Violinist Didier Lockwood's 1983 release The Kid has been called an easy listening fusion album that maintains the depth to be taken seriously. It certainly helps to have Rock and Roll Hall of Fame keyboardist David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Sting), guitar wizard Barry Finnerty (Miles Davis, Brecker Brothers), bassist Alphonso Johnson (Weather Report) and drummer Richie Morales (Spyro Gyra) as bandmates. Lockwood and his versatile musicians take on hard bop, fusion, pop, rock ballads and show off serious jazz chops on John Coltrane's Impressions, played at breakneck speed.

Released at the time in Europe by MPS and in the U.S. by the now-defunct Pausa label, the music from violinist Didier Lockwood's 1980 Montreux Jazz Festival set is in both cases out of print. Lockwood, who can play like Stephane Grappelli, here opts for fusion in a sextet that also includes tenor saxophonist Bob Malach and keyboardist Jan Hammer. Lockwood's unaccompanied "Four Strings Bitch" is a highlight of this well-played date.

Mike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. After playing with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he worked with drummer Billy Cobham, then with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1983 and again in 1985. He then began a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums. These Times was originally released in 2004 through ESC Records. The album reached a peak position of number eleven on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.

This album captures an electrifying live performance from Dutch jazz keyboardist Jasper van’t Hof and his band: Bob Malach on sax, Miroslav Vitous on bass and drummer Alphonse Mouzon, recorded in Montreux in July 1979. The fusion-laden material spotlights the musicians at their best: a pyrotechnical display where everyone solos and all the solos burn, recorded with a beautifully clear, clean live sound.

One of the great fusion saxophonists, Bob Malach made the move from his hometown of Philadelphia to NYC in 1976. He soon found work with the likes of Stanley Clarke and Alphonse Mouzon (he’s featured on Mouzon’s MPS release Baby Come Back), and was in the studio with Stevie Wonder, Spyro Gyra and the Brecker Brothers. For the first album under his own name, Malach assembled a group of well-known playmates: John Lee and drummer Gerry Brown were high school buddies, and he and keyboardist Jasper van’t Hof had worked together in Mouzon’s group.

One of Europe’s most venerated band leaders, Swiss pianist-composer George Gruntz fronted small and large groups stacked with international jazz greats. This double album represents the 1980 version of Swiss pianist/composer Gruntz’s celebrated all-star international ‘Concert Jazz Band’. Over the years, each one of Gruntz’s bands was stacked with a new set of jazz greats, but his aim was always to mold the band in the Ellingtonian fashion: each member was picked, not only because he fitted into the group concept; it was especially important that he contributed a unique creative color to the band’s palette.