Moodymann

Finding and buying original vinyl copies of Moodymann’s brilliant second album, 1998’s “Mahogany Brown”, can be a costly business, so all praise to Peacefrog for offering up this much-needed reissue. Packed to the rafters with classic Kenny Dixon Junior material – see the woozy warmth of “Sunshine”, where a children’s choir rides a locked-in groove and jazzy electric piano solos, the sample-laden up-tempo bump of “MEANDNJB” and the sublime gospel house workout “Black Sunday” for starters – it’s arguably the album that established the Detroit legend’s trademark sound once and for all. When it comes to jazz-flecked deep house shot through with references to the history of black American music, there are few – if any – better albums.