C'est Chic! French Girl Singers Of The 1960s is an essential anthology that captures the infectious charm, style, and vibrant energy of the French yé-yé pop phenomenon. Released in 2010 by Ace Records as the inaugural title on their Ace International imprint, this stellar 24-track compilation brings together 20 of the defining female vocalists from France and across Europe during the 1960s. Spanning an hour of catchy melodies, baroque arrangements, and groovy beat productions, the album features iconic Yé-Yé stars alongside cult favorites and international performers. Among the highlights are two standout tracks from the legendary Françoise Hardy, irresistible contributions from France Gall including the Serge Gainsbourg-penned hit Laisser Tomber Les Filles, cult garage-pop gems by Jacqueline Taïeb, and screen icon Anna Karina performing Roller Girl. The compilation also showcases unique French-language adaptations of American and British pop hits performed by Marie Laforêt, Sheila, Charlotte Leslie, and Les Surfs. Accompanied by meticulous mastering and an extensive historical context, C'est Chic! stands as an essential time capsule of 1960s Gallic pop culture.

Released in 2010 on Liquid Tambourine Records, Revisited is professional surfer and musician Donavon Frankenreiter's complete acoustic and Hawaiian-inspired reinterpretation of his acclaimed 2004 self-titled debut album. Recorded on Kauai alongside longtime bandmate Matt Grundy, Kirk Smart, and David Leach, the album reimagines classic fan favorites like "Free" and "It Don't Matter" through laid-back island arrangements featuring ukulele, lap steel guitar, and slack-key tuned guitars, capturing the effortless warmth of his coastal lifestyle.

Classics, the fifth Era album by producer Eric Lévi, is similar in style to previous releases but is novel in its new age adaptation of well-known classical works by Giulio Caccini, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Verdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Gustav Mahler, George Frederick Handel, and Samuel Barber. The past couple Era albums, The Mass (2003) and Reborn (2008), weren't as well received as the first couple, Era (1997) and Era 2 (2000). Though this didn't prevent them from reaching the Top Ten of the French albums chart, many fans expressed disappointment that Lévi was increasingly running out of good ideas and either repeating himself or, in the case of songs like "Kilimandjaro" from Reborn, making awful music. Rather than come up with fresh material of his own once again, Lévi goes back to the classics for Classics, crafting Era-style new age adaptations of Caccini's Ave Maria, Vivaldi's Spring and Winter from The Four Seasons…

Band on the Run is generally considered to be Paul McCartney's strongest solo effort. The album was also his most commercially successful, selling well and spawning two hit singles, the multi-part pop suite of the title track and the roaring rocker "Jet." On these cuts and elsewhere, McCartney's penchant for sophisticated, nuanced arrangements and irrepressibly catchy melodic hooks is up to the caliber he displayed in the Beatles, far surpassing the first two Wings releases, Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway. The focus found in Band on the Run may have to do with the circumstances of its creation: two former members quit the band prior to recording, leaving McCartney, wife Linda, and guitarist Denny Laine to complete the album alone (with Paul writing, producing, and playing most of the instruments himself)…

Released in 2010, When The Curtain Goes Up is a powerhouse studio effort from Las Vegas' legendary 15-piece horn band, Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns. Led by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Lopez, the ensemble features an elite roster of top-tier Vegas session musicians and brass heavyweights who have backed world-class icons. Seamlessly blending scorching brass section arrangements, tight funk rhythm sections, and soulful Latin-infused jazz-rock, the album captures the electrifying, big-band energy that made their weekly Vegas residencies a must-see for funk and brass enthusiasts worldwide.

Released in 2010 on BBE, Gilles Peterson - Worldwide is a celebrated two-disc compilation honoring the seminal BBC Radio 1 broadcast and international syndicated radio show hosted by legendary DJ, label founder, and tastemaker Gilles Peterson. Curating 27 landmark tracks that premiered on or were catapulted to global fame by Peterson's show, this collection serves as a definitive roadmap of underground music culture across the late 1990s and 2000s. Spanning Cinematic Orchestra, Erykah Badu, Q-Tip, Amy Winehouse, and J Dilla alongside groundbreaking cuts from Little Dragon, M.I.A., Dizzee Rascal, Benga, and Darkstar, the album effortlessly bridges nu-jazz, broken beat, neo-soul, future hip-hop, dubstep, and Afrobeat.

Being the oldest son of Louisiana harmonica legend Raful Neal and having Lazy Lester, Buddy Guy, and Slim Harpo as family friends and frequent household guests meant Kenny Neal literally grew up with the blues, the swamp variety and otherwise, and his career as such has been all about plying the family business. A pretty good harp player himself (he was still a toddler when he was given his first harmonica by Slim Harpo), Neal has also developed into a sleek, economical, and graceful electric guitarist, and thanks to songs like the title track here, “Hooked on Your Love,” and the wise and beautiful “Bitter with the Sweet,” he has also become a skillful songwriter. This set isn’t quite as powerful as his previous Let Life Flow album from 2008, but only by a slight degree, and it’s clear that Neal has hit his mature stride in the past couple of years…

Released in 2010 on Concord Records, 6 String Theory is a monumental celebration of the electric and acoustic guitar organized by legendary jazz-fusion maestro Lee Ritenour. Celebrating 50 years of playing the instrument, Ritenour assembled an incredible cross-genre line-up of world-class guitar virtuosos spanning jazz, blues, rock, acoustic, and classical traditions. Highlights include blistering electric duels and collaborations with B.B. King, George Benson, John Scofield, Joe Bonamassa, Robert Cray, Slash, Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, Mike Stern, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', and Guthrie Govan. Blending blues standards, jazz fusion jams, pop reinventions, and intricate acoustic showcases, this album is a masterclass in guitar craftsmanship and a definitive tribute to six-string artistry.

Released in 2010 on Concord Records, 6 String Theory is a monumental celebration of the electric and acoustic guitar organized by legendary jazz-fusion maestro Lee Ritenour. Celebrating 50 years of playing the instrument, Ritenour assembled an incredible cross-genre line-up of world-class guitar virtuosos spanning jazz, blues, rock, acoustic, and classical traditions. Highlights include blistering electric duels and collaborations with B.B. King, George Benson, John Scofield, Joe Bonamassa, Robert Cray, Slash, Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, Mike Stern, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', and Guthrie Govan. Blending blues standards, jazz fusion jams, pop reinventions, and intricate acoustic showcases, this album is a masterclass in guitar craftsmanship and a definitive tribute to six-string artistry.

Released independently in 2010, Vibrainium is an explosive and fiery modern hard bop showcase led by drummer, composer, and producer Chris Massey alongside his formidable Nue Jazz Project. Featuring a tight, hard-hitting quintet comprised of saxophonist Benjamin Drazen, trumpeter Donald Malloy, pianist Evgeny Lebedev, and bassist David Ostrem, the album bridges classic post-bop intensity with modern acoustic jazz sensibility. Anchored by Massey's driving drum work, the ensemble delivers powerful interpretations of Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" and Chick Corea's "Windows," alongside intricate originals like the sprawling title track "Vibranium," the comic-inspired "Galactus," and Malloy's soulful "Smooth."

Released in 2010 on the renowned Canadian experimental label Les Disques Victo, Birds Abide documents a masterclass in spontaneous free improvisation from three avant-garde pioneers: double bass virtuoso Barre Phillips, belgian vocal artist Catherine Jauniaux, and American violinist/composer Malcolm Goldstein. Recorded live at the 2009 Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV), this trio crafts an intimate, highly texture-driven soundscape. Blending extended techniques—scraped strings, vocal vocalizations, microtonal bowing, and resonant pizzicato—across six extended improvisations, Birds Abide is an adventurous, deeply reactive exploration of sonic space and unstructured dialogue.

Santana was still a respected rock veteran in 1999, but it had been years since he had a hit, even if he continued to fare well on the concert circuits. Clive Davis, the man who had signed Santana to Columbia in 1968, offered him the opportunity to set up shop at his label, Arista. In the tradition of comebacks and label debuts by veteran artists in the '90s, Supernatural, Santana's first effort for Arista, is designed as a star-studded event. At first listen, there doesn't seem to be a track that doesn't have a guest star, which brings up the primary problem with the album - despite several interesting or excellent moments, it never develops a consistent voice that holds the album together. The fault doesn't lay with the guest stars or even with Santana, who continues to turn in fine performances. There's just a general directionless feeling to the record, enhanced by several songs that seem like excuses for jams, which, truth be told, isn't all that foreign on latter-day Santana records…

Released in 2010 on FMR Records, Boundless brings together four towering figures of the British free improvisation scene: saxophonist Paul Dunmall, guitarists Barry Edwards and Philip Gibbs, and master percussionist Mark Sanders. Recorded live at the Victoria, Birmingham, the album captures an unscripted, high-intensity sonic conversation across five untitled improvisational pieces ("AA" through "AE"). Featuring the unusual dual-guitar interplay of Edwards and Gibbs set against Dunmall's roaring, expressive saxophone work and Sanders' fluid, hyper-responsive polyrhythms, this session culminates in the massive 22-minute centerpiece "AE"—a tour de force of spontaneous energy, textural depth, and uncompromising collective improvisation.