Here's a pleasant surprise – two obscure late 1970s/early 80s jazz-funk treasures, resurrected from Discogs unobtanium status (a copy of Thrust sold recently for more than £1,100) with typical attention to detail by the fine folk at Canadian label We Are Busybodies.

Our story begins at the makeshift Man-Ray Studios in Akron, Ohio, where guitarist Wilbur Niles, a sideman for BB King and The Spinners, and his then-girlfriend, keyboardist Machelle McNeal, recorded their first album together, 1979's Thrust. It's a fascinating – if rather lo-fi – album, full of eminently sampler-able licks and breaks (the lolloping opener ‘Ja Ja’ has indeed been plundered by DJs and hip-hop heads) and comes across like a charmingly unpolished 1970s CTI record.

After Thrust, Niles pursued a low-key solo career, both under his own name and with a backing band, also called Thrust. The synth-heavy Thrust Too possesses the same ramshackle charm as its predecessor, with arguably a bit more polish and more muscular grooves (‘Survival of The Funkiest’).

If your love of jazz, like Niles’, comes from Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff rather than Bird and Trane, you’ll find much to enjoy in these two well-packaged releases – and the good news is that WABB plans to reissue more from Niles’ extensive discography if there is interest among fans.