Max Roach "Percussion Bitter Sweet" (1961 Impulse!, VMP reissue 2018)
The first year of VMP classics was a damn good run. I think this remains my favorite classics jazz release. Now spinning in the background while working. This is what the doctor ordered for this rainy Monday morning. That and coffee, lots and lots of coffee.
The Charlatans - Some Friendly
Pat Thomas - Wednesday at Tip Toe
As a teenager in the mid-90s in the UK it was hard to escape Oasis, but the band I really loved were the Charlies. I wanted to be Tim Burgess for quite a long time. This album is great from the start and contains the anthem that closes all their gigs, Sproston Green. Plus, a weird one from the fabulous Ghanaian singer. It says it's a live album but it's a studio one featuring long medleys of his old hits - they're not as good as the originals but they're still pretty tasty.
Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks: Test Pressing
Abel Lima - Africa Boum
There's been some discussion about how to file Dylan bootlegs elsewhere - I seem to have a slightly different system to everybody else. Most of the Bootleg Series live as separate boxsets but those that don't I put where they're recorded so this goes before the official BOTT release - I find it fascinating to play this first and then see what he changed. Idiot Wind is immense on this test pressing. Plus, one of the finest singers from Cabo Verde with the cream of talent from the islands on this fabulous album.