A powerful transatlantic convergence, "Live At The Blue Note New York" captures Theon Cross's electrifying US debut at the legendary club-one of the first jazz albums recorded there in over two decades. Featuring standout performances by Isaiah Collier, James Russell Sims, and Nikos Ziarkas, this live set channels deep musical chemistry into a bold, spiritual statement of modern jazz.

The Sorcerers' latest long player lands in perfect time for the summer, offering a further progression into their unique take on Ethio-inspired jazz.

Sorcerer, the third album by the second Miles Davis Quintet, is in a sense a transitional album, a quiet, subdued affair that rarely blows hot, choosing to explore cerebral tonal colorings. Even when the tempo picks up, as it does on the title track, there's little of the dense, manic energy on Miles Smiles – this is about subtle shadings, even when the compositions are as memorable as Tony Williams' "Pee Wee" or Herbie Hancock's "Sorcerer." As such, it's a little elusive, since it represents the deepening of the band's music as they choose to explore different territory. The emphasis is as much on complex, interweaving chords and a coolly relaxed sound as it is on sheer improvisation, though each member tears off thoroughly compelling solos. Still, the individual flights aren't placed at the forefront the way they were on the two predecessors – it all merges together, pointing toward the dense soundscapes of Miles' later '60s work.

Sun Ra is one of the most experimental, eccentric and especially prolific jazz musicians of all time.In the 50s and 60s, he published dozens of albums.On “To Saturn And Back” we have compiled 32 of the most remarkable works of this period.

This is a farewell to the fourth generation of CASIOPEA and their extraordinaire keyboardist-organist Kiyomi Otaka. Enjoy her final (for now at least) concert with fusion's finest!

The most popular and successful lineup of Return to Forever – Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, and Al Di Meola – was coming off the Grammy-winning No Mystery when it recorded its third and final album, Romantic Warrior. It has been suggested that in employing a medieval album cover (drawn by Wilson McLean), using titles like "Medieval Overture" and "Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant," and occasionally playing in a baroque style, particularly in Clarke's "The Magician," Corea was responding to Rick Wakeman's successful string of albums on similar themes. Certainly, the music suggests that the musicians have been listening to Wakeman's band, Yes, among other progressive rock groups.

This incredibly diverse collection was Chicago’s sixth studio album and their final studio-recorded double album to date. Cited for its jazz excursions, Chicago VII reached No. 1 in the US and included three stand-out hits including Searchin’ So Long, Wishing You Were Here and the first single penned by trumpeter Lee Loughnane Call on Me, which reached No. 6 in the US.

Tutu is an album by American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, released in 1986 by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded primarily at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles and Clinton Recording in New York, except the song "Backyard Ritual", which was recorded at Le Gonks in West Hollywood. Davis received the 1986 Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist Grammy Award for his performance on the album.

Chicago XI (1977) was the final studio effort to feature the original septet, who by this time had been performing and recording for nearly a decade. In late January 1978, founding member Terry Kath (guitar/vocals) accidentally and fatally shot himself, forever altering the band's sound and indeed much of the combo's tenacious rock & roll heart. It is somewhat fitting that their ninth studio release (11th overall) contains two Kath compositions as well as a pair of additional lead vocals.

Picking out the best instrumentals from Carlos Santana's thirty-year recording career is a daunting task at best, and a fan can certainly find reasons to disagree with some of the choices made in this collection. However, this German release is valuable in bringing together undisputed Santana classic guitar pieces like "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)," "Samba Pa Ti," "Flor D'Luna (Moonflower)" and "Soul Sacrifice" with lesser known masterworks like "Aqua Marine" and the superb "Song of the Wind." True, there's no "Toussaint L'Ouverture" or "Incident at Neshabur," but how would you like to have to narrow this long-lived band's catalog down to fifteen tracks? Besides, the true fan already has the original albums and earlier compilations. This disc takes its listeners on a high intensity trip through time on the spiritual wings of Carlos Santana's soaring electric guitar. It's a trip worth taking.

Several years after the original art rock supergroup Colosseum disbanded, drummer Jon Hiseman formed Colosseum II, a more jazz fusion-oriented outfit featuring guitarist Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy) and keyboardist Don Airey. Their eclectic debut, Strange New Flesh, shows some impressive chops from all involved, with an emphasis on Moore's soulful guitar leads. Vocalist Mike Starr, while not an immensely engaging singer, does a nice job keeping up with Hiseman and bass player Neil Murray. Highlights include the technically showy but blissfully irreverent ode to Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moog," a nice version of Joni Mitchell's "Down to You," and the funky "Gemini and Leo."

CLASSIC 1978 BROADCAST FROM GERMANY S THEN DIVIDED CITY After falling out with his long-time manager Herb Cohen, Frank Zappa spent much of the late 1970s in a legal battle with Cohen and later with Warner Brothers too. With the majority of his own recorded material thus tied up, Zappa concentrated on touring with a small, rock-oriented band. March 1978 witnessed the release of Zappa In New York, recorded live with a 13-strong band at the Palladium in late December 1976. Demonstrating in equal measure Zappa s extraordinary ability as a composer and fearless approach to controversial topics, the record reached a respectable No. 57 on the Billboard chart. Two standout numbers from In New York, Titties & Beer and The Black Page , would be a fixture of Zappa sets by the time his 1978 European tour rolled around, as the concert featured on this two CD set can attest.

EXTRAORDINARY 1979 BROADCAST, HOT ON THE HEELS OF THE SHEIK YERBOUTI ALBUM Largely recorded live during 1977 and 1978, Frank Zappa s 1979 double, Sheik Yerbouti, was the first release on the musician s newly formed Zappa Records, following Frank s departure from Warner Bros Records. Featuring the Grammy nominated Dancin Fool , as well as the controversial Bobby Brown , a track banned from US airplay. Released on March 3rd 79 - at the time Zappa was touring Europe, where his audience had long outweighed his domestic fan-base - the album became his best-selling album of all during his lifetime. On March 19th, the band performed at the Parc de Penfeld, in Brest, France, for a show that was recorded for live FM Radio Broadcast, transmitted across continental Europe and synched too on many US stations. Featuring a line-up which included, Ike Willis and Warren Cuccurullo on guitars, Tommy Mars and Peter Wolf on keyboards, Ed Mann on percussion, Arthur Barrow on bass and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, the musicianship was, as always, second-to-none, and the gig a roaring success with many describing it as among the fines Zappa played during this era.

When trombonist/producer Wayne Henderson, pianist/keyboardist Joe Sample, sax-man Wilton Felder, and drummer Stix Hooper changed their name from the Jazz Crusaders to the Crusaders back in 1971, it signaled a more R&B-minded direction for the group – they were always funky, but in the '70s, they became even funkier. And so, the names the Crusaders and the Jazz Crusaders came to stand for two different things – if the Jazz Crusaders were synonymous with a funky yet acoustic-oriented approach to hard bop (à la Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers), the Crusaders were about electric-oriented jazz-funk and fusion. In 1995, Henderson (who left the Crusaders in 1975) resurrected the name the Jazz Crusaders and produced Happy Again for the small, Los Angeles-based Sin-drome Records.

Composer, guitarist, singer, and bandleader Frank Zappa was a singular musical figure during a performing and recording career that lasted from the 1960s to the '90s. His disparate influences included doo wop music and avant-garde classical music; although he led groups that could be called rock & roll bands for much of his career, he used them to create a hybrid style that bordered on jazz and complicated, modern serious music, sometimes inducing orchestras to play along.