The Carpenters were one of the more ubiquitous and successful acts of the early and mid-'70s. Songs like "Close to You" and "Rainy Days and Mondays" make the shortlist of pop classics of the '70s. Unfortunately, their 1973 retrospective, 1969-1973, might have wrapped up their commercial careers too soon. This 1975 effort seems to be willing to explore sad emotions with the blithe songs appearing almost as an afterthought. Although it would sound the death knell for many efforts, with Karen Carpenter's pitch-perfect and sorrowful voice, it's actually a nice fit, and an emphasis on the duo's subtext. The beautifully arranged "Aurora" sets the album's ambience. "Eventide," a continuation of the melody and theme, shows up later in the album…

Bob Dylan is waarschijnlijk de meest invloedrijke singer-songwriter van de popmuziek tot op heden. In de jaren zestig maakt hij naam in de folkscene in New York en brengt hij inmiddels klassieke popsongs als " The times they are a-changin'" uit. Hij verandert de folkpop voor altijd wanneer hij elektrische instrumenten aan zijn palet toevoegt. Tijdens zijn decennia lange loopbaan brengt hij talloze albums uit, die zelden teleurstellen. Opvallend genoeg beleeft hij in het nieuwe millenium een muzikale renaissance met sterke albums als Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020).

Nathaniel Charles Gonella was an English jazz trumpeter, bandleader, vocalist, and mellophonist. He founded the big band The Georgians, during the British dance band era. The band took its name from a popular version of the song "Georgia on My Mind" that he recorded for Lew Stone in 1932 and which became the trumpeter's signature tune. The Georgians began as a band within Stone's shows before setting up as an independent unit. He became a headline act on the variety circuit before the outbreak of World War II.

The first solo release by contemporary blues-based artist Keb Mo' mixes a reverence for traditional country blues with more streamlined elements of commercial pop. Keyboards, bass and drums (in addition to Keb Mo's contributions on guitar, harmonica and banjo) flesh out breezy soul-inflected pop such as "She Just Wants To Dance" and the island flavored "Tell Everybody I Know." Though gears continue to shift, from organ-drenched gospel to hillbilly lite, Keb Mo' brings things back to the source with inventive homages to the blues altar, such as in his re-casting of two Robert Johnson songs.

NOW Music proudly presents NOW That’s What I Call Gold – The Ultimate Hits. This essential 4CD set brings together 85 tracks by legendary artists with timeless anthems, celebrating some of the greatest hits of all time, including chart-topping classics and enduring favourites.

The change of direction on Lontano, the third release by Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and his three young collaborators - Marcin Wasilewski (piano), Slawomir Kurkiewicz (bass), and Michal Miskiewicz (drums) - is startling. Whereas Soul of Things (2002) and Suspended Night (2004) focused on Stanko's increasing sense of balladry and structurally harmonic, assonant atmospheres, Lontano showcases a band confident enough after playing for five years to find real space for free improvisation. Recorded in the south of France instead of Oslo, producer Manfred Eicher works his name magic and allows stillness and silence to play as much a role as the performers engaging one another musically. The opening title track is the first of three such excursions with the title "Lontano"…

YMO 1979 Record of World Exploration and Live Box Set is finally released. In 1978, YMO debuted in the album "YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA". In July 1979, the same album was released worldwide from A&M label "Horizon" (at the time). In August of the year, Tubes appeared as a special guest in LIVE three days at LA. This is the YMO first overseas performances, and the third day of performance has been recorded as well as video recording. In the fall, he planned the international tour, "TRANS ATLANTIC TOUR." Recordings were performed in London, Paris, and New York, and they were released as a live album "Public Pressure" in 1980. Some of the later release was finally released in the form of showing the full appearance of the performance that this live recording has been taken. Based on the supervision of Haruomi Hosono, the world engineer GOH HOTODA mixes from multi-tape to the latest sound source, reconfirming how YMO is the only one and only one of a kind. In addition, the tour's video works are upconverted with the latest technology. You can watch this historical live even in videos. In addition, the booklet shows unpublished photos and is a permanent storage box set.

Samurai is truly a lost classic of the Progressive era. Released on the short lived Greenwich Gramophone label in 1971, the album was influenced by the experiments of groups such as King Crimson, Gentle Giant et al, but was more than a mere clone of these bands. Evolving from the equally excellent band Web (whose album 'I Spider' is a classic of the genre), the musicianship on the album was excellent and Keyboard player Dave Lawson's compositions were groundbreaking and memorable. Sadly the group disbanded shortly after the release of the record resulting in limited sales. However, the influence of the album was not lost as both Dave Lawson and Tony Reeves soon joined Dave Greenslade to form the group Greenslade, effectively taking up the musical mantle laid down by Samurai. This Esoteric reissue features a booklet with previously unseen photographs and an interview with Dave Lawson.

Live at the Fillmore West 1969 & More. Stereo Soundboard Recording, Tendolar Label Presents.

On August 4, 2007, Klaus Schulze celebrated his 60th birthday. Most electronica providers of 2007 and 2008 were not as old as Schulze, but then, Schulze is someone who - like Brian Eno and Kraftwerk - was using synthesizers before they were truly in vogue and before many of today's electronica artists were even born. Thankfully, Schulze hasn't run out of ideas after all these years, and on Farscape, he fulfills a longtime ambition: collaborating with Australian singer Lisa Gerrard (of Dead Can Dance fame). This two-CD set is best described as an extended piece that lasts 153 minutes; that piece, which is titled "Liquid Coincidence," is broken down into seven parts. Schulze handles the electronic programming on this 2008 release, while Gerrard provides all of the vocals - and all seven parts of "Liquid Coincidence" have a floating, airy, atmospheric quality…

“A third figure of folk-based jazz piano is ISTVÁN KOVÁCS TICKMAYER. He graduated from the Academy of Újvidék (Novi Sad) in Voivodina and has also doubled as a composer and upright bass player. His strong ties to the philosophical and musical school of György Szabados are well known. He formed his first ensemble, Formatio, with Mihály Dresch and István Grencsó in 1986. He performed several piano duos with György Szabados in 1989. Since 1991 he has lived in Paris where he has composed music and performed for József Nagy’s Theatre JEL.

WhoCares, full title Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi: WhoCares is a music project by Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan and Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and a charity release by the supergroup WhoCares they had formed with the help of other musicians, to raise money to rebuild a music school in Gyumri, Armenia after the destruction of the city in the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. In addition to Ian Gillan and Tony Iommi (who were Black Sabbath bandmates from 1983-1984), many artists took part in the charity music project including Jon Lord (Ian Gillan's then-Deep Purple bandmate), ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain, and HIM guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström.

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson CC CQ OOnt (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards, as well as a lifetime achievement award from the Recording Academy, and received numerous other awards and honours. He played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career lasting more than 60 years. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, simply "O.P." by his friends, and informally in the jazz community, "the King of inside swing".

As the Manhattan Transfer went on, so did the legacy of the jazz vocal ensemble. In that regard, though the competition was scarce, this group did elevate the art form to a higher level without much compromise. This two-CD, 39-track compilation represents many of the high points of the group. If anything is missing, some of the vocalese influenced by Eddie Jefferson should have been included. Still most fans will recognize "Ray's Rockhouse," "Route 66," "Four Brothers," "Tuxedo Junction," "That Cat Is High," "(Sing) Joy Spring," and their immortal take of the Jon Hendricks lyric to "Birdland." Unless it is a complete collection, you'd be hard pressed to find a better grouping of the Manhattan Transfer's prime body of works.

The newest release presents the Piano Concerti op. 21 and op. 11, performed by a laureate of the 9th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition – Dina Yoffe. The pianist plays the following pianos: an 1848 Pleyel (Piano Concerto in F minor op. 21) and an 1838 Erard (Piano Concerto op. 11).