In November 2019, at a sold-out show in London’s Hammersmith Apollo, Steve Hackett performed the legendary Genesis album Selling England By The Pound in its entirety. Steve and his band also played tracks from Spectral Mornings (celebrating its 40th anniversary), At The Edge Of Light, and A Trick Of The Tail.

Alexandre Bloch, who has been Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lille since 2016, has chosen to devote a whole season of concerts to Mahler's symphonies. The Seventh (1904-05) is the most rarely recorded of the cycle unjustly, because this work later nicknamed Song of the Night testifies as clearly as its companions to the metaphysical grandiloquence that haunted Mahler during its gestation. From the gloomy Adagio of the first movement to the thundering Rondo that concludes the work, Alexandre Bloch and his orchestra lead us from the anguish of twilight to the ecstasies of dawn.

Fascinated by the viola, which he chose at the age of eleven after learning the violin for six years, Amihai loves the sound of his instrument, which is so close to the human voice. He also likes the ambivalence of its timbre, midway between the violin and the cello, which in a sense reflects his own musical education in Israel, with its combination of Mediterranean influences and Russian and Germanic traditions. Initially a quartet musician and founding member of the famous Jerusalem Quartet, Amihai Grosz now pursues a solo career while holding the post of principal viola of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

John Abercrombie - Timeless (1975) {ECM 1047}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 217 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 104 Mb
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© 1975 ECM Records | ECM 1047
Jazz / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Fusion / Guitar

Guitarist John Abercrombie's first in a long line of recordings for ECM was also his debut as a leader. Teamed up with Jan Hammer (who here plays organ, synthesizer, and piano) and drummer Jack DeJohnette, Abercrombie plays four of his originals, plus two by Hammer. These performances differ from many of the guitarist's later ECM dates in that Hammer injects a strong dose of fusion into the music, and there is plenty of spirited interplay between those two with fine support by DeJohnette. Thought-provoking and occasionally exciting music that generally defies categorization.

Jimmy McGriff - Soul Sugar & Groove Grease (1971) {Groove Hut Records GH66704 rel 2007}
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© 1971, 2007 Capitol / Groove Merchant / Groove Hut Records | GH66704
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Organ Hammond B-3

The Sonny Lester-produced Soul Sugar looms large in Jimmy McGriff's vast catalog – while it's a fool's errand to pick the organist's absolute funkiest recording, this one demands serious consideration. Without personnel credits, it's impossible to know who's backing McGriff here, but the rhythm section is nonetheless superb – cuts like "Dig on It" (later sampled by A Tribe Called Quest), "Fat Cakes," and "The Now Thing" rival the Meters for sheer soulfulness. The covers are no less impressive – while renditions of James Brown's "Ain't It Funky Now," Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," and Aretha Franklin's "Spirit in the Dark" remain true to the spirit of the original recordings, the ingenious arrangements also allow McGriff and his band panoramic stretches of space to explore.

David Linx, qui a débuté la scène à 14 ans met «sa peau en jeu» pour ses 40 ans de carrière ! On peut affirmer que David Linx est l’inventeur du « chanteur de jazz européen », et c’est, bien au-delà de l’espace européen, l’un des plus formidables chanteurs de jazz que l’on puisse entendre. De sa manière de phraser et de se placer, d’articuler chaque note, d’utiliser la voix dans toute sa tessiture et de vivre l’improvisation comme un soliste, jusqu’à sa façon de conserver l’âme du gospel, le mouvement du swing, l’indépendance du rythme sur le tempo et l’esprit du blues, tout son art relève profondément du jazz.

This collection brings together unplugged and acoustic-based performances recorded over the past 20+ years, including rare and unreleased studio and live recordings, acoustic demos, concert videos, interviews and more.

Since 1995, the Squirrel Nut Zippers have sacked and plundered the old, weird America then sailed off to further distant lands. They have used New Orleans as their hideout and base of operations. Jean-Lafitte-like the hide in the lee side of the barrier island, receiving goods and masking dark back-channel deals; hiding in cellars or in plain view. On September 25th, fans will be able to gaze into the tea leaves that make up their brand new album: Lost Songs of Doc Souchon to see if they can discern their own destiny.

In the winter of 2019, Bob Mould bucked the era’s despair with his most melodic, upbeat album in ages, Sunshine Rock. Cut to spring of 2020, and he has this to say: “We’re really in deep now.”

Eric Dolphy - Out There (1960) {Prestige New Jazz Japan VICJ-23635 rel 1991}
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© 1960, 1991 Prestige New Jazz / Victor Japan | VICJ-23635
Jazz / Post Bop / Third Stream / Saxophone / Flute

Eric Dolphy's second album as a leader – and already a bold step forward from the first! The format here changes from the more standard lineup of before – as Dolphy drops out other horn players, loses the piano, and brings the cello of Ron Carter into the frontline! Backing is by the bass of George Duvivier and the drums of Roy Haynes – and the mix of cello and bass creates the freely spirited sound that allows Dolphy to take off on even freer solo flights. The session has a very moody, very dark feel – especially on the tracks where Dolphy is playing B flat and bass clarinet.

Andreas Schaerer’s recent projects have established him at the forefront of the creative jazz scene in Europe. The Berne-based artist’s debut on the label, the revolutionary orchestral work "The Big Wig", a commission from the Lucerne Festival, was followed by a quartet formation with Michael Wollny, Vincent Peirani and Emile Parisien, “Out of Land”, and most recently by an album with another quartet, “A Novel of Anomaly”. This succession of highly contrasting releases have shown that Schaerer is not a jazz singer in any conventional sense: he is a vocal artist capable of imitating almost every instrument or sound with his voice. He covers all kinds of vocal styles from crooning to operatic tenor, and he is able to juxtapose them all in a completely individual way.

Thundering with newly fueled power from the shadows and dust of humanity's crumbling existence, KATAKLYSM return triumphant with their 14th full length studio album: UNCONQUERED. For almost 3 decades, the French-Canadian melodic death metal syndicate has delivered unapologetic waves of powerful sound across the entire globe. As of late, that globe has suffered tremendously, forcing the inspiration of many artists to extinguish, but for KATAKLYSM, the pressure caused a creative spring to burst forth with furious energy. “With everything that’s going on in the world, we couldn’t have chosen a better title,” explains vocalist Maurizio Iacono. “This album is a rebirth of aggression for KATAKLYSM. No one planned this to happen the way it did, but the name of this album makes total sense right now. It’s an aggressive album, yes, but a positive aggression.” Themes of fighting back and overcoming the insurmountable seethe through the lyrics and melodies of UNCONQUERED; consistent, sonic reminders of the battles that lead to triumph.

Razormaid was started in the mid 80's by Joseph Watt and Art Maharg in San Francisco, California as a music service for working club DJs. Their objective was to offer something other than just the regular versions that everyone had in their record bins. They created their own special versions of songs by editing and sometimes remixing the hottest club tunes being played (or about to be played) around the world. Their re-edited tracks set them apart from every other DJ service at the time and the music that they chose was some of the most cutting edge stuff available.