The third live CD featuring bassist Ron Carter and guitarist Jim Hall in a duo setting is yet another gem. This 1984 concert, taped at the Concord Jazz Festival, kicks off with Carter's lively blues "Telephone," which gives the pair an opportunity to tightrope walk in unison on the song's tricky theme as well as show off their individual chops as soloists. Hall's "Chorale and Dance" is a two- part composition that begins in a very formal, semi-classical vein before segueing into a Latin setting. They tackle the standard "Alone Together" at a faster clip than their first release together, yet maintain its intimacy…

Wes Montgomery's 1965 concert at the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris is one of the greatest live dates ever recorded from the decade. Here, Montgomery, pianist Harold Mabern, drummer Jimmy Lovelace, bassist Arthur Harper, and saxophonist Johnny Griffin – who guested on three selections at the end of the gig – tore the City of Light apart with an elegant yet raw and immediate jazz of incomparable musicianship and communication. Montgomery was literally on fire and Mabern has never, ever been heard better on record. From the opening bars of "Four on Six," Montgomery is playing full-on, doing a long solo entirely based on chord voicings that is as stellar as any plectrum solo he ever recorded…

Moanin' is a jazz album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1958. The album stands as one of the archetypal hard bop albums of the era, for the intensity of Blakey's drumming and the work of Morgan, Golson and Timmons, and for its combination of old-fashioned gospel and blues influences with a sophisticated modern jazz sensibility. The album was identified by Scott Yanow in his Allmusic essay "Hard Bop" as one of the 17 Essential Hard Bop Recordings.

Suck were a rock band who were part of South Africa's first wave of hard rock titled, the "Big Heavies." The group lasted eight months between 1970 to 1971 in which they recorded their lone LP, Time to Suck. It was later released in America in 2009. They were also one of the earliest groups to cover Black Sabbath. In March 2007 they were featured in an article in Classic Rock magazine titled, "The Lost Pioneers of Heavy Metal" where they were referred to as "acidpunk metal".

Craig Pruess is a versatile American composer, musician, arranger and gold & platinum record producer who has been living in Britain since 1973. His career has covered diverse areas including:record production and arranging for international stars such as Sir Cliff Richard, Anu Malik, Sheila Walsh (Grammy nominated album: "War of Love"); feature film soundtrack music ("It's a Wonderful Afterlife", "Bride & Prejudice", "Bend It Like Beckham", "The Mistress of Spices", "What's Cooking?", "Bhaji on the Beach").

The 1986 critically-acclaimed set EMERALD CITY (a US Top 20 R&B best-seller), had a distinctly different flavour from its predecessor: considered more of a concept album from a lyrical standpoint, the eight-track set showcased Teena’s expressive creativity as a songwriter with original compositions like “Lips To Find You,” “Shangri La,” “Love Me Down Easy” and “Sunny Skies.

Madeleine Peyroux - Bare Bones
EAC+LOG+CUE | APE (tracks): 435 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Rounder Rec. # 460502670147 | Country/Year: Russia 2009
Genre: Jazz | Style: Vocal Jazz, Contemporary

"Madeleine Peyroux's fourth album isn't the normal mix of standards (contemporary or traditional) with a few songs of her own composing; each of the 11 tracks is a new song written by Peyroux, usually in tandem with producer Larry Klein or a guest. (…) Bare Bones is a remarkable work from one of the best artists in vocal jazz."

Julie London - Love Letters & Feeling Good
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 333 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: EMI # 7243 8 66902 2 7 | Country/Year: UK 2004, 1962 & 1965
Genre: Jazz | Style: Vocal

"Feeling Good pairs Julie London with arranger Gerald Wilson, who jettisons the spare ambience of her previous records in favor of a dynamic, big-band-inspired approach that casts the singer in an entirely different light. Make no mistake – London's purring vocals are as sultry as ever, but they also boast a new playfulness that's undeniably appealing…"

"Compilation-portrait of "Noir Desir", a former french rock band from Bordeaux, that was very popular during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, with two platinum and three gold albums in France The standard members of the band were Bertrand Cantat (vocals, guitar), Serge Teyssot-Gay (guitar), Jean-Paul Roy (bass guitar) and Denis Barthe (drums) The first CD is a "best-of" with all the most popular hits of the band and the second CD contains rarities, reprises, remixes and flip-sides, most of them not found in any official studio album Enjoy a great compilation album from one of the best french rock bands ever.

Phillips' Great Pianists of the 20th Century issue has gotten a lot of publicity in the ten or so years since it has been released. In a musical niche suffering from falling revenues, it was a decent seller. But it left many connoisseurs disappointed, as the quality was limited to the fancy packaging.

Until he joined John's Children, in March, 1967, Marc Bolan had never even owned an electric guitar. And once he quit the band, it is said, he abandoned it as quickly as everything else which that band represented – freakbeat pop, adrenalined psych, electric soup…

EuroArts has released a special edition of all nine Beethoven Symphonies played by the Berlin Philharmonic under former chief conductor Claudio Abbado. Each of the symphonies is a masterpiece in itself - they are all quite different, each representing the composer's musical idiom at a particular stage in his development. This DVD includes symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 and offers a 'Conductor Camera' in the famous Fifth Symphony showing the maestro from the perspective of the musician. The recordings feature interpretations that are the fruit of decades of Claudio Abbado's involvement with Beethoven.