Bobby Hutcherson's second quartet session, Oblique, shares both pianist Herbie Hancock and drummer Joe Chambers with his first, Happenings (bassist Albert Stinson is a newcomer). However, the approach is somewhat different this time around. For starters, there's less emphasis on Hutcherson originals; he contributes only three of the six pieces, with one from Hancock and two from the typically free-thinking Chambers. And compared to the relatively simple compositions and reflective soloing on Happenings, Oblique is often more complex in its post-bop style and more emotionally direct (despite what the title may suggest). The latter is especially true on the two opening Hutcherson pieces, the sweetly lilting "'Til Then" and the innocent, childlike theme of "My Joy," which is reminiscent of "Little B's Poem" (save for its multi-sectioned structure)…

The music of Shostakovich has been core to Klaus and the Oslo Philharmonic’s programming from the start of their relationship, and they first performed Symphony no. 5 in November 2019 - before Klaus took up his tenure as Chief Conductor. A special performance of the 5th symphony in Oslo on 14th August will celebrate the release of this album on Decca Classics. Mäkelä & the Philharmonic will go on to perform the symphonies on tour later this year, including concerts at Salzburg Festival and Musikfest, Berlin.

A fine compilation of 1965-73 BBC performances, the majority of the tracks hailing from 1965-67, although some are drawn from 1970 and 1973. As one of the best live bands ever, the Who as expected come through pretty well in the live-in-the-studio environment, although the arrangements usually stick close to the records. Most of the songs were done by the group for studio releases as well, but there are a few covers that they never put on their albums or singles at the time, making this essential for the fan. Those numbers include the obscure James Brown tune "Just You and Me, Darling," "Dancing in the Street," ""Good Lovin'," and "Leaving Here" (although a mid-1960s studio version of that last song was eventually released).

Off the Wall was a massive success, spawning four Top Ten hits (two of them number ones), but nothing could have prepared Michael Jackson for Thriller. Nobody could have prepared anybody for the success of Thriller, since the magnitude of its success was simply unimaginable – an album that sold 40 million copies in its initial chart run, with seven of its nine tracks reaching the Top Ten (for the record, the terrific "Baby Be Mine" and the pretty good ballad "The Lady in My Life" are not like the others). This was a record that had something for everybody, building on the basic blueprint of Off the Wall by adding harder funk, hard rock, softer ballads, and smoother soul – expanding the approach to have something for every audience.

Swedish outfit Tribute was formed in Norrköping in 1982 by multi-instrumentalists Per Gideon Andersson and Christer Josef Hedin. An idea to produce and perform a concert on the concept "A Tribute to the Music" was what started it all - the twosome had already written all the music and it was then a matter of assembling the needed musicians. Many long nights of rehearsals followed, as well as much legwork for the promotion of the event, and when it went down on May 28th 1982 it was an astounding success. The concert hall was filled to the brim and the audience was more than pleased. It was then decided to make this an ongoing musical venture. The band travelled to Holland and Germany, and got themselves about 50 gigs there, and also anaged to secure a spot at the Montraux jazz festival after knocking on quite a few doors…

Ian Boddy is a venerable e-music veteran, so it's fitting and proper that Box of Secrets, the debut release on his DiN label, is one of his best - even one of the best CDs of this style and genre. With a reputation for creating cutting-edge European electronica, Boddy weaves deep atmospheres and metallic textures to create futuristic space music. This auspicious adventure lends itself to active listening, and the sound design incorporates an intellectual approach within a flexible structure. That allows Boddy to use free-flowing atmospheres and tight sequences to create an essential CD.

Both of Young Flowers' studio albums (1968's Blomsterpistolen and 1969's No. 2) are included in their entirety on this two-CD compilation, which also has a 1967 non-LP single and the three songs they contributed to the 1970 Quiet Days in Clichy soundtrack, as well as three live September 1969 recordings. With English-language liner notes, it's the definite collection of this Danish psychedelic group. As the back cover points out, they were "the first Danish hippy band, the first home-grown rock band to sing in Danish (though the majority of their recordings were in English), and the first to play the States." These are substantial achievements, so it makes a reviewer feel like a party pooper to point out that in many respects, they were a run-of-the-mill late-'60s act. Their debts to Jimi Hendrix and Cream, in both the song structures and the guitar distortion…

History has proven that when the world is in flames, it ignites the empathetic artists to siren their words, music, and rhythm, to blanket our society’s fury and nurse scorched souls. The seemingly endless years of pandemic lockdown and social distancing, coupled with the turbulent plague of civil unrest and racial injustice, called on Vintage Trouble to step into their battle wear. Like so often before, they have spun records to drop onto the fighting grounds, with the intent to freeze the frame long enough to momentarily halt the warring world. And while at ease, we can freely choose to think before we strike or decide to retreat, rather than thoughtlessly charge into repeating history. This collection of heavy hymns is from the heart, and it provides a necessary rise to our ever reckoning.

Ian Gillan's final solo outing before his second comeback with Deep Purple is possibly the singer's most rocking solo collection. Originally a European release, Toolbox finally appeared in North American record stores in 1997. The disc is hampered by its '80s production (complete with faux-Van Halen guitar licks and big reverb drum sounds) but Gillan's personality and dynamic performances preserve Toolbox's sharp rock & roll edge. Tracks like "Candy Horizon" and "Don't Hold Me Back" have more than their share of questionable lyrics, but Gillan's trademark screams easily overshadow any poetic shortcomings. Nothing can compare to the classic recordings Gillan was involved with in the early '70s, but among his second-tier offerings, Toolbox is definitely one of the best.

This delightfully wide-ranging jazz quintet album from Kenny Barron opens with a delicate reading of Washington and Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You” and closes with a brisk sax and piano duet cover of Thelonious Monk’s “We See”. There is a nod to the Jazz Messengers with drummer Jonathan Blake’s composition “Blues on Stratford Road”, and drums and piano rampage through an unusually taut duet version of “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise”.
But the body of the album, and indeed its subtle emotional range, comes from the five Barron originals that span the breadth of the pianist’s 50-plus-year career. “Sunset”, released on Muse in 1973, was the first track on Barron’s debut solo album Sunset to Dawn. Back then it was interpreted through swirls of resonant Fender Rhodes, but here an acoustic band get to the essence of the tune’s prowling melody and sinuous left-hand groove…

2006 reissue with 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks.
High Tide's self-titled second album from 1970 continues the great jamming heavy prog rock tradition that they initiated with Sea Shanties from 1969.
"High Tide" grafts violin (courtesy of future Hawkwind and Third Ear Band member Simon House), alongside little touches of organ, piano and more acoustic guitar flavours this time around, and the LP offers fleeting moments of folk, raga-rock and acid elements woven to the relentless mud-thick sludgy guitars.

Recorded live on May 21, 1994 at the Breminale Blues Nights festival in Bremen, Germany, a treasure of an album from a man who spent over half a century in an urban hipster’s world of jump and jive. Floyd passed away in 1995 at the age of 80, but fortunately we have this live date to celebrate his long life in music. For Floyd that journey included playing the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, pop success in the 1940s and ’50s with the Four Blazes, an extended run with the Ink Spots in the ’90s, and a blossoming solo career that includes his first album as a leader, Let Your Hair Down. His whiskey-smooth vocals and Charlie Christian/T-Bone Walker-influenced guitar work are in fine form here. This was Floyd’s last recording, but through it his music goes on.