V.A. The Rojac Story: The Best Of Rojac & Tay-Ster

Harlem's 116th Street was ground zero for Jack Taylor's network of enterprises, both legitimate and otherwise. From the 1960s into the '80s. Fat Jack, as Taylor was widely known on those mean streets, was one of Harlem's flashiest and toughest characters, allegedly a local drug kingpin. No matter what he may have been in the business of selling, it's a certainty that Taylor was a shrewd businessman who understood the value of diversification. Launching a record label was one of his many ventures, and not an unsuccessful one by any means.

Around 1963, Taylor inaugurated Rojac Records, attempting to capture the musical pulse of Harlem on microgroove the way Berry Gordy was managing to perfection in the Motor City. No doubt the ultimate goal was to accrue stacks of benjamins by releasing a non-stop barrage of hits on Rojac and its sister Tay-Ster label.

Rojac and Tay-Ster issued a steady stream of product through the latter half of the '60s. Taylor relocated his base of operations to Detroit at the end of the decade; after that, his labels went dormant for a while, though he intermittently reactivated them.

This rarities-loaded collection offers proof positive that the Fat Man knew how to produce exceptional soul records.