Real Gone Music has announced a trio of new releases for February 26 including two more additions to its growing Black Jazz library and one from an unsung hero of Brazilian music.

Bassist Henry Franklin has an enviable musical resume, from playing with Hugh Masekela at Monterey Pop and on the chart-topping "Grazing in the Grass" to recording and performing with such luminaries as Stevie Wonder, The Three Sounds, Woody Shaw, O.C. Smith, and Al Jarreau.  Franklin made his debut as a leader with 1972's The Skipper, next up in Real Gone's Black Jazz series.  Franklin was joined on the album by a horn section consisting of trumpeter/flugelhornist Oscar Brashear (Count Basie, Earth Wind & Fire, Quincy Jones) and tenor and soprano saxophonist Charles Owens (Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, John Mayall) plus electric pianist Bill Henderson of the Masekela band and drummer Michael Carvin (Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Hartman).  Franklin penned most of the album, with Henderson contributing the title track.  With a sound veering from pop-inflected to funk-infused and a number of epic-length tunes, The Skipper is one of Black Jazz's strongest entries.  It arrives from Real Gone on CD, standard black vinyl available everywhere, and clear with black splatter vinyl available exclusively through the label and limited to 200 copies.

The Skipper was produced by Gene Russell, keyboardist and Black Jazz co-founder.  Real Gone has previously reissued Russell's 1972 New Direction on vinyl for Record Store Day and now the label is turning its attention to his second album, from 1973.  Talk to My Lady eschewed the trio format of its predecessor in favor of an electric band featuring the aforementioned Henry Franklin on bass, their Black Jazz labelmate Calvin Keys on guitar, Charles Weaver on congas, Leon Ndugu Chancler on drums, and Eddie Gee on tambourine.  As well as his own soul-jazz compositions including the title track and "Get Down," Russell brought new flavors to contemporary favorites (Stevie Wonder's "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and Gamble and Huff's "Me and Mrs. Jones") as well as classic standards (Rodgers and Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things," Carl Sigman and Tadd Dameron's "If You Could See Me Now").  Real Gone has Talk to My Lady coming on CD, standard black vinyl available everywhere, and clear with black splatter vinyl available exclusively through the label and limited to 200 copies.  Both Black Jazz titles have been remastered by Mike Milchner and feature new liner notes from Pat Thomas.

In a different vein, Real Gone also is reissuing the self-titled 1973 Vanguard Records album from Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist Sivuca (1930-2006).  Born Severino Dias de Oliveira, Sivuca mastered accordion, guitar, and keyboards, not to mention honing a powerful voice that earned him attention from a wide variety of fellow artists.  He wrote and arranged for, and performed with, Miriam Makeba beginning in the early 1960s and toured with her and Harry Belafonte.  He caught the attention of Oscar Brown, Jr., going on to star with him and serve as musical director for Brown's off-Broadway musical Joy.  (The New York Times reported that the music "puts a Latin-American touch to Anglo-American rock - at first you wonder whether Carmen Miranda has actually met Janis Joplin!")  That versatility found him recording for labels around the world including Odeon, Barclay, and Reprise.  His 1973 Vanguard album had much of the flavor of the Airto Moreira sides in which he guested, but with an all-encompassing sensibility all Sivuca's.  The LP featured his own compositions alongside a powerful cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" and songs by fellow Brazilian writers including Edu Lobo and Ary Barroso.  For its first-ever LP reissue, Real Gone has pressed up 750 copies in purple vinyl.

All three releases are due February 26 and can be pre-ordered at the links below as well as directly from Real Gone Music!

Henry Franklin, The Skipper (Black Jazz BJQD/7, 1972 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2021)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Black Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Splatter Vinyl: Real Gone Music

1. Outbreak
2. Plastic Creek Stomp
3. Theme from Jojo
4. Beauty and the Electric Tub
5. Little Miss Laurie
6. The Skipper

Gene Russell, Talk to My Lady (Black Jazz BJQD/10, 1973 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2021)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Black Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Splatter Vinyl: Real Gone Music

1. Talk to My Lady
2. Get Down
3. Me and Mrs. Jones
4. For Heaven's Sake
5. You Are the Sunshine of My life
6. Blues Suite
7. My Favorite Things
8. If You Could See Me Now

Sivuca, Sivuca (Vanguard VSD-79337, 1973 - reissued Real Gone Music, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side One

1. Adeus Maria Fulo
2. Tunnel
3. Amor Verdadeiro
4. Ponteio
5. Arrasta Pe

Side Two

1. Voce Abusou
2. Inquietacao
3. Ain't No Sunshine
4. Lament of Berimbau
5. Rosa Na Favela