrospective, which gathers numerous singles, and a couple of previously unreleased tracks spanning 1964 to 1973, is a welcome consolidation of his most significant work into one... Read More

The Grassy Knoll
Artist: The Grassy Knoll

The Grassy Knoll paste together a creative assortment of elements and then soak them in barrels of dark atmosphere. Nothing on The Grassy Knoll sounds like anything else before it, save the snatches here and there of a trumpet call right out of Miles Davis, a stab at Hendrix, a bit of Duane Eddy guitar, and loads of eerie electronics which... Read More

Tribes, Vibes and Scribes
Artist: Incognito
Community Score: 10.00

This England-based dance and funk, but mostly jazz, band brings nothing but energy to this project. The production is sleek, and the arrangements are precise. Maysa Leak reaches her higher notes without abandoning the fullness of her unwavering lower range. Half of the songs on this album utilize her vocals, while the others are instrumentals.... Read More

A Brighter Day
Artist: Ronny Jordan

As the reality of Y2K took hold, no doubt many artists went with forward-thinking album titles for their first efforts of the new millennium. But guitarist Ronny Jordan wasn't thinking of trendiness or even the calendar shift when he called his Blue Note debut A Brighter Day. His 1992 jazz/hip-hop-fused release The Antidote made him an instant... Read More