To mark the tenth anniversary of the release of I’m New Here , the thirteenth - and last - studio album from the legendary US musician, poet and author Gil Scott-Heron, XL Recordings will release a unique reinterpretation of the album by acclaimed US jazz musician Makaya McCraven. The Chicago drummer and producer transforms Gil-Scott Heron's final album into a masterpiece of dirty blues, spiritual jazz, and deep yearning. (Pitchfork)

This is the lone solo album by sideman Roger "Jellyroll" Troy, a consummate session player who was best known for his collaborations with blues bandleader Michael Bloomfield, including as part of a reunited mid-'70s version of Electric Flag. Troy's bona fides go back even further than that: while still a teen, he was the bassist in the novelty rock band, the Hollywood Argyles, and went on to gigs with James Brown and Freddie King. In 1969 he cut an album as the leader of the band Jellyroll (which was his nickname) and he had considerable success as a songwriter in the early '70s. This album is pretty much pure white soul, with a heavy Muscle Shoals feel: four songs were written by Troy, though tellingly he also covers Dan Penn, whose emotive vocals style is echoed in Troy's own phrasing. Among the many musicians backing him are jazz saxophonist Ernie Watts and pianist/producer Mike Lipskin… Fans of the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Joe Cocker and any number of eclectic Memphis roots/soul bands might want to check this one out.

Esoteric Recordings are proud to announce the release of an official limited edition deluxe boxed set of Yes founder CHRIS SQUIRE’s legendary 1975 solo album FISH OUT OF WATER. Recorded in the late Spring and Summer of 1975 whilst Yes was on hiatus as members recorded their respective solo albums, FISH OUT OF WATER was a breath-taking work, and equal in standard to any Yes album in terms of sheer invention and creativity. The album was essentially a collaboration between Chris Squire and his friend Andrew Pryce Jackman, a gifted arranger who had been a member of The Syn, Squire’s pre-Yes group. The sessions saw contributions from former Yes drummer BILL BRUFORD, Yes keyboard player PATRICK MORAZ and noted musicians MEL COLLINS and JIMMY HASTINGS. Released in November 1975, FISH OUT OF WATER was a Top 30 chart hit in the UK and made the US Billboard Top 75 album chart, going on to sell nearly 500,000 copies worldwide.

A Pittsburgher like the late Earl “Fatha” Hines, Ahmad Jamal is also, like Hines, one of the towering piano individualists in jazz—nearing age 90 at the time of this resplendent solo release. Little did we know he was cajoled into recording some solo piano during the sessions that yielded his 2017 full-band album Marseille. The result, Ballades, is an imaginative set that allows Jamal to roam free, though he brings in regular bassist James Cammack on three tracks, including the opening “Marseille” (version number four, following the three from the previous album). There’s also an out-of-tempo reading of “Poinciana,” Jamal’s signature number dating back to the late ’50s, ruminative and dreamy without reference to the drumbeat that made the tune famous. Whether playing standards or originals, or even venturing into late-period Bill Evans with “Your Story,” Jamal turns the keyboard into a magisterial canvas.

Upon The Winter Solstice is a compilation album that was released exclusively at Kohl’s Department Stores during the 2013 holiday season. 100% of the proceeds go to the Kohl’s Cares charity to support kids’ health and education. This is not to be confused with the recently released Tales of Winter: Selections from the TSO Rock Operas compilation which covers all five TSO albums and one EP. So far, that’s an album that’s only been released in Europe anyway. Upon The Winter Solstice focuses solely on the group’s first three Christmas releases (known as the Christmas Trilogy): Christmas Eve and Other Stories, The Christmas Attic and The Lost Christmas. Each album is represented with four songs.

Their music is mixture of pop sensibility with various forms of rock - from hardcore to progressive rock. While listening to their music, one can hear influences from Tom Waits, Procol Harum, Jethro Tull, Kansas, System of a Down, Kaizers Orchestra, among others.
Major Parkinson is a rock group from Bergen, Norway. The band was formed in started in 2003, they soon started playing at small venues, but build a strong fundament with a growing local following, soon they started to play a larger venues and festivals, namely Eggstokk festival (rock festival in Bergen). The members - Jon Ivar Kollbotn (Lead Vocals), André Lund (Electric Guitars), Alf Borge (Electric & Acoustic Guitars/Background Vocals), Eivind Gammersvik (Bass), Lars Christian Bjørknes (Synth/Percission/Guitars), and Cato Olaisen (Drums) released their self-titled debut in 2008…

The reason to mention the "particulars" of this document of informal sessions is because Keith Jarrett went to the trouble of doing so in his liner notes: they came about in the aftermath of he and Charlie Haden playing together during Ramblin' Boy, a documentary film about Haden. The duo, who hadn't played together in over 30 years, got along famously and decided to do some further recording in Jarrett's Cavelight home studio without an end result in mind. The tapes sat - though were discussed often - for three years before a decision was made to release some of them. Jasmine is a collection of love songs; most are standards played by two stellar improvisers. Picking out highlights on this eight-song, hour-long set is difficult because the dry warmth of these performances is multiplied by deeply intuitive listening and the near symbiotic, telepathic nature of the playing…

Lionel Richie's Back to Front isn't just a definitive greatest hits collection, it's a reminder of Richie's supreme strengths as an R&B singer-songwriter. From the gentle sweep of "Do It to Me" to the earnest lovelorn crooning of "Hello," Richie's ballads are timeless. Even the borderline sappy "Endless Love" shines despite cosinger Diana Ross's histrionics. Also featured is "Still" and "Say You, Say Me," and while the faster songs–the Caribbean-inspired rhythms of "All Night Long" and the '80s synthpop of "Running with the Night"–are weaker, they hardly detract from this otherwise sterling survey.

Chicago blues pianist Eddie Boyd only released one album for Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label (7936 South Rhodes), so in addition to those 12 tracks, this reissue scrapes together another four rarities from around the same period (1967-1968) and two from 1960 to expand the song listing to 18. The bulk of this recording was laid down in a single day, a situation that kept the energy flowing in the studio. This was producer Vernon's second session with Boyd – two leftover tunes from his 1967 Decca album open the disc – so he was acquainted with the bluesman's method of working. The project was originally credited to Eddie Boyd with Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, and indeed three quarters of that band (Green, Fleetwood, and McVie) provide backing duties for the majority of these tracks. The Mac, which had started to experience their first shot of stardom in the U.K., are in typically fine form with Green's slashing, quicksilver leads a particular treat. There are also vocal similarities between Green (who doesn't sing here) and Boyd, showing that this session was a two-way street.

Klaus Schulze is a founding member of Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel, two seminal bands in the evolution of synthesizer-based electronic music.
"Royal Festival Hall Vol. 1" is the first album in a trilogy that includes a second volume, also recorded at Royal Festival Hall, as well the third album entitled The Dome Event. On Volume 1, Schulze's 45-minute keyboard suite called "Yen" is broken up into ten different subtitles, but the songs are all fused together by way of single-toned electronic streams and the faint pulsations of analog synthesizer riffs. Any rises or subtle explosions of brightness are few and far between, but the grouping of songs as a whole has a pleasant, mind-numbing effect. This music is extremely trying, and patience is crucial when hearing two straight minutes of a single note…

Extended guitar hero Oren Ambarchi returns with Shebang, the latest in the series of intricately detailed long-form rhythmic workouts that includes Quixotism (2014) and Hubris (2016). Like those records, Shebang features an international all-star cast of musical luminaries, their contributions recorded individually in locations from Sweden to Japan yet threaded together so convincingly (by Ambarchi in collaboration with Konrad Sprenger) that it’s hard to believe they weren’t breathing the same studio air! Expanding on the techniques of these past works, intricate themes and variations build upon the staccato rhythms via expansive improvisations from BJ Cole, Sam Dunscomb, Chris Abrahams, Jim O’Rourke and Julia Reidy. The ensemble surges through a slow series of harmonic changes before the whole shebang dissolves into a delirious synthetic mirage.

Methyl Ethel will release their third album Triage on Friday 15th February 2019. The album was written, produced and performed by lead singer Jake Webb, recorded in Jake's home studio in West Perth and mixed at Mute Studio in London with Marta Salogni.

Some creative streaks are so hot, they can’t be satisfied by one album alone. In a rare career first for a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated global superstar who has seen and done it all, Kenny Wayne Shepherd is set to release Part II of his Dirt On My Diamonds vision.