Link played as a sideman on countless 50s / early 60s sessions, with / for his brothers and a host of friends - many of which are now long forgotten obscurities, of interest only because of his involvement. Disc 1 of this compilation presents Link's own releases between 1958-62, delivered in his fiercely unmistakeable style; Disc 2 presents a goodly selection of Link's session work from 1956-62, including his own first 45 (which, stylistically, couldn't be further removed from the hairy-chested 'Rumble'), alongside a couple of dozen or so 'guest appearances' and even a couple of 'solo' 45s, which actually came out credited to older brother Vern.

Originally reissued as part of the Promise Kept: The Complete Artist House Recordings boxed set, now available separately . LP contains the original 5 tracks - CD/Digital include an additional 3 bonus tracks . Remastered by Grammy? winner Michael Graves, with vinyl cut by Jeff Powell Producer John Snyder had always wanted to record Pepper and booked him into a week at the Village Vanguard in New York. At the time, Pepper was under contract to Contemporary Records and label head, Les Koenig, decided he would record the gigs, quashing any notion Snyder had of doing the same. However, Art promised Snyder that he'd record an album for Snyder's label, Artists House, at some point down the road. Together they wound up making four. Here again on vinyl, CD & Digital are the original albums drawn from these sessions, lovingly recreated in their original form, remastered by Grammy? winner Michael Graves and recut by Jeff Powell.

Their partnership lasted barely four years and just over 50 songs - but between 1965 and 1969 Isaac Hayes and David Porter penned some of soul’s most enduring anthems of their era, many of which are still being regularly performed and recorded to this day. • Ace are delighted to welcome them into our ever-popular Songwriter Series this month with “Wrap It Up”, a fantastic collection featuring almost half of the total number of songs they wrote together in versions you would expect, and versions you wouldn’t. • Hayes and Porter wrote for almost every major act on the Stax roster, but the commercial appeal of their songs gave them appeal to artists operating outside the perimeters of soul music.

These two slightly later efforts are actually more consistently interesting than the duo's first two albums, mostly because they stop trying to sound like the Beatles or the Everly Brothers, and sound more distinctive and soulful - that's doubly true of the material off of the True Love Ways album. They rely more on their voices, which show more flexibility - P&G were never going to be blues singers, but they're far less embarrassing and more directly attuned to what they're singing here, which includes Otis Blackwell's "All Shook Up" and Leadbelly's "Good Morning Blues." The results are sometimes successful within the context of the duo's work; "Cry to Me" is a good cover and one of their better records of this era, even if the Rolling Stones did it better, and their cover of Smokey Robinson's "Who's Loving You" is astonishing. The sound is consistently good-to-excellent, though the notes are sketchy.

After beginning as a vocalist for numerous house music producers, Karen Souza participated in the successful series Jazz and 80’s and its successors. Now, Karen has launched her solo career with Essentials, a summary of her career as a jazz singer, where her unique and seductive voice draws you in. This album brings us recreations of classics such as Every Breath You Take (The Police), Do You Really Want to Hurt Me? (Culture Club), Creep (Radiohead) and Tainted Love (Soft Cell), which have become classics over the past few years. Essentials is a different album, where jazz appears at its most elegant, thanks to Karen´s amazing voice.