From Georgia, Stillwater released its debut album back in 1977 and instantly showed great promise, especially due to the catchiness of the hard-rockin' material and the excellent fretwork on tracks such as "Rock 'n' Roll Loser," "Out on a Limb," "Fantasy Park," "Universal Fool," and the excellent "Mindbender," with its "talk box" chorus, that actually made a minor dent in the single's charts.
On the majority of these songs, with Stillwater's triple guitar team front and center over some light electric piano, organ, or synth accompaniment, the group sounded similar in many respects to James Gang (Tommy Bolin-era), REO Speedwagon, or Peter Frampton's solo material with more than a touch of Southern Rock added to the overall style, but a commercialized, sparser version of the latter, similar to groups such as 38 Special or Hydra…

Violinist Augustin Hadelich embarks on an American Road Trip, travelling the musical highways and byways of his adoptive homeland in the company of pianist Orion Weiss. The duo perform works by a melting pot of American composers, writing in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and drawing on a diversity of idioms, influences and inspirations … from European Romanticism to revivalist hymns; from blues and jazz to bluegrass; from the banjo and ukelele to Jimi Hendrix’s guitar, and from a little Mexican star to exquisite Japanese carvings. Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Charles Ives and John Adams take their place beside Amy Beach, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Eddie South, Howdy Forrester, Manuel M. Ponce and – flying the flag for today’s composers along with Adams – Daniel Bernard Roumain and Stephen Hartke.

Roll up, roll up! All aboard the 19th century ZRI celebration cruise from Vienna to Odessa! Our legendary house band are as stylishly up to the moment as ever, reimagining the latest hits by Herren Rossini, Strauss, Schubert and even Dr Brahms with an intoxicating Romani twist!

Altoist/arranger Benny Carter's classic Further Definitions is a revisiting, instrumentation-wise, to the famous 1937 session that Carter and tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins made in France with two top European saxophonists (Andre Ekyan and Alix Combelle) and guitarist Django Reinhardt. The all-star group (which also includes Hawkins, altoist Phil Woods, Charlie Rouse on second tenor, pianist Dick Katz, guitarist John Collins, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Jo Jones) performs a particularly inspired repertoire. Carter's charts, which allow Hawkins to stretch out on "Body and Soul," give everyone a chance to shine. "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Crazy Rhythm" hold their own with the 1937 versions, and "Blue Star" and "Doozy" prove to be two of Carter's finest originals. Although Benny Carter was not actively playing much at the time (this was his only small-group recording during 1963-1975), he is heard in typically prime form. Very highly recommended.

Following the well-acclaimed "Firescorched", released in 2022, the new album "Something To Pierce" promises to be even more aggressive, both musically and lyrically. The band's tenth installement is a bold amalgamation of technique, aggression and experimentation; in short, "a further step towards the definition of a unique music style, which you can’t help but love…or hate," comments founding member & mastermind, Tommy Talamanca. "Like it or not, nobody sounds like Sadist!"

While still a member of the Charles Lloyd Quartet, Keith Jarrett did some occasional moonlighting with a trio, anchored by two future members of Jarrett's classic quartet, Charlie Haden (bass) and Paul Motian (drums). On this CD, Jarrett turns in a very eclectic set at Shelly's Manne-Hole in Hollywood, careening through a variety of idioms where his emerging individuality comes through in flashes. He covers Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages" - which actually came out as a single on the Vortex label - in an attractive, semi-funky style reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi. "Pretty Ballad" delivers a strong reflective dose of Bill Evans, while "Moving Soon" is chaotic free jazz. By the time we reach "New Rag," we begin to hear the distinctive Jarrett idiom of the later trios, but then, "Old Rag" is knockabout stride without the stride. As an example of early, unfocused Jarrett, this is fascinating material.