Two Against Nature — Steely Dan's Grammy winner for Album of the Year! The brilliance of Steely Dan on Hybrid SACD from Analogue Productions! Newly remastered from the original analog tape by Bernie Grundman direct to DSD!

The Brilliance of Steely Dan on Hybrid SACD! Steely Dan's Last Studio Album with Founding Member Walter Becker! Newly Remastered from the Original Analog Tape by Bernie Grundman Direct to DSD!

On this, their umpteenth album collaboration since the scatologically titled 1974 LP Rass!, Monty Alexander and Ernest Ranglin fill their own good air with some gems from their country’s late ’60s to late ’70s pop-music canon. Recorded live in the studio with a minimum of bells and whistles, Rocksteady is emblematic of the pioneer spirit that propelled Jamaican recordings into the international spotlight three decades ago.

Singer-guitarist Kevin Moore, known by his slangy abbreviation Keb' Mo', has already enjoyed commercial success. He's cut radio hits like "I Was Wrong", toured with Bonnie Raitt, and won Grammys for his last two albums. Yet this time, Moore's truly nailed his blues-pop ambitions with a warm mix of sonics and songcraft. The Door wraps spare arrangements around Moore's bone-deep slide guitar and the slow-granite foundation of drummer Jim Keltner and bassist Reggie McBride. They catch the spirit of the music's simple country roots, but spin savvy moves like updating Elmore James's "It Hurts Me Too" with a hip-hop groove that flies. Moore has also penned wise, sweetly emotional lyrics. He weaves themes like class-consciousness (the star-crossed love ode "Anyway") and poverty of the spirit ("Change") into heart-tugging ballads colored by the chocolate-y Mississippi moan of his voice. Add in flourishes of electric jazz guitar and some nasty rock tones, and this tallies up as his most ambitious, balanced album.

Sam “Lightnin'” Hopkins was a Texas country bluesman of the highest caliber whose career began in the 1920s and stretched all the way into the 1980s. Along the way, Hopkins watched the genre change remarkably, but he never appreciably altered his mournful Lone Star sound, which translated onto both acoustic and electric guitar. Hopkins' nimble dexterity made intricate boogie riffs seem easy, and his fascinating penchant for improvising lyrics to fit whatever situation might arise made him a beloved blues troubadour.

Most bands who've soldiered on for as long as Los Lobos find that middle-age brings a laissez-faire bargain between fame and nostalgia that makes it all too easy to coast into the sunset comfortably seated on their laurels. What's so compelling about Lobos in the 1990s and beyond is their steadfast refusal to succumb to any such temptation. This Time marks the third chapter in their collaboration with producers Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake that yielded the outstanding and surprising Kiko and Colossal Head. It's easily their most adventuresome, category-confounding outing yet.

Los Lobos might have touted themselves as “just another band from East L.A.”, but it’s quite likely that even the group’s humble members recognized that few - if any - other artists in the late 1980s rivaled their soulful music, rousing performances, and eclectically blended arrangements. While lacking the commercial status of the quintet’s subsequent La Bamba release, By the Light of the Moon stands as the band’s most enjoyable excursion into American-hued soul, penetratingly reflective lyrics, and earnest roots rock. The music making is simply extraordinary.

Love's Silhouette contains 14 tracks that swing and sing in the easy-flowing and genre-crossing style that has made Pieces of a Dream a staple in contemporary jazz. The group, who celebrated 25 years in the music business in 2001, continues to push stylistic boundaries and add more hard grooves, a few Latin flavors, and more funk than on their previous chart-topping hit, Acquainted With the Night.

With a title like Vibrate, it would seem that the Manhattan Transfer had filled their first studio disc in four years with jazzy and exciting vocal workouts intended to shake the speakers. But the title is a bit misleading as Vibrate is one of their most subdued and elegant recordings, and one that harks back to the days of Mecca for Moderns where pop tangents were part of their repertoire.

One for All have been an active New York City-based collective with fairly steady personnel except for the bass chair, which has rotated between several players. On this 2003 session for the Japanese Venus label, Ray Drummond joins tenorist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, pianist David Hazeltine, and drummer Joe Farnsworth, the latter members all being part of the core group back to its creation in the mid-'90s. Most of the selections on this date are associated with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, having been written for the late drummer's band or popularized by him, while the band's name was the title of Blakey's final album as a leader.

Body and Soul is an album by Joe Jackson, released in March 1984. The album was Jackson's seventh studio album, and his first fully digital project. Body and Soul is a landmark recording as well, being an early digital recording captured on a 32-track 3M system in New York City's Masonic Lodge. The vast reverberant space of the hall is beautifully drawn, and yet Joe and the band sound positively explosive. Body and Soul is remastered to DSD by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The results are amazing! Body and Soul has never sounded so fullbodied. In addition to the wonderful ambience of the Masonic Lodge, the imaging is more three-dimensional and holographic than ever.

This is another superbly produced and crafted album from one of Ireland's most accomplished female singer-songwriters - it's a very fine collection crossing over into many musical styles - Celtic, country, folk, jazz and blues - and makes for intensely rewarding listening. Eleanor McEvoy's voice has you enthralled from the first moment - from the mellow piano and trumpet of the opening track You'll Hear Better Songs (Than This) to the album's haunting closing song Anach Cuain. McEvoy's voice has a raw, bluesy, pure edge that completely hooks you from the start. The title song is pretty apt - you may well hear 'better' songs than these, but few will be so superbly crafted and exquisitely produced.

Hideo Ichikawa (piano), Ikuo Sakurai (bass) and Masahiko Togashi (drums) comprise the Spirits Trio, performing pop and jazz standards of the '40s era, plus a few original compositions…

Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione is an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good". Mangione has released more than thirty albums since 1960…

Charles Frank "Chuck" Mangione is an American flugelhorn player and composer who achieved international success in 1977 with his jazz-pop single, "Feels So Good". Mangione has released more than thirty albums since 1960…