Tag Archives: BGP

CULT CLASIC: JOHNNY LYTLE-THE LOOP.

Cult Classic: Johnny Lytle-The Loop. Johnny Dillard Lytle was born into a family of musicians on December October ’13th’, 1932 in Springfield, Ohio. His father was a drummer and his mother an organist. Influenced by both, the future vibes virtuoso grew up playing drums and piano. However, before studying music he was a successful boxer. …

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CHRIS BANGS PRESENTS THE PLAYBOX.

CHRIS BANGS PRESENTS THE PLAYBOX. Chris Bangs Presents The Playbox. Label: BGP. Format: CD. Release Date: 30th May 2025. Initially, DJ Chris Bangs started off as a guitarist with space rockers the Mighty Om. However, he soon realised that his talents lay elsewhere. That came in 1982, after meeting Gilles Peterson, who was playing his …

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THIS IS FUNKY JAZZ.

This Is Funky Jazz. Label: BGP. Format: LP. Nowadays, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey and Bud Powell are regarded as pioneers, and among the finest and most influential bebop artists. They were innovators, and played their part in this new musical movement that required instrumental virtuosity. Bebop was …

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JOHNNY LYTLE-THE LOOP.

Johnny Lytle-The Loop. Label: BGP. Format: LP. Release Date: ‘28th’ July 2023. Johnny Dillard Lytle was born into a family of musicians on December October ’13th’, 1932 in Springfield, Ohio. His father was a drummer and his mother an organist. Influenced by both, the future vibes virtuous grew up playing drums and piano. However, before …

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DOLLAR BILL Y’ALL-SPRING RECORDS AND THE FIRST DECADE OF HIP HOP.

Dollar Bill Ya’ll-Spring Records and The First Decade Of Hip Hop. Label: BGP. Format: CD. Release Date 28th April 2023. Disco was one of the musical success stories of the late-seventies, and provided the soundtrack to dancefloors across the world. That changed in 1979, and disco’s demise was rapid.  Its critics stated that some disco …

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THIS IS FLYING DUTCHMAN 1969-1975.

This Is Flying Dutchman 1969-1975. Label: BGP. Format: CD. Release Date: 24th February 2023. Flying Dutchman was the second record label Bob Thiele founded during what was by then, a long, illustrious and successful career. The first was Signature Records in 1939, when he was just seventeen.  However, Signature Records wasn’t Bob Thiele’s first job in music. …

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LONNIE LISTON SMITH AND THE COSMIC ECHOES-RENAISSANCE.

Lonnie Liston Smith and The Cosmic Echoes-Renaissance. Label: BGP. Format: LP. Release Date: 26th August 2022. Innovative, influential and way ahead of the musical curve, describes the music of Lonnie Liston Smith, and specially the five albums he recorded with The Cosmic Echoes for Bob Thiele’s Flying Dutchman Productions between 1973 and 1976  This began with …

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LONNIE LISTON SMITH-LIVE!

Lonnie Liston Smith-Live! Label: BGP. Format: CD. Innovative, influential and way ahead of the musical curve describes the music of Lonnie Liston Smith. Especially the music he recorded with The Cosmic Echoes for Bob Thiele’s Flying Dutchman Productions. A total of five groundbreaking albums were released by the label starting with 1973s Astral Travelling. This continued  right through to …

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LONNIE LISTON SMITH AND THE COSMIC ECHOES-RENAISSANCE.

Lonnie Liston Smith and The Cosmic Echoes-Renaissance. Label: BGP. Format: CD. Innovative, influential and way ahead of the musical curve, describes the music of Lonnie Liston Smith, and specially the five albums he recorded with The Cosmic Echoes for Bob Thiele’s Flying Dutchman Productions between 1973 and 1976  This began with Astral Travelling in 1973 with  …

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DIRECTIONS IN MUSIC 1969 TO 1973.

Directions In Music 1969 To 1973. Label: BGP. Format: CD. By the time of John Coltrane’s death in 1967 rock was by far the most popular musical genre in America. A headline in Downbeat magazine warned that: “Jazz as We Know It Is Dead.” The future of jazz looked bleak. Fortunately, fusion rode to the …

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LOFTS AND GARAGES-SPRING RECORDS AND THE BIRTH OF DANCE MUSIC.

Lofts and Garages-Spring Records and The Birth Of Dance Music. Label: BGP. Format: CD. Release Date: ‘30th’ October 2020. As 1979 dawned, the tide was turning against disco, which had been one of the musical success stories of the late-seventies, and had provided the soundtrack to dance floors across the world. That was about to …

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CULT CLASSIC: LEON THOMAS-FULL CIRCLE.

Cult Classic: Leon Thomas-Full Circle. For Leon Thomas, Full Circle represented the end of an era. It was the last album Leon Thomas released on Flying Dutchman Productions, and marked the end of his “classic period.” It had started four years earlier in 1969, when Leon Thomas released his debut album Spirits Known and Unknown. …

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HORN ROCK AND FUNKY GUITAR GROOVES 1968-1974.

Horn Rock and Funky Guitar Grooves 1968-1974. Label: BGP. Nowadays,  music historians regard 1968 as the year that American rock returned to its soulful roots. The man responsible, was one of the true legends of music, Bob Dylan, who joined forces with The Band, and they went in search of a chimerical America, and  what …

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IF YOU’RE NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION-SOUL, POLITICS AND SPIRITUALITY IN JAZZ 1967-1975.  

If You’re Not Part Of The Solution-Soul, Politics and Spirituality In Jazz 1967-1975. Label: BGP. By the late sixties, jazz like the blues was at a crossroads and both genres risked becoming irrelevant to a new breed of record buyers. The problem was, that jazz was no longer as popular as it had once been, …

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SOUTHERN GROOVE: HOTATLANTA, AWARE AND CLINTONE FUNK AND SOUL.

Southern Groove: Hotlanta, Aware and Clintone Funk and Soul. Label: BGP. Throughout musical history, colourful and controversial characters have always been attracted to the music industry in the hope of earning fast and easy money. While that night have been part of the attraction why Michael Thevis founded the Hotlanta, Aware and Clintone labels, it …

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THE BEST COMPILATIONS OF 2017 PART 2.

The Best Compilations Of 2017 Part 2. Conrad Schnitzler-Filmmusik 2. Label: Bureau B. Filmmuzik 2, just like Filmmuzik 1, is the perfect starting place for newcomers to the music of Conrad Schnitzler. Both albums are a gateway to the rest of Conrad Schnitzler’s back-catalogue. These compilations will be the first step on a voyage of …

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THE BEST COMPILATIONS OF 2017 PART 4.

The Best Compilations Of 2017 Part 4. Magnetband-Experimenteller Elektronik-Underground DDR 1984-1989.  Label: Bureau B. For anyone with even a passing interest in Eastern European music, then Magnetband-Experimenteller Elektronik-Underground DDR 1984-1989 is essential listening. It documents the five-year period before the reunification of Germany. During this period, artists, musicians, performers and poets became part of the …

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LETS DO THE BOOGALOO. 

Lets Do The Boogaloo. Label: BGP. By the time eighteen year old Chubby Checker released his cover of The Twist in the summer of 1960, records that that launched new dance crazes were nothing new. They had been around since the late-fifties, when The Diamonds 1957 single The Stroll launched a short-lived dance craze. It …

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BOBBY BYRD-HELP FOR MY BROTHER: THE PRE-FUNK SINGLES 1963-1968.

Bobby Byrd-Help For My Brother: The Pre-Funk Singles 1963-1968. Label: BGP. During a long and successful career Bobby Byrd was a musician, producer, songwriter and talent scout. He was also one of the founding fathers of funk, and the man who discovered the future hardest working man in show business, James Brown in 1953. This …

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GIL SCOTT-HERON-THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED…PLUS.

Gil Scott-Heron-The Revolution Will Not Be Televised…Plus. Label: BGP. After releasing a trio of studio albums on Bob Thiele’s Flying Dutchman Productions between 1970 and 1972, Gil Scott-Heron signed to Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell’s Strata-East Records. By then, Gil Scott-Heron was well on his way to becoming America’s conscience. Gil Scott-Heron was a poet, …

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