For this modern straight-ahead set, Rick Margitza (heard on both tenor and soprano) performs six of his challenging originals plus "Embraceable You." The latter, whose melody is given some altered notes that do not help and make things sound sour, is a low point. However, Margitza sounds much stronger on his originals, particularly the boogaloo "Hip Bop," the medium-tempo blues "Forty Five Pound Hound," and the joyful "At Long Last." His rhythm section is excellent (bassist George Mraz is particularly responsive to the saxophonist's playing), and Margitza sounds in prime form, showing individuality on both of his horns.

The seminal output of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop has delighted fans of electronic music and soundtracks over the decades. BBC Radiophonic Music (known as “The Pink album”), The Radiophonic Workshop, Fourth Dimension and Through A Glass Darkly have been released extensively on vinyl, but only the first two of these have been released commercially on a CD format. They include works from composers Delia Derbyshire, David Cain, John Baker, Dick Mills, Roger Limb, Paddy Kingsland and Peter Howell amongst others. The bonus discs of The Changes (Paddy Kingsland, 1975) and The Stone Tape (Desmond Briscoe/Glynis Jones, 1972), TV soundtracks to BBC series of the same names, make their debut on CD to complete the set, which represents the legacy of one of the UK’s most respected and ground-breaking musical institutions.

One of the first hits compilations assembled of Jimi Hendrix's catalog, Smash Hits remains one of the best, since it keeps its focus narrow and never tries to extend its reach. Basically, this album contains the songs everybody knows from Hendrix, drawing heavily from Are You Experienced?, plus adding the non-LP "Red House," "51st Anniversary," and "Highway Chile."…

This unique concert was recorded at the London Hippodrome on October 25th 2007. It formed a part of the launch for the Jimi Hendrix Live At Monterey program and featured Gary Moore and his band performing classic Hendrix tracks. At the end of the night Gary was joined by Mitch Mitchell and Billy Cox of the Jimi Hendrix Experience for 3 tracks. Gary Moore was one of the finest British guitarists of all time and is one of the few players who could pay homage to Jimi Hendrix's groundbreaking and truly distinctive guitar style. This is a stunning tribute from one master guitarist to another.

Bud Powell - Holidays In Edenville, 64 (1989) {Mythic Sound ‎MS 6008-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 311 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 151 Mb
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© 1964, 1989 Mythic Sound ‎| MS 6008-2
Jazz / Bebop / Bop / Piano

On this CD in Mythic Sound's valuable series of privately recorded Bud Powell performances, the masterful pianist is heard playing informally in a small club on the coast of France shortly before he made the fatal decision to return to the United States. These previously unreleased selections feature Powell with a young trio (bassist Guy Hayat and drummer Jacques Gervais) and (on two of the ten songs including a 17-minute version of "Hot House") joyfully welcoming the great tenor Johnny Griffin to the bandstand. The recording quality is sometimes a little erratic but Powell is in suprisingly strong form this late in his career; this set should be checked out by bop collectors.

This box set is a companion piece to the 8CD set From Sacred To Secular: A Soul Awakening, which traced the history of soul music from its earliest antecedents in 1927 right up to the first true soul records released in 1962. Here we continue the story from 1962 up to the end of the decade, covering a large portion of soul music’s Golden Age with 100 tracks by soul’s greatest 60s superstars (from Aretha Franklin to Stevie Wonder) and a whole host of “lesser” names whose contribution to the musical genre shouldn’t be overlooked. The CDs cover all of soul’s many styles from early doo-wop and R&B influenced music to the funk grooves which were to prove so popular in the 70s. Other harbingers of the coming decade can be found here in the first sweet-soul Philly sounds from the Delfonics and Intruders, early funk rock (Sly & The Family Stone) and Chicago’s renaissance via Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions.

Benoit Delbecq - Crescendo In Duke (2012) {Nato Music nato-4375}
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© 2012 Nato Music | nato-4375
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Jazz / Keyboards

Crescendo in Duke is jarring. Not in a ridiculous or repellant kind of way— after all, it’s a collection of Duke Ellington compositions. Safe enough. It’s of the high quality usually associated with French pianist Benoît Delbecq, too. It’s just that it’s so straight-ahead, it’s all but unrecognizable as a Delbecq album. Delbecq’s made a name for himself with his prepared piano, creating a catalog of unorthodox jazz that can easily silence any grumblings about the gimmicky nature of mucking around the inside of a piano. But aside from a loop that underlies “Portrait of Wellman Braud” and a quirky take on “Whirlpool,” there’s not much of that here. Just the usual big band business with a more modestly-sized band.

The tunes are standards, but they're played with a great sense of personality by Japanese pianist Masaru Imada - ringing out with great sound and a strong focus, and recorded in that beautiful mode that was used heavily with Japanese trios in the 70s. The style is often fluid, but measured by a nice pulse on the keys - a bit in an Oscar Peterson mode, but far less heavy with cliche - and often snapping out with a fresh sense of rediscovery in some of these tunes. Members of the trio include Ken Suzuki on bass and Hironobu Fujisawa on drums.

Oscar Peterson - Night Child (1979) {Pablo OJCCD-1030-2 rel 1999}
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© 1979, 1999 Pablo Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1030-2
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Bop / Keyboards

This is a most unusual album for Oscar Peterson because the pianist not only performs six of his own compositions but he plays the great majority of time on electric piano. With the assistance of guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Niels Pederson and drummer Louie Bellson, he keeps his own musical personality despite the change in "axes" and, although the results are not essential, this setting does cast a fresh light on Peterson's creativity.