The consummate collection curated by Bruce Cockburn himself, presents 30 songs over a double album that defines the acclaimed singer-songwriters' 50 year career. These songs are both the ones that shot to the top of the charts when they were released, and also are the fan favourites most often requested at Bruce's concerts. With over 125 minutes of music, and notes on each song by the artist.

Going back and listening again to Tony Joe White's prodigious output from his early years, one is amazed at the depth of his talent as a guitarist, a singer and as a songwriter. After a series of albums that explored his love of deep Southern Blues, TJW took a warmer, more acoustic turn with Home Made Icecream. A lot of this is the back porch music he clearly loves - and here he is surrounded by fine session men who, if I recall from my old vinyl copy, include a drummer who wouldn't play until he'd read the lyrics…which as Tony Joe noted: "Is all right by me." The album flows beautifully, kicking off with a little rocker - Saturday Night in Oak Grove Louisiana (Tony Joe always had a thing about vehicles - little details like fender skirts - and here its the fibreglass mufflers on his pickup truck) and featuring among other things a gorgeous, lightly picked acoustic guitar and harp instrumental: the title track of the album. There's a ballad - Ol Mother Earth - but the standout is the last track which blows in like a cold breeze off a lake. "Did Somebody Make a Fool Out of You" is among his best ever examples of songwriting, singing and guitar playing.

Jagger doesn't show any signs of wear on his third – and by far best – solo album. If anything, his voice seems to have developed a deeper bottom end without sacrificing any of the highs. This is not always an advantage – the forced falsetto and rhythmic pulse of "Sweet Thing" causes a nightmarish flashback to the Stones' disco flirtations in the mid-'70s…

Hard Rain is a snapshot of Bob Dylan's fabled Rolling Thunder Revue, a traveling circus that was more notable for its excess and character than the music. Hard Rain bears this out, being neither as sacrilegious or as exciting as Blood on the Tracks, and never seeming necessary – after all, it arrives just two years after the last live album…

Since the Scorpions' career was at its peak, World Wide Live could not have been recorded at a better time. This 19-track album contains all of their early-'80s hits, and while they aren't as energetic on-stage as they are in the studio, the band still perform with a great amount of flamboyance…

Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and former glamour model. In 1983, at age 16, she began appearing as a topless model on Page 3 of British tabloid newspaper The Sun, and continued as a Page 3 girl until 1986. During this time, she became the most popular pin-up girl of her era, as well as one of the most photographed British women of the 1980s…

This Blind Pig CD reissues material from 1983-84. The legendary veteran Jimmy Rogers (taking most of the vocals and occasional guitar solos) is heard teamed up with the talented harmonica player Rod Piazza and his jumping group. The results are consistently exciting. Piazza's harmonica serves as a perfect foil to Rogers' voice, and the impressive backup band (which also features Honey Piazza on piano) clearly enjoys jamming on the basic blues changes. The many strong solos and the superior material make this an easily recommended set.

The pairing of electric guitarists Bill Frisell and John Scofield had to be one of the most auspicious since John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana. Acoustic bassist Marc Johnson's stroke of genius in bringing the two together on Bass Desires resulted in a sound that demonstrated both compatibility between the guitarists and the distinctiveness of the two when heard in combination. Add drummer Peter Erskine and you had a bona fide supergroup, albeit in retrospect a short-lived one, before Frisell and Scofield would establish their own substantial careers as leaders. The guitarists revealed symmetry, spaciousness, and a soaring stance, buoyed by the simplicity of their rhythm mates. This is immediately achieved on the introductory track, "Samurai Hee-Haw," as hummable, head-swimming, and memorable a melody as there ever has been, and a definite signature sound.

Borodin’s First Symphony isn’t especially interesting, but his Second is a masterpiece, tightly constructed, brilliantly orchestrated, and tunefully delightful. It’s really the only work of its period to rank with the symphonies of Tchaikovsky (along with, possibly, Balakirev’s First), and Tjeknavorian’s performance of it, indeed of all three works, is outstanding. He doesn’t fuss with or manipulate tempos or textures, preferring instead to keep the music moving energetically and allowing the musicians of the National Philharmonic to inject as much color and vitality as possible. The scherzo flashes by like lightning, the slow movement is aptly seductive, and the finale dazzles. As I suggested, the other two works are less obviously successful, but the performances are no less adept. Produced by Charles Gerhardt, we can expect fine sonics, and that’s just what RCA delivers. In this music, you won’t find better.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a newly remastered edition of the classic self-titled debut album by the legendary Dutch Progressive Jazz Rock group Solution. Solution formed in Groningen, Holland in 1968. Featuring a line-up of Tom Barlage (saxophone/flute), Willem Ennes (keyboards), Peter Van De Sande (bass guitar, vocals) and Hans Waterman (drums), the band recorded their debut album for Dutch EMI label Catfish in May 1971. A fine work, Solution’s music was a Progressive Rock and Jazz fusion that took influences from contemporaries such as Soft Machine, but was uniquely their own. Tracks such as ‘Koan’, ‘Phases’ and ‘Trane Steps’ became classics of the genre and set Solution as one of the finest Dutch groups of their era. This Esoteric Recordings reissue has been newly re-mastered from the original master tapes and includes a booklet that fully restores all original album artwork with a new essay.

Bassist Red Mitchell's debut as a leader on the Bethlehem label finds him a solid quintet with pianist Hampton Hawes, trumpeter Conte Candoli, drummer Chuck Thompson, and saxophonist Joe Maini in an easygoing bop session. The leader's bass work is as potent as it was throughout his long career, whether on Hawes' fast-paced blues "Duff," or a loping treatment of "Ornithology." Mitchell's advanced composition, "East Coast Outpost," is especially noteworthy.

Snafu was formed in 1973 by former Procol Harum and Freedom vocalist Bobby Harrison along with Mick Moody, formerly of Tramline, the Mike Cotton Sound and Juicy Lucy. With Colin Gibson from Ginger Baker's Air Force, Terry Popple from Mickey Jupp's Legend, and session musician Pete Solley, the band released two critically acclaimed albums for the WWA label, Snafu (1973) and Situation Normal (1974).
In 1975, Solley left the band to be replaced by another session musician, Brian Chatton, and Tim Hinkley was recruited to complete the lineup that would record the band's third album, All Funked Up. Shortly after the release of this album in 1976, Snafu broke up.