OUA's 6th album collides a studio session of bass driven rhythms with a marathon free improvisation session - combined, sculpted and arranged into an ever morphing tapestry of new sounds from leftfield progressive music. Fans of Soft Machine, Magma, Pink Floyd, Henry Cow, Sun Ra will enjoy this too.

Recorded in Bruce Walford's studio in San Anselmo, this album sees the Sons in transition. Tim Cain, the sax player who co-founded the band with Bill Champlin back in 1965, had left, as had trumpet player Jim Beem. The stripped down band has an opportunity to stretch out on a number of fine Bill Champlin compositions, and the album also features the recorded debut of Terry Haggerty's "Follow Your Heart", a tune that would stay in the band's set list until Haggerty's departure in 2001 (a more polished version of the tune appeared on the out of print Circle of Love album, and there is a great performance on The Sons Live CD released in 1997). Soon after the release of this album Bill Champlin took the first of his sabaticals from the group, returning to a new rhythm section and a revised name (Yogi Phlegm) several months later. Not quite as good as Welcome to the Dance, this album still cooks pretty hard and is definitely worth a listen.

When Donald Fagen and Walter Becker re-formed Steely Dan in 1994, they didn't put out a new album. They undertook a tour of sports arenas, their first tour since the days of Countdown to Ecstasy. Since Steely Dan became stars after they retired from performing, many of their dedicated fans never got a chance to see the group in concert. Given those circumstances, maybe the uniformly positive reviews of the tour were predictable. But as Alive in America proves, the shows weren't earth-shaking. Certainly they were fun - there's no denying it's a thrill to hear these songs in a live setting, both for fans and for Becker and Fagen themselves - but essentially they were exercises in nostalgia. Alive in America is enjoyable, but it offers no new insight into Steely Dan as performers, or Becker and Fagen as songwriters.

Several years after the original art rock supergroup Colosseum disbanded, drummer Jon Hiseman formed Colosseum II, a more jazz fusion-oriented outfit featuring guitarist Gary Moore (Thin Lizzy) and keyboardist Don Airey. Their eclectic debut, Strange New Flesh, shows some impressive chops from all involved, with an emphasis on Moore's soulful guitar leads. Vocalist Mike Starr, while not an immensely engaging singer, does a nice job keeping up with Hiseman and bass player Neil Murray. Highlights include the technically showy but blissfully irreverent ode to Pink Floyd, "Dark Side of the Moog," a nice version of Joni Mitchell's "Down to You," and the funky "Gemini and Leo."

BPJ producer Matt Parker's debut concept recording, finally receiving an official release. Created using the techniques of legendary jazz producer Teo Macero, and inspired by a love of dystopian Sci-Fi and progressive jazz and rock. Featuring guest appearances from Stone Foundation members Rob Newton and Anthony Gaylard.. Recorded at The Hub by Paul Adkins and Harpaal Sanghera. Mixed at The Moonbase by Jon Moonbear.

Elemental Music proudly presents this remastered edition of the best kept secret of the Spanish Jazz-Rock/Fusion scene: Iberia, the second and last album of the underrated band Música Urbana. Founded in 1976 by renowned Spanish composer Joan Albert Amargós, Música Urbana was a Barcelona-based supergroup which included members of the prog rock band Maquina! (pioneers of the Spanish underground rock panorama) and other important musicians from the Spanish Jazz scene, such as Carles Benavent (former bassist with Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Paco de Luca and Camarn de la Isla, among others). Released in 1978 by RCA Victor, Iberia masterfully fuses Jazz Rock with contemporary classical and traditional Spanish music. It can be considered one of the best Spanish albums of that decade.

Zappa ’80: Mudd Club/Munich combines two historical performances from the spring/summer 1980 band. The first is from a set at FZ’s favorite NYC nightclub – the famous Mudd Club. Presented from a hi-res transfer of the original master tape. The second, from Olympiahalle in Munich, is the first ever live direct to digital stereo recording of Zappa. Mastering by Bernie Grundman, 2022.

The second album from this British jazz-rock quintet rocks harder than their first outing. Their take on Jack Bruce's "Rope Ladder to the Moon" is especially strong, and "Jumping off the Sun" has a similar feel. "Bolero" has been done to death, but guitarist Dave Clempson (who later replaced Peter Frampton in Humble Pie) uses it to launch a showcase of guitar fireworks. In fact, Clempson's blazing guitar licks shine throughout. Dick Heckstall-Smith once again impresses on his arsenal of saxophones and woodwinds, and the seven-and-a-half minute title cut which he co-wrote with drummer Jon Hiseman is a highlight of this disc.

1969-1971 (2007). Of the first of Lasting Weep's two posthumous releases of, this one is actually the only one that could be regarded as their only testament, made from five recording sessions between 1969 and 1971, two of them for soundtracks to films or images. LW was made up of future Quebecois greats flutist/saxophonist Bergeron and multi-instrumentalist Langlois (both future Maneige), drummer Mathieu Leger (future Conventum and l'Orchestre Sympathique) and bassist Chapleau (found as a session musician on a lot of 70's records). Apparently these archives were found in one of musician's attic; and most thankfully these tapes can be finally made public…

In 1974, five musicians - guitarists Chris Brown and Jimmy Doyle, sax player Col Loughnan and the master rhythm section of Duncan McGuire (bass) and Mark Kennedy (drums) - forged a brilliant and beguiling sound with Ayers Rock. They were hailed as “musician’s musicians” - the best in their field, commanding respect from all comers. Recorded in one, live-in-the-studio session in September 1974, Big Red Rock was one of the first albums issued on the mighty Mushroom label. Despite the brief nature of the recording, the band was well prepared and the album stands as a fine example of musical skill and technique combined with song writing brilliance. This is where jazzy pop and blues rock textures meet jazz rock explorations and trippy soundscapes, where the band’s sound coalesced into a cogent whole…

Altona is a German band, founded in 1971 in Hamburg suburbs as reincarnation of krautrock band Thrice Mice. Dropping former band's classical edge in preference for a jazzier front on their debut, Altona played a lively fusion that crossed many boundaries, but kept the Blodwyn Pig feel that dominated the early Thrice Mice recordings. Mixing excellent early jazz fusion with psychedelic rock elements album's music is a real gem. In contrast, their second album Chickenfarm saw a mellowing of style, to funky edged jazz-rock with blues and soul tendencies, and an indistinctive Anglo-American type brassy-rock sound. A few Altona members later reappeared in the obscure band Dirty Dogs.

Spirale is an Italian progressive jazz rock band formed in 1973. Spirale, their first album was released in 1974. The original vinyl is very rare and desired by most collectors around the world.
In 2022 has been restored digitally by Richard Journo for White Room Music and Francesco Borrelli at Blue Spirit Recording Studio. Jazz and progressive music lovers have the chance to listen something truly special with the feel of 1974 analogue sound.

To discover an island space is always to discover Oneself. The journey is equally sensory, a slow perception of the deep nature of the Elements, as a journey into one's own interiority, our buried self. And this is all the more true when chance put you there, at the mercy of the Winds, or when it's this particular opportunity, like Robinson, of finding one's own means of sustenance, the necessary rebound to any attempt at survival.
First of all, it's the moment to summon the Spirit of Solidarity, the very one that will fertilize the relationship between Human and Earth, that will encourage the discoverers in their respectful appropriation of the Ecosystems, that will allow Cyrus, Spilett, Nab, Pencroff and Harbert, the shipwrecked from the Sky, to remain "upright", to enjoy a land that becomes their nourishing island, to finally discover the identity of a host as Mysterious as it's protective…

The Chicago Transit Authority recorded this double-barreled follow-up to their eponymously titled 1969 debut effort. The contents of Chicago II (1970) underscore the solid foundation of complex jazz changes with heavy electric rock & roll that the band so brazenly forged on the first set. The septet also continued its ability to blend the seemingly divergent musical styles into some of the best and most effective pop music of the era. One thing that had changed was the band's name, which was shortened to simply Chicago to avoid any potential litigious situations from the city of Chicago's transportation department – which claimed the name as proprietary property. Musically, James Pankow (trombone) was about to further cross-pollinate the band's sound with the multifaceted six-song "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon." The classically inspired suite also garnered the band two of its most beloved hits – the upbeat pop opener "Make Me Smile" as well as the achingly poignant "Color My World" – both of which remained at the center of the group's live sets.