A battle of the bands? Not quite – more like a mutual admiration society, with the orchestras of both jazz titans playing together. (The Duke is heard on the right side of your stereo/headphones, the Count on the left.) Ellington's elegance and unique voicings meet Basie's rollicking, blues-based Kansas City swing, and it works gloriously. There's no clutter, each band is focused, and they sound great together. This is not the thoughtful, reflective composer side of Ellington (listeners should check out Far East Suite or Black, Brown & Beige for that). The Duke and his band accentuate their swinging dance band side, while Basie and company have never sounded as suave and exotic as when playing Billy Strayhorn arrangements. Everyone has a good time, and that joy infuses this album from start to finish.

Charlie Rouse's debut as a leader (not counting his earlier work co-leading Les Jazz Modes with the great French horn player Julius Watkins) was made for Jazzland and is available as an OJC CD. The distinctive tenor saxophonist, who had just started a decade-long stint as a member of the Thelonious Monk Quartet, teams up with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, pianist Walter Bishop, Jr., bassist Earl May, and drummer Art Taylor. Together they perform straight-ahead material including Rouse's own uptempo "Upptankt," the standard "They Didn't Believe Me," and songs by Mitchell, Kenny Drew, and Randy Weston. A fine modern mainstream jam session-flavored set.

This double-CD second round of 1969-vintage live King Crimson shows is less compelling than the first, although it does offer a few things not evident on the first release - a Michael Giles drum solo and flute and sax solos by Ian McDonald. The material, of course, overlaps the earlier volume, since their sets were limited to a relatively narrow repertoire, and some songs ("I Talk to the Wind," "Epitaph") have deliberately been left off because of limitations in their equipment at this stage of their careers, playing a pair of English jazz clubs in mid-1969. It seems that without voltage regulators, as the band played ever louder or more lights were put on during the show, the voltage to the band's instruments would drop, which threw the Mellotron increasingly out of tune…

The duo of pianist Johanna Summer and saxophonist Jakob Manz represents a rare stroke of luck for contemporary German jazz. Both are standout figures of their generation, blending supreme virtuosity with fearless creativity and unmistakable individuality. Rooted in jazz yet effortlessly blending influences from classical, pop, and beyond, they create music that is as surprising as it is enchanting. Their intimate duo format highlights a remarkable interplay, where bold spontaneity meets profound sensitivity. With each note, they weave a vibrant, deeply emotional dialogue that feels both free and masterfully composed. This album captures their unique chemistry—colorful, alive, and full of magic.

It is scarcely two years since everything suddenly went quiet, and we all found ourselves living in a "Silent World". For Wolfgang Haffner, the most prominent German drummer of our time, things came to a particularly abrupt halt, not least because his regular schedule is so packed and his habitual work-rate is so prolific. He is normally travelling across all five continents, playing with stellar artists from all kinds of genres; his own exceptional craft as a drummer is to be heard on no fewer than 400 albums. Fortunately, however, Haffner has always considered himself to be at least as much a composer as he is a drummer, so once he had absorbed the initial shock of being grounded at home…taken long walks…watched a lot of TV…it was completely natural that he should devote himself to writing music. And, for once, he wasn’t having to fit it in between other commitments, but could set about it in a concentrated way.

Falco was the most internationally successful pop artist ever to come out of Austria. Falco had several international hits, "Rock Me Amadeus", "Der Kommissar", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home (Jeanny Part II, One Year Later)", and posthumously "Out of the Dark". "Rock Me Amadeus" reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in 1986, making him the only artist whose principal language was German to score a vocal number-one hit in the United States. According to his estate, he has sold 20 million albums and 40 million singles, which makes him the best-selling Austrian singer of all time.

„When I die, I want people to play my music, go wild and freak out and do anything they want to do.“ Jimi Hendrix’s wish has been posthumously fulfilled. Although he had such misfortune in life, and died in 1970 at a mere 27 years of age, his immortal music has continued to be played ever since his death - very much in the spirit of that quote. Countless musicians in rock, pop and jazz have been influenced by Hendrix, and many have overtly based their own music on his. Among the ACT family of artists, several have been inspired by his music, and have found their own individual ways to play it. In November of this year this icon of the 1968 protest movement, this pioneer of rock would have been 75. A good reason, then, for ACT musicians to gather together for a retrospective called “Hendrix in the Spirit of Jazz”, to let the unique spirit of this genius of the electric guitar soar again.

Deluxe version of the classic album "Street Fighting Years" as a 4-CD box set, including the original album remastered at Abbey Road plus a host of B-sides, edits and 12″ remixes. It also includes a previously unissued Verona live show from 1989 plus brand new book including a new interview with Trevor Horn.
Their first proper new release since the commercial breakthrough of Once Upon a Time (a live album intervened) and Simple Minds makes a decidedly, noncommercial follow-up. Street Fighting Years is a moody, dark affair. The music is yearning and most of the songs are politically charged lyrically. It was a move that could (and did) bring commercial failure. However, Street Fighting Years is an artistic and elegant album that might lack immediate choruses but draws in the listener…