Other than four piano solos from April 4, 1962, this set was pianist Bill Evans' first recordings after a hiatus caused by bassist Scott LaFaro's tragic death in a car accident. The first of two meetings on record in a duo format with guitarist Jim Hall, the collaborations are often exquisite. Both Evans and Hall had introspective and harmonically advanced styles along with roots in hard-swinging bebop. There is more variety than expected on the fine set with some cookers, ballads, waltzes, and even some hints at classical music.

This two-disc archival set includes live performances from the short-lived incipient 1969 incarnation of King Crimson. After months of arduous sonic restoration - or what Robert Fripp (guitar) refers to as "necromancy" - the results are well worth the painstaking processes involved. The first volume contains material from three different sources - BBC Radio Sessions, the Fillmore East in New York City, and its Bay Area counterpart, the Fillmore West. The second volume consists of nearly another hour-long set from the latter venerable San Francisco venue. Joining Fripp are Ian McDonald (flute/sax/mellotron/vocals), Greg Lake (bass/vocals), Michael Giles (drums/percussion/vocals), and the only non-performing member, Peter Sinfield (words/illuminations). They single-handedly fused electric rock music with jazz in a way that no one else has done before or, arguably, since…

Wendy Carlos released this on the Telarc label in 1992 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of her classic recording, Switched-On Bach. That recording, remarkably futuristic in 1967, is still a major milestone in the history of e-music. (It is also, alas, long since unavailable.) Carlos' mastery of the synthesizer in the '60s and her transcriptions of classical music were extremely instrumental in moving electronic music from its strict avant-garde classification to an acceptable and accessible form of musical expression. These are beautiful recordings, too. Given the composing and the performing talent, it is difficult to imagine anything else. This CD comes with a 28-page booklet full of wonderful technical, historical, and biographical data. It all comes back, however, to the music. This performance is damn near perfect. Carlos' meticulous attention to detail and her production skills serve this project well.

The evolution of Congolese popular music in the 1960s and 70s is generally classified into two major schools: African Jazz & OK Jazz. The main representatives of those schools are Joseph Kabasele alias Grand Kallé, founder of African Jazz, and Franco Luambo, co-founder of O.K. Jazz. Two temperaments and ambiances, one commonly referred to as ‘fiesta’, the other as ‘odemba’, both seeking their own sublimity or ideal. For the very first time, a compilation brings together explicitly the main protagonists of the two bands on the same album, with a collection of their songs recorded in the early sixties for the Surboum African Jazz label, in addition to three tracks made by Kallé’s bands in the late sixties.- The heirs of Joseph Kabasele and Franco Luambo kindly gave permission in Kinshasa to release this original selection on Planet Ilunga about these virtuosi of Congolese Rumba on Planet Ilunga.

SoulMusic Records in association with The Second Disc presents this definitive, first-time-ever 5CD box set by this Grammy-nominated artist believed to be the most- sampled female singer in popular music. A total of 58 tracks which includes expanded editions of the four full-length albums recorded during her association with Salsoul's Gold Mind Records and a specially curated fifth disc that includes remixes, instrumentals, acapellas and reinventions from her Gold Mind/Salsoul catalog. All audio has been newly remastered by Nick Robbins. Key tracks include her #1 Dance smash, 'Love Sensation', written and produced by Grammy-nominated multi-hyphenate Dan Hartman, her first Top Three dance hit, 'Hit and Run', and her cover of Debby Boone's 'You Light Up My Life', which earned Ms. Holloway her singular Grammy nomination. Includes productions by Norman Harris, Ron Kersey, Bunny Sigler, Ron Tyson and Vincent Montana Jr., all synonymous with the Philly Sound, as well as Floyd Smith, Bobby Womack, Tom Moulton and Patrick Adams, with mixes and re-edits by Larry Levan, Walter Gibbons, Shep Pettibone, Danny Krivit, and others. Every album features legendary musicians including The Trammps' Earl Young, Bobby Eli, Ron Baker, Steve Gadd, Cornell Dupree, Richard Tee, George Bussey, Larry Washington and Gordon Edwards of Stuff with The Waters and The Sweethearts of Sigma (Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson and Evette Benton), among others, providing background vocals.

Following on from the release of the unprecedented and acclaimed 9LP vinyl set in 2018, Steve Miller Band’s ‘Complete Albums Volume 1 (1968-1976)’, comes the collection’s second volume, presenting nine more Steve Miller Band studio albums in a new vinyl box. ‘Complete Albums Volume 2 (1977-2011) spans the band’s multi-platinum 10th studio release, 1977’s ‘Book of Dreams,’ through 2011’s ‘Let Your Hair Down,’ with all the albums remastered and pressed on 180g vinyl.

180-gram vinyl. Cut from original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. Includes exclusive, illustrated 4-panel insert featuring new interview with producer Glyn Johns and Faces' Kenney Jones. Limited numbered edition of 5,000. ABOUT THE RHINO HIGH FIDELITY SERIES Rhino is synonymous with high-quality reissues, setting the standard with award-winning audio releases for the past 45 years. Now we've raised the bar with a premium vinyl series, Rhino High Fidelity. These high-end, limited-edition vinyl reissues of classic albums represent the pinnacle of sound and packaging. To ensure consistent sonic excellence, Kevin Gray will cut lacquers for all Rhino Hi-Fi releases, and Optimal will press the 180-gram vinyl records. The releases boast high-quality glossy covers and “tip-on” jackets, an old-school aesthetic that evokes the golden age of vinyl.

Polly Paulusma bares all amidst a collection of textured acoustic guitars and rich, layered melodic flourishes. 'Wildfires' is mellow and cozy in its production, but its honesty is bittersweet - an intimate and reflective rumination on love's many guises, the easy parts as well as the hard. As always, Paulusma's articulate and emotive lyrics, and her ability to convey the deepest vulnerability with vivid, sometimes nostalgic, imagery is astounding here. The album, as filled with delicate earworms as it is with expressive poetry, burns slowly but no less fiercely, and like love, it can be gentle, it can envelope one completely, and occasionally it can be heart-wrenching.

It is a little known fact that Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 (Naxos 8.553027), now regarded as a minor masterpiece, was closely modelled on his teacher Gounod’s Symphony No. 1, only rediscovered in the 1950s and still unaccountably neglected. Anyone familiar with Bizet’s Symphony will recognize the melodic and rhythmic similarities of the delightfully vivacious outer movements, the wistful slow movements, and the drone-bass effect of the third movements. Gounod’s Symphony No. 2, a more ambitious and elaborate work, particularly in its wind instrumentation, is more in the style of Beethoven or Mendelssohn.

It’s great to have the team of baritone Roman Trekel and pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr back together for more Schubert. I’ve been waiting for their return ever since Volume 1 in this Naxos Schubert song series, where they made such profoundly beautiful music in their performance of Winterreise (type Q661 in Search Reviews). Here they join with soprano Ruth Ziesak to perform some of Schubert’s more unusual songs–settings of poems by Ossian (James Macpherson) that are exceptional for their freer structures and near-pictorial musical storytelling. The young composer’s imagination seemed to find special inspiration in the powerfully vivid images and fantastic tales embodied in these poems and he gives the singers and accompanist some bold and challenging music to perform. The latter part of the program is devoted to songs on texts by Walter Scott, primarily from Lady of the Lake.

Mozart’s piano sonatas exemplify the economy and subtlety of the composer’s genius. Though simple at first glance, they are works in which each note is filled with musical and expressive purpose. Alexei Lubimov, a master of keyboard repertoire from the Baroque to the contemporary, plays the complete sonatas on three instruments modelled on 18th century originals. These interpretations, which explore the particular possibilities of the fortepiano, led Gramophone to praise Lubimov’s “uncommon sensibility” and “refinements of colouring, articulation and nuance” in playing that “is fluent and even, never mechanical in its brilliance.”

Austrian vocalist Udo Jürgens is best known as the winner of the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest. But a career that spans over four decades has established him as one of the European mainland's most popular performers; his combined international sales exceed over 100 million units. Jürgens was born on September 30, 1934, in Klagenfurt, Austria. He was just 16 when he won an Austrian radio songwriting competition with "Je T'Aime." His success built from there over the next decade and, in 1961, he scored his first international hit when his composition "Reach for the Stars" was recorded by Shirley Bassey. Three years later, Matt Monro was similarly successful with Jürgens' "Walk Away" – a song that the Englishman first encountered at the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest, where Jürgens, representing Austria, performed it in its original language as "Warum Nur Waru." Jürgens finished fifth in the 1964 Eurovision event; the following year he finished fourth with "Sag Ihr, Ich Lass Sie Grüben." The third time proved the charm: he sang "Merci Chérie" to glory in 1966. (English singer Vince Hill promptly scored a U.K. hit with an English-language version of the song.)

Cut straight on the heels of Bad Company's 1974 debut - just a matter of three months later; not quite long enough to know how big a success the first LP would be - Straight Shooter is seemingly cut from the same cloth as its predecessor. It is, after all, a tight collection of eight strong, steady, heavy rockers that never, ever proceed in a hurry, but from the moment "Good Lovin' Gone Bad" kicks off the proceedings, it's clear that Bad Company have decided to expand their palette this second time around. Where Bad Company was stark, minimalist hard rock, Straight Shooter bears lots of different, vibrant colors: acoustic guitars are used for light and shade, guitars are channeled through chorus pedals, pianos and organs alternate with the occasional wash of strings, and the entire thing feels bigger and bolder than before…

Stick To Your Guns hold a mirror up to society's ills without blurring its ugliness. In an attempt to unapologetically trumpet real change, the Southern California quintet - Jesse Barnett (vocals), Andrew Rose (bass), Adam Galindo (drums), Chris Rawson (guitar), and Josh James (guitar) - never shy away from speaking or screaming unpopular truths from the purest place. Founded in 2003, Stick To Your Guns have always written and performed with a sense of urgency, their socially conscious message hitting as hard as their signature hybrid of hardcore, punk, and metal. After releasing on many acclaimed labels such as Century Media, Pure Noise, and End Hits, 2025 sees the release of their new album on SharpTone Records. This partnership promises to bring their potent blend of activism and music to an even broader audience, amplifying their call for change and social justice.

NOW is going back to the 1970s to proudly present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series – with 80 tracks across 4 CDs, celebrating a magnificently diverse year of Pop singles… NOW – Yearbook 1977.