Gary Bartz - The Shadow Do! (1975)

Some of that sweet, that funky stuff from jazz saxophonist (and Baltimorean!) Gary Bartz. In addition to handling all vocals and playing synth, he brought in (among others) Michael Henderson, the Mizell brothers, and several members of Mtume, and the results are lush, smooth jazz-funk of the highest order.

Track listing:

1. Winding Roads

2. Mother Nature

3. Love Tones

4. Gentle Smiles (Saxy)

5. Make Me Feel Better

6. Sea Gypsy

7. For My Baby

8. Incident

I'm gonna get ya

More like this:

Dave Valentin - Land of the Third Eye (1980)

George Howard - Asphalt Gardens (1982)

Miles Davis - Get Up with It (1974)

A personal favorite of mine from Miles Davis' discography, Get Up with It is a double album of material recorded at various points from 1970 to '74. Even within the context of a career as challenging and game-changing as Davis', opening an album with the 32-minute, mind dissolving, slow burning "He Loved Him Madly" was a pretty confrontational move. Wah-wah guitars, hand percussion, dissonant organ-led freakouts, half-hour-long jams -- I can practically see weed smoke pouring out of my speakers. If you don't think that Miles Davis created some of the raddest sounds in the history of life on this planet, you're wrong.

Track listing:
-Disc One-
1. He Loved Him Madly
2. Maiysha
3. Honky Tonk
4. Rated X
-Disc Two-
1. Calypso Frelimo
2. Red China Blues
3. Mtume
4. Billy Preston

Voodoo