More generous than the 20-track The Very Best Of, Essential Bill Withers is a 34-track anthology that features all of Withers' notable singles, along with other highlights from the singer's albums for the Sussex and Columbia labels, from 1971's Just as I Am through 1985's Watching You Watching Me. This is a fine and extensive introduction to Withers' catalog, featuring "Ain't No Sunshine," "Lean on Me," "Use Me," "Lovely Day," and "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh." He also recorded scads of excellent deep album cuts that could not fit. In 2013, the lovingly packaged The Complete Sussex and Columbia Albums Collection – released the previous year – retailed for roughly three times the price of this set. Anyone with a serious interest in Withers' work should seriously consider that option, though it doesn't contain "Just the Two of Us," the big hit from Grover Washington, Jr.'s Winelight album.

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.

The UK band Regal Worm is, first and foremost, the creative vehicle of composer and musician Jarrod Gosling, otherwise known as a member of the bands Skywatchers, I Monster and Henry Fool. Regal Worm sees Jarrod striking out on his own and is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream ever since he listened to his dad's cassettes of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Mike Oldfield and Rick Wakeman. The debut 'Use and Ornament' was recorded in Jarrod's 'Pig View' studio utilising dangerous vintage machinery (including his prized Mellotron M400).
First thing to strike is Golsling's endless instrumental flexibility, handling guitars, modern and analog synths, piano, bass, percussion, wind instruments, effects and samplers and the list goes on…

Originally issued in Japan in 1998, Sonic Origami was released in the U.S. a year later with the bonus track intact. The album has a grand, epic tone throughout that doesn't always match Uriah Heep's journeyman-sounding prog-tinged hard rock, and some songs' lyrics sink under the weight of their pretension or sentimentality. But for diehard Heep fans those are minor quibbles; while the group's sound may not be devastatingly original anymore, they are definitely quite committed to their performances, and the occasional overreaching is part and parcel with this sort of classic AOR pomp-rock (and, in fact, constitutes a not insignificant part of its appeal).

Chilliwack are the legendary Canadian rock band best remembered for their biggest hits "My Girl (Gone Gone Gone)", "I Believe", "Whatcha Gonna Do (When I'm Gone)", "Fly At Night", "Lonesome Mary" and "Communication Breakdown", all of which charted in the US and Canada. The latter three were originally released on 'Dreams, Dreams, Dreams', 'Lights From The Valley', and 'Breakdown in Paradise' via the legendary Canadian indie label Mushroom Records, famous for launching the career of Heart as well as Doucette, Paul Horn, and Iain Matthews. Mushroom ceased operations in the late 1970's following the death of its legendary co-founder Shelly Segal, and the vinyl - only catalog was never released on CD or made available digitally. The 'Dreams, Dreams, Dreams' album is now finally being reissued, re-mastered with bonus tracks, new liner notes and photographs by bandleader Bill Henderson. Chilliwack continue to perform live at festivals and casinos across North America.

Recorded live in France in 1982 but not released on CD in the U.S. until 1990, Heart Still Beating isn't quite in a class with Roxy Music's first live album, Viva, but nonetheless gives us a lot to be excited about. Lead singer Bryan Ferry and guitarist Phil Manzanera sound quite inspired much of the time, and Manzanera delivers some excellent solos…

One of the great blues albums of the early '80s, Classified captures the legendary New Orleans pianist James Booker not long before his premature death at the age of 43 on November 8, 1983. Recorded in a series of sometimes problematic sessions in 1982 – producer Scott Billington details them in his terrific liner notes on the 2013 reissue of the record, which is remixed and expanded – Classified appeared just a few months before Booker's death, so it's hard not to read it as something of a final statement.

Their new project, In Classic: Da Mozart A Celebration (2013) is a very special one, to the fans and to the band. The double album released by Immaginifica takes PFM to the Classical world! On the 2 discs of In Classic: Da Mozart A Celebration (2013) we have the band celebrating great classic composers such as Mozart, Dvorak, Prokofiev and Verdi with a full orchestra. Not just that, on the second disc they take their own music and give them the full orchestral treatment too…

Worn out? Anything but! For years Robin Taylor has been leading his bands to new vistas, be they of the more traditional symphonic and melodic prog variety (Taylor’s Universe), or the more challenging and jazz oriented Taylor’s Free Universe. Taylor is primarily a guitarist, though here he covers bass and keys as well; but as the composer of five of the six tracks here, and arranger of all, it’s worth mentioning that he doesn’t write like a guitarist - that is to say he doesn’t write in a way that puts his guitar front and center in every song. More of a consummate composer in every sense, along the lines of Pekka Pohjola or similar artists who have a wider vision than simply showcasing their playing with other musicians supporting; that’s not his way…

Flesh + Blood suggested that Roxy Music were at the end of the line, but they regrouped and recorded the lovely Avalon, one of their finest albums. Certainly, the lush, elegant soundscapes of Avalon are far removed from the edgy avant-pop of their early records, yet it represents another landmark in their career. With its stylish, romantic washes of synthesizers and Bryan Ferry's elegant, seductive croon, Avalon simultaneously functioned as sophisticated make-out music for yuppies and as the maturation of synth pop…

Recorded at the historic Washington, D.C. club, Bohemian Caverns, on November 3, 2012, the album features a blistering set that captures Payton’s now renowned prowess on the trumpet - while simultaneously playing the Fender Rhodes piano. His genius and unmistakable originality is on wide display for this recording.
The hashtag, #BAM, stands for Black American Music. The #BAM movement created by Nicholas, states the revolutionary, yet evident, idea that music of the Black American diaspora is more similar than dissimilar. Black American Music speaks of his and all music descending from the Black American experience, including spirituals, gospel, blues, so-called jazz and soul…

Bobby McFerrin brings it all back home with "Spirityouall", re-imagining Americana with beloved spirituals and original songs. Bobby invites us along on his everyday search for grace, wisdom, and freedom, embracing bluegrass and the baroque, heartfelt lyrics and wordless melodies, joy and sorrow. He throws some unexpected new ingredients into the melting pot and invites us to sing together through life's trials and triumphs. Across genres, across boundaries, across generations, spirityouall raises the roof with joyful grooves.

Born in 1759 in Joinville, France, Francois Devienne was a virtuoso bassoonist and flautist who also enjoyed a European reputation as a brilliant composer. A member of the French Guard whose opéras comiques were in high demand during the revolutionary years, the Frenchman was later appointed first flute professor of the newly established Paris Conservatoire, where he became a much sought-after teacher. Today he is best remembered for his prodigious output of wind chamber music.

The highly anticipated debut from London's Savages, an all-female four-piece who play music with scything energy and brutal power. Recorded with Rodaidh McDonald (The xx), the album is an 11-track, 38-minute masterpiece. Limned in black and white but containing a swell of different emotions within its self-imposed strictures, the songs cover topics from masochism ("Hit Me"), urban dread ("City s Full"), materialism, possessiveness and the experience of being a woman ("Husbands," "I Am Here"). Every one is delivered with fierce conviction and concision. Japanese Edition contains four bonus tracks.

'Live in Tokyo' is a live album initially only released in Japan on vinyl. It features great versions of 'F.U.B.B'. and 'The Way Of The World'. The album was recorded when the band were playing live at Tokyo Sun Plaza in Japan, during their 1978 No Smoke Without Fire tour. 'Live In Tokyo' used to be a hard to find 'live' album of the Mark 2 Lineup from Wishbone Ash with on bass guitar and lead vocals Martin Turner, backing vocals and the famous flying V lead guitar Andy Powell, also on lead guitar Laurie Wisefield and on the drums Steve Upton.