THREE SUPERB FM BROADCASTS FROM JAPAN 1990, USA 1991 & EUROPE 1995. The most formidable of contemporary rock groups, the Red Hot Chili Peppers don’t just defy categorisation, they appear to invent their own with every new release - and often do likewise within the confines of a live performance. Indeed, the group’s startling eclecticism is only surpassed by their lofty talents and astonishing musical catalogue. This 3 x CD set features a selection of rare FM radio broadcasts recorded between the end of the 1980s and the middle of the 1990s,when for many the band were at their absolute pinnacle of achievement.

As a two-CD overview of the career of Peter Bardens, Write My Name in the Dust: Anthology manages to fit in a lot of material and display his work in different contexts, but also suffers from some problems that might prevent it from being wholly satisfying to some fans of his music. Despite the 40-year time span of the title, it's not a chronologically balanced selection by any means; 23 of the 29 tracks predate 1972, only three postdate the mid-'70s, and those three are all from his 2002 album The Art of Levitation. Too, there are just three cuts from Camel, which to art rock listeners might be the most familiar of the groups in which Bardens played.

3 CD Set Featuring Classic Live Recordings From Miles Davis. Featuring material from live broadcasts from Rotterdam 1967, Boston 1972, Tokyo 1975, and Fukuoka 1981. With enthusiasm for the music of Miles Davis stretching way further than that for any other Jazz musician who ever produced a note, and the new bio-pic movie about Miles' life creating even more interest, the time could not be better for the release of this 3 CD Collection of rare live material from the maestro. Featuring recordings from; Rotterdam 1967, Boston 1972, Tokyo 1975, Fukuoka (Japan) in 1981, and even a bonus cut from Tokyo in 1985, this mixed bag of eras and styles illustrates well the pre and post mid 1970s hiatus Miles Davis, a period highlighted in the aforementioned new film.

3 X CD SET FEATURING LIVE BROADCAST RECORDINGS FROM 1972, 1973 & 1976 The three live FM radio broadcasts encompassed in this delightful package come from 1972, 1974 and 1976 respectively - for many, if not most fans, Browne s golden era. Disc one features an in-studio session recorded at and broadcast from the RCA Studios in New York. It took place just eight months after the release of his debut and as is evident that, even at this early stage in his career, Jackson had already matured into a strong live performer and superlative composer. Disc two boasts a show performed at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, in early spring 1974, and during which label-mate Linda Ronstadt, who was touring with Browne at the time, joins Jackson for a version of One More Song, a number by Jack Tempchin - the man who composed the lovely Eagles number Peaceful Easy Feeling. Disc three includes the full Soundstage performance Jackson Browne gave for the regular PBS TV series of concert broadcasts in 1976. Recorded at the WTTW studios in Chicago, this concert is augmented by two bonus cuts taken from Browne s appearance on Saturday Night Live the same year.

Other than four piano solos from April 4, 1962, this set was pianist Bill Evans' first recordings after a hiatus caused by bassist Scott LaFaro's tragic death in a car accident. The first of two meetings on record in a duo format with guitarist Jim Hall, the collaborations are often exquisite. Both Evans and Hall had introspective and harmonically advanced styles along with roots in hard-swinging bebop. There is more variety than expected on the fine set with some cookers, ballads, waltzes, and even some hints at classical music.

This two-disc archival set includes live performances from the short-lived incipient 1969 incarnation of King Crimson. After months of arduous sonic restoration - or what Robert Fripp (guitar) refers to as "necromancy" - the results are well worth the painstaking processes involved. The first volume contains material from three different sources - BBC Radio Sessions, the Fillmore East in New York City, and its Bay Area counterpart, the Fillmore West. The second volume consists of nearly another hour-long set from the latter venerable San Francisco venue. Joining Fripp are Ian McDonald (flute/sax/mellotron/vocals), Greg Lake (bass/vocals), Michael Giles (drums/percussion/vocals), and the only non-performing member, Peter Sinfield (words/illuminations). They single-handedly fused electric rock music with jazz in a way that no one else has done before or, arguably, since…

Wendy Carlos released this on the Telarc label in 1992 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of her classic recording, Switched-On Bach. That recording, remarkably futuristic in 1967, is still a major milestone in the history of e-music. (It is also, alas, long since unavailable.) Carlos' mastery of the synthesizer in the '60s and her transcriptions of classical music were extremely instrumental in moving electronic music from its strict avant-garde classification to an acceptable and accessible form of musical expression. These are beautiful recordings, too. Given the composing and the performing talent, it is difficult to imagine anything else. This CD comes with a 28-page booklet full of wonderful technical, historical, and biographical data. It all comes back, however, to the music. This performance is damn near perfect. Carlos' meticulous attention to detail and her production skills serve this project well.

The evolution of Congolese popular music in the 1960s and 70s is generally classified into two major schools: African Jazz & OK Jazz. The main representatives of those schools are Joseph Kabasele alias Grand Kallé, founder of African Jazz, and Franco Luambo, co-founder of O.K. Jazz. Two temperaments and ambiances, one commonly referred to as ‘fiesta’, the other as ‘odemba’, both seeking their own sublimity or ideal. For the very first time, a compilation brings together explicitly the main protagonists of the two bands on the same album, with a collection of their songs recorded in the early sixties for the Surboum African Jazz label, in addition to three tracks made by Kallé’s bands in the late sixties.- The heirs of Joseph Kabasele and Franco Luambo kindly gave permission in Kinshasa to release this original selection on Planet Ilunga about these virtuosi of Congolese Rumba on Planet Ilunga.

SoulMusic Records in association with The Second Disc presents this definitive, first-time-ever 5CD box set by this Grammy-nominated artist believed to be the most- sampled female singer in popular music. A total of 58 tracks which includes expanded editions of the four full-length albums recorded during her association with Salsoul's Gold Mind Records and a specially curated fifth disc that includes remixes, instrumentals, acapellas and reinventions from her Gold Mind/Salsoul catalog. All audio has been newly remastered by Nick Robbins. Key tracks include her #1 Dance smash, 'Love Sensation', written and produced by Grammy-nominated multi-hyphenate Dan Hartman, her first Top Three dance hit, 'Hit and Run', and her cover of Debby Boone's 'You Light Up My Life', which earned Ms. Holloway her singular Grammy nomination. Includes productions by Norman Harris, Ron Kersey, Bunny Sigler, Ron Tyson and Vincent Montana Jr., all synonymous with the Philly Sound, as well as Floyd Smith, Bobby Womack, Tom Moulton and Patrick Adams, with mixes and re-edits by Larry Levan, Walter Gibbons, Shep Pettibone, Danny Krivit, and others. Every album features legendary musicians including The Trammps' Earl Young, Bobby Eli, Ron Baker, Steve Gadd, Cornell Dupree, Richard Tee, George Bussey, Larry Washington and Gordon Edwards of Stuff with The Waters and The Sweethearts of Sigma (Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson and Evette Benton), among others, providing background vocals.

Following on from the release of the unprecedented and acclaimed 9LP vinyl set in 2018, Steve Miller Band’s ‘Complete Albums Volume 1 (1968-1976)’, comes the collection’s second volume, presenting nine more Steve Miller Band studio albums in a new vinyl box. ‘Complete Albums Volume 2 (1977-2011) spans the band’s multi-platinum 10th studio release, 1977’s ‘Book of Dreams,’ through 2011’s ‘Let Your Hair Down,’ with all the albums remastered and pressed on 180g vinyl.

180-gram vinyl. Cut from original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. Includes exclusive, illustrated 4-panel insert featuring new interview with producer Glyn Johns and Faces' Kenney Jones. Limited numbered edition of 5,000. ABOUT THE RHINO HIGH FIDELITY SERIES Rhino is synonymous with high-quality reissues, setting the standard with award-winning audio releases for the past 45 years. Now we've raised the bar with a premium vinyl series, Rhino High Fidelity. These high-end, limited-edition vinyl reissues of classic albums represent the pinnacle of sound and packaging. To ensure consistent sonic excellence, Kevin Gray will cut lacquers for all Rhino Hi-Fi releases, and Optimal will press the 180-gram vinyl records. The releases boast high-quality glossy covers and “tip-on” jackets, an old-school aesthetic that evokes the golden age of vinyl.

Polly Paulusma bares all amidst a collection of textured acoustic guitars and rich, layered melodic flourishes. 'Wildfires' is mellow and cozy in its production, but its honesty is bittersweet - an intimate and reflective rumination on love's many guises, the easy parts as well as the hard. As always, Paulusma's articulate and emotive lyrics, and her ability to convey the deepest vulnerability with vivid, sometimes nostalgic, imagery is astounding here. The album, as filled with delicate earworms as it is with expressive poetry, burns slowly but no less fiercely, and like love, it can be gentle, it can envelope one completely, and occasionally it can be heart-wrenching.

It is a little known fact that Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 (Naxos 8.553027), now regarded as a minor masterpiece, was closely modelled on his teacher Gounod’s Symphony No. 1, only rediscovered in the 1950s and still unaccountably neglected. Anyone familiar with Bizet’s Symphony will recognize the melodic and rhythmic similarities of the delightfully vivacious outer movements, the wistful slow movements, and the drone-bass effect of the third movements. Gounod’s Symphony No. 2, a more ambitious and elaborate work, particularly in its wind instrumentation, is more in the style of Beethoven or Mendelssohn.

It’s great to have the team of baritone Roman Trekel and pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr back together for more Schubert. I’ve been waiting for their return ever since Volume 1 in this Naxos Schubert song series, where they made such profoundly beautiful music in their performance of Winterreise (type Q661 in Search Reviews). Here they join with soprano Ruth Ziesak to perform some of Schubert’s more unusual songs–settings of poems by Ossian (James Macpherson) that are exceptional for their freer structures and near-pictorial musical storytelling. The young composer’s imagination seemed to find special inspiration in the powerfully vivid images and fantastic tales embodied in these poems and he gives the singers and accompanist some bold and challenging music to perform. The latter part of the program is devoted to songs on texts by Walter Scott, primarily from Lady of the Lake.

Mozart’s piano sonatas exemplify the economy and subtlety of the composer’s genius. Though simple at first glance, they are works in which each note is filled with musical and expressive purpose. Alexei Lubimov, a master of keyboard repertoire from the Baroque to the contemporary, plays the complete sonatas on three instruments modelled on 18th century originals. These interpretations, which explore the particular possibilities of the fortepiano, led Gramophone to praise Lubimov’s “uncommon sensibility” and “refinements of colouring, articulation and nuance” in playing that “is fluent and even, never mechanical in its brilliance.”