After the one-two punch of Phil Collins' first two solo albums, Face Value and Hello, I Must Be Going!, plus the hits he was concurrently having with Genesis, it might seem like he was primed for an artistic and commercial drop-off. Instead, he responded with the biggest album of his career. No Jacket Required topped the charts in the U.S. and U.K., won a Grammy for Album of the Year, and spawned four Top Ten singles, including two number ones in "Sussudio" and "One More Night." It was such a monster success that it made Collins one of the biggest stars on the planet, something that a few years before seemed unlikely if not impossible…

Songwriter Joe Henry has recorded five albums in the 21st century; he’s also become a Grammy-winning producer. These more recent records (of 12) offer a mature view of an artist at his most musically ambitious and lyrically cagey. Reverie, as its title implies, contains 14 songs that seemingly center on the concept of time: the random glinting of memory as it perceives love, loss, spirituality, history, and culture refracted through the gaze of the human heart. Musically, it feels like the loosest album Henry’s ever recorded; its production techniques are organic, live sessions were cut in his home studio with the windows open, allowing the sounds of everyday life–barking dogs, mothers calling children, cars and trucks– to pour through, making them part and parcel of the album's fabric. Henry's lyrics and melodies do, however, contrarily reveal an exacting craftsman. He and his guitar are accompanied by longtime associates, drummer Jay Bellerose, pianist Keefus Ciancia, and bassist David Piltch, with cameos by Patrick Warren, Marc Ribot, Jean McLain, and Lisa Hannigan. His lyrics – scattershot, mercurial expressions of memory – are caught in exacting rhymes that reflect on the power, delight, and torment of desire (he admits as much at the end of his liner essay). The musical forms are more rhythmically inventive and slippery; they serve his ephemeral, evocative lyrics by opening them up to time’s uncageable nature.

Lady In Black is the compilation album by British rock band Uriah Heep released in 1994. The CD gives a good overview of the songs of the band from 1971 to 1983. Titles like Lady in Black, Easy Livin ', Gypsy with the first singer David Byron are certainly part of the history of music. For people who like to hear great music from the seventies, this collection is highly recommended.

Swedish melodic rock band Treat's ninth studio album, "The Endgame". With bassist Nalle Påhlsson (who appeared on "Coup De Grace") back in the ranks, vocalist Robert Ernlund, guitarist Anders ”Gary” Wikström, drummer Jamie Borger, and keyboardist Patrick Appelgren have once again set a course for yet another exciting musical journey. Twelve songs in total, including uptempo rockers, ballads, '80s sounding gems, and ones with musical influences beyond the ordinary, make this album another definitive statement by the quintet from the south of Stockholm that they are leaders in the Swedish Melodic Hard Rock scene. Produced by Peter Mansson (who also helmed "Tunguska" and "Ghost Of Graceland"), "The Endgame," by all means qualifies as a true classic album from Treat.

Controversial at the time, delayed because of fights with the record company over lyrical content and the original title (Volunteers of America), Volunteers was a powerful release that neatly closed out and wrapped up the '60s. Here, the Jefferson Airplane presents itself in full revolutionary rhetoric, issuing a call to "tear down the walls" and "get it on together." "We Can Be Together" and "Volunteers" bookend the album, offering musical variations on the same chord progression and lyrical variations on the same theme…

Eddie Higgins is a quiet musician. His playing is never flamboyant and never exceeds the boundaries of good taste. The music coming out of his piano is reflective, exuding a feeling of relaxation, contemplation, and intimate beauty…

French modern composer Henri. Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013), born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire, France, was active in the second half of the twentieth century. The work combines the styles of Ravel, Debussy and Albert Roussel, as well as the style of his own creation. In addition to being influenced by Impressionist music, he also used serialism and atonality to write.

Trevor Haddix continues to release quality music filled with innuendos and humor in a vocal style reminiscent of Bobby Bland. "I Got a Sure Thing," originally done by Ollie & the Nightingales, gets a smoldering update, while on "A Day Late and a Dollar Short," Haddix's vocal is as gritty and gutbucket as the painful lyrics. Upbeat blues gets represented by "Funny Bone" and "Expletive List," and "Caught in the Middle" is a good rolling blues number featuring a sultry guitar. Haddix wrote nine of the ten top-quality songs.

Veteran pianist Junior Mance has worked and recorded with Jazz greats like Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderley, Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey. He accompanied singers like Dinah Washington and Aretha Franklin. Since the late 1980s he has been an acclaimed member of New Yorks New School and has given piano lessons to rising stars like Brad Mehldau, Larry Goldings and Stephen Scott. On "Nadja" Mance shows his gentle lyrical and thoughtful side as well as his blues-drenched and soulful take on bop and hard bop. The Junior Mance Trio delivers classicism the way it’s supposed to be! Clear, unpretentious, prodigiously swinging piano improvisations on standards and originals.

As usual with first symphonies (think of Gade, Berwald, Alfven, Atterberg, Glazunov, Dohnanyi, Kalinnikov), Svendsen’s is of abundances of freshness, confidence in expression and form (or structure), a certain level of innocence, and surefootedness in orchestral resourcefulness, even if the ideas remains fledging as far as personality is concerned (Mendelssohn’s influence looms quite a bit here). After all, his symphony is a student work, written while he was still studying at the Leipzig Conservatory). His music is highly engaging and sparkling, the ideas nicely tight, controlled, and memorable. Its premiere on October 12, 1867 was such a success that Edvard Grieg unfortunately withdrew his symphony he had written in 1864 & forbade it from ever being performed. It gained a foothold in the repertoire of Scandinavian countries, but not well played elsewhere.

Free Wave System were a Jazz Rock quartet out of Turin, Italy. They were formed in the 1970s from the ashes of a group called Assoluto Naturale, who were more of a traditional progressive rock band influenced by the usual suspects, PFM, Banco, and the like. That band featured vocals and performed early incarnations of Free Wave System songs, but Free Wave later decided to be an instrumental band. Brothers Luca and Enrico Morandi left this band and joined bassist Luciano Devietti and saxist Mauro Ravizza. The new group had a good live activity in northern Italy and managed to release one very good album on the Drums record label prior to disbanding. They compare very well to other Italian jazz-prog outfits such as Arti Mestieri, Bella Band, Etna, and Esagono.

Metallica formed in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. The duo first met through an ad in a Los Angeles-based music newspaper. At the time, Ulrich had little musical experience and no band but managed to secure a slot on an upcoming compilation record called “Metal Massacre”. Metallica’s contribution, “Hit The Lights”, featured Hetfield, Ulrich and lead guitarist Lloyd Grant…

Enjoy the wonderful winter season, with high quality lounge sounds selected by DJ Michael Maretimo. Cool and warm lounge sounds, sometimes melancholic, will warm your ears and your mind.