The Shanes - Let Them Show You, The Anthology 1964-1967 (2014) {Columbia–RPM International ‎Retro 950}
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© 1964-67, 2014 Columbia / RPM International ‎| Retro 950
Rock / British Invasion / Beat

2014 collection from the Swedish band. The Shanes - alongside Hep Stars, Ola & Janglers and Tages - were one of Sweden's big four '60s bands. More than a Swedish Yardbirds, from roughly hewn R&B to pop, they retained an edge which always thrilled. They had the longest hair of any of Sweden's bands and were dubbed 'degenerate' by the Swedish press. LET THEM SHOW YOU: THE ANTHOLOGY 1964-67 takes it's picks from The Shanes' golden years, from 1964's growling 'Let Me Show You Who I Am' to the classic pop of 1967's Abbey Road-recorded 'Chris Craft No. 9'. This release is the first Shanes collection to be issued outside Sweden.

John Hollenbeck - The Claudia Quintet (2001) {Blueshift–CRI CD2004}
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© 2001 Blueshift / Composers Recordings Inc. | CD2004
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / New Chamber Music / Modern Creative / Drums

Releasing three quite noteworthy CDs in as many months, drummer/composer John Hollenbeck certainly made what one might describe as an "auspicious debut" as a leader. Just consider the range of styles covered in this burst of activity. No Images, Hollenbeck's initial recording from October 2001, is the most avant-garde of the three, with drums and saxophones squaring off in free jazz territory and trombones and drums accompanying the taped voice of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Quartet Lucy, hitting the street in January 2002, reflects Hollenbeck's attraction to the austere and spacious music of the ECM label. And The Claudia Quintet (released on the very same day as Quartet Lucy), a recording of subtlety, beauty, and a fair measure of fire smoldering beneath its surface.

Jocy de Oliveira - Illud Tempus (2000) {OODiscs oo65 rec 1995}
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© 1995, 2000 OODiscs / Jocy de Oliveira | oo65
Classical / Modern Classical / Experimental / Avant-Garde

Recorded live during performances at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, in March 1995. "The electroacoustic part, like a collage, builds a dreamy sound landscape…through processed sampled sounds of citations from Yanomami chants to improvisations by myself and Joseph Celli…" (liner notes). Packaged in a standard jewel case with 5-panel insert of liner notes. A renowned pianist in avant-garde classical music in the '70s and '80s, Jocy de Oliveira Carvalho was the child of a mixed French and Portuguese family living in South America. She began studying piano in São Paulo with Joachim Klias, and then had an opportunity to continue her work in Paris with Marguerite Long, the brilliant avant-garde scene of the city exerting a profound effect on her.

Tommy Flanagan - Overseas (1957) {Prestige OJCCD-1033-2 rel 1999}
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© 1957, 1999 Prestige Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1033-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Piano

This studio session represents one of Tommy Flanagan's earliest dates as a leader, recorded while he was in Stockholm, Sweden. Bassist Wilbur Little and a young Elvin Jones on drums provide strong support, but the focus is on Flanagan's brilliant piano. The brilliant opener is a potent brisk run through Charlie Parker's "Relaxin' at Camarillo," followed by a faster than typical "Chelsea Bridge," which the leader playfully detours into another Billy Strayhorn composition ("Raincheck") for a moment, while also featuring Jones' brushwork in a pair of breaks. Flanagan's approach to the venerable standard "Willow Weep for Me" is steeped in blues, backed by Little's imaginative accompaniment.

Eliane Radigue - Backward (2021) {Dot Dash Noise, LLC}
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© 2021 Dot Dash Noise, LLC
Musique Concrète / Electronic / Ambient / Experimental

Éliane Radigue was born in Paris, France. She studied electroacoustic music techniques at the Studio d’essai at the RTF, under the direction of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry (1957−1958). In 1967−1968 she worked again with Pierre Henry, as his assistant at the Studio Apsome. Her music, its source an Arp synthesizer and medium recording tape, attracted considerable attention for its sensitive, dappled purity. She was in residence at the electronic music studios of the University of Iowa and California Institute of the Arts in 1973.

Ravi Shankar - Concert For Peace, Live At Royal Albert Hall, London (1993) {2CD Set, Moment Records MRCD1013 rel 1995}
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© 1995 Moment Records USA | MRCD 1013
Indian Classical / Indian Raga / Meditative / Sitar / Sarod / Tabla / World Music

This is a live recording of a concert given by Ravi Shankar in 1993 and released to commemorate his 75th birthday a year and a half later. He is accompanied on tabla by virtuoso Zakir Hussain and on sarod by his own student (and virtuoso in his own right), Partha Sarathy. He begins the evening with his own interpretation of a rare raga, that of jait. He chose the version played here after researching a few possible forms of the raga that have appeared over the centuries (families, essentially, of ragas). After exploring the grounds of jait thoroughly, he moves on to kirwani, a raga adapted by Shankar from the Carnatic system. He draws out a mood of romanticism, eroticism, and happiness mainly, his preferred method of dealing with some of the madhur ragas.

Orchestra Harlow - Heavy Smokin' (1965) {Original Fania Remasters 463 950 9052-2 rel 2010}
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© 1965, 2010 Fania Records / Codigo Music | 463 950 9052-2
Latin / Salsa / Guaracha / Boogaloo / Tropical

Larry Harlow's debut release in the Fania family, 1965's Heavy Smokin' helped to establish him in the New York salsa explosion as an authoritative yet non-Latino voice, very uncommon in the day. Considering the youth of the movement, there was not a long enough time line to produce informed, qualified converts; most of the music was being made by native sons. Harlow, working as a bandleader and recording for the premier salsa label in the world, and affectionately dubbed "el judío marvilloso" (the marvelous Jew), had clearly won the respect not only of fans, but also of the most important movers and shakers of the day.

Big Joe Turner - Rocks (2011) {Bear Family BCD17215AR rec 1939-1958}
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© 1939-58, 2011 Bear Family Records | BCD 17215 AR
Blues / Rock & Roll / Rhythm & Blues / Jump Blues

There is no question that Big Joe Turner rocked. He rocked harder than any jump blues bandleader, his band hitting the downbeat with a vengeance matched only by Turner’s full-throated roar. This was big-band blues in sound but not in style; it was rock & roll before there was a name for it. Bear Family’s 2011 set Rocks concentrates on his hardest-swinging R&B, leaning hard on Turner’s classic sides for Atlantic: “Roll 'Em Pete”; “Honey Hush”; “Flip, Flop and Fly”; and “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” which Bill Haley sweetened up for the first crossover rock & roll single.

Digital Primitives - Hum Crackle & Pop (2009) {Hopscotch HOP42}
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© 2009 Hopscotch Records | HOP 42
Jazz / Improvised Music / Avant-Garde Jazz

Hum Crackle and Pop, the long awaited second release of Digital Primitives forges a group sound that is fresh and unique. Digging deeply to unearth the roots of American music, the trio fuses a new sound from blues, folk, jazz and funk, with accents from the music's African antecedents.

The Easybeats - The Complete Easybeats (2017) {6CD Set, BMG AM Pty Limited 538320752 rec 1965-1968}
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© 1965-68, 2017 BMG AM Pty Limited | 538320752
Rock / Rock & Roll / Beat / British Invasion

The Complete Easybeats from the Australian-based Albert Productions – the company to which the Easybeats were originally signed – is what it says, all of the group's authorized masters and all but a tiny handful of known outtakes, from their first Australian Parlophone sides to their last post-"Friday on My Mind" follow-ups, assembled on six CDs in a slipcase. Each of the discs is identical in title, packaging, and song content to the individual Repertoire Records reissues of the group's catalog from the early '90s, and what's more, so far as this writer can tell, the discs use the same early-'90s masters that were the sources for the Repertoire CDs.

Lalo Schifrin - The Dissection and Reconstruction of Music (1966) {Verve Elite Edition 314 537 751-2 rel 1997}
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© 1966, 1997 Verve Records | 314 537 751-2 | Verve Elite Edition
Jazz / Bop / Third Stream / Hard Swing / Modern Big Band

Come again? This crackpot title – probably the longest ever concocted for a jazz album – actually is a front for a not-so-dangerous, hard-swinging album in which Schifrin invents or borrows 18th-century classical themes and sets them into big band or small-combo contexts. Such is Schifrin's chameleonic mastery that his own inventions are a match for the themes of the period, and he is tasteful enough not to overload the window dressing and keep the rhythm section loosely swinging nearly all the time.

Steve Lacy - Reflections - Plays Thelonious Monk (1958) {Prestige–New Jazz Japan VICJ-2186 rel 1996}
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© 1958, 1996 Prestige-New Jazz / Victor Japan | VICJ-2186 | 20bitK2
Jazz / Post Bop / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone

All of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy's early recordings are quite fascinating, for during 1957-1964, aspects of his style at times hinted at Dixieland, swing, Monk, and Cecil Taylor, sometimes at the same time. For this CD reissue (a straight reproduction of the original New Jazz LP), Lacy teams up with pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Buell Neidlinger, and drummer Elvin Jones for seven Thelonious Monk compositions. The typical standbys (such as "'Round Midnight," "Straight No Chaser," and "Blue Monk") are avoided in favor of more complex works such as "Four in One," "Bye-Ya," and "Skippy"; the sweet ballad "Ask Me Now" is a highpoint. Lacy always had an affinity for Monk's music and, even nearly 40 years later, this set is a delight.

Norman Simmons - The Art of Norman Simmons (2000) {Savant ‎SCD 2029}
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© 2000 Savant ‎Records | SCD 2029
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Piano

As the accompanist for singers Dakota Staton, Carmen McRae, and Joe Williams, as well as a member of bands led by Johnny Griffin, Roy Eldridge and others, pianist Norman Simmons has spent little of his fifty-plus years as a musician in the spotlight. On the appropriately titled The Art of Norman Simmons, he successfully strikes a balance between putting his own talents front and center and melding them with musicians he respects and admires. The members of his quintet share the common goal of swinging in a relaxed, unhurried manner and no one ever feels compelled to shout to make a point.

Dexter Gordon - I Want More (1964) {SteepleChase SCCD 36015 rel 2004}
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© 1964, 2004 SteepleChase | SCCD 36015
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

SteepleChase has released on six CDs the radio broadcasts of Dexter Gordon and his 1964 Quartet (with pianist Tete Montoliu, bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and on this volume drummer Rune Carlsson) from Copenhagen's Montmartre Club. In adition to the title cut, Dexter and co. perform "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Where Are You," the fun "I Want to Blow Now" (which Gordon sings) and "Second Balcony Jump." Fans will want all of the releases in this enjoyable and well-recorded series.

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Kyoto (1964) {Riverside OJCCD-145-2 rel 1990}
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© 1964, 1990 Riverside Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-145-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Drums

Reissued on Fantasy's OJC series, this album finds Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers paying tribute to Japan (where they had toured to great acclaim) on two selections, featuring Art Blakey's cousin as a vocalist on "Wellington's Blues" (a real rarity in The Jazz Messengers' discography) and debuting Curtis Fuller's "The High Priest." With trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, tenorman Wayne Shorter and trombonist Fuller in fine form, this is one of literally dozens of recommended Jazz Messengers recordings.