Recorded in 1985, The Spirit of Christmas finds Ray Charles performing a variety of holiday favorites with vocal assistance from the Raelettes and an appearance by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. The ten tracks mix standards and originals, including "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and the ballad "That Spirit of Christmas," which was featured in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. The Spirit of Christmas is perfect background music for any holiday celebration.

Between 1957 and 1968, Ray Conniff had 28 albums in the American Top 40. He started out at Columbia Records as their home arranger, backing artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mathis, and Johnnie Ray, with his orchestra and was eventually offered the chance to do his own record. We Wish You a Merry Christmas is packed with traditional holiday tunes that Conniff and his (25) Singers wove into a series of medleys. This album has a retro studio sound, which, upon listening, may conjure up images of Lawrence Welk singers strolling the stage, dressed in matching holiday garb. Sometimes melodramatic ("Ring Christmas Bells"), other times, bright and exuberant ("Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!"), it's good, clean fun for the whole family and a solid addition to any Christmas catalog.

Digitally remastered two CD set containing a trio of albums from the acclaimed vocalist. This set features Nicolette Larson's first three solo albums from 1978, 1979 and 1981. Larson had been a singer with Commander Cody and on the back of that obtained her Warner Bros contract. All three albums made the US Top 100, with Nicolette peaking at #15 and the single 'Lotta Love' making the Top 10. Larson was very much an interpreter of other people's songs, with producer Ted Templeman coaxing the best from her. Larson sadly died in 1997.

La-La Land Records, in association with Sony Music and NBC Universal, presents the remastered and expanded 2-CD SET of AcademyAward-Winning composer John Williams' (JAWS, BLACK SUNDAY, STAR WARS, RAIDERSOF THE LOST ARK) amazing score to the 1979 Universal Pictures and ColumbiaPictures comedy spectacular 1941, starring Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi and Warren Oates, and directed by Steven Spielberg. Williams provides adelightful, full-on orchestra assault (featuring one of the most infectious marches ever written for film) to compliment this cult-classic's slap-stick tapestry of WWII-era paranoia exploding in Hollywood. Produced by Mike Matessino, Didier C. Deutsch and Mark G. Wilder, remixed and assembled by Mike Matessino and mastered by Mark G. Wilder, this special release is expanded by more than 70 minutes with never-before-released music, including alternates and source cues. The original 1979 album presentation is also presented on disc 2, remastered. 1941 Re-issue producer Mike Matessino provides exclusive, in-depthliner notes. Limited Edition of 3500 Units.

2016 solo album from the singer/songwriter best known for his work with the Grammy-winning band America. Recorded at his Los Angeles studio Human Nature, the shimmering 12-track album plays to all of Beckley's strengths; the singer, songwriter and musician played most instruments on the album. "With a solo project I'm really a committee of one," says Beckley. "There's only myself to please. Having said that, it's not always easy. Each project is a snapshot in time. The material on Carousel came from a wide scope of inspiration." Carousel contains original standouts such as the deeply personal "Lifeline", "No Way I'm Gonna Lose You" (co-written with Dan Wilson who won an award for his work with Adele) and "Tokyo", of which Beckley says: "The song actually came to me while I was waiting to board a flight home from Japan. I seem to remember I lost track of time and almost missed the flight." There are also three covers on which Beckley puts his distinctive spin: Spirit's "Nature's Way", Gerry Rafferty's "To Each and Everyone" and Gerry and The Pacemakers' "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying". "I've fortunately never been short on inspiration for my original material but I do love to record a cover every so often," says Beckley. "These three are of course from my long list of fave songs."

Tab Benoit has gone the live route before on his recordings, and he's smart to keep reminding listeners every so often that that's where he's at his best. Which is not to take away from Benoit's studio recordings, all of which – including last year's excellent Power of the Pontchartrain – are admirable showcases for his consistently solid blues guitar chops and gritty vocalizing. As on the last effort, Benoit is backed here by the New Orleans fixture Louisiana's Leroux, who provide the kind of muscular foundation that makes Benoit's funk that much funkier. They're all most at home when churning out a basic boogie like "Muddy Bottom Blues," one of a trio of songs on which Benoit and band are joined by Wet Willie's Jimmy Hall, and "Too Sweet for Me," which spotlights Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds on harp. But on the occasions when they lay low, like "Fever for the Bayou," with guest Jumpin' Johnny Sansome sailing on the accordion, Benoit finds a deeper connection with the soul of New Orleans, a soul that, in this post-Katrina age, we all need to connect with more than ever.

The complicated rhythm patterns and diverse sonic textures on Olé Coltrane are evidence that John Coltrane was once again charting his own course. His sheer ability as a maverick – beyond his appreciable musical skills – guides works such as this to new levels, ultimately advancing the entire art form. Historically, it's worth noting that recording had already commenced two days prior to this session on Africa/Brass, Coltrane's debut for the burgeoning Impulse! label. The two sets complement each other, suggesting a shift in the larger scheme of Coltrane's musical motifs. The assembled musicians worked within a basic quartet setting, featuring Coltrane on soprano and tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, and Elvin Jones on drums, with double-bass chores held down by Art Davis and Reggie Workman. Added to that are significant contributions and interactions with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and Eric Dolphy on flute and alto sax (although Dolphy's contract with another record label prevented him from being properly credited on initial pressings of the album). The title track is striking in its resemblance to the Spanish influence heard on Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain.

Some of Janacek's most characteristic invention is to be found in the many choruses he wrote for local choirs who were moved by both a love of singing together and a demonstration of their national identity. There is a good selection here. Even the earliest, a touching little lament for a duck, has a quirkiness which saves it from sentimentality; the latest, the Nursery Rhymes, are marvellous little inventions from the dazzling evening of Janacek's life. One must resist any temptation to say that they take Stravinsky on at his own game: Janacek is his own man. In between comes a varied diet here. Schoolmaster Halfar (or Cantor Halfar) is set with a dazzling range of little musical ironies as the story unfolds of the teacher who ruined his life by insisting on speaking Czech. The Elegy on the death of his daughter Olga goes some way toward dignifying a conventional text with some heartfelt music, but the pressure of grief has not drawn the greatest of his music from him: perhaps more time was needed, and indeed the piano pieces he entitled Along an Overgrown Path re-enter ancient griefs more expressively.

La-La Land Records and 20th Century Fox present the remastered release of acclaimed composer Mark Snow’s (THE X-FILES, MILLENIUM, GHOST WHISPERER, BLUE BLOODS) original motion picture score to the 1998 motion picture THE X-FILES: FIGHT THE FUTURE, starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and John Neville. Composer Snow launches the beloved television series, THE X-FILES onto the silver screen with an astounding score that retains the show’s already established sonic palette of atmospheric synths, while opening up its musical universe with the addition of a live orchestra. This special limited edition release features much improved sound and contains some music not previously released. Also, the incorrectly reversed stereo channels on the original soundtrack release have been corrected here. Produced by Mark Snow and Nick Redman, and mastered by Mike Matessino, this exciting release also contains exclusive liners by writer Julie Kirgo and an updated print interview with Snow conducted by film music writer Randall D. Larson. This is a limited edition on 3000 units.

Get Closer is the eleventh studio album by singer, songwriter and producer Linda Ronstadt, released in 1982. Get Closer found Ronstadt returning to the genres that had resulted in her commercial and critical success throughout the 1970s, and working again with British musician and producer Peter Asher. Ronstadt was nominated in early 1983 for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance Female and Best Rock Vocal Performance Female for the album and the song "Get Closer", losing to Melissa Manchester and Pat Benatar respectively. The album did, however, win the Grammy for Best Album Package, an art director's award. The trophy went to well known designers Ron Larson and Kosh.

Originally recorded in 1957, these sessions turned out to be the last the legendary Big Bill Broonzy would record; only a little over a year later, he succumbed to lung cancer. This collection consists not of fan or producer favorites, but Broonzy favorites, and includes a variety of blues, folk, and devotional music. Though he was instrumental to the development of the blues and the Chicago sound, much of the material on this three-disc set reaches back to the music that the blues came from, with a lot of drop-in help from Broonzy's friends, of which there were many. That makes these recordings not only recordings, but documentation, a testament to a bluesman who was at once musician and historian.

On three discs contain live material from 1966 to 1969, and a fragment of Paul Simon's concert in 1980. This live recording and its release, has not been authorised by Simon & Garfunkel or their recording company.

Hyperion presents a second volume of music from the Conductus repertory - the least-known genre of medieval music - performed by tenors John Potter, Christopher O'Gorman, Rogers Covey-Crump, three singers who combine expert knowledge of the music with voices of unearthly beauty. This album contains poems set to music from thirteenth-century England and France. The subjects range from straightforward exhortations to the Virgin Mary to criticisms of the Papal Curia and a depiction of the student riots in Orleans in 1236.

Covering prime early recordings from 1956-1960 and one mid-'80s cut, Blue Note's The Best of Jimmy Smith offers up a fine introduction to the trailblazing jazz organist. Smith's Blue Note sessions not only introduced the world to the complex solo possibilities of the Hammond B3 organ, but simultaneously ushered in the soul-jazz era of the '60s, spawning a wealth of fine imitators in the process. Before delving into more commercial terrain on Verve in the late '60s, Smith cut a ton of jam-session dates for Blue Note, often with the help of hard bop luminaries like trumpeter Lee Morgan, alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, tenor saxophonists Tina Brooks and Stanley Turrentine, and drummers Art Blakey and Donald Bailey. All are heard here on classic cuts like "The Sermon," "Back at the Chicken Shack," and "The Jumpin' Blues," with Smith regular Turrentine and a young Morgan availing themselves in especially fine form. For his part, Smith eats up the scenery on all the sides here, taking his solo to particularly impressive heights on a fleetly swinging rendition of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home".

Fourteen years is a long time to spend with one label, especially for jazz and fusion groups. Azymuth celebrated 14 years with the United Kingdom's Far Out label in 2008. Butterfly is their eight record for the imprint and their first new studio album in four years. The original trio – Jose Roberto Bertami (keyboards/vocals), Alex Malheiros (bass/guitars/vocals), and Ivan Conti (drums/percussion/vocals) – is still together after 35 years. Here jazz, funk, fusion, and elegant samba are woven together seamlessly. The disc was produced by the trio with David Brinkworth (Harmonic 33). "Butterfly," the album opener, is a sultry, breezy cover of the classic Herbie Hancock track, originally on 1974's Thrust. The elegant sound of gorgeously arranged strings (by Arthur Verocai no less), warm rolling Rhodes piano, Conti's breaking drums that walk the line between lithe funk and samba, and a pronounced but languid bassline gradually and deliberately build the space, stopping at interludes to reinsert the sensuous mood in the melodic line. Certainly it's an auspicious way to begin, but it's only one of the many highlights on this set.