How 'bout a little fusion to liven up your otherwise oppressively hopeless existence? And how did I only just find out earlier today that Bill Frisell plays on a bunch of The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull? Crazy. Discovering that made me want to hear maybe some more obscure Frisell stuff, which led me to Good Buddies. Features, among others, Frisell on guitar, and gratuitous nudity on the album cover.

Limited six CD set. Colosseum came together in 1968, the brainchild of virtuoso drummer Jon Hiseman and saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith (who had played together in the Graham Bond Organisation and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers). Teaming with bass guitarist Tony Reeves and keyboard player Dave Greenslade, the line-up of the band was completed with the recruitment of guitarist and vocalist James Litherland. Their debut album, 'Those About to Die Salute You' was was one of the first successful attempts to fuse jazz, blues and rock reaching number 15 on the UK album chart. Their second album, 'Valentyne Suite', was the first release on the Progressive Vertigo imprint and spent nine weeks on the UK album chart, peaking at number 15. The album's focal point was the three part 'Valentyne Suite' which earned the band critical praise and is now regarded as a milestone in early Progressive Rock. In the USA and Canada the album appeared in different form in 1970 as 'The Grass is Greener' remixed and featuring new member Dave "Clem" Clempson (guitar, vocals), who replaced James Litherland in the group. The album also featured a series of songs unreleased in the UK. Released on the Vertigo in December 1970, 'Daughter of Time' heralded another line-up change within the group, featuring new recruits Mark Clarke (bass) and the distinctive lead vocalist Chris Farlowe. The album spent five weeks in UK Top 30. A series of UK concerts were recorded in 1971 and were issued in June of that year as the double LP 'Colosseum Live', a UK Top 20 hit. Colosseum dis-banded in October 1971, but were to reform in 1994. This Esoteric Recordings release also features studio bonus tracks and an additional CD of further live recordings from 1971.

The Miles Davis: The Electric Years box set collects seven albums from one of the most daring eras of Miles Davis’ career — In A Silent Way, Bitches Brew, A Tribute To Jack Johnson, Live-Evil, On The Corner, Big Fun and Get Up With It.
Starting in 1969 and ending in 1974, this box tells the story of a fertile period in Miles’ career, the third or fourth time he basically blew up the rules of jazz and made it again in his own image. Endlessly influential, these albums impacted basically every genre of music to follow in their wake. The albums have all been mastered AAA from 1-to-1 tape transfers of the master tapes by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound. With GRAMMY Award-winning Steve Berkowitz supervising and consulting, the 11 LPs featured in the box come on 180g black vinyl, pressed at GZ, and will be limited in the first edition to 2,000 units. You can learn the story of these albums via an extensive Listening Notes booklet written by jazz historian and critic Ben Ratliff.

The Brecker Brothers join forces for a set of mostly high-powered originals at a concert in 2003. Their post-bop music is generally funky (although "Freefall" is an uptempo cooker) and sometimes a bit bombastic yet is never predictable. Trumpeter Randy Brecker and tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker take many fiery solos while also sounding warm on ballads. They are supported by a particularly strong rhythm section. In addition, the WDR Big Band contributes 14 horns and a guitar to accompany the core group. The individual songs may not be overly memorable (although "Some Skunk Funk" has been getting covered by other musicians) but the Breckers' solos are full of exciting moments.

Collection includes 3 solo albums by percussionist and vibraphonist Marc Wagnon and also one collaboration with Mike Clark & Paul Jackson.

Emboldened by the popularity of Inner Mounting Flame among rock audiences, the first Mahavishnu Orchestra set out to further define and refine its blistering jazz-rock direction in its second – and, no thanks to internal feuding, last – studio album. Although it has much of the screaming rock energy and sometimes exaggerated competitive frenzy of its predecessor, Birds of Fire is audibly more varied in texture, even more tightly organized, and thankfully more musical in content. A remarkable example of precisely choreographed, high-speed solo trading – with John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, and Jan Hammer all of one mind, supported by Billy Cobham's machine-gun drumming and Rick Laird's dancing bass – can be heard on the aptly named "One Word," and the title track is a defining moment of the group's nearly atonal fury. The band also takes time out for a brief bit of spaced-out electronic burbling and static called "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love." Yet the most enticing pieces of music on the record are the gorgeous, almost pastoral opening and closing sections to "Open Country Joy," a relaxed, jocular bit of communal jamming that they ought to have pursued further.

The Hot Spot [Original Soundtrack] Review by Eugene Chadbourne
A return look and listen to this historical and breathtaking collaboration between two of the great figures of modern music should naturally be prefaced by a few key facts. Although this album presents itself as the soundtrack to the film The Hot Spot, like many such releases it bares little relation to the music that was actually used in the film – not that much of this music was actually used.

(5CD) Four classic albums from the early 70s for a great price; 'Tribute to Jack Johnson' 'On the Corner' 'Big Fun' (2CD) & 'Water Babies'.

"I'm Going Home" from Ten Years After's previous release put them on the charts, at least in the U.K. (the band's U.S. breakthrough was at Woodstock a year after its release), but the four-piece was already experimenting with ways to expand their basic boogie rock template. Stonedhenge was the result, as producer Mike Vernon helped steer the band into a more jazz- and blues-oriented direction. That's especially evident in the swinging "Woman Trouble," but this set is generally more prone to broadening the sound without losing TYA's basic concept. It doesn't always gel – the four short pieces that feature each musician alone on their instrument is an interesting idea that ends up as a distraction – yet the album boasts some terrific performances by a group that was hitting its peak. Canned Heat, who TYA supported in America and who were also trying to push their own boogie envelope, were a big influence, born out by the very Heat-sounding "Hear Me Calling." Alvin Lee keeps his fleet fingers in check, preferring to work his style into a more organic fusion.

World renowned fusion drummer Dennis Chambers (Santana Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern) joins forces with Tribal Tech's Gary Willis and Scott Kinsey (Joe Zawinul, Bill Evans, Robben Ford) and legendary guitar duo Garsed/Helmerich for a no holds barred fusion super session. Uncle Moe's Space Ranch features some of the hottest grooves and most unrestrained fusion ensemble and solo work ever recorded.

For the first time ever, the Bobby Wellins Quartet albums – Jubilation and Dreams Are Free - expanded with bonus tracks. The original albums, and the extra tracks, were all recorded by the same quartet in 1978 or 1979.
Released in partnership with Spike Wells, the drummer in the quartet, who provided the extra recordings from his own tape archive, and wrote the booklet notes as well as providing many previously unseen photographs, Fiona Wellins, Bobby’s daughter, and the bassist in the quartet Adrian Kendon, who also produced the original recordings for the vinyl-only Vortex label.

With the possible exception of Richard Pinhas' Heldon, Gilbert Artman's Lard Free was probably the premier French progressive group of the '70s. The prolific Heldon might win in terms of amount of material, but the three near-perfect albums by Lard Free (despite the truly wretched band name) probably have them beat in terms of overall quality. Although Artman, a drummer who also dabbles in synthesizers and piano, called Lard Free a group, he was the only constant member; all three albums have different lineups. 1973's Lard Free consists of relatively short pieces with prominent piano and saxophone parts, and as such is the most jazz-oriented of the three. The following year's I'm Around About Midnight consists of three long pieces with much more synthesizer; at times, it sounds almost like early (pre-ambient) Tangerine Dream, or perhaps Clear Light, the French collective Artman and the then-current lineup of Lard Free occasionally worked with around this time. 1977's Lard Free III, also known as Spirale Malax, is Artman's best work, a pair of side-long experiments that combine space music, jazz, and King Crimson-style heavy progressive rock better than many groups (including King Crimson) could ever hope to manage.

Is There Anything About? is the seventh album by British jazz fusion group Brand X. It is the last album to feature longstanding members Robin Lumley and Phil Collins. It was assembled from outtakes from the 1979 sessions. These sessions produced around twenty tracks which became Product (1979), Do They Hurt? (1980) and Is There Anything About? (1982). "Modern, Noisy and Effective" is the backing track to "Soho" with a new keyboard line overdubbed over the top of it. "A Longer April" is just an extended version of "April" from Product, with a bit of synth noise added in the middle. "TMIU-ATGA" is taken from an old cassette tape running in the studio when the band were improvising.

Al di Meola continues to broaden his musical horizons with Flesh on Flesh, his fourth release for the Telarc recording label. The great guitarist is joined by two members of his World Sinfonia acoustic group – Gumbi Ortiz on percussion and Mario Parmisano on keyboards – in addition to such stellar musicians as Gonzalo Rubalcaba, flutist Alejandro Santos, and bassist Anthony Jackson, who recorded with di Meola on his best-selling Elegant Gypsy album in the mid-'80s.

Steely Dan enjoyed a highly successful run of albums in the 70s, but by the release of Gaucho in 1980, Donald Fagan and Walter Becker had dissolved the band to concentrate on solo projects. The early 90s saw the duo working together again and after Becker had played on and produced Fagans Kamakiriad they decided to hit the road as Steely Dan again. This two CD set chronicles the critically acclaimed tour with a prized KLLT-FM broadcast of their performance at the Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri on September 1, 1993. Professionally remastered original FM broadcast.