A damn great little record from John Heartsman and his Circles combo — a group who play more than enough heavy grooves to fill the space of this double-length set! The Circles have a sound that’s kind of a hip mix of funky jazz, vocals, and soul — the kind of genre-stepping work you’d be likely to hear out in the small clubs of the 70s — particularly the cross-the-tracks sort of places where artists like Heartsman would work! The group’s definitely got a way of doing a lot with a little — hitting Ike Hayes-styled funk on some cuts, bluesy soul on others, and wickedly choppy grooves on a few more — really mixing things up in a wonderful way, and showing that they’ve got even more to offer than most mainstream acts on bigger labels. Instrumentation is nice and stripped down — some heavy rhythms, organ, and guitar — plus great funky flute in a few places — and titles include “Mr Magic”, “Ontario Serenade”, “Up From Down”, “Dream A Dream”, “If We Can’t Be Lovers”, “Every Day I Have The Blues”, “The Thrill Is Gone”, “Who Do You Love”, and “Summer”.