Albert King doesn't require much of an introduction, he was one of the 'Three Kings of the Blues' and arguably next to B.B. he was perhaps the most popular of the many genuine blues guitarists to have been adopted by the rock world during the mid-1960s. Albert began playing in the late 40s and made his first recordings in 1953 and it is these early sessions that are the focus of this outstanding collection from Jasmine. Includes tracks "Blues At Sunrise", his fine version of Tampa Red's "Little Boy Blue" and his hit song "Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong" plus many other superb tracks. Albert King influenced many artists including Mick Taylor, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield and Stevie Ray Vaughan. This then is Albert King's first tentative steps towards global popularity compiled in chronological order and with fully detailed liner notes.

Hyperion’s virtually single-handed rehabilitation of the music of York Bowen (known in his time as ‘The English Rachmaninov’), continues apace with this recording of the third and fourth piano concertos. Piano Concerto No 3 is a vigorous one-movement work with three well-defined sections of varying tempos in Fantasia style. Bowen’s sparkling performances of it drew plaudits from contemporary critics, who hailed it as his best composition thus far.

Jiři Ignác Linek opens the final volume with his Sinfonia Pastoralis. Born in Bakov near Prague he succeeded his father as choirmaster in his hometown. Though he followed the trajectory of most Bohemians of studies in Prague he doesn’t seem to have travelled much and certainly didn’t take appointments in estates beyond Bohemia. Probably intended for Christmas his symphony is enjoyable and well characterised, and short. The drone effects in the Adagio hint at the kind of folkloric tints that his more cosmopolitan Bohemian and Moravian contemporaries don’t pursue in their own symphonies and they’re all the more effective for it.

This moody yet self-deprecating singer/songwriter's album will be nothing new to fans that have followed the long arc of Lloyd Cole's career. One listen to "What's Wrong with This Picture" – which offers the sentiment "'Smile,' she said, 'If you want I'll look the other way/Til you regain your melancholy disposition or until you get over yourself'" over a bright guitar figure – places longtime fans on familiar ground. Cole's uncanny melodic ear is also still in place. What is new, however, is his return to fronting a full-time band after spending his post-Commotions years (they split in 1988) as a fairly singular figure.

For close to two decades, the vibrant South African singer/songwriter Jonathan Butler has become so well known for his impassioned vocals that it's easy to take his formidable guitar talents for granted. Most of his recordings include a few light acoustic guitar instrumentals amid a gathering of more memorable vocals, but on the Jonathan collection – his debut for Rendezvous, an indie label co-owned by saxman Dave Koz – Butler reverses the trend, to pleasing effect. It's hardly surprising that, despite the likeable instrumentals, smooth jazz radio gravitated first to his robust cover of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," one of two songs featuring lead vocals.

Since joining the Stony Plain roster in 1993, Duke Robillard has released an average of one album per year with the Canadian roots and blues label, and his sixteenth is a little bit of a departure: where his previous efforts have focused mainly on jazz and blues, this one is a celebration of the jump blues and R&B of the '40s and '50s, and Robillard sounds just as natural and is clearly having just as good a time with this repertoire as he always has on his previous projects. Highlights include a wonderful jump blues instrumental arrangement of the traditional song "Frankie and Johnny," an equally great vocal duet between Robillard and Sunny Crownover on "I Wanna Hug You, Kiss You, Squeeze You" and an absolutely brilliant rendition of the Ike Turner R&B classic "Tore Up."

England Expectorates, cough splutter! A brand new album of 13 new songs from our nation’s favourite Wrong-Righter… Expectorates? “To cough or spit out phlegm,” as the dictionary defines it. Boris is gone, yet he’s not gone. We’ll be suffering his legacy for years. 13 feel-good songs for feel-bad times – this is the Archdrude at his most succinct, tripped-out, punky, blasted and beautiful. Containing his stage epic ‘Cunts Can Fuck Off’, here’s 13 keenly constructed missives to help get us through this ropey fucking situation.

Since the Rippingtons do Russ Freeman's bidding, he hasn't found it necessary to do a full-fledged, regular solo album since he founded the group in 1986. (There have been duo albums with David Benoit and Craig Chaquico as well as a solo holiday record, however.) But listeners "started encouraging me to 'step out' more and to play more guitar," he writes in the liner notes to Drive, and "hence, this album," his first such release since 1985's Nocturnal Playground. That statement is the key to what distinguishes the disc from a Rippingtons album. Although Freeman has called upon a few guest musicians, with Chris Botti contributing muted trumpet work to "Soul Dance," Jeff Lorber keyboards to "Brighter Day," and Eric Marienthal sax to "Anywhere Near You," the tracks are designed as showcases for Freeman's guitar playing, not otherwise leaving room for other soloists.

Tina Reynaert wants to create a platform for new piano music that has not yet been performed or discovered. The authenticity of contemporary acoustic music deserves to be recorded andto reach a wider audience. “The Hour of the Wolf” is a compilation of what she believes to be canonical works from the period 1990 to 2021.