"Brothers" is the fruit of the tandem Portal-Deconfin, two childhood friends from Bourges, who found themselves in New York and who today deliver a common partition logically entitled "Brothers". This album was conceived just a few weeks after the release of the first album of Geraud Portal, Recall the facts. In 2013, Géraud conquered the United States with his double bass. He lands in New York, in the home of the legendary bassist Bill Lee, father of director Spike Lee. In this house, Géraud met other musicians, also hosted by Bill: Arnold Lee (saxophone), Kush Abadey (drums) and Ben Solomon (saxophone), all three members, moreover, of Wallace Roney's band.

The great trumpeter's set here was recorded live at the Warsaw Jamboree Jazz Festival in 1991 with Michael Urbaniak on violin, Donald Braden on tenor sax, Ronnie Matthew on piano, Jeff Chambers on bass and Ralph Penland on drums.

In 1963, the year when Our Man In Paris was recorded, Dexter Gordon turned 40 and moved to Europe for what would be a dozen-year stay. Gordon had been the first important bebop tenor-saxophonist and a giant of Jazz since 1945. After some time off the scene in the ‘50s, he was signed to Blue Note. He returned with full force, playing with power, wit and his trademark huge sound, creating one masterpiece after another. On Our Man In Paris, he is clearly inspired by the playing of the innovative bebop pianist Bud Powell, himself at the peak of his powers, bassist Pierre Michelot and the pioneering bop drummer Kenny Clarke. Gordon plays chorus after chorus of fresh, swinging ideas on such tunes as “Scrapple From The Apple,” “Broadway” and “A Night In Tunisia,” making these Jazz standards sound as if they were written for him. This blazing bebop date is a constant joy.

Sons Of Kemet are born of many vital elements – including a name that nods to ancient Egyptian culture, and a line-up that comprises some of the most progressive 21st-century talents in British jazz and beyond. Band-leader, composer and sax and clarinet don Shabaka Hutchings (himself named after a Nubian pharaoh-philosopher) brings together his fiery vision alongside London-based bandmates Tom Skinner and Seb Rochford (forming a dynamo duo on drums here) and latest addition Theon Cross (taking over from Oren Marshall on tuba).

Seldom has a band on the British jazz scene created such a buzz before releasing an album, but through their live shows - and some delightfully unexpected airplay - Sons of Kemet have done just that. A super-group of sorts led by clarinetist, saxophonist and composer Shabaka Hutchings with Oren Marshall on tuba and both Tom Skinner and Seb Rochford on drums. It was in spring of 2011 at Charlie Wright's in East London that Sons of Kemet first unleashed their unique sound to a live audience and since then they have gone on to impress many with their live shows, whether it be in session for BBC Radio 3's Jazz On 3, at this year's Cheltenham Jazz Festival or in collaboration with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the 2012 London Jazz Festival.

Nina Simone has penned unforgettable protest material, covered jazz, folk, rock, and pop with equal flair, and created a body of work that's kept her popularity high. While this title is hardly accurate, since it only covers RCA material from 1967-1972, there's plenty of anthemic fare among The Essential Nina Simone's 16 selections. These include "Mr. Bojangles," "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," "Seems I'm Never Tired Lovin' You," and "Since I Fell for You." While the absence of "Baltimore," "I Wish I Knew How It Feels to Be Free," and "Here Comes the Sun" (to name only three) is sizable, and the weighting of this compilation toward well-known rock types (Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, George Harrison, two Bee Gees cuts) debatable, there's still no way it can be dismissed.