On her 19th album, Cassandra Wilson, ever the musical chameleon, changes directions once more. She is arguably the greatest living female jazz singer. Well known for her blues, soul, pop covers, and jazz standards, her smoky alto bends almost everything to its will. Wilson's phrasing is utterly unique, as original as any horn player's or pianist's music. Another Country, co-produced by Wilson and guitarist Fabrizio Sotti, was recorded in three different studios in Florence, New Orleans, and New York. She wrote all but three selections here: there are two instrumentals by Sotti and a reading of "O Sole Mio." Other players include bassist Nicola Sorato, Julien Labro on accordion, and percussionists Mino Cinelu and Lekan Babalola. Opener "Red Guitar" displays the wisdom of this small-group approach beautifully. Her vocal illustrates a mysterious, sensual jazz blues that is accented by Sotti, hand drums, and an atmospheric, unintrusive accordion…

Landed (1975). Stylistically the music on "Stranded" is very similar to the music on "Soon Over Babaluma (1974)". It´s just a bit more easily accessible. "Stranded" is still characterized by the trademark repetitive beats and both "Vernal Equinox", and the 13:20 minutes long closing track "Unfinished", feature the usual psychadelic experiments, as do the other shorter tracks, albeit in smaller doses.
Flow Motion (1976). The second of Can's three Virgin albums, 1976's Flow Motion, is a divisive record in the group's canon. It was their most commercially successful album (the opening track, "I Want More," was released as a single in the U.K. and actually charted, thanks to its smoothly percolating near-disco groove, which makes it resemble a late-period Roxy Music hit), but many fans dismiss it as the group's feint toward commercial success…

This is not only a great LP but a key piece of jazz and pop music history. Back in 1958, "Peter Gunn" was one of the unexpected hits of the new television season, capturing the imagination of millions of viewers by mixing private eye action with a jazz setting. Composer Henry Mancini was more than fluent in jazz, and his music nailed down the popularity of the series. With the main title theme, a driving, ominous, exciting piece of music to lead off the album, "The Music from Peter Gunn" became a huge hit, charting extraordinarily high for a television soundtrack and doing so well that RCA Victor came back the next year asking for a second helping ("More Music From Peter Gunn") from Mancini.

Chet Baker Sextet features tracks recorded by trumpeter Chet Baker in 1954 and 1957 for the Pacific Jazz label and released over the years on various albums, including the original Playboys date. These are stellar "West Coast"-style tracks reminiscent of the small group work Baker did with saxophonist Jerry Mulligan and featuring first class arrangements by Jack Montrose and Bob Zieff. However, the Zieff cuts feature an unusual for the period chamber-style group with French horn, bassoon, cello, bass clarinet, and bass. The result was softly angular and very modern for the time. Interestingly most of the tracks have remained largely unavailable until this collection. While there are far more influential Baker albums from the '50s, Sextet is a beautiful album and a must-hear for Baker aficionados.

After back-to-back Top Ten albums in his native U.K. with Erasure, Andy Bell delivers his first solo album in 15 years, Ten Crowns. The title was inspired by the Ten of Coins tarot card. Primarily a dance LP, there's a gospel flavor to the some of the tracks that was partly inspired by recording it in Nashville among the city's plethora of churches. He went there to work with dance hitmaker Dave Audé, who produced the album in track-by-track fashion over the course of 12 years. Other touches surrounding religious themes include the opening church organ on "Dawn of Heaven's Gate," and the musical-theater-informed "Godspell," although a closer examination of the songs reveals personal and world-weary topics like overcoming health issues, enduring liars, and a notable loss of empathy in others…

The Tedeschi Trucks Band and Leon Russell's Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited pays tribute to the iconic 1970 collaboration led by Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. In 2015, TTB, fronted by Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, revived the historic event at LOCKN' Festival. Featuring original Mad Dogs members and guest stars like Chris Robinson and Warren Haynes, the concert combined Southern soul, blues, and rock with a 20+ musician ensemble. TTB's fresh, dynamic rendition of classics like "The Letter" and "With a Little Help from My Friends" honors the past while infusing modern energy.

There’s no sign of any let up in Neil Young’s current reissue/release productivity, with the announcement of three new albums in his ‘Official Bootleg Series’. These are Royce Hall, 1971, a solo acoustic gig which was recorded on 30 January of that year on the UCLA (University of California) campus; Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 1971, another solo acoustic performance and the last US show of his 1971 solo tour; and, perhaps most excitingly, Citizen Kane Jr. Blues (Live at The Bottom Line), an On The Beach-heavy set from New York City, 1974.

Finally the release of Neil Young's Carnegie Hall 1970. Young has selected this concert he played at New York’s Carnegie Hall on December 4th, 1970 as the inaugural release from his Official Bootleg series. The show rounded off a seminal year for Young who had released the After The Gold Rush record just 3 months earlier in September which followed on from the Déjà Vu album he recorded as part of Crosby, Still, Nash and Young in March of the same year.

Possessing a tone as clear as a bell, perfect diction and phrasing, and no shortage of personality, Jo Stafford was one of the greatest and best- selling female singers of the pre-rock and roll era and beyond; whether it’s her early sides with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and The Pied Pipers or her classic solo recordings for the Capitol and Columbia labels with arranger/conductor husband Paul Weston, there is no mistaking the sound of that magnificent voice. Now, we at Real Gone Music have a very special treat for fans of this superb, yet to some degree overlooked, vocalist: a treasure trove of 24 radio performances taken from The Carnation Contented Hour, which Jo co- hosted on the Columbia Broadcasting System. These previously unreleased 1950-1951 recordings come to us from the Tony Martin estate courtesy of Michael Feinstein and with the blessing of Jo’s son Tim Weston, and are taken from original master tapes, not transcription discs; remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, these are studio quality sessions and thus a major, major find in the Jo Stafford discography. It is such a treat to hear Jo interpret songs like “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “I’ve Got the World on a String” that became big hits for other artists.

This deluxe edition features the original album plus 11 bonus tracks, including three new unreleased originals; three live in-studio versions (“Colors,” “Oct 33,” “Confines”); a live version of “Know You Better” recorded at C-Boys Heart & Soul, the Austin club where the band first made a name for itself; and covers of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” Death’s “Politicians in My Eyes,” Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City,” and Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.”

OVERVIEW The Dark Side of the Moon Tour began on January 20th 1972 at the UK’s Brighton Dome, and concluded almost two years later at London’s Rainbow Theatre, on November 4th ’73. Covering the UK, US, Europe and Japan, there were two separate legs promoting the album, one in 1972 before the record's release and another in 1973 afterwards, together covering 128 shows. Pink Floyd had worked out a basic structure of Dark Side of the Moon in late 1971, and played it at almost every gig the following year, alongside a set of earlier live favourites. By 1973, the album was finished and the live performance resembled the completed work. To re-create it in concert, the group added saxophonist Dick Parry and female backing singers to the show. The stage performance was enhanced with extra visual effects and an improved quadrophonic sound system. Floyd first took the tour to the USA on April 4th 1972, and stayed there for a month. They went back for another jaunt in September ’72, when they also performed 2 shows in Canada. By March 1973, the band were back in the States, and on 15th of the month, played at Philadelphia’s Spectrum, where they put on one of the entire tour’s best concerts. The Dark Side set from this show – plus a couple of encores from the Floyd back catalogue - were recorded for live broadcast by WNEW FM Philadelphia and transmitted across the local area. This new CD title now features this entire broadcast for the first time, allowing fans to hear this remarkable gig, in many cases, for the first time.

It may be hard to believe, but this is the CD debut of this little-known title! Released by Charisma Records in 1972, the only album of this still highly underrated, British progressive band should appeal to fans of classic, heavy and quite melodic rock based on catchy, but intense guitars, ever-changing moods & rhythms and complex vocal parts. Spreadeagle offered a varied, imaginative, cheerful and well-arranged songs (very often in elaborate forms) in the vein of early Camel, Wishbone Ash, Public Foot The Roman, Home and with a hint of early Santana. This CD has been carefully remastered from the original, analogue source and sounds great!

The legendary pianist Joe Albany, whose career was largely fouled up by drugs, recorded several rewarding sets during 1971-82. "The Albany Touch" (originally recorded for the Japanese Trio label before being made available domestically on an obscure SeaBreeze LP) is relaxed, thoughtful and shows off Albany's roots in the bop era although the pianist generally sounded at his best in a trio setting. Highlights include "A.B. (After Bird) Blues II," "You Stepped Out Of A Dream" and "A Night In Tunisia."
"Pasadena Session" was recorded in Pasadena, CA on February 29, 1972.

This was Johnny B. Moore's first CD ever and he got an Award nomination for it! It was all Westside Chicago Blues and self-penned songs. Willie Kent and Tim Taylor are on bass & drums and you could hear that Johnny would be one of the greatest - on both - guitar & vocals.

The members of Welcome recorded their debut album in 1975 at Aquarius Studios in Geneva on the EMI/Swiss label to modest reception. The young trio embarked upon a small series of live shows in an attempt to promote the record, but lagging sales and lack of publicity led to the departure of bassist Francis Yost, who was replaced by Helmi Erdinger around the time of the band's second and final release, "You're Welcome". Welcome's music is distinctly in the vein of the early seventies, owing much of their sound to Yes ala "Relayer". The production quality of their studio releases is rather uneven, and is characterized by sometimes wavering harmony vocals, heavy mellotron and Hammond, and rather sparse guitar work. The band appears to have moved toward a more commercial sound with their second release.