Super Hits is a bargain priced collection of some of guitarist Chet Atkins 'hits.' Atkins has been well-recorded over the span of his great career in a variety of settings and this is a fairly representative set, but a bit too short at just under 25 minutes. Whether covering pop tunes in an easy listening style or some good 'ol fashioned finger-picking, Atkins technique and tone are impeccable. This recording is a fine introduction to new fans (despite no liner notes); however, this is only a microcosm of his expansive talents as a guitar legend.

Better known as founder and leader of the progressive Canadian band Sense, Stéphane Desbiens makes no compromises on "Shimmering Lights" (2006), offering us an exceptional and unconventional musical experience. Calling on its various influences, from blues, hard rock to jazz and classical music, this amazing guitarist makes no excuses as he proposes a very personal and alternative view of progressive rock music. Tomas Bodin (Flower Kings), Martin Orford (IQ) and Fred Schendel (Glass Hammer) have all contributed to this very special project…

Glenn Lewis Frey was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and painter, best known as a founding member of the rock band Eagles. During the 1970s, Frey played guitar with the band, as well as piano and keyboards. Alongside Don Henley, Frey was one of the primary singers of the Eagles; he sang lead vocals on songs such as "Take It Easy", "Peaceful Easy Feeling", "Tequila Sunrise", "Already Gone", "Lyin' Eyes", "New Kid in Town" and "Heartache Tonight". After the breakup of the Eagles in 1980, Frey embarked on a successful solo career. He released his debut album, No Fun Aloud, in 1982 and went on to record Top 40 hits "The One You Love", "Smuggler's Blues", "Sexy Girl", "The Heat Is On", "You Belong to the City", "True Love", "Soul Searchin'" and "Livin' Right".

There’s something about Texas. Open up the history books and you’ll find the Lone Star State at the eye of every rock ‘n’ roll storm. Pull up a stool in any bar-room and you’ll still hear Southern gentlemen spin stories of ZZ Top, Johnny Winter and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Now, tip a ten-gallon hat to the bandleader writing her own name onto the state’s famed back pages, as Ally Venable releases breakout third album, Texas Honey – with production from another local hero. “Ally is the future of the blues and the crossover music of American roots-rock,” nods Mike Zito. “She is Texas Honey.”

Famous as its title has become through Carl Orff's work of the same name, the original Carmina burana—a German manuscript collection of mostly secular songs, probably compiled in the early thirteenth century—is all but unknown to modern listeners. That it should be so is hardly surprising, since many of the pieces in the manuscript pose formidable editorial problems (inasmuch as they can be deciphered at all), and since virtually nothing is known about the manner in which they would have been performed and accompanied, nor about the circumstances under which they would have been heard.

This CD has music featuring keyboardist Mitch Farber in 1982 (except for one selection from 1990) that generally grooves at a relaxed pace. Randy Brecker has a few worthwhile trumpet solos, the melodies are upbeat and the lightly funky style has not dated too much. The backup group includes guitarist Steve Kahn, bassist Marc Egan and drummer Danny Gottlieb.

Twenty years ago, what is probably still the best collection of music by Piero Umiliani, “Musicaelettronica”, was released on Easy Tempo (in our opinion, the finest Italian soundtrack label ever). The album, curated by Rocco Pandiani, focussed on the astonishing creative mastery with which Umiliani played around in his Sound Work Shop studio, where he had all kinds of analogue machines to experiment with.

Digitally re-mastered and expanded edition of this 1981 album from the Funk outfit. Woods Empire featured Tommy Woods and his four sisters Linda Renee, Rhonda Maria, Iris Yvonne and Judith Ann. They made this one classic Funk album for Tabu with producer David N. Crawford, LA-s top session musicians and Earth Wind & Fires horn arranger Tom Tom 84.

A 1959 recording that was inexplicably not issued in the United States until 1992, Burning Hell ranks among John Lee Hooker's most edgy and focused performances. A companion piece to The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, it finds Hooker singing country-blues, accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar – something he rarely did after traveling north from the Mississippi Delta…

Currently one of the most exciting and active groups in boundary-pushing jazz, is the collective trio Thumbscrew, who release their sixth album in seven years with Never Is Enough. Constantly taking the simple, ‘guitar trio’ line-up into new territories, their music is a masterclass of musical interplay and focused forward momentum.

First album from the best Italian jazz-rock band (formed in Rome in 71), and the first of a few masterpieces in a row, all of them being distinctive from one another, something that’s not always evident in the JR/F style. Perigeo has their sound somewhere between Mwandishi, MD’s BB, Soft Machine, Nucleus and Iceberg. I have rarely seen such a bizarre/ugly artwork illustrating so well the music on the disc: if you can easily picture your head/brains after listen of this album through the headphone, chances are that it wouldn’t look too far away from this, maybe with added smoke coming out of the ears.

On what was probably Gerry Mulligan's last studio album (recorded less than a year before his death), the great baritonist is heard still in prime form. He contributed all ten compositions and the emphasis is on lyricism and slower tempoes; only three songs are taken above a medium pace. There are fine cameos by Grover Washington Jr. on tenor and soprano (during the first two numbers), cornetist Warren Vache and trumpeter Ryan Kisor. In addition, guitarist John Scofield and vibraphonist Dave Samuels (who both played with Jeru in the 1970's) are on many of the tracks and pianist Dave Grusin is on some although there is no identification as to which songs. A five-piece brass section was overdubbed on a later occasion…

Tangerine Dream's 'Wavelength' is the soundtrack to an obscure Robert Carradine sci-fi film from 1983, and while it offered nothing truly fresh or groundbreaking from the band, it's still makes for a fine background listen while offering several variations of spacey/electronic ambience. Composed by the trio of Edgar Froese, Christopher Franke and Johannes Schmoelling, considering the albums around it such as 'Hyperborea', 'White Eagle' etc, 'Wavelength' still features the ghostly Melloton, as well as having a distinct mid-70's TD period sound instead of the cold plastic 80's that was emerging during that time…

These pre-Chicago recordings of Fritz Reiner with the Pittsburghers is a reminder of his greatness as a conductor. It also restores to the catalog his recordings of some composers he wasn't closely identified with. Shostakovitch, for example, wasn't a regular on Reiner's studio schedule, but should have been, for this Sixth bristles with sardonic wit and energy. The Kodaly Dances, of course, were right up Reiner's alley, and get a smashing performance. The shorter works too, are first class, especially the Bart243;k Hungarian Sketches and another Reiner calling card, Kabalevsky's Colas Breugnon Overture. Weiner's string Divertimento is charming, but the real prize may be Glinka's Kamarinskaya, given a peformance that shimmers and glistens with delicacy and life. Sony's restoration of the 1945-1947 recordings is faultless.