At the same time as we get to know Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s compositions we can also take stock of the real personality of Johann Sebastian Bach’s eldest son. His works are still mostly unknown to the public at large and remain in the shadow of those by his brothers. It is true that his music still seems to be somewhat strange, imprisoned as it undoubtedly is by the composer’s profound inner drama. Born in 1710, Wilhelm Friedemann benefited more than any other of his brothers from the impact of his father’s personality; we may well remember the famous phrase attributed to Johann Sebastian «The son that gives me joy is the one that I love» ?

This 25-song CD (originally a shorter LP called The Singles Album) is a handy collection of the band's most well-known English tracks from 1963 through 1966, plus their B-sides and some songs off of EPs that charted high in the U.K. Except for the final three songs – "Groovin'," "Can't Believe It," and "Did You Have to Do That?," none of which are that easy to find on compilations – it's all assembled in chronological order from their debut single "Why Should We Not" to 1966's "You Gave Me Somebody to Love." The notes by John Tobler are a bit superficial, and the American EMI Manfred Mann: The Definitive Collection is a little more adventurous. Also, the sound here doesn't match the presence and clarity of more recent 24-bit transfers. Nonetheless, this is a respectable compilation for the novice or the casual fan. The presence of the B-sides, including lost gems like "What Did I Do Wrong" (a killer Chess-style blues number written by Tom McGuinness) and the Goffin/King-authored "Oh No Not My Baby" (one of Paul Jones's greatest R&B-style performances), assures that one gets a truer picture of the band's output and their focus on R&B, jazz, blues, and folk, than the A-sides by themselves would provide.

Buddha-Bar, creator of Lounge music, is releasing its first Best Of album. Born in 1996, Buddha-Bar has become a Lounge temple of excellence. It is the first restaurant to blend gastronomy and music thus setting itself as THE creator of Lounge Music. Now with more than 30 references in its catalogue, a wealth of 20 years of experience and around twenty venues worldwide, Buddha-Bar unveils its first Best Of compilation of the Buddha-Bar music series, beautifully wrapped and signed by Ravin. Carefully selected over the years, this triple album cd takes us to a bold journey to various musical cultures. From Middle East, India, passing by Africa and South American, the master “Ravin” promises hours of escape and serenity. Listen to all the classics that have set Buddha-Bar as a world leading reference in Lounge & Electronic music: Karunesh, Arno Elias, Koop, Nickodemus, Laidback, Parov Stellar, Hess is more… “Buddha-Bar Best Of” by Ravin, beyond a cd, is already a must-have reference.

After the success of their Jimi Hendrix-produced debut album The Street Giveth…and the Street Taketh Away (also available from Real Gone) and its hit “Good Old Rock ‘N’ Roll,” the members of Cat Mother repaired to their Woodstock cabin (pictured in the album gatefold reproduced here) and started writing songs for Albion Doo-Wah. The record had much more pastoral, country feel to it, no doubt in part due to the replacement of Charlie Chin by multi-instrumentalist folkie Jay Ungar, who also brought several songs to the group. But there was definitely something in the air in the late’-60s/early ‘70s Woodstock scene; Albion Doo-Wah has several scoops of that timeless, Americana-laced Basement Tapes/Music from Big Pink fairy dust. CD debut, and one long, long requested by the band’s fans, with a gorgeous remastering job by Maria Triana at Battery Studios.

Whomanfoursays is the fourth studio album by Canadian musician Dalbello. It is Dalbello's first concept album. Lisa Dalbello describes its concept as "[a collection of] songs about relationships with people that sometimes are forced into molds, that they don't know that they can break out of. These are stories about people that are trying to become the people that they really wanna be." The album was released in 1984, which marked a change in direction in her musical career, away from the soul R&B image of her previous albums and toward a more individual and avant-garde sound. Dalbello wrote every track herself, and changed her recording name from Lisa Dal Bello to her last name only. Musician Mick Ronson, who collaborated extensively to the project, produced the album with her; all instruments were played by either or both of them. The title is a homophone for the words "human forces". The original vinyl album cover features in either black or white the name in faux Cyrillic letters; on the CD version, this was replaced with regular uppercase lettering. Lisa's face is featured on the cover in tribal warpaint.

2008 archive release featuring the best of Marc Bolan and T. Rex's recordings for the BBC. If there's one artist whose success can be almost directly attributed to support from the BBC, it's Marc Bolan. His initial success was unquestionably down to the close friendship he had forged with John Peel, who had Bolan on his show on countless occasions recording sessions, reading poetry, even singing Christmas carols. On his last Radio London show before the station was shut down Peel played no less than six Bolan recordings. This single disc set is the best of the BBC recordings, taken from the three CD retrospective released in 2006. 24 tracks including 'Telegram Sam', 'Ride A White Swan', 'Debora' and more.

This album is a unique offering from the inimitable Kishori Amonkar. To survive is an animal instinct. To conquer is a base human desire. Samarpan or to surrender is the first act of being truly human, the first footstep towards attaining the divine. Surrender is not supplication. Surrender is the act of freeing oneself from the trap of the human design. To surrender is to let go of the belief that I am on my own, and I am my only protector. To surrender is to dive into the ocean of conviction that life is a divine design, and I can play in that pool of divine love like a child.

Arcangelo Corelli was "world famous" even in the world of his day. Copies of Corelli's works appeared in St. Petersburg as well as in Constantinople, Stockholm and even in America, where Thomas Jefferson spoke of being charmed completely by Corelli's music. Despite its popularity only a handful of his original manuscripts exist today and the Violin Sonatas Op. 5 have a place of honor. The pieces on this album were drawn from the second half of Op. 5 and in the original edition of 1700, published as "Parte seconda: Preludii, Allemande, Correnti, Sarabande, Gavotte, e Follia." Baroque sonatas having been inspired by dances, and playable on violin and harpsichord or ona variety of instruments, in this case, recorder and harpsichord. The easy-held nature of the sonatas allows great freedom for ornamentation and improvisation, which Michala Petri and Mahan Esfahani savor with pleasure.

Pianist Misha Alperin appears with a quintet on this set of mysterious original compositions. His longtime colleague, Arkady Shilkloper, plays French horn and flugelhorn and is joined by Tore Brunberg on tenor saxophone, Terje Gewelt on double bass, and ECM stalwart Jon Christensen on drums. Combining Russian folk, modern classical, and free jazz influences, Alperin's music ranges from the icy minimalism of "Morning" and "Alone" to the atonal fanfares of "Afternoon," the eerie unison melodies of "Psalm No. 1" and "Psalm No. 2," and the jumpy parallel-fifth motives of "Ironical Evening." Most memorable is the exquisite "North Story," a sparse invention framed by a descending pattern of seven gorgeous chords. In contrast, "Etude," one of the disc's more upbeat and exuberant pieces, is based on darting, tightly executed 16th-note patterns. The program ends with the sole non-original, Harald Saeverud's "Kristi-Blodsdraper (Fucsia)," a beautiful folkish ballad.

Catch a Fire is a 1973 album by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It was their first album released by Island Records. The album's supporting concert tour throughout England and the United States helped establish the band as international stars. Catch a Fire peaked at number 171 on the Billboard 200 and number 51 on the Billboard Black Albums charts. Critical acclaim has included the album being listed at number 126 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest albums of all time, second only to Legend among five Bob Marley albums on the list. It is regarded as one of the top reggae albums of all time.

Modern Classics: The Greatest Hits is a compilation album of music by English singer-songwriter Paul Weller, originally released in 1998. It featured most of his solo singles up to that point as well as a new track "Brand New Start". A limited edition of the album came with a bonus 13 track live disc recorded at Victoria Park, London on 8 August 1998.

This 1998 CD reissues keyboardist Patrice Rushen's first two recordings as a leader except for one selection ("Puttered Bopcorn") from the first date that was left out due to lack of space. Twenty at the time of the earlier set, Rushen showed a great deal of potential for the future, potential that (at least in the jazz world) was unfortunately never realized. Rushen is heard on the Prelusion album heading a septet that includes tenor-saxophonist Joe Henderson (the most memorable soloist), trumpeter Oscar Brashear, trombonist George Bohanon and Hadley Caliman on reeds; the music is essentially advanced hard bop with touches of fusion. The later date has a similar group (without Henderson) and with guest spots for flutist Hubert Laws and guitarist Lee Ritenour. The R&B-ish vocal by Josie James on "What's the Story" hints at where Rushen would be going in the future: straight to the pop market. So overall this CD, which should have served as a bright beginning for the young keyboardist, is practically the artistic high point of Patrice Rushen's erratic career.

Live recordings at Theatre Antique, Vaison, France, 2 and 3 August, 1996. The Golden Heart Tour was a 1996 concert tour by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, promoting the release of his first solo album Golden Heart. The tour consisted of two legs: the British Isles and Europe. The tour started on 24 April 1996 in Galway, Ireland, and included 84 concerts in 66 cities, ending in Antibes, France, on 4 August 1996. The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Richard Bennett (guitar), Glenn Worf (bass), Chad Cromwell (drums), and Jim Cox (keyboards). This initial touring group later became known to Knopfler fans as the 96-ers.

Professor Sakamoto gives a lesson on what is practically a different style of music with each track on Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia, beginning with a sure-fire hit: the extroverted, quintessentially Japanese synth workout "Field Work" (with Thomas Dolby). From there, Sakamoto hits riff-ready crossover jazz-fusion ("Etude"), electronic minimalism ("M.A.Y. in the Backyard"), and Oriental dub ("Paradise Lost"). There is a return to sampladelic Eastern synth-pop with "Steppin' Into Asia," but for the most part Sakamoto displays his impressive stylistic range on this solo album.

Kim Simmonds' outlet for his electric blues-rock remains the on-again off-again Savoy Brown. Therefore he uses his solo albums, of which this is the third, to elaborate on the acoustic Delta blues generally ignored by his full-time outfit. Unlike Eric Clapton, who has consistently returned to this unplugged music throughout his career, Simmonds seems driven to explore his acoustic blues roots only since 1997. Simmonds uses this outlet to play predominantly self-penned material, with a few obscure covers thrown in. Accompanied by subtle piano, bass, and drums, the guitarist/vocalist commands center stage with his dusky yet emotional, talk-sung vocals, somewhat like J.J. Cale. Simmonds' guitar work is consistently classy, substituting the flash and boogie impulses of his extensive work as leader of Savoy Brown with a more thoughtful, measured playing that perfectly fits these terrific folk-blues tunes.