In its 1990's heyday the new-school ambient label Fax Records attracted some of the most gifted electronic musicians in the world. The Iranian-born, German-based DJ and composer Dr. Atmo (real name Amir Abadi) was one of Fax's brightest talents. As a DJ he was one of the artists who hung out at Frankfurt's legendary XS Club, a Sunday chillout event where many young e-musicians connected with the dance music scene performed and got to know each other. Atmo was a prolific composer during these years, though he much preferred collaborations to solo work. His collaborartions included some the era's most outstanding chillout albums with names like Oliver Lieb, Pete Namlook and Deep Space Network.

Mabern Plays Coltrane is a vibrant live recording of the late, great Harold Mabern performing the music of John Coltrane featuring an all-star sextet with Eric Alexander, Vincent Herring, Steve Davis, John Webber, and Joe Farnsworth.
Harold held a special reverence for John Coltrane. "He was very influential in my life and my playing, too," he once said. "After being around him and seeing what a great human being he was - man, I wish the whole world could have known John Coltrane."
Mabern Plays Coltrane is culled from the final three-nights of a three-week residency at Smoke’s annual year ending John Coltrane Festival that started in 2017 ended with these performances that Mabern and the band played in January 2018…

Following the release of his most successful album to date, 2013's The North Borders, as well as an even more triumphant world tour, British producer Bonobo (Simon Green) returned in 2017 with his sixth proper studio full-length, Migration. The album was partially inspired by his touring experiences, but also by the death of a relative. Green's family is spread out across the world, and they all reconvened in Brighton, England for the funeral. These types of experiences cause Green to question what identity means, and where a person is from if he or she is constantly moving. As with all Bonobo recordings, Green absorbs a multitude of cultural influences here, from the underground club sounds of London to American folk songs…

LET THE MERMAIDS FLIRT WITH ME: A TRIBUTE TO MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT is award-winning singer/ guitarist Erin Harpe’s latest album, honoring one of her greatest influences, Mississippi John Hurt. Hailed by Living Blues Magazine as “one of the finest fingerpicking acoustic blues singers in the land” and as embodying “today’s country blues at its very best”, the rising star’s dynamic approach to finger style Piedmont blues has captivated audiences worldwide. Coming out on her own Erin Harpe Music label through the VizzTone Label Group (her 5th VizzTone release!), Following up her highly successful self-produced acoustic album “Meet Me In The Middle” (which won the prestigious Album of the Year title from the New England Music Awards), Erin once again shows off her growing prowess as arranger and producer with this intimate album, filled with imaginative authentic versions of Mississippi John Hurt classics.

This re-release of Sunshine Superman might well be titled "The Ultimate Experience," or "The Total Immersion Version" - expanded to 67 minutes, it contains a new 24-bit remastering of the U.S. version of the album (the U.K. version, though it contained Donovan's preferred cover art, was compromised in its content by its extended delay in release, into the following year, owing to legal wrangling of the artist's management and recording contracts in the U.K.), plus seven chronologically related bonus tracks, "Breezes of Patchulie," "Museum" (in an early, lighter-textured version than its officially released recording from the next album), "Superlungs" (in the first of three distinctly different renditions); the longer stereo mix of "Sunshine Superman," and four never-before-heard tracks - "The Land of Doesn't Have to Be" and demo versions of "Good Trip" and "House of Jansch"…

Pentatonix are back in the holiday spirit with the recent announcement of their new holiday album. Titled Christmas In The City, the Grammy-winning vocal quintet’s latest project is set for an October 24 release. According to a statement, the 16-track album “celebrates the magic of Christmastime in New York” and features a blend of holiday classics and brand-new originals.

“Women Deserve Rage” marks Imany’s return. A powerful work that resonates like a manifesto of emancipation. Born from a vital need to reclaim her truth, it carries the voice of a woman who chooses to be reborn free. An album shaped by time, heart, and guts. It speaks of open and closed wounds, of healing as a legacy, of transmission as a duty, and of a lucid love. A love that doesn’t hide its face, but looks straight into the shadows and draws light from them.

This progressive rock group has been formed in São Paulo in 1970 by multi-instrumentalist Manito (former The Clevers and Os Incríveis), Pedrinho Batera (drums/vocals) and bass player Pedrão Baldanza. With this formation they released their excellent debut "Snegs" in 1974. The music presented here is actually a kind of mixture of Italian symphonic prog and (south)-american jazz with some influences by English space rock.

There's plenty of love in the tones of Steve Kuhn's piano here - that deeply expressive sound that we first came to love in his earliest years, matured beautifully in the subtle setting of a straight trio date like this - with help from Buster Williams on bass and Bill Stewart on drums! The title's a standard, but the record's hardly a rehash of too-familiar tunes - and instead, Kuhn unlocks most of the songs with a fresh look at their structures, and some really inventive work on piano during his solos.