Regionality always throws up some interesting quirks, and it is no surprise that so many cities distinctively coloured the sounds of the music that emerged from them. New York threw up bebop's sharp, hard improvisations; LA is renowned for the frenetic modernistic soul that fuelled so much of the early Northern Soul scene; Detroit captured the sound of its hot and heavy industrial production lines, not only with Motown and its myriad of imitators, but in its garage rock lineage that stretches on from Mitch Ryder, through the MC5 and Iggy on to the White Stripes. Louisiana as a musical centre is usually associated with New Orleans, but as with every part of the mainland United States, behind the headline story so much more went on. With its large black community and many independent record companies, collectors and DJs have been unearthing compelling funk and soul records over the last few years. With our unique connections in the region we have been able to round up some of the finest and rarest of these.