Having apparently resolved their Family Cracks, the members of Samla Mammas Manna's '70s quartet - guitarist Coste Apetrea, drummer Hans Bruniusson, keyboardist Lars Hollmer, and bassist Lars Krantz - reunited during the '90s, after well over a decade apart, to play gigs scattered around the globe. In the fall of 1998 they recorded at Hollmer's Chickenhouse studio, and interspersed that material with excerpts from live concerts in Sweden and Norway between 1993 and 1998. The result was 1999's Kaka, a new showcase for the band also heard on the '70s albums Måltid (1974), Klossa Knapitatet (1975), and Gregory Fitzpatrick collaboration Snorungarnas Symfoni (1976). Kaka is actually a fine introduction to the Samlas, nicely balancing their serious musicality and unbridled lunacy. Revisiting material from the band's '70s era with much-improved sound quality, the studio-recorded tunes dominate the proceedings…

As an Australian, guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel doesn't seem to be much bothered about musical categories. Is his music jazz, folk, bluegrass, new age? Depending on the track, it can be any one. Like his mentor, Chet Atkins, Emmanuel is simply a guitar player, and on Little by Little, a two-CD set, he sticks mostly to acoustic guitar, playing mostly originals, tunes that he has used in concert but not recorded before. He is also mostly solo, although the double-disc length allows him room to share space with guests including singers Pam Rose (on her co-composition "Haba Na Hava") and Anthony Snape (on the folk-rock "Willie's Shades"). Among the covers are two versions of "Moon River," one with a bass countermelody, the other with an Emmanuel vocal, Carole King's "Tapestry," Atkins' "Mountains of Illinois," and "The Tennessee Waltz." Emmanuel plays fast runs, slows down for delicate passages, and adds harmonics on tunes that evoke players including Will Ackerman and John Fahey. He also likes folk-pop; "Papa George" needs only a James Taylor vocal to fit into that category. But Little by Little is a tour de force by a musician who usually leaves categories behind.

Along with Kind of Blue, In a Silent Way, and Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain is one of Miles Davis' most enduring and innovative achievements. Recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 - after Coltrane and Cannonball Adderley had left the band - Davis teamed with Canadian arranger Gil Evans for the third time. Davis brought Evans the album's signature piece, "Concierto de Aranjuez," after hearing a classical version of it at bassist Joe Mondragon's house. Evans was as taken with it as Davis was, and set about to create an entire album of material around it. The result is a masterpiece of modern art. On the "Concierto," Evans' arrangement provided an orchestra and jazz band - Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Elvin Jones - the opportunity to record a classical work as it was…

Blue Note Records has announced an April 26 release of Sonny Rollins A Night at the Village Vanguard: The Complete Masters, a special Tone Poet Vinyl Edition of the legendary saxophonist’s tour-de-force live trio album. The expanded 3-LP set, which can be ordered now on the Blue Note Store, marks the first time Rollins’ complete recorded performances at the Village Vanguard on November 3, 1957 will be made available in a single vinyl package. The collection is also available as a 2-CD set and on all digital formats.

Unforgettable 70's Hitsdisplays a variety of stylistic content of the material, that is, will be, and perhaps will be, just a discovery. As well as an addition to your collection and archives. And undoubtedly the acquisition of a definitely

Buoyed by two U.K. number one singles in "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru," The Slider became T. Rex's most popular record on both sides of the Atlantic, despite the fact that it produced no hits in the U.S. The Slider essentially replicates all the virtues of Electric Warrior, crammed with effortless hooks and trashy fun. All of Bolan's signatures are here – mystical folk-tinged ballads, overt sexual come-ons crooned over sleazy, bopping boogies, loopy nonsense poetry, and a mastery of the three-minute pop song form. The main difference is that the trippy mix of Electric Warrior is replaced by a fuller, more immediate-sounding production. Bolan's guitar has a harder bite, the backing choruses are more up-front, and the arrangements are thicker-sounding, even introducing a string section on some cuts (both ballads and rockers).

Oceanic is a collection of tone poems with Ocean themes. On this 1996 release, Vangelis creates a soothing 50 minute journey through deep oceanic spaces, sounding a bit like a Hearts of Space show. The new age music showcases his wonderful ear for melodies and lush synthetic orchestration, but does not have the edge or sense of experimentation that marks his best work. If you listen closely, you’ll also hear a variety of synthesized ambient effects that evoke the ocean woven into the music. Some of his effects sound like whales, ships horns, porpoises, seagulls and even chimes at a beach house. His use of ambient effects is as masterful as his orchestration. Oceanic is not Vangelis’ most challenging album, but will instead reward listeners with a relaxing sonic portrait of an abstract ocean voyage.

By 1973's Tanx, the T. Rex hit-making machine was beginning to show some wear and tear, but Marc Bolan still had more than a few winners up his sleeve. It was also admirable that Bolan was attempting to broaden the T. Rex sound – soulful backup singers and horns are heard throughout, a full two years before David Bowie used the same formula for his mega-seller Young Americans. However, Tanx did not contain any instantly recognizable hits, as their past couple of releases had, and the performances were not quite as vibrant, due to non-stop touring and drug use. Despite an era of transition looming on the horizon for the band, tracks such as "Rapids," "Highway Knees," "The Street & Babe Shadow," and "Born to Boogie" contain the expected classic T. Rex sound.

If Day at the Races was a sleek, streamlined album, its 1977 successor, News of the World, was its polar opposite, an explosion of styles that didn't seem to hold to any particular center. It's front-loaded with two of Queen's biggest anthems - the stomping, stadium-filling chant "We Will Rock You" and its triumphant companion, "We Are the Champions" - which are quickly followed by the ferocious "Sheer Heart Attack," a frenzied rocker that hits harder than anything on the album that shares its name (a remarkable achievement in itself). Three songs, three quick shifts in mood, but that's hardly the end of it. As the News rolls on, you're treated to the arch, campy crooning of "My Melancholy Blues," a shticky blues shuffle in "Sleeping on the Sidewalk," and breezy Latin rhythms on "Who Needs You"…