Jimmy Smith - "The Definitive Jimmy Smith" (2002)

Cooking with music spinning is always fun and for me this is a go-to-album in the kitchen category. Jimmy Smith was one of the first musicians to use the Hammond B-3 Organ in jazz and blues, revolutionizing the instrument past its intended home of church choir lofts. This Verve label release is a nice sampling of the unique fusing Smith did through his career with funk, soul, and swing and it's worth it just for the remastered versions of The Sermon and Midnight Special. It also finishes up nicely with Night Train, the funky jam George McFly grooves to at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance. Something that really cooks? This album cooks for sure. -- Chris Baginski

1. "The Champ" (8:38)
2. "The Sermon" (20:10)
3. "Midnight Special" (9:56)
4. "Walk On The Wild Side" (5:57)
5. "The Cat" (3:25)
6. "Got My Mojo Workin'" (8:02)
7. "Night Train" (6:46)

Back At the Chicken Shack (video)

Brother Jack McDuff "Live!" (1963)

Master of the Hammond B3 Organ, Brother Jack McDuff helped make the blues infused "soul jazz" the bridge between the hard-bop of the 50's and the jazz funk of the 70's. If some of the grooves sound familiar, it's because McDuff's style beacame a major influence on the B3 players that followed him. Look no further than the tribute album "Boogaloo To Jack McDuff" where modern day players pay homage to the man himself. But "Live!" brings you back to the beginning of all it with some of Jack's earliest material being preformed in a club setting. -- Chris Baginski

1. "Rock Candy" (6:39)
2. "It Ain't Necessarily So" (6:37)
3. "Sanctified Samba" (4:48)
4. "Whistle While You Work" (5:11)
5. "A Real Goodun'" (7:42)
6. "Undecided" (8:15)
7. "Blues 1 And 8" (7:06)
8. "Passing Through" (2:39)
9. "Dink's Blues" (6:19)
10. "Grease Monkey" (2:31)
11. "Vas Dis" (8:09)
12. "Somewhere In The Night" (3:55)
13. "Jive Samba" (6:50)

Grooveshark Stream

James Brown's Funky People - Part 2 (1988)

The second album in the Funky People Trilogy, Part 2 is a 100% guaranteed dance party. The compilation showcases all the talented musicians in the James Brown music family who toured and recorded with the legend. Brown wrote and produced most of the material and provides vocals throughout, but the focus is on the skilled team who backed the Soul Man through the first half of the 70's. Funky People indeed. -- Chris Baginski

1. "I Know You Got Soul" - Bobby Byrd
2. "From The Love Side" - Hank Ballard & The Midnight Lighters
3. "What Do I Have To Do To Prove My Love To You?" - Marva Whitney
4. "Soul Power '74" - Maceo & The Macks
5. "Put It On The Line" - Lyn Collins
6. "You Can Have Watergate But Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight" - Fred Wesley& The JB's
7. "Cross The Track" - Maceo & The Macks
8. "The Message From The Soul Sisters" - Myra Barnes & Vicki Anderson
9. "Hot Pants... I'm Coming, Coming, I'm Coming" - Bobby Byrd
10. "Do Your Thing" - Lyn Collins
11. "I'm Paying Taxes, What Am I Buying" - Fred Wesley & The JB's
12. "Super Good" - Myra Barnes & Vicki Anderson
13. "Blow Your Head" - Fred Wesley & The JB's

Buy Part 1

Buy Part 3

The Diplomats of Solid Sound - "Destination Get Down!" (2004)

Steeped in the sizzling, funky gumbo of Booker T & The MG's, The Meters, James Brown, and the backyard barbecue jams of Jimmy Smith, Lou Donaldson, Jimmy McGriff, Lonnie Smith, and Jack McDuff. The Diplomats' third full-length is jam-packed with a dozen original songs guaranteed to lubricate and agitate every bone in your body. An enviable arsenal of dance floor dynamite that intermingles the boogaloo magic of their time-honored influences with the sounds of such contemporaries as Sugarman 3, The Nick Rossi Set, and The James Taylor Quartet. -- Estrus Records

1. "Smash Up" 3:08
2. "Knock a Piece Off" 2:53
3. "Holdin' the Money" 3:54
4. "Wicked P" 2:26
5. "Intercontinental Git" 3:06
6. "Ladies' Choice" 2:49
7. "Dealer Cheater" 2:32
8. "Loaf and Jug" 2:16
9. "Sizzler" 2:22
10. "Mohair Momma" 3:26
11. "Triple Starch" 2:59
12. "Growin' in It" 4:01

Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby "The Original Jam Sessions 1969" (2004)

I'm pretty sure the Cos just smokes cigars on this album aside from his mumbling scat contribution to one of the "Hikky Burr" takes. These loose jam sessions were put together to create the music for Bill Cosby's first sitcom and were only recently unearthed from Quincy Jones' recording archives. The relaxed yet lively tracks run the range of funky and bluesy hard bop to cocktail lounge soul-jazz. Lounging around on a Sunday? Then pick this one up. --Chris Baginski

1. Hikky-Burr 5:56
2. Groovy Gravy 8:10
3. Oh Happy Day 4:18
4. Jimmy Cookin' On Top 1:42
5. Toe Jam 7:49
6. Jive Den 3:13
7. Eubie Walkin' 7:00
8. Monty, Is That You? 6:42
9. The Drawing Room 0:59
10. Hikky-Burr (Feat. Bill Cosby) 3:35
11. Hikky-Burr (Mix Master Mike Remix) 3:01

The New Mastersounds - "Live at La Cova" (2006)

This funky dance party was recorded over two nights during the Summer of 2005 in Menorca, Spain inside the intimate La Cova, a club situated inside a cave overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. UK favorites The New Mastersounds serve up a heavy dose of original funk and soul jazz numbers from each of their prior albums as well as some of the band’s favorite cover tunes, including Grant Green's "Jan Jan," the Meter's "Funky Miracle," and other jazz funk classics like "Spooky," "FireEater," and "Duffin' 'Round" with plenty of Hammond B3 grooves. Led by guitar virtuoso Eddie Roberts, this telepathically tight quintet stretches out plenty. Featuring frequent guest Sam Bell on percussion, the album highlights their broad spectrum of pure vintage sounds and the energy they bring to their live shows, no matter what corner of the globe their danceable grooves take them. -- One Note Records

1. "Miracles" 2:30
2. "Duffin Around" 5:55
3. "You Got it All" 5:03
4. "3 on the B" 6:50
5. "Funky Miracle" 3:41
6. "Land of Nod" 8:03
7. "The Tin Drum" 6:03
8. "La Cova" 2:08
9. "The Minx" 5:12
10. "Spooky" 7:07
11. "Fire Eater" 4:45
12. "Jan Jan" 4:30
13. "One Note Brown" 3:42

Lee Dorsey - "Freedom for the Funk" (1994)

New Orleans' Lee Dorsey is one of pop and soul's best-kept secrets, and he never sounded better than when he was teamed with pianist/songwriter/arranger/producer Allen Toussaint. This delightful anthology brings together key tracks from Dorsey and Toussaint's late-'60s and early-'70s albums, including the immortal "Working in the Coal Mine," "Ride Your Pony," "Can You Hear Me," "Occapella", and "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley." With wonderfully loose but exact arrangements and horn charts, backup vocals by The Meters, dosed with early New Orleans funk rhythms, all topped off by Dorsey's warm, engaging vocals, these are classic tracks that deserve to be better known. -- Steve Leggett

1. "Yes We Can- Part 1" 3:34
2. "Work Work Work" 2:50
3. "Can You Hear Me?" 2:39
4. "Occapella" 2:44
5. "Games People Play" 3:07
6. "When the Bill Gets Paid" 2:22
7. "Ride Your Pony" 2:48
8. "Wonder Woman" 2:39
9. "Love Lots of Lovin" 2:58
10. "Little Ba-by" 2:48
11. "Take Care of Our Love" 3:15
12. "Neighbors Daughter" 2:39
13. "Confusion" 2:37
14. "O Me-O, My-O" 2:45
15. "Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley" 2:52
16. "Freedom For the Stallion" 2:57
17. "If She Won't (Find Someone Who Will)" 2:29
18. "Get Out of My Life, Woman" 2:24
19. "Working In a Coal Mine" 2:44
20. "Yes We Can - Part 2" 3:19