Concepts such as evolution and progress are hardly fitting when considering the history of the arts. Each period and place has its own language, which borrows from what had preceded it, paves the way for what will follow, but also rejects some elements of the past and will be partly rejected by the future. Forms and genres prized by one generation are forgotten by the following, and new styles become fashionable in place of the preceding ones. Each of them may produce – and normally does – great masterpieces, which influence in turn what will happen in the future decades.

Although Misty Morning and No Time is entirely instrumental, the 1994 date was inspired by the work of Scottish poet Norman MacCaig. Those who aren't seriously into jazz might have a hard time understanding how something without words (a jazz instrumental) could pay tribute to something that uses words to get its point across (a poem). But there's certainly a parallel between the two - just as a poet like MacCaig uses the English language to convey what he's feeling, Smith uses his tenor sax to express his emotions. Of course, one needn't be familiar with MacCaig's work to appreciate Misty Morning and No Time, which points to the fact that while Smith was still heavily influenced by John Coltrane in 1994, he was sounding increasingly original with each album…

Better known as Gran Partita, Mozart’s Serenade in B-flat major, K 361 is the crowning glory of the Harmoniemusik of the Classical era. Austrian and German nobles in particular often employed small wind ensembles called Harmonien which provided entertainment during banquets and outdoor festivities. In order to satisfy the growing demand for suitable music, countless arrangements of operas and ballet music were made, while original works were supplied by a wide range of composers – Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert and many lesser masters wrote Harmoniemusik.

Another amazing release from the official Jimi Hendrix “bootleg label” Dagger Records, this raw, direct to two-track, live recording from the Olympia Theatre in Paris was captured for French national radio and documents the Experience’s triumphant return to France almost one year from the date of their 1966 debut. Recorded on October 9, 1967, The Experience were in top form, roaring out of the gate with “Stone Free,” and following with vibrant renditions of “Hey Joe,” “Fire,” “The Wind Cries Mary” and “Catfish Blues.” “Rock Me Baby” and a compact “Red House” prefaced a grinding, muscular take of “Purple Haze,” followed by “Wild Thing,” replete with a rousing, tongue-in-cheek lead vocal that emphatically closed the show. Released for RSD Black Friday on red and blue mixed vinyl.

Gianna Nannini is an Italian female singer-songwriter and pop musician. Among her song, "Bello e impossibile" (1986) was an international hit in Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland…

This 1956 recording was Bob Dorough's debut, an introduction to one of the most unusual talents in jazz. He's a gifted songwriter and a fine pianist, but most of all, he's a unique lyricist and singer, rattling off hyperkinetic vocalese in an almost chirping, high-pitched voice that somehow retains hints of an Arkansas drawl and a conversational intimacy. He's as distinctive on Hoagy Carmichael's beautiful "Baltimore Oriole" as he is on the bop fanfares like Dizzy Gillespie's "Ow!" and Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite," with his own memorable lyrics. His boppish piano playing–with all the virtues of crisp articulation and an acute sense of time–is an oddly conventional complement to the vocals, and there are good contributions by Warren Fitzgerald on trumpet and Jack Hitchcock on vibes. Devil May Care's title tune has recently received fine covers by more conventional singers like Diana Krall and Claire Martin, but it's much more distinctive here. While Dorough has influenced generations of jazz singers, from Mose Allison to Kurt Elling, there's nothing quite like the original.

One of those odd collections that flags its contents with a vague "greatest and latest" subtitle, but it's only when you get it home that you really discover what you have. Which, in this case, isn't too bad…at least if you don't mind not having the original versions of the best-known songs…

It's hard to imagine a better-produced package of Moby Grape's work than this two-disc, 48-track condensation of their best late-'60s recordings. The first disc of this set centers around their entire 1967 self-titled debut LP (included in its entirety), which mixed blues, country, and folk influences with hard-charging psychedelic rock & roll. The result was one of the Summer of Love's more enduring works. The second disc boils their wildly inconsistent 1968-69 material down to a fairly strong and coherent selection. While it doesn't match the peak of the group's initial burst, it features some strong folk and country-rock originals that wear much better in the absence of the bloated jams and half-baked hard rock that could make their albums a chore to sit through. Each disc includes interesting demos, outtakes, and live performances…

Made for the French Black & Blue label and released in the U.S. on a Classic Jazz LP, this outing features pianist Hank Jones emphasizing the swing side of his flexible musical personality. Teamed up with bassist George Duvivier and drummer Oliver Jackson, Jones adds beauty and melodic ideas to such veteran numbers as "You Took Advantage of Me," "Love Walked In," "Like Someone In Love" and (easily the most recent tune) Bobby Timmons' "Dat Dere."

Transparente is Mariza's "big" album, it seems, the one designed to make her more than just the shining star of the new fado. The music connects the dots between Portugal and Brazil, giving an international quality to it all. Her voice is as crystal clear as ever, and production by Jacques Morelenbaum is wonderfully transparent. Yet there's a sheen to it all that seems intended to rub off any rough edges. You can hear it in the soft strings that cushion "Meu Fado Meu." It just seems to be trying too hard, rather than letting the music unfold. It's apparent, too, in the fact that the songs are all short – the longest barely passes three-and-a-half minutes. Not that it's not a gorgeous album; it enfolds the ears like silk; Mariza herself has never sounded more seductive, and the cello on "Quando Me Sinto So" is as warm and inviting as a lover's kiss.

Norway is not precisely the cradle of Progressive Rock, but a band formed in 1969 when the genre was still on diapers, a group of musicians from Oslo, decided to form a Hard Rock band inspired in legends such as LED ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE, but gave a step forward and created a unique sound that blended all this influences with our beloved genre and a strong Psychedelic element…