Of all the few truly innovative bands in the realm of extreme metal, few are as exciting to follow from a chronological standpoint as Napalm Death. Beginning with their roots in the mid-'80s as a mutated hardcore punk band with a tendency to detune their guitars, growl their vocals, and play at apocalyptic levels of intensity, the band soon went through many phases that have been nearly as influential: by the late '80s they were the world's definitive grindcore band; at the dawn of the '90s they integrated the complexities of death metal into their grindcore; then in the early '90s they began experimenting with different mutations of post-grindcore metal; and finally in the late '90s they began playing a unique style of metal that blended together the best elements of grindcore, death metal, and mainstream metal…

Recorded at the Rock of Ages festival in Seebronn, Germany in 2017 - this is a live 'best of'!…

On hiatus from Dire Straits, guitarist Mark Knopfler joined with Brendan Croker, Steve Phillips, and Guy Fletcher for 1990's Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time. The result is a low-key, joyous run-through of mostly traditional, blues-based songs with a handful of originals…

This series of short duets reveals a different side of free jazz icon and tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe, who joins the relatively obscure French bassist Bernard Santacruz. Except for the occasional abstract passages, the music is quite accessible, beautiful, and engaging. The two musicians share compositional duties and perform some fine tunes by the likes of Don Cherry, Dollar Brand, Sun Ra, and Denis Charles…

A rising figure on the French, Swiss and European jazz scene, the trio lead by promising French pianist Gauthier Toux has developed a unique jazz sound, complex and lyrical, blended with many influences ranging from pop to hip hop. The trio has performed in major festivals such as Jazz a Vienne, Jazz a Orle ans, Cully Jazz, Jazz onze+, Copenhagen Jazz Festival. The trio has played at Sunset Sunside, the Theâtre d'Orleans, the AMR (Association pour l'encouragement de la musique improvisee the Periscope, the Moods, the Institut Français in Agadir, and the Chorus to name but a few. Their last record was streamed and reviewed on TSF jazz, Radio France, France Musique, Jazzà FIP, Jazzwise UK, Citizen jazz…. In 2016, they won he first prize at la Défense Jazz festival competition. Gauthier has also won awards at the Monaco Jazz Soloist Competition, the Piano Forte Jazz Competition, and the Nottingham Piano Solo Competition.

This group has a rather unusual history. In 1997, Taki Sassaris developed the name Eve to Adam and the idea for the band. He recruited his brother Alex and began working on the group. The duo hooked up with songsmith Desmond Child and signed to his company in 1998. Child had plans to groom Eve to Adam to be pop stars doing his material. This didn't really sit well with Taki Sassaris. By late 1998, the brothers moved to New York and began rebuilding the band. They recruited more members there and began writing material and playing gigs in 1999. Then came a big break. Without so much as an album to back them up, the group was signed to the Maximum Rock tour. That was how they spent the summer of 1999. Then, seemingly, the floor dropped out. They lost their original bassist and their management company, along with the deal with Child. The year 2000 became a time of rebuilding for the group. They recruited bassist AJ Pappas, adding him to the lineup of the brothers and Gaurav Bali. The year was not without turmoil, though. They had signed to Mystic Music, a division of Warner Bros., and were working on their debut CD when problems developed with financing.

The unsung heart and soul of the Motor City rock & roll scene, Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' blue-eyed R&B attack boasted a gritty passion and incendiary energy matched by few artists on either side of the color line. Born William Levise, Jr. in Hamtramck, Michigan on February 26, 1945, Ryder sang with a local black quartet dubbed the Peps as a teen, but suffered so much racial harassment that he soon left the group to form his own combo, Billy Lee & the Rivieras. While opening for the Dave Clark Five during a 1965 date, the Rivieras came to the notice of producer Bob Crewe, who immediately signed the group and, according to legend, rechristened the singer Mitch Ryder after randomly selecting the name from a phone book. Backed by the peerless Detroit Wheels – originally guitarists James McCarty and Joe Cubert, bassist Earl Elliot, and drummer Johnny "Bee" Badanjek – Ryder reached the Top Ten in early 1966 with "Jenny Take a Ride"; the single, a frenzied combination of Little Richard's "Jenny Jenny" and Chuck Willis' "C.C. Rider," remains one of the quintessential moments in blue-eyed soul, its breathless intensity setting the tone for the remainder of the band's output.

An excellent altoist and jazz arranger in the 1950s (most notably for Stan Kenton), Lennie Niehaus in more recent times won fame for his work scoring the music for Clint Eastwood films. After graduating from college, Niehaus played alto and occasionally wrote for Kenton (1951-1952) before being drafted for the Army (1952-1954). Upon his discharge, Kenton welcomed Niehaus back and he worked for the bandleader on and off for the rest of the decade. Niehaus, who led and played alto on six albums between 1954-1957 (five for Contemporary), had a cool tone a bit reminiscent of Lee Konitz. By the 1960s, his playing had gone by the wayside as Niehaus concentrated on writing for films.

Boasting a big, lush sound that incorporates glitchy electronics and soaring alt-rock, Nashville's VERIDIA have risen quickly since forming in 2013. Dallas natives Deena Jakoub (vocals) and Brandon Brown (guitar) relocated to Nashville after disbanding their former group Don't Wake Aislin. There they recruited guitarist Trevor Hinesley and drummer Kyle Levy and began gigging locally and inserting themselves into the festival circuit. Signing with Word Entertainment, they released their debut EP, Inseparable, in February 2014.

♫ In every good Blues song there’s a litle bit of Soul, and without the Blues, Soul would not exist. On these 2CDs and in 40 songs by some of the greatest Blues & Soul artists, we tease out that relationship to reveal some gems of the genre. Whether it’s socially conscious Soul, or down home dirty Blues, these are the best you can have ♫

Up until this release, consumers had a difficult task of finding a definitive compilation highlighting the post-Supremes career of Diana Ross mainly because there wasn't one. This double-disc set gathers 27 of the diva's finest solo sides, plus an additional 11 tracks that are making their domestic debut. As a retrospective, The Motown Anthology succeeds in gathering all of Ross' major singles. Some are available here in a previously unissued form. Such is the case for "Remember Me," "My Mistake (Was to Love You)," and "Lovin' Livin' & Givin'" from the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack. Those looking for chart-toppers should note that The Motown Anthology not only delivers rare material, but also all the hits that would render most other collections superfluous.

Gaetano Donizetti's La Favorite was rather laborious in the making: it started out as a re-working of L'Ange de Nisida, to which the composer added parts taken from some other operas of his. The work, which was premiered at the Opéra of Paris, is set in 14th-century Castile and tells the story of the hapless love between Fernand, who has second thoughts about taking holy orders and leaves the monastery of Santiago de Compostela, and Leonor, the mistress of king Alphonse XI. It is an intimate drama, where history and politics are but the backdrop to the protagonists' passions and torments. Fabio Luisi's conducting is both measured in balancing the orchestral sounds, and personal, varied and vigorous. The orchestra is crystal-clear, neat in its accompaniment, neither subject to the voices nor prevaricating. Veronica Simeoni (Leonor), Celso Albelo (Fernand) and Mattia Olivieri (Alphonse) give excellent vocal and acting performances.

A new release from organist Enrico Viccardi who also contributes the informative liner notes which introduces the organ music of the North Italian Tarquinio Merula (1595-1665) whose reputation is just behind that of Claudio Monteverdi yet whose organ music is seldom recorded. Considered highly original, the greatest organists such as Gustav Leonhardt considered Merulas works among the most challenging works of Baroque era organ music.

Since the release of their first album, ‘Imbarca’, Barcelona Gipsy Klezmer Orchestra (aka BGKO) has constantly been on tour. During this touring period, many great musicians would often join to play with the band. So BGKO invited some of these musicians, these living legends, to play and record as a soloist in their concerts and new album. King of saxophone from Macedonia Ferus Mustafov, poet of gipsy music Vlado Kreslin and Turkish jazz singer Nihan Devecioglu are featured as guests on this album. The energetic vibe of the first album is still very present, and these solo additions make it even more exciting.

We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite, co-authored by Max Roach and Oscar Brown, Jr., was a pivotal work in the early-'60s African-American protest movement, and continues to be relevant in its message and tenacity. It represents a lesson in living as to how the hundreds of years prior were an unnecessary example of how oppression kept slaves and immigrants in general in their place. Vocalist Abbey Lincoln expresses this oppression as effectively as anyone could with her thespian-based wordless vocals, and lyrics written by Brown that tell the grim story of the struggle of African-American for far too long. Musically, Roach assembled one of the greatest bands, from his own emerging ensemble with trombonist Julian Priester and trumpeter Booker Little, to the legendary Coleman Hawkins and lesser-known, underappreciated tenor saxophonist Walter Benton.