Most famous for his vocal and guitar work in the group Ten Years After, Alvin Lee had a long solo career after the band dispersed, still working in the hard rock, rockabilly, and British blues style that TYA did until his sudden death in Spain in the spring of 2013. This set captures his last live show, a concert held in Raalte, Holland, on May 28, 2012, with a crisp rhythm section of Pete Pritchard on bass and Richard Newman on drums. The show was recorded, and although it wasn't recorded to be an official release, Lee was pleased with the performance and authorized its release, not knowing, of course, that it would be his swan song.

This two-LP set lives up to its title. First Duke Ellington and his orchestra are heard in 1952 during a period when they were being overlooked by the jazz media but still producing a great deal of worthy music. The second half of this release is taken from a European tour in 1965 and features some prime late-period playing from trumpeter Cootie Williams.

In the Dark is the 12th studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded in one week in January 1987, and originally released on July 6, 1987. In the Dark was the band's first album in six years, and its first studio album since 1980's Go to Heaven. It became unexpectedly popular, achieving double platinum certification in the U.S. It reached #6 on the Billboard 200 chart, the Grateful Dead's only top ten album. The peppy "Touch of Grey" peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, the band's only top forty single; it also became a frequently played music video on MTV. "Hell in a Bucket" and "Throwing Stones" (for which videos were also made) also achieved significant album-oriented rock radio airplay.

All the Things We Are is a bit unusual in the Dave Brubeck discography. The pianist is heard in a quartet with altoist Lee Konitz on "Like Someone in Love" and a brief "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," with avant-garde giant Anthony Braxton (also on alto) featured on "In Your Own Sweet Way," while both Konitz and Braxton team up for "All the Things You Are." In addition, the Brubeck Trio (with bassist Jack Six and drummer Alan Dawson) plays an exquisite and frequently exciting 21-minute, five-song "Jimmy Van Heusen Medley." A total success, this "experimental" Brubeck set is highly recommended.

Markku Luolajan-Mikkola has a reputation for excellence and already has two Gramophone Awards. With a fan base to match, Luolajan-Mikkola is at the top of his game. In Luolajan-Mikkola’s Linn debut, he tackles the pinnacle of Bach’s productions for violinists: the Partitas and Sonatas. Luolajan-Mikkola transcribed these works for cello. His goal with this recording has been to encapsulate expression and emotion according to the character of each movement. A historically informed musician, he performs on baroque cello.

Junko Onishi has long been one of the most popular pianists in Tokyo. Her years backing famed jazz masters in the States along with her vibrant attitude to the music have earned her respect and fans. This new release comes nearly a decade after her last one, 1999’s rock groove outing “Fragile.” This recording is entirely different from that one, with several self-penned numbers, three Eric Dolphy tunes and three standards. Recorded in New York, except for a live medley at Tokyo Blue Note, it is a vital new work that finds Onishi’s forceful playing unbridled. The result is much more of her as the accomplished and powerful musician she truly is.

Fun House is the second studio album by American rock band The Stooges. It was released on July 7, 1970 by Elektra Records. According to Billboard magazine, Fun House is set in hard rock and improvisation. Music critic Robert Christgau characterized the album as "genuinely 'avant-garde' rock" because of the music's apt "repetitiveness", "solitary new-thing saxophone", and "L.A. Blues", which showcases the "old avant-garde fallacy … trying to make art about chaos by reproducing same." Greg Kot called Fun House "the Stooges' punk jazz opus". In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Fun House number 191 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Top Priority is Rory Gallagher's tenth album. It was his fourth and final studio album for Chrysalis Records. The album was the second with his revised power trio band. Like the previous album Photo-Finish, Top Priority is a return to hard rock. The ballads, acoustic and folk influences that were seen on albums such as Calling Card are replaced by more conventional but powerful blues rock.

While the goth scene in England was picking up commercial steam in the mid-'80s, the Sisters of Mercy may have seemed quiet, but they roared back with 1987's Floodland. Opening with the driving two-part hymn "Dominion/Mother Russia," Sisters leader Andrew Eldritch (along with bassist Patricia Morrison) creates a black soundscape that is majestic and vast. While the earlier Sisters releases were noisy, sometimes harsh affairs, Floodland is filled with lush production (thanks to Meat Loaf writer/producer Jim Steinman and the New York Choral Society) and lyric imagery that is both scary and glorious. The slower tracks, like "Flood" and "1959," are some of the best ethereal sounds goth has to offer, and the downright regal "This Corrosion" is one of the best songs of the genre. A definite milestone.

It’s often said that the distilled essence of composers can be heard in their string quartets. And so it is with Glass, whose quartets here show a craftsman of considerable invention. String Quartet No. 6 begins as a bustling burst of dense energy, its second movement beautifully meandering, rich, and complex. The single-movement String Quartet No. 7 is almost Beethovenian in its restless questioning. Arranged for string quartet (with two violas), the Saxophone Quartet is warmly scored and yet shows Glass at his most forensic, with each bar stunningly sculpted.

Gallagher's second album for Chrysalis – and last with his longstanding trio of Lou Martin (keyboards), Rod De'Ath (drums) and Gerry McAvoy (bass) – was a milestone in his career. Although Calling Card was produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover and not surprisingly contained some of his most powerfully driving rockers, tracks like the acoustic "Barley & Grape Rag" and the jazzy, soulful, finger snapping title cut – a perennial concert favorite – found the Irish rocker not only exploring other musical paths, but also caught him on one of his most consistent songwriting streaks ever. Even "Do You Read Me," the muscular opening track, is a remarkably stripped-down affair that adds subtle synths to the rugged blues rock that was Gallagher's claim to fame. While "Moonchild," "Country Mile," and "Secret Agent" displayed catchy hooks, engaging riffs, and raging guitar work (the latter adds a touch of Deep Purple's Jon Lord-styled organ to the proceedings), it's the elegant ballad "I'll Admit You're Gone" that shifts the guitarist into calmer waters and proves his melodic talent was just as cutting on quieter tunes.

Long before the raw power of punk icon Iggy Pop became legend, his first incarnation as Iggy Stooge of proto-punk trailblazers The Stooges roared into being. The essence of punk years before the genre existed, The Stooges' furious music was a howling, visceral, fuzztone-drenched, and unprecedented vortex of sound, as evidenced on their revolutionary self-titled, John Cale-produced 1969 debut album. Their bracing follow-up, Fun House portrayed their evolution into a fiercer, stronger band with Iggy's primal vocals and mad brilliance more potent than ever. Each immortal album is now remastered and twice as amazing with a second disc of rarities and previously unreleased tracks.

Night Out is the 1979 debut studio album by Ellen Foley, a long-time backup vocalist for Meat Loaf. Seven of the nine tracks were cover versions of Foley's favorite songs, while two were co-written by Foley, one of which was "We Belong to the Night", which hit #1 in the Netherlands and #31 in Australia around Christmas of 1979. The musicians were mostly from Ian Hunter's touring band for his 1979 album You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic, with the addition of Australian musician Kerryn Tolhurst on slide guitar. Hunter and ex-Spiders From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson produced the album. Ronson suggested the two Philip Rambow songs and the piano backing for the final track "Don't Let Go", written by Hunter.

T-Square is a Japanese jazz fusion band that was formed in 1978. They became famous in the late 70s and early 80s along with other Japanese fusion bands. Its most successful lineup included guitarist Masahiro Andoh, bassist Mitsuru Sutoh, saxophonist, flutist and EWI player Takeshi Itoh, keyboardist Hirotaka Izumi, and drummer Hiroyuki Noritake. They are known for songs such as "Truth", "Japanese Soul Brothers", "Takarajima", and "Omens of Love" among others. "Truth" was used as the theme for Japan's Formula One (F1) racing events from 1989 to 2000. An Arrangement of said tune, "Truth 21c" was used as the theme for Japan's F1 2001 and 2002, respectively, and other remixes of "Truth" were used from 2003 to 2006.

1994 compilation on Repertoire featuring 32 tracks from 1968-1993, plus an extensive booklet, detailed tracknotes by Colin Cooper, full discography & rare photos. Packaged as two standard jewelcases within a slipcase, featured tracks include their #3 1977 smash 'Couldn't Get ItRight', the top 20 hit 'I Love You' and a live version of'Don't Start Me Talking'.