Organist Barbara Dennerlein performs nine of her originals on this enjoyable set. The music ranges from funky jams to more complex hard bop, with most songs being a bit quirky and full of subtle surprises. Dennerlein has long had her own sound (a major achievement on organ) and she is also heard on piano during two numbers, which is a rarity for her. Her sidemen on this set include such adventurous musicians as trumpeter Randy Brecker, David Murray or David Sanchez on reeds, and trombonist Frank Lacy, and every player gets a chance to be heard.

Paul Ellis is one of the two brains behind Dweller at the Threshold. It’s immediately clear that this is a professional musician who knows what he’s doing from the way the fragments are glued together, smoothly leaving no trace. The sounds he uses are perfect for the atmosphere he has in mind - and there are a lot of atmospheres on this album. The title is divided into three parts, all clocking in at around 15 minutes. The way the three parts float together is very listener-friendly; no fear for disturbance of a break in the special atmosphere Ellis has left you in. Whatever you want, it’s here; heavenly choirs, broad outstretched symphonic planes, cosmic fascination and killer sequencers. At times Jarre-esque, but with more effects, at others surging Dweller-patterns full of wondrous complexity…

CD-reissue of the amazing '75 debut LP by this well-known group that blended progressive, symphonic and flamenco roots. The album also features the hit 'Abre La Puerta'. This ethnic music comes from Andalusia where the poor gypsies sublimated their misery into music, often with very emotional results. The songs on 'El Patio' deliver a unique tension between the flamenco elements and the electric guitar and keyboards. This CD-version includes four previously unissued live cuts.

If Closing Time, Tom Waits' debut album, consisted of love songs set in a late-night world of bars and neon signs, its follow-up, The Heart of Saturday Night, largely dispenses with the romance in favor of poetic depictions of the same setting. On "Diamonds on My Windshield" and "The Ghosts of Saturday Night," Waits doesn't even sing, instead reciting his verse rhythmically against bass and drums like a Beat hipster. Musically, the album contains the same mixture of folk, blues, and jazz as its predecessor, with producer Bones Howe occasionally bringing in an orchestra to underscore the loping melodies. Waits' songs are sometimes sketchier in addition to being more impersonal, but "(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night" and "Semi Suite" are the equal of anything on Closing Time…

Tropea (1975). By the time guitarist John Tropea had recorded his solo debut on the tiny Marlin imprint in 1975, he had been a session guitarist for nearly a decade. His understated, decidedly non-show-off playing graced records by everyone from Laura Nyro to Deodato (including Prelude and Deodato 2), from Ashford & Simpson to Bo Diddley, from Billy Cobham to Peter Allen, from Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway to Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Luiz Bonfá, and Ray Bryant. After this he played with everyone from Alice Cooper to Lalo Schifrin and Kurtis Blow and way, way beyond. Tropea's cast of studio players is a who's who of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. The core band on this funky, squeaky clean, keyboard, horn, and guitar driven set are bassist Will Lee, keyboardist Don Grolnick, percussionist Rubens Bassini, and drummers Steve Gadd and Rick Marotta - one in each channel…

Alice is one of the first generation of groups to have done progressive rock in France, even if their sound often came close to the blues rock, they mixed in some heavy psychedelic ideas and threw in a couple pinches of prog purée in their music and achieved a very interesting album, recorded in London and released in early 70. Clearly the leader was multi-instrumentalist and singer JP Auffredo and his style on flute was reminiscent of Jethro Tull, Traffic but sometimes the Yardbirds as well.
This re-mastered version of Alice’s auspicious BYG debut provides an opportunity to reassess a band that deserves wider recognition.

"Ritual Ground" (1993) is the collaboration between Steve Roach and Elmar Schulte.
The album is a spontaneous sonic combustion, rich in cinematic overtones, deep atmospheres and tribal-electronic grooves. Steve Roach's musical explorations have taken him into many different realms, always touching a primal nerve and evoking brilliant mindscapes for the listener. A respected and much followed solo artist, Roach has also embarked on many collaborations in which the interplay between musicians nourishes the creative process. "Ritual Ground" is the result of one of those instrumental partnerships and stands as an important landmark in the development of tribal music. In 1993, Roach went to Europe for his first series of concerts outside the United States. While there, he met German synthesizer artist Elmar Schulte, whose own work has appeared on several different European labels…

The Blackbirds were originally formed in south-west Germany and they released their first album "No Destination" on UK-Label Saga in 1968. The Blackbirds consists of psychedelic beat/pop music with a touch of the Mothers of Invention type satire (Something Different) and some progressive touches. Strong vocals by singer and guitar player Werner Breinig and some interesting Hammond organ work by Hubert Koop are characteristic of the group's music which proves a great talent of specific song writing. The German label OPP released 5 tracks of this first album on the "Snake in the Grass" album later on. 2nd album "A Touch Of Music", originally released in 1971 on German label OPP with a complete new line-up - with the exception of singer and guitar player Werner Breinig who now played violin and flute as well- and a complete new style of music…

A versatile guitarist and onetime head of the guitar department at the University of Bridgeport, Sal Salvador was a capable soloist and accompanist whose single-string style, shaped by his early interest in the music of Charlie Christian, was augmented by extensive studies of guitar technique. Salvador's years of research, playing, and analysis eventually led to his writing guitar methodology books, among them Sal Salvador's Chord Method for Guitar and Sal Salvador's Single String Studies for Guitar in the '50s and '60s. He became interested in jazz during his teens, and began playing professionally in Springfield, MA, in 1945. He worked with Terry Gibbs and Mundell Lowe in New York at the end of the '40s, then joined Stan Kenton's orchestra in 1952. Salvador worked with Kenton until the end of 1953, and appeared on the New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm album…

Fifteen tracks covering the pioneering blues-rock guitarist's '60s work, which was by far his best and most influential. Bloomfield worked with a bunch of bands during the decade, and the compilation flits rather hurriedly from his contributions to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Electric Flag, to his collaborations with Al Kooper, as well as some late-'60s solo tracks (none of his groundbreaking mid-'60s work with Dylan is here). Collectors will be interested in the first five songs, which date from previously unreleased sessions produced by John Hammond in late 1964 and early 1965. Featuring Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, this pre-Butterfield Blues Band outfit plays convincingly, but the material is standard-issue, and Bloomfield's vocals are thin and weak (they didn't improve much over time)…

Can - Monster Movie (1969). Though Monster Movie was the first full-length album in what would become a sprawling and often genre-defining discography, Can were on a level well ahead of the curve even in their most formative days. Recorded and released in 1969, Monster Movie bears many of the trademarks that Can would explore as they went on, as well as elements that would set the scene for the burgeoning Krautrock movement. This would be the only album Can's first singer Malcolm Mooney would sing the entirety of, as he was replaced by Damo Suzuki by the time of 1970's Soundtracks, leaving the band after going through a highly unstable time. Mooney was known for his erratic ways, and some of that mania undoubtedly comes through here, with his caterwauling howls on the unexpectedly garage-influenced "Outside My Door"…

The German sound-pioneer Schiller is a household name in the world of electronic music, particularly in the fields of ambient and chill out music. In the past he has produced chill out mixes for artists such as Rammstein and Mike Oldfield. Now he presents a full-length album packed with chill out versions of his gold-selling #1 album Sun. Sun - Chill Out Edition includes chill-out mixes of the best tracks on the regular Sun album and sets a new precedent in the world of ambient and chill out music. Inspired by electro classics from the likes of Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Jean-Michel Jarre, Christopher von Deylen creates visionary sounds that are ahead of their time.

With The Water In You, Isgaard and her musical partner Jens Lueck (Single Celled Organism) continue their consistent path. Their ninth album is characterized by artful compositions rooted in art rock and art pop, always characterized by Isgaard's diverse vocal range. Unusual sound clusters meet rocking guitars, heavy grooves are replaced by fragile acoustic guitars that wrap around Isgaard's emotional vocals. The album critically examines the state of our civilization and addresses the climate crisis, the marginalization of groups, conspiracy theories, and the ludicrous idea of ​​unlimited growth, as well as the role of the individual in this world gone awry…

After more than 20 years, Nightingale's celebrated fourth full-length, "Alive Again", is available again, remastered by songwriter/frontman/producer Dan Swanö (Opeth, Katatonia, Oceans Of Slumber).
Originally released only on CD in 2003, “Alive Again” starts the build-out of Nightingale's harder rock tendencies as they bridge '70s rock, AOR, prog and metal. The group's international profile also saw them pull in friend Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One) to guest on "Falling". “Alive Again” features stand-out tracks "Shadowman", "The Glory Days", "Shadowland Serenade" and the 11-minute saga "Eternal".

Very Truly Yours was released in 1955 and was the first album that Jimmy Scott recorded for the Savoy label. After spending the better part of a decade singing in ensembles, first with Lionel Hampton and then with the New Orleans bandleader Paul Gayten, Scott was poised to make a name for himself as a solo artist. These dozen songs, executed with a small jazz combo supporting him (including Charles Mingus on bass), find Scott in beautiful voice, confidently investing himself in well-chosen covers as well as some of his own great originals. From the opening number ("Imagination"), it's clear that you're hearing a rare and expressive voice.