Billy Preston’s debut album for Apple Records was his vocal album debut too. Before this Billy was renowned merely as a wizard instrumentalist. Here, his impassioned vocals help create one of the best soul records of the 1960s. Produced by George Harrison, That’s The Way… expands Billy’s palette of gospel and R&B to embrace rock elements brought in by A-list players Keith Richards, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton.

Following up on their explosive and critically acclaimed debut album Free To Believe (2015, Do Right Music), Canada’s premiere deep funk outfit The Soul Motivators are back with their sophomore album 'Do The Damn Thing'. The 9-track album delivers a heavy dose of the band’s signature funk sound, incorporating the soulful sensibilities of lead vocalist Shahi Teruko, who has been performing and touring with the band for the past two years and makes her recorded debut here.

Pure Funk is a 1998 compilation featuring some of the most irresistible funk of the 70's and 80's, all of which were hits in their own right. Most of them are here in their original single edits. This was released by Polygram TV/Mercury so listen and go funk yourself.

The label behind Angel Bat Dawit’s amazing debut present the first psychedelic jazz-funk opus from composer/arranger/producer Jeff Parker, who operates at similarly loose but focussed levels of intuition and dextrous freedom across his swirling ‘Suite For Max Brown’, but with plusher recording and production values

By the time they released Fire On the Bayou in 1975, the Meters (now a quintet, with addition of Cyril Neville to the lineup) had graduated from regional cult heroes to internationally renowned recording act. In addition to playing on records by the likes of Paul McCartney, Dr. John, LaBelle and Robert Palmer, they were personally invited by the Rolling Stones to open their 1975 U.S. tour. The momentum helped Fire On the Bayou to become one of the Meters' most acclaimed and commercially successful albums. It remains a fan favorite, thanks to such gritty classic jams as "Talkin' 'bout New Orleans" and "They All Ask'd for You," which demonstrate the band's effortless instrumental expertise and organic rhythmic rapport. This remastered expanded edition contains five bonus tracks.

British crossover jazz, funk, and pop outfit Shakatak are a sophisticated ensemble who have enjoyed a long career. With a sound steeped in contemporary jazz and R&B, they found success with both instrumental albums and pop vocal productions. Formed in London in 1980, Shakatak originally featured keyboardists Bill Sharpe and Nigel Wright, guitarist Keith Winter, bassist Steve Underwood, and drummer Roger Odell. The group quickly scored an underground hit with its debut single "Steppin'." Collection includes: Invitations (1982); Down On The Street (1984); City Rhythm (1985); Street Level (1993).

"Talking Book" is the 15th studio album by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder, released on October 28, 1972, on the Tamla label for Motown Records. The album is widely noted for being the signal recording of Wonder's "classic period". The sound of the album is sharply defined by Wonder's keyboard work, especially with the synthesizers he incorporated. His use of the Hohner clavinet model C on "Superstition" is widely regarded as one of the definitive tracks featuring the instrument.

Banda Black Rio is a Brazilian musical group from Rio de Janeiro that was formed in 1976. It has a repertoire based on funk but also including samba, jazz and Brazilian rhythms.

Get Down On It, The Very Best Of Kool & The Gang is a 2000 European compilation CD by American soul group Kool & The Gang. This was released by Mercury Records and features primarily their 80's hit songs with vocalist J.T. Taylor but it also features a few of their hit songs before, including "Ladies Night", "Too Hot", "Open Sesame" and "Jungle Boogie".

Children Of The Universe is the 1979 album by Wolfgang Maus, credited as the Wolfgang Maus Soundpicture, Maus plays the majority of the instruments when the exception of the drum kit, which he gives to other percussionists to make the music sound proper. This was released by EMI Electrola.

Originally, One Way came out as Al Hudson & the Soul Partners and recorded a few interesting, but unsuccessful albums for ABC Records. They were then, and are now, a self-contained act, though the original name suggests a standup vocal group. Essentially, Midwest wonders, they never crossed over, and never got as big as predicted on the R&B circuit, despite having a devastating live act. They should have added their bassist/falsetto tenor, Kevin McCord to the title; he contributes as much as Hudson & Myers, if not more. This best of compilation ignores their Al Hudson & the Soul Partner days, and is top heavy with upbeat jams. Like an even handed boxer, One Way could deliver a lethal blow with either hand, being equally as proficient on fast tunes or ballads.

Due to all the great funk, R&B, and soul bands of the '70s, it's easy to overlook many of the lesser-known (but just as great) bands. Such is the case with the Trammps. Best known for their smash hit from the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack, "Disco Inferno" (their only Top 20 appearance on the pop charts), the group had many other hits on the R&B charts, which were just as deserving of crossover success. Just about any track from the excellent This Is Where All the Happy People Go: The Best of the Trammps compilation is a solid example of '70s R&B at its finest and most expertly crafted. Many overlooked and forgotten gems reside here, such as "Hold Back the Night," "Trammps Disco Theme," "That's Where the Happy People Go," and "Zing Went the Strings of My Heart."

"Chance" is the 8th album by American soul and gospel singer Candi Staton. Singles released from the album included "When You Wake Up Tomorrow" (co-written by Patrick Adams and Wayne K. Garfield), and the title track, which became a Top 20 R&B record. The album peaked at #23 on the US R&B Album chart and #129 on the Billboard 200.

A neo-soul singer with some of the finest interpretive gifts since the swing era, and an uncompromising innovator who dug deep into experimental R&B. Collection includes: 'Baduizm' (1997); 'Baduizm Live' (1997); 'Mama's Gun' (2000); 'Worldwide Underground' EP (2003); 'New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)' (2008); 'Live' (2009); 'New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)' (2010).

A new bass player and drummer signaled a toned-down Sly & the Family Stone sound. Partially in keeping with changes in much of popular music in the early '70s, and maybe the result of marriage and a child, Sly became more introspective, quieter, and calmer, even employing a string section on various cuts…