The very essence of Sunday morning listening, Make Music: Folk Funk Flavours & Ambient Soul is a superbly nuanced collection of spacious, mellow soul cuts from the early '70s – the set's subtitle speaks volumes about the scope and effect of the grooves therein. Unified by their acoustic guitars, gently bubbling basslines, and sweetly funky rhythms, the songs document a more intimate and empathetic side of Black Power-era soul, far more personal than political but no less impassioned – as compiler John Stapleton writes in his excellent liner notes, the music evokes contemporary acts like Zero 7 and 4hero, reflecting an "increasing interest in and return to the song…re-exploring the same roots of folk, blues and country, and quieter ways to make music." Excellent stuff throughout, with highlights including Minnie Riperton's ravishing "Les Fleurs," Bill Withers' "You," and Al Wilson's "The Dolphins."

A wonderful view of what is "American" in contemporary American music from an Italian producer's perspective, with a nice cover photo of Joey's Navajo Cafe and Dining Room framed by several pickup trucks parked outside. Including rhythmic-based music and sound-text rhythms from ordinary speech (Allen Ginsberg's works), some dreamy electronic music by Pauline Oliveros, and solo jazz by Steve Lacy, this is an interesting collection of new recordings and reissues of tracks from out of print or hard to get vinyl releases. The recording contains Allen Ginsberg's "Hum Bomb" (1992), Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" (live, 1976), Michael Galasso's "Baroque" (live, 1992), Ben Neill's "Bal," John Cage's "Third Construction" (from a 1983 Italian studio recording), David Behrman's "A Traveller's Dream Journal (EWR-LAX)" (1992), Pauline Oliveros' "A Woman Sees How the World Goes With No Eyes" (from the Lovely Music release Crone Music), Steve Lacy performing Thelonious Monk's "Pannonica," John Zorn and Andrea Centazzo's "First Environment for Sextet" (recorded in New York on WKCR radio in 1978 and appearing on Environment for Sextet released by Ictus Records), and Allen Ginsberg's "Father Death Blues."

Maneuvering between grandiose retro motifs and a surprising sincerity, Michelle Gurevich’s songs are tragicomic, melody-driven, sentimental and suspended in shadowy glamour. Having released 3 albums under the moniker of Chinawoman, she now continues as Michelle Gurevich. She combines dark realism with humour in smoky and intimate ballads delivered with cutting and fatalistic lyrics. Her story began when her bedroom-produced debut album Party Girl, by some fateful unknown hand was delivered to the land of her forefathers, and soon made its way blaring from the yachts of Russian billionaires and as the ringtones of mothers all over the Ukraine. Her music has drawn comparisons to Nico and Leonard Cohen, with a voice akin to Tanita Tikaram. Decadent, dramatic and earnest, vintage keyboards and synth strings offer the solitary rendition of a grand experience, and a voice always upfront delivers motifs familiar yet impossible to pinpoint from the great soup of European chanson.

The pairing of Igor Stravinsky's ballets Petrushka (1911) and Jeu de cartes (1937) may afford insights into his development of neoclassical style, which was anticipated in the former work and stated fully in the latter. Indeed, the bright and tuneful music of both ballets tends toward playfulness, clever parody, and colorful scoring, all characteristic of neoclassicism, and the scenarios – a marionette that comes to life in Petrushka, and the personification of playing cards in Jeu de cartes – suggest a further connection, perhaps even to Stravinsky's notions of musical objectivity.

Fifteen years on from his earlier recording of Bach’s three Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord (on Harmonia Mundi, alongside Rinaldo Alessandrini), Paolo Pandolfo is now returning to this repertory with a thoroughly-rethought approach, the fruit of active and concentrated years of consideration, study and research into the inherent possibilities of his instrument. Given the basic differing natures of these two instruments, the performance of these works very often turns – in Pandolfo’s words – into a “musical argument”, rather than what is demanded by the music’s essential nature: a “musical conversation” in which the score achieves “transparency and eloquence”.

The history of opera is inseparably linked with the biographies of singers; audiences have always been fascinated by both musical prowess and behind the scenes goings-on. The battle for prestige and fame was heated and passionate in the Baroque era, with legendary rivalries. Fiercely competitive, Cuzzoni and Bordoni were among the most acclaimed divas of the age, resorting to fisticuffs on stage. Present-day prima donnas Genaux, Prina, Nesi and Basso now follow in the footsteps of their fervid predecessors, presenting on disc a tongue-in-cheek survey of standout arias for mezzo soprano and contralto.

Humble Pie's Official Bootleg Box Set Volume 1 is a raw testament to what this band did best; playing bluesy, gutsy, soulful and often hard rock, live on stage to an adoring audience. Drawn from a variety of mainly audience recordings that have previously only been available as "under the counter" pirate releases, this is an honest, and often unforgiving, tribute to a classic and much missed '70s supergroup. Originally emerging from the remnants of '60s beat heroes, The Small Faces, Humble Pie formed in 1969 when guitarist and vocalist Steve Marriott joined forces with Peter Frampton, drummer Jerry Shirley and bassist Greg Ridley, and signed to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label.

Released in 1999 by Startel Entertainment. Featuring 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s best singles. Features: The Hollies, The Animals, Fleetwood Mac, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Simple Minds, Lou Reed and many more.

Ce coffret regroupe l'intégralité des enregistrements de Jean Ferrat de 1960 à 1972. Depuis son éclosion à son avènement on découvre, chanson après chanson, l'itinéraire d'un géant. À partir de 'Ma môme' (1960) et 'Deux enfants au soleil' (1961), premiers succès discographiques, Jean Ferrat ne va plus cesser de marquer l'histoire de la Chanson Française. Au moment où il signe chez Barclay, en pleine vague yéyé, il écrit et compose 'Nuit et brouillard' (1963). Porté par ses convictions humaines et littéraires il s'engage dans une ouvre résolument fraternelle et poétique où 'La Montagne' (1964), 'Potemkine' (1965), 'Heureux celui qui meurt d'aimer' (1967), 'Ma France' (1969), 'Camarade' (1969), 'Aimer à perdre la raison' (1971) et bien d'autres l'installent au sommet de notre patrimoine musical et dans le cour de millions de français.

Import 5-CD set features their albums (all in original form); Everybody Else is Doing It.., No Need to Argue, To the Faithful Departed, Bury the Hatchet and Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. All CDs packaged in cardboard sleeves.

1955 album by the Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet, described by The New York Times as "perhaps the definitive bop group until Mr. Brown's fatal automobile accident in 1956". The album was critically well-received and includes several notable tracks, including two that have since become jazz standards. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. It is included in Jazz: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings at #34, where it is described by New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratliff as "one of the strongest studio albums up to that time". The majority of the sessions that comprise this album were recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood in August 1954. Two of the tracks were recorded in February 1955 at Capitol Studios in New York City. Originally released on the EmArcy label, it has been multiply re-issued, including in a 2000 edition by Verve Records that contains additional tracks.

UNIQUE 1970 BROACAST FROM CROSBY, GARCIA, WEIR AND LESH 1970 was an exciting time in the music world. David Crosby was riding high on the early success of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, with two wildly successful studio albums and a plethora of legendary performances at the likes of Woodstock and The Monterey Pop Festival under his belt. The Grateful Dead has just released arguably their two greatest albums, Workingman s Dead and American Beauty , and were fast gaining a reputation as the best live act around. Towards the end of the year these two creative forces combined for a one-off concert at The Matrix in San Francisco. Billed under the curious moniker David & The Dorks, it would mark the only time that a band featuring David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart would take to the stage together, and thankfully this broadcast recording still exists, enabling fans, even today, to enjoy a unique musical event. Performing a wide variety of material including tracks from Crosby s then upcoming solo debut If Only I Could Remember My Name , plus further cuts from across his catalogue, including many songs not at the time released on record, plus an inspiring version of the Dead classic Bertha , and a couple of blues traditionals, this superb CD is testament to the quite staggering talent and creativity of these top drawer musical giants.

Johann Kuhnau (1660-1722), Bach's eternal 'predecessor' as Leipzig's Thomaskantor, has only been rediscovered in recent years and his true greatness has not yet been truly recognised. He was highly respected by his contemporaries, however, and not just as a musician: he had a doctorate, worked as a lawyer, wrote satirical novels - a polymath… His musical oeuvre must have been extensive, much of it is lost. It is therefore all the more pleasing that his magnificent Christmas cantata "Frohlocket, ihr Volker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden" ['Rejoice, ye nations, and shout for joy, ye heathen'] has been preserved. It opens the programme on this CD and, with its instrumentation and duration of over 25 minutes, surpasses many a great cantata by his famous successor.

The Hollies were formed in 1962 in Manchester, England. The original group consisted of Allan Clarke (on lead vocals), Graham Nash and'Tony Hicks (on guitars), Eric Haydock (on bass), and Don Rathbone (on drums). They signed a recording contract, and first hit the best selling charts in the USA. with “Just One Look” in May 1964, which came back to hit the charts again in 1967! Bobby Elliot replaced Don Rathbone later in 1963; Bernie Colvert replaced Eric Haydock in 1966; and Terry Sylvester replaced Graham Nash in 1968.

I Robot is the second studio album by the English progressive rock band The Alan Parsons Project (Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson), released by Arista Records in June 1977. It is an art rock album that draws conceptually on author Isaac Asimov's science fiction Robot trilogy, exploring philosophical themes regarding artificial intelligence. The album was re-released under Legacy Recordings as a "legacy edition" in 2013 on CD, with an extra disc with unreleased bonus tracks, mastered by Dave Donelly.