No frills on the final Excello blues sessions of the late 60s and early 70s aimed at the Southern Blues audience, but here for hippies, yuppies and anyone with the ears to hear the heart & soul of the real blues. Although Excello Records is famous for its swamp pop sound, a good part of which was due to Jay Miller's production approach that favored a deadened, muffled drum sound and tons of delay and reverb, by the late '60s and early '70s the label was struggling to grab hold of its share of the Southern soul market, and the sound of the label's singles became much slicker, sharper, and more funk-driven. Excello never really abandoned the blues, but the studio started to give the genre some fancier clothes, as this interesting collection of late-era singles recorded between 1966 and 1974 clearly shows. Slim Harpo's "I'm So Sorry" from 1968 and his cover of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillun" from 1970 are cases in point. Both singles are far more professional sounding than his earlier output, and decidedly less swampy in feel. Better production and clearer sound didn't translate into more sales, however, and these tracks are some of the last gasps of the famed Excello catalog. Worth noting are two fine 1970 cuts from Otis Spann, the atmospheric and off-kilter "Bloody Murder" and the sharp-edged title track, "Blues for Hippies," where Spann sings about meeting Daniel in the metaphoric (one assumes, anyway) Lion's Den.

This recording presents a liturgical reconstruction of the Vigil for the Feast of St Joseph, the monastery founder. The music on this disc consists of 17th century chant originating from a collection of manuscripts originating from the library of the Volokolamsk Monastery, with other early manuscripts from between 1540 to 1560 and one from around 1670 being used to aid with the reconstruction. The Volokolamsk monastery library originally contained a collection of 48 chant manuscripts which provide crucial documentation of Russian chant from between the 15th to 17th centuries.

Van Morrison Equal parts blue-eyed soul shouter and wild-eyed poet-sorcerer, Van Morrison is among popular music's true innovators, a restless seeker whose incantatory vocals and alchemical fusion of R&B, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk produced what is regarded as perhaps the most spiritually transcendent body of work in the rock & roll canon. Having penned iconic songs such as "Gloria," "Brown-Eyed Girl," and "Moondance," Morrison has, from the very beginning – as frontman for Irish blues rockers Them during the early 1960s to a solo career that has lasted more than 50 years – been subject only to the whims of his own muse. His solo recordings, beginning with the mystical, jazzy folk of Astral Weeks in 1968, cover extraordinary stylistic ground, yet retain a consistency of vision and purity of execution unmatched among his contemporaries. His swinging meld of jazz, pop, folk, blues, and Celtic soul fueled the albums of his Warner Bros. period from the late '60s (Moondance) to the early '80s (Common One).

To anthologize the often overshadowed solo career of Brother Gregg Allman, Capricorn Records released this luscious, 34-track, 2CD collection in 1997 entitled One More Try: An Anthology. But, instead of packing it with “hits,” someone got the bright idea to stuff it full of demos, band rehearsals and 26 previously unreleased recordings. Which is very cool for fans and collectors. So… is there a buzz killer here, you ask? Of course. Just two years later, Capricorn unceremoniously deleted the collection. Maybe the bean counters were bummed at the lack of radio-worn favorites, or Capricorn thought a by-the-book Best Of would sell better. Perhaps Allman himself just changed his mind about having it out there. Who knows? But what got overlooked is that One More Try: An Anthology might be the single most interesting release in Allman’s solo catalog. The recordings often showcase Gregg alone on acoustic guitar. Some are live band rehearsals. Even the Allman Brothers Band staple, “Wasted Words,” appears here as a loose studio jam featuring Johnny Winter, Buddy Miles and the late Berry Oakley. Polished or not… profitable or not… perhaps this is the best way Gregg Allman deserves to be heard, by himself or just casually jamming with friends.

Founded by Anatoly Grindenko in the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra monastery, near Moscow, the Moscow Russian Patriarchate Choir was created in 1980. Following tradition, it is composed of 12 to 13 members. The singers were all eminent researchers, passionate about the repertoire of compositions for male voices, from the religious music of the Orthodox Church to the lay songs of the final years of the Soviet regime. At the time, the choir spent several years deciphering ancient manuscripts and giving representations of works that had until then been in the shadows, sometimes for centuries. With the collapse of the USSR, the choir was able to open up to the world and perform in Europe and America, exposing its music to a much larger public.

Saucy blues-rockers Juicy Lucy formed in 1969 from the ashes of cult-favorite garage band the Misunderstood, reuniting vocalist Ray Owen, steel guitarist Glenn "Ross" Campbell, and keyboardist Chris Mercer; with the additions of guitarist Neil Hubbard, bassist Keith Ellis, and drummer Pete Dobson, the group immediately notched a U.K. Top 20 hit with their reading of the Bo Diddley perennial "Who Do You Love," with their self-titled debut LP falling just shy of the Top 40. Ex-Zoot Money singer Paul Williams, guitarist Mick Moody, and drummer Rod Coombes replaced Owen (who exited for a solo career), Hubbard, and Dobson for 1970's Lie Back and Enjoy It, with bassist Jim Leverton assuming Ellis' duties for the follow-up, 1971's Get a Whiff a This.

Geezer Butler was incredibly busy in 1997. When he wasn't reunited with Ozzy Osbourne for a Black Sabbath tour, the longtime Sabbath bassist was fronting his own band, GZR – a thrash metal unit that doesn't hesitate to be brutally intense on Black Science. It's crystal clear that when Butler recorded this superb CD, the last thing on his mind was trying to emulate Sabbath. In fact, the band's sound is closer to Slayer than Sabbath, and the bonecrushing, ultra-heavy album is best described as thrash with elements of alternative rock and industrial noise.

The prolific and long-running De-Phazz (also known as DePhazz) is a contemporary lounge project led by Peter "Pit" Baumgartner, a German-Austrian producer who has surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that includes vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton. Beginning with Detunized Gravity (1997), Baumgartner and company have explored various forms of lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of vintage jazz and soul, easy listening, and Latin music. By employing the sounds of classic percussion and jazz instruments such as the trumpet and sax, De Phazz successfully create smooth electro-groove music with an unmissable swinging jazz theme. De Phazz is a unique sound that you must check out. This Limited Edition including bonus CD featuring eight additional songs and alternative versions.

Fit to Be Tied was intended to be the definitive Joan Jett hits package, and it nearly succeeds. Since Jett's Blackheart label only secured the rights to her first four solo albums (her most consistent work), the singles from the uneven Up Your Alley – "I Hate Myself for Loving You" (one of Jett's best originals and biggest hits) and "Little Liar" – had to be presented here in alternate versions. While the re-recording of "Hate Myself" and the live version of "Little Liar" are executed faithfully, they may bother fans who want the original recordings.

The duo's third album, Comparsa, continues the world music potpourri Deep Forest are known for, though there is a pronounced focus on Latin and Caribbean grooves provided by musicians from Cuba, Belize, Mexico, and Madagascar, among other places. Although the nationalities present are truly global, the actual sound of Deep Forest hasn't changed that much, centering mostly on lush new age music with just a bit more of an edge than is usual, plus several tracks with whispered or restrained vocals.

Not overwhelmed with the song now playing on this album? Be patient, the next track may be something more to your liking. This album is a musical smogarsboard of songs cutting across a variety of vocal genre. The play list runs from the traditional "Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child," through Hoagy Carmichael's ultimate standard "Stardust" through John Coltrane's poem-song "A Love Supreme" with a little of 1960s popsters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller thrown in. It would be unkind to say that the singer is simply trying out everything until she finds something she does well. Not so with Karen Krog, one of the finer and more inventive jazz singers of the last three decades. One on One is a compilation of three different recording sessions Krog made as part of a duo performances…

EXTRAORDINARY MORRISSEY BROADCAST FROM HIS MALADJUSTED TOUR After his solo-contract with EMI expired, Morrissey signed to RCA in 1995. On his new label he recorded his next album, Southpaw Grammar, at the Miraval Studios in southern France. It reached number 4 in the UK album charts, but made little impact compared to its two predecessors. In September 1995, Morrissey served as the support act for the European leg of David Bowie's Outside Tour. Backstage at the Aberdeen gig, Morrissey was taken ill and taken to hospital; he did not return for the rest of the tour. Later referring to the tour critically, he stated that when you become involved with Bowie, "you have to worship at the Temple of David". Morrissey returned on Island Records in 1997, releasing the single Alma Matters in July, followed by his next album Maladjusted in August. The album peaked at number 8 in the UK album charts. Its further two singles, Roy's Keen and Satan Rejected My Soul , both peaked outside the top 30 on the UK singles chart. The Maladjusted Tour began in Toronto on 12th September 97, and ended its first leg on 12th October at LA s Greek Theatre, where Moz and his band performed probably the finest show of the tour. Recorded for live broadcast on West Coast Radio, the gig remains previously unreleased but is now finally available on this new CD. Bonus tracks here come from an earlier broadcast made in the KROQ studio on 16th August 97, for the station s Modern Rock Live segment.

Que Viva Mingus! is an album dedicated to Mingus' considerable output of Latin-influenced jazz. The selections here include well-known Mingus compositions like "Los Mariachis," "Dizzy Moods," "Ysabel's Table Dance," and "Cumbia and Jazz Fusion," as well as some more obscure titles like "Slippers" and "Moods in Mambo," the album's oldest number, dating from 1949. Among the standout soloists are Randy Brecker on trumpet, John Stubblefield on tenor sax, Steve Slagle on soprano and alto saxes, Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax, and Dave Kikowski on piano. This is exciting, joyous, raucous, and still modern-sounding music, as fresh and challenging as the day it was written. And you can even dance to some of it.

…Early though it may be, [the Organ Concerto] is a joyous work that reminds me of Haydn's organ concertos….[The `Emperor's Mass'] soars majestically and would surely have been effective in honoring the emperor. The St Florian Boys' Choir is well disciplined, but they do have that raw sound often found in Central European–as opposed to British–choir boys…

Former Roomful of Blues saxophonist Greg Piccolo stretches his musical wings even further on this, his third solo outing since leaving the group in 1990. In addition to his brawny tenor sax wailings, Piccolo also plays lead guitar (in a crude, but effective style somewhat reminiscent of Roy Buchanan and Carlos Santana) and alto sax this time around, coaxing acid-jazz sounds out of the latter instrument. With his regular working combo Heavy Juice providing stellar support in a multiplicity of styles (Piccolo jumps from swing to bop to acid jazz to soul ballads and even a taste of rock'n'roll on this one) and 14 Karat Soul providing backup vocals on "Money" and the title track, Red Lights is Greg Piccolo's most musically ambitious album to date.