The type of warm, sophisticated jazz-inflected pop/rock proffered by Bruce Hornsby & the Range was probably the last thing anyone expected to find at the top of the charts in the late '80s. Yet Hornsby, with his virtuosic piano playing and mature song craftsmanship, placed six consecutive singles into the Top 40 between 1986 and 1990, among them the number one "The Way It Is" and the equally solid "Mandolin Rain" and "The Valley Road," both of which reached the Top Five. Hornsby's career has taken many turns in the two decades since his first appearance, and while his commercial fortunes have dissipated, his willingness to grow as a musician, to dodge stagnation, has only expanded. That's what Intersections 1985-2005 is all about…

Jonas Hellborg is a Swedish bass guitarist. He has collaborated with John McLaughlin, Ustad Sultan Khan, Fazal Qureshi, Bill Laswell, Shawn Lane, Jens Johansson, Anders Johansson, Michael Shrieve, V. Selvaganesh, Jeff Sipe, Mattias IA Eklundh, Public Image Ltd, and Buckethead.

Jamaaladeen Tacuma, G. Calvin Weston, Mary Halvorson, Marc Ribot: 4 professional, harmolodic noise improvisers with an uncommon love of Philly soul and hard groove. Forever young, forever Philadelphian, forever fixated on the moment before dance went digital. Stuck in the groove like a scratch in your favorite record. Ladies and Gentlemen…the hardest working musicians in punk/funk/soul/noise: The Young Philadelphians!!!

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.

Recorded at Delta Studio in Canterbury (date unspecified) and released in 2007 on the fusion/prog label Moonjune, Numero d'Vol is an inspired improv session between famous Soft Machine bassist Hugh Hopper, avant-garde jazz sax player Simon Picard, jazz keyboardist Steve Franklin, and drummer – and This Heat mastermind – Charles Hayward. The album's title is French for "Flight Number" and, yes, inspiration flies high in this music.

Persuaded by Laswell to continue working throughout the second half of 1980s, drummer Ginger Baker produced some of his most stimulating collections, not least of which were the Laswell produced Middle Passage and this 1986 set. The drummer is rock-solid throughout, which means that most of the compositions become a showcase for an impressive lineup of guest musicians that reads like a list of the Bill Laswell all-stars. Even when pared down to an all-rhythm trio on "Mountain Time," Baker, though undeniably effective, remains the big beat behind Daniel Ponce and Aiyb Dieng's percussion display.

Three-time Grammy winner, Larry Carlton and Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto, the most renowned guitarist in all of Asia, teamed up to compose, record, and release "Take Your Pick", an extraordinary collection of 12 original instrumentals already being hailed as "one of the most significant collaborations of contemporary guitar of all time."