No Filters is an album released in 1991 by Wolfgang Schmid, a renowned German bassist and composer, known for his work in the jazz fusion genre. Schmid was a member of the famous German jazz fusion band Passport, but with this album, he led his own project, Wolfgang Schmid’s Kick, a group focused on creating energetic and innovative fusion music.

Samson François He travelled across the world of music like a meteor, a shooting star. Excessive in all things, he burned his candle at both ends. The cigarette forever on his lips was a symbol of the fire that burned within this man who had a passion for jazz and the shadowy world of the night. Born in 1924 in Frankfurt, to a French father and a glamorous Alsatian mother, he spent his childhood and adolescence being taken from town to town, this artistic soul was profoundly sensitive, a romantic with a fanciful streak, often unpredictable. An admirer of Arthur Rimbaud and André Breton, he shared a little of their fire. Samson François was a real performer: one for whom the phrase "inspiration" was more than a cliché. Whether in poetic mood or in a frenzy, he never left his listeners indifferent. He could even throw them off balance at concerts where nothing special happened: that is what a real creator can do, and François was one. Hemmed in within the limits of his keyboard, he had the imaginative range to be a composer, and he wrote the music for a film a Piano Concerto (which he also recorded), pieces for the piano and… lots of aborted projects. His favourite repertoire? Ravel, Debussy, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt and Prokofiev, a choice which allowed him to express the extremes of his unstable and fascinating spirit.

Barry White: A Collection of Great Songs is a compilation album by the legendary American soul and R&B singer Barry White, released in 2001. This collection brings together some of the best and most iconic tracks from White’s extensive career. Known for his deep, rich voice and romantic, smooth style, Barry White became one of the most influential figures in soul and R&B music, particularly during the 1970s

Overdrive is an instrumental jazz fusion album by American keyboardist and composer Adam Holzman, released in 1994. Adam Holzman is known for his work in jazz, especially his contributions to the progressive and fusion subgenres. Prior to Overdrive, he gained recognition for his work with Miles Davis, performing on Davis’s album Amandla (1989), and with Chick Corea Elektric Band. Holzman’s background in jazz and fusion brings a unique flavor to his solo work.

Saint Etienne's previous album, 2021's I've Been Trying To Tell You, was a master class in vibes. The band's ingenious use of layered, reconfigured samples and hazy, gloriously imprecise sonics evoked a warm sense of nostalgia for the post-rave chillout rooms of a pre-Internet dreamworld. That album's ethereality also had a sort of closing-reel drama in its cinematic approach to tone and mood; it would have been for a movie that left you wistful but happy.

John Surman's debut as a leader for ECM is an atmospheric solo set that utilizes overdubbing (although leaving space for unaccompanied solo sections). Surman performs eight of his moody and often-introspective originals, playing soprano, baritone, bass clarinet and synthesizers. Fortunately there is enough variety in this generally quiet music to hold one's interest.

When Made In Germany published their eponymous album on Metronome in 1971, this was the reward for their committed practising in grumpy rehearsal rooms for many years. All this began at Beethoven Gymnasium (College) in West Berlin. The West Berliners had started as a schoolboy band in order to play the hits of their protagonists. Under the name of "Cosmics" they still considered the "making of music" a hobby. In 1968 they won the first prize in an international beat festival together with the Chechen band "Atlantis". The bands became friends and saw each others. When the musicians of "Atlantis" split up, their guitarist (Stan Regal) stayed in Berlin, married and started to work in Audio recording studio. This was a favourable combination for the band to fulfil their dream to record their music material in a proper recording studio and to get a recording contract as they were technically well-experienced and sufficiently self-confident, too…

Formed in 1969 in the lace city of Nottingham, England - Paper Lace were just one of hundreds of bands looking for the big time. Their big break came in 1974, when after winning the nationwide talent show "Opportunity Knocks", they were spotted by the songwriting team of Mitch Murray & Peter Callander. The first single "Billy - Don't Be A Hero" topped the U.K. charts for 3 weeks in March 1974. The follow up single,"The Night Chicago Died" hit the number one slot on both the U.S.& Canadian charts [#3 in the U.K]. An album - " Paper Lace and Other Bits of Material" followed. The 3rd. single release "The Black Eyed Boys" narrowly missed the U.K. top 10 [#11]. In 1978 Paper Lace had a top 20 version of "We've Got the Whole World in Our Hands" in conjunction with local football team Nottingham Forest F.C.

Ice Pickin' is the album that brought Albert Collins directly back into the limelight, and for good reason, too. The record captures the wild, unrestrained side of his playing that had never quite been documented before. Though his singing doesn't quite have the fire or power of his playing, the album doesn't suffer at all because of that - he simply burns throughout the album. Ice Pickin' was his first release for Alligator Records and it set the pace for all the albums that followed. No matter how much he tried, Collins never completely regained the pure energy that made Ice Pickin' such a revelation.

The son of Bad Company is what this debut by the band Sharks resembles, lead vocalist Snips sounding like he gargled with Kim Carnes and Paul Rodgers' mouthwash, that gravel voice Rod Stewart made the most of accompanied here by guitar great Chris Spedding, drummer Marty Simon, and bassist Andy Fraser from the group Free. This self-titled debut doesn't have the groove of their 1974 release, Jab It in Yore Eye, despite four of the nine songs written by Fraser (replaced by Busta Cherry Jones on the follow-up), including "Doctor Love," a song Leslie West covered for his The Great Fatsby album, generating some early validation for this work.

Ceruleo celebrate the music of Barbara Strozzi, one of the greatest composers of the seventeenth century, and the most published composer of secular song of her time. Her distinctive style is characterised by virtuosic vocal lines, sophisticated interplay between voices and accompaniment, and a dramatic approach to text setting that went above and beyond that of her influences Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli. This is music of passion and desire; for love – both in general and in the specific form of another person – but also a longing for an answer to life’s questions or for relief from life’s burdens. With two sopranos, viola da gamba, harpsichord and lute, Ceruleo bring to life the music of this extraordinary composer, combining a selection of her finest works with instrumental pieces by her contemporaries.

This CD, in places, just cranks it up and spits out a wall of undiluted rock and roll. Straight ahead full speed ahead and tell everything to get out of our way. "Gypsy Blood," and "Dancin' on Top of the World," are two cuts that really stand out in this vein. A couple of the tracks just seem to be languishing in a daze as if they've suffered a concussion, and can't decide which way to go. This CD is produced by Dave Edmunds, and I like a lot of his work because when it hits, it hits hard. However, when it misses it leaves you scratching your head wondering. The band is tight, just sometimes lacking that guiding hand. The hard-charging "Courage" alone makes this a worthwhile disc, and there is more than just that track to pick the listener up. (Bob Gottlieb, AMG)

American soprano Renee Fleming's first-ever holiday album celebrates the beloved and iconic Christmas season in New York City. From the holiday windows lining 5th Avenue to the red and green-lit spire of the Empire State Building, the essence of the city at the most wonderful time of year is captured on Christmas in New York. Pop, Broadway and jazz greats Chris Botti, Kurt Elling, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Kelli O Hara, Gregory Porter and Rufus Wainwright join Renée as she lends her sublime voice to hits like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Silver Bells" and other gems, including "Central Park Serenade" a brand new duet by songwriting legend Diane Warren. In total, Renee Fleming and her guests have won 16 Grammy awards across multiple categories.

Child Is Father to the Man is keyboard player/singer/arranger Al Kooper's finest work, an album on which he moves the folk-blues-rock amalgamation of the Blues Project into even wider pastures, taking in classical and jazz elements (including strings and horns), all without losing the pop essence that makes the hybrid work. This is one of the great albums of the eclectic post-Sgt. Pepper era of the late '60s, a time when you could borrow styles from Greenwich Village contemporary folk to San Francisco acid rock and mix them into what seemed to have the potential to become a new American musical form. It's Kooper's bluesy songs, such as "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and "I Can't Quit Her," and his singing that are the primary focus, but the album is an aural delight; listen to the way the bass guitar interacts with the horns on "My Days Are Numbered" or the charming arrangement and Steve Katz's vocal on Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory." Then Kooper sings Harry Nilsson's "Without Her" over a delicate, jazzy backing with flügelhorn/alto saxophone interplay by Randy Brecker and Fred Lipsius.

Debut studio album by Great Aretha Franklin, Released in 1956 by JVB/Battle Records. The album was recorded live when Franklin was aged 14 at New Bethel Baptist Church, the church of her father Reverend C. L. Franklin. The album was originally issued on JVB LP 100 and Battle LP 6105. It is always known on Checker Records as Checker LPS-10009. Songs of Faith has been reissued many times under various names. It is known also as The Gospel Soul of Aretha Franklin, Aretha's Gospel, Precious Lord, You Grow Closer, Never Grow Old, and The First Album.