First of the Big Bands is a studio album by Tony Ashton of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke and Jon Lord of Deep Purple, released in April 1974 by Purple Records in the UK and Europe and Warner Bros. Records in the US. The project was Ashton's and Lord's brainchild and continuation of their working relationship after Ashton Gardner & Dyke helped out on Jon Lord's soundtrack album The Last Rebel from 1971. Stylistically, First of the Big Bands was the precursor to Paice Ashton Lord's Malice in Wonderland album from 1977. Most of the album was recorded at Air and Apple Studios, London, with additional work being completed at De Lane Lea and Island.

Parlophone Records (BMG in the US) will continue their reissues series of the IRON MAIDEN catalogue with the second set of Digipak CD titles in The Studio Collection – Remastered, to be released on March 29th. Following on from 2014/2017’s black vinyl releases and 2015’s Mastered for iTunes project, The Studio Collection – Remastered features recordings taken from the same remasters as the 2015 hi-res digital releases. The albums supersede the previously available studio catalogue and all titles will also be made available on streaming platforms.

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known professionally as Ray Charles, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. Among friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother Ray". He was often referred to as "The Genius". Charles was blind from the age of seven. He pioneered the genre of soul music during the 1950s by combining blues, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records.

All of the titles here make some kind of reference to cosmic issues of good and evil on the planet Earth, but the suggestive wordplay doesn't make this music much different from that on Jean-Luc Ponty's previous Atlantic outings. Ponty plays with his accustomed fluid virtuosity; the five-piece group ranges from standard Ponty fusion to mild funk; the rhythm section is sometimes more grandly recorded than before; and occasionally, one can hear some embryonic sequenced structures that would be explored further on in the decade. But one still gets the overall impression that Ponty has been around this block a few too many times; what was once fresh and musical has ossified into formula.

From the twisted world of pop, rock, classical and world music, to acts of revolution and riots in the streets violinist, composer, conceptualist, raconteur and world traveller Eyvind Kang takes us on an exciting new trip to Iceland. An avid fan of underground esoterica and a generous collaborator with the likes of Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, Arto Lindsay, Ikue Mori and many others, Kang is at his best in the studio, creating incredibly complex sound sculptures filled with meticulous detail, power and vision. His most recent CD, three years in the making features a rare appearance of Indian violinist Kala Ramnath, a bizarre cult anthem (10:10) and a beautiful piece scored for gamelan.

Another important piece of the elusive and hermetic Eyvind Kang puzzle. This newest studio project from one of the most consistently interesting young composer/performers working today is instantly Kang’s most adventurous, varied and ambitious recordings to date. Featuring many of his most illustrious musical associates as well as several orchestral ensembles from around the world, this new CD brings Kang’s exuberant gift for orchestration and lyricism together with a keen sense of the miraculous. Kang’s star is rightfully on the rise.

Al Di Meola - Cielo e Terra / Soaring Through A Dream / Tirami Su (2009) {2CD Set, BGO Records BGOCD879 rec 1985-1987}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 817 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 345 Mb
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© 1985-87, 2009 BGO Records / Capitol | BGOCD879
Jazz / Fusion / Smooth Jazz / Guitar

The U.K.'s BGO Records reissues three Al di Meola mid-'80s albums on a pair of CDs. First is the nearly smooth jazz Soaring Through a Dream released originally on EMI's Manhattan imprint in 1985 – this album was an attempt by the great guitarist to score a hit single or two on the then-newly formed smooth jazz radio format.

Albert Ammons & Meade Lux Lewis - The Complete Blue Note Recordings (1989) {2CD Set, Mosaic MD2-103 rec 1935-1944}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks) +CUE+LOG -> 396 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 331 Mb
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© 1935-44, 1989 Blue Note / Mosaic | MD2-103
Jazz / Blues / Boogie-Woogie / Piano Blues

Mosaic's Complete Blue Note Recordings contains all of the recordings Meade Lux Lewis made for the label between 1935 and 1944, making it the definitive statement on the influential boogie-woogie pianist. This magnificent three-LP box set was issued as part of the first release by the Mosaic label. The out of print collection has all of the music recorded during Blue Note"s first session (nine piano solos by Albert Ammons, eight including a five-part "The Blues" by Meade Lux Lewis, and a pair of Ammons-Lewis duets) plus Lewis" 1935 version of "Honky Tonk Train Blues" and his complete sessions of October 4, 1940, April 9, 1941 (four songs on harpsichord), and August 22, 1944.

Although it may be a bit of a simplification, on New Beginnings pianist Don Pullen sets up fairly simple structures (some of which could be grooves for Ramsey Lewis) and then, after stating the theme, tosses in playful runs that are often quite outside, essentially putting his original style from the 1960's in a slightly commercial 1980's setting. Pullen plays quite rhythmically during his more intense phrases and displays a sly sense of humor. Both bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Tony Williams get a generous amount of solo space on the trio date and they are not overshadowed by the leader's often-fanciful flights.

Parlophone Records (BMG in the US) will continue their reissues series of the IRON MAIDEN catalogue with The Studio Collection – Remastered, covering the band’s sixteen-strong studio albums across their career to date. Following on from 2014/2017’s black vinyl releases and 2015’s Mastered for iTunes project, The Studio Collection – Remastered will be released on the Digipak CD format, with the track listing matching the original UK releases. The recordings are taken from the same remasters as the 2015 hi-res digital releases.

The Others / Sands / Sun Dragon – Listen To The Sky: The Collected Recordings 1964-1973 (2006) {Rev-Ola ‎CRREV176}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks) +CUE+LOG -> 342 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 144 Mb
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© 1964-73, 2006 Rev-Ola / Cherry Red | ‎CR REV 176
Rock / Psychedelic / Mod / Freakbeat / British Psychedelia

Rob Freeman and Ian McLintock never quite achieved rock stardom, but it wasn't for a lack of talent or effort, and their career together unwittingly serves as a superb example of the shifting tides of the British rock scene in the 1960s and early '70s. Freeman and McLintock's recordings get a thorough examination on Listen to the Sky, which follows the stylistic evolution of their bands over the course of a decade. Freeman (guitar and vocals) and McLintock (bass and vocals) first worked together in the Others, an R&B combo from Southwest London whose lone single, a cover of Bo Diddley's "Oh Yeah," was a well crafted rave-up in the manner of the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things.

Peter Schreier brought a lifetime's experience as a singer to the conductor's rostrum in his accounts of Mozart's Requiem, Coronation Mass, and motet Ave verum Corpus. The performances were recorded in Dresden between 1982 and 1992. A major plus is highly disciplined singing by the Leipzig Radio Chorus, whose clarity of diction and finely balanced ensemble adds much to your enjoyment of these performances; they're heard on their own account in the motet that concludes this reissue. The Requiem (in Süssmayr's completion) is powerfully and urgently driven.