The second of Jon Batiste's recordings to emerge from his November 2018 residency at New York's Village Vanguard, Chronology of a Dream: Live at the Village Vanguard is a vibrant set showcasing the keyboardist and his earthy ensemble. As with 2019's Anatomy of Angels, Chronology of a Dream highlights Batiste's jazz roots with a set of primarily original songs that find him drawing upon funky, '60s- and '70s-style hard bop and soul. Joining him in his group are a cadre of adept, high-energy players including drummer Joe Saylor, bassist Phil Kuehn, percussionist Negan Santos, trumpeter Giveton Gelin, saxophonists Tivon Pennicott and Patrick Bartley, tubist/trumpeter Jon Lampley, and guitarist Louis Cato, all of whom get moments to shine here. With his rise into the national spotlight leading his band Stay Human on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, it's sometimes easy to forget that Batiste has hardcore jazz credentials.

Blue & Sentimental is an album by American saxophonist Ike Quebec recorded in 1961 and released on the Blue Note label. The album features a sparse quartet of Quebec (occasionally doubling on piano), guitarist Grant Green, and a rhythm section of Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The album features some rare rhythm guitar accompaniment by Green, who was more typically a soloist. The Allmusic review by Steve Huey awarded the album 5 stars and calling it "a superbly sensuous blend of lusty blues swagger and achingly romantic ballads… a quiet, sorely underrated masterpiece".

Although this is billed to Wes Montgomery, it is in fact a combination of two early-'60s LPs by the Montgomery Brothers – The Montgomery Brothers and The Montgomery Brothers in Canada – onto one disc. (Also note that it's almost entirely different from the Montgomery Brothers' Milestone double LP that also bears the name Groove Brothers, which mostly features material from their Riverside LP Groove Yard.) With Wes on guitar, Monk on bass, and Buddy on piano (Larance Marable fills out the quartet on drums), The Montgomery Brothers (1960) is a boppish set of five lengthy tracks, divided between both originals (penned by either Wes or Buddy) and standards. "June in January" is a particularly good vehicle for Wes' fluid single-note runs, while "D-Natural Blues" is one of his more enduring and good-natured compositions from the period. Buddy Montgomery, who often played the piano with the Montgomery Brothers, sticks exclusively to vibes on The Montgomery Brothers in Canada, which in addition to Wes and Monk has Paul Humphrey on drums.

One of the most consistent R&B/Funk bands of the 70s and 80s, ConFunkShun, is back in 2015 with its first album after the 1986 release “Burnin’ Love” (there was an additional live album in 1996) which had been recorded without songwriter and singer Felton Pilate who, together with Michael Cooper and Louis McCall, was part of the core members of the group which was founded in 1969 (Felton came on board in 1971). A lot of tensions were the reason for the final breakup and now, original members Michael Cooper and Felton Pilate alongside Karl Fuller, are back with the 2015 edition.

This funky little holiday gem from 1964 was originally released on Sue Records and was actually Jimmy McGriff's highest charting album, rising to number 15 on the pop charts that year. Naturally his gritty Hammond B-3 playing is front and center here, given wonderful support by drummer Jimmie Smith, guitarist Larry Frazier, and Rudolph Johnson on soprano and tenor saxophone. The whole affair is surprisingly energetic and spunky, and tracks like the hard-charging "Christmas With McGriff," the sleigh bell-embedded "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," and the lively "Hip Santa" are all wonderful examples of upbeat soul jazz. Even the version of "Jingle Bells" that closes the set is funked up, riding a chugging rhythm and a bed of sleigh bells into the yuletide night. McGriff could have easily gone through the motions on this holiday session, and that he obviously didn't makes Christmas With Jimmy McGriff even more endearing.

Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues, and soul, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. His own term for himself was "bluesologist", which he defined as "a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues." His music, most notably on Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul.