When Stevie Wonder applied his tremendous songwriting talents to the unsettled social morass that was the early '70s, he produced one of his greatest, most important works, a rich panoply of songs addressing drugs, spirituality, political ethics, the unnecessary perils of urban life, and what looked to be the failure of the '60s dream – all set within a collection of charts as funky and catchy as any he'd written before…

This double-live CD, made on BJH's last tour with Wooly Wolstenholme, is one of the better live albums to come out of the progressive rock genre. Though not as exciting as Genesis Live or as majestic as Yessongs, it shows the group in excellent form, playing and harmonizing beautifully and doing many of their best songs, among them "Child of the Universe," "Rock and Roll Star," "Poor Man's Moody Blues," "For No One," and "Mockingbird" (the latter never sounded more beautiful)…

Holiday for Pans (steel pans, that is) is Jaco's intended follow-up to his 1981 Word of Mouth release. However, when he presented the demo to Warner Bros. in 1983, they rejected it on the grounds that it was too esoteric and lacked commercial appeal. Recorded between 1980 and 1982, the project is basically a vehicle for steel pans master, Othello Molineaux, Jaco's longtime friend and colleague. Jaco actually takes a backseat on most of the recordings, at least audibly. The material features eight tracks, including three Pastorius originals: "Good Morning Anya," an upbeat, sprightly tune dominated by Wayne Shorter's breezy, atmospheric sax and, of course, steel pans; the CD's highlight, "City of Angels," a full-blown, jazz fusion excursion with excellent piano riffing courtesy of Mike Gerber, harmonica by Toots Thielemans and a peppering of acoustic guitar and violin; and "Birth of Island," a 23-minute session of "free play" which begins with Jaco shouting, "just play," but doesn't really show its teeth until the last 7-8 minutes.

An extraordinary program for an extraordinary night: The Berliner Philharmoniker celebrates the final day of the 20th Century with Grand Finales in the first part and heralds the leap into the 21st Century with an explosion of sparkling music pieces in the second half of the program. For the Grand Finales, maestro Claudio Abbado conducts masterpieces including Beethoven's finale of the 7th symphony, excerpts from Stravinsky's "Feuervogel" and the final movement of Mahler's 5th Symphony. In the famous Finale of Arnold Sch+Ýnberg's "Gurrelieder", the internationally renowned actor Klaus Maria Brandauer plays a leading role.

This volume of the Classics Django Reinhardt chronology was expressly dedicated by the producers to the memory of Philippe Brun, a fine and forceful trumpeter whose primary inspiration was Louis Armstrong. Brun, who passed away in 1994, seems to have recorded regularly with Django and company. In addition to a fascinating version of Larry Clinton's "Whoa Babe" - made famous among jazz fans after Lionel Hampton recorded it with Johnny Hodges and Cootie Williams in April 1937 - Brun's two essays on the blues are honest and subtle, while his "College Stomp" is a fine example of Parisian big-band swing…

Jean Michel Jarre "Oxygene 8", featuring remixes by Hani, The Sunday Club, Takkyu Ishino and the team of Dado & Salsotto.

Roland Kayn - Etoile du nord & Ghyress für Ilse-Emily Kayn (2005) {2CD Set, Reiger-records-reeks KY-CD 005-1/2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 519 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 276 Mb
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© 2005 Reiger-records-reeks ‎| KY-CD 005-1/2
Experimental / Modern Classical / Cybernetic Music / Electroacoustic / Electronic

A pioneer of electronic, computer, and instrumental avant-garde music, for the majority of his life, the German composer Roland Kayn remained one of the great unheralded figures in the landscape of 20th century sound - a founding member of Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, who delved into singular territories entirely his own. Fortunately, in the last few years, in part due to the release of his monumental work, A Little Electronic Milky Way of Sound, by Frozen Reeds in 2017, and Die Schachtel’s deluxe vinyl reissue of his seminal composition, Simultan, last year, the scope and depth of his efforts have begun to take centre stage in the public mind.

Despite stints with Orchestras and duos Peterson loved the trio format best. Touring the world in the early Sixties with Ray Brown on Double Bass and Ed Thigpen on Drums the band settled in Chicago for a week long Residency, subsequently recording a four LP set of their performances. The two recordings here are considered the cream of the crop consisting of compositions from right across the 20th century along with two of Peterson's own, masterful creations. Originally released on Verve Records in 1961.

Don Thompson - Country Place (1975) {PM–Muzak Japan MZCS-1271 rel 2013, Paper Sleeve, SHM-CD}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 268 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 93 Mb
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© 1975, 2013 P.M. Records / Muzak Japan | MZCS-1271
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

This is an exquisite post-bop trio date from 1975. The music is romantic, impressionistic, singingly melodic, and rich in delicious harmonies. It also has a driving, muscular energy that rules out any possibility of mere prettiness. Some tracks feature leader Don Thompson overdubbed on piano and vibes, but this is handled seamlessly, creating the sound of a quartet rather than simply a player covering two parts. He ceaselessly mines for harmonic possibilities, allowing each track to constantly open up onto new moods and vistas.

Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mushroom Records was later acquired by Warner Bros. Records, which operated the label from 2005 to 2010 until it folded to Warner Bros. Records. Founder Michael Gudinski went on to become the leader of the Mushroom Group, the largest independent music and entertainment company in Australia.