Dave Samuels' release offers music that is often more pleasant than it is challenging, but Samuels has an original voice on the marimbas and vibes, the groove tunes are generally quite enjoyable (particularly the calypso "Cara Linda" and the tricky "Knots"), and the leader's solos are uniformly strong. With the help of the Yellowjackets' rhythm section (keyboardist Russell Ferrante, electric bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer William Kennedy) and some guests, this pop/jazz effort is reasonably satisfying and one of Dave Samuels' best solo sets.

David Bromberg basically gave up his recording and performing career at the start of the 1980s, but in 1986 his old label, Fantasy Records, released this album of odds and ends recorded between 1976 and 1979. Since odds and ends are what Bromberg specialized in, the result was as good as any of his albums, beginning with a paean to marijuana ("The Viper"), followed by one to drinking and sex ("Loaded and Laid"). Those jazzy live tracks typically were followed by studio recordings of meticulously played acoustic ballads before Bromberg and his band returned to San Francisco's Great American Music Hall for concert staples like "Suffer to Sing the Blues" and "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor." It was enough to make you wish he'd perform a little more often.

By 1995, the pop-metal sound that once dominated the charts had been driven off by the rise of grunge rock and other alternative rock styles that eschewed the pop showmanship of hair metal. As a result, pop-metal groups were forced to retreat to independent labels. Some tried to modify their style to fit in with the current musical climate, but others kept putting out music in their original style. One of the best examples of the latter trend is Show Business, a fun rock album from Kix that overcomes its indie-ghetto status by combining catchy tunes with a polished style of delivery.

John Patitucci's Line by Line is mostly a quiet and thoughtful affair. The performances often feature close interplay between the bassist and guitarist Adam Rogers, with stimulating support from drummer Brian Blade and occasional guest appearances by the great tenor Chris Potter. The music is adventurous but often lyrical, with Patitucci being a key soloist but not completely dominating the performances, giving his sidemen plenty of space of their own.

Even now, more than 22 years after his death, Francis Albert Sinatra is still one of the most immediately recognisable names in popular music. His catalogue is as immense as his influence is immeasurable, and there seems little doubt that his music will continue to impact on many future generations of record buyers.

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band will be releasing their first ever live concert video in 10 years this winter. 'Straight To You: Live' will be released on 27th November via Provogue. Their only other live output, the ’Live! In Chicago’ album was released a decade ago and got itself a Grammy nomination along the way, but this time around for 2020, you get to watch the band in its full glory as well as listen. In the last 10 years the multi-platinum selling Shepherd has gone from strength to strength, winning countless awards, releasing four studio albums and touring the world over several times - from Brazil to Europe, India to Canada and US to Australia and beyond. The band were only weeks into 'The Traveler World Tour' when the Covid-19 pandemic broke, and the world came to a standstill. The show took place at the famous Leverkusen Jazzstage for the iconic German TV show, Rockpalast on 25th November 2019. The seven-piece band took the stage and immediately launched into their most-recent hit-single 'Woman Like You,' with the honey-soaked powerhouse voice of Noah Hunt blasting "I ain't looking for a one time girl" backed by the fiery fretwork of Shepherd. Taken from 'The Traveler,' it's the first of four songs from the latest studio album, "'Woman Like You' is the perfect opening song for the show,“ Shepherd says. “You come out swinging, it sets the mood for the entire show. It's like, we're there to rock, and we mean business."

This seems to be singer Marilena Paradisi's debut recording as a leader, though there are no liner notes to provide any background about her career. Accompanied by an excellent rhythm section, which includes pianist Paolo Tombolesi, bassist Piero Leveratto, and drummer Eliot Zigmund (a veteran of pianist Bill Evans' trio), Paradisi contributed all of the arrangements for her rather interesting program. She captures the sassy, self-confident mood of the girl unjustly abandoned in "You Won't Forget Me," while she shines in the bossa nova setting of "Laura." Her wordless introduction to "Detour Ahead" is beautifully mirrored by Tombolesi. But Paradisi especially excels in her two duets: the tasty "If You Go" with Leveratto and the strutting rendition of "It's All Right With Me" with Zigmund (though his drums are a bit too prominent in the mix)…

The Band was born in 1972, on the initiative of Jean-Marie Renard, guitarist from the beginning and manager of the Band today, in the wake of a basic musical current launched by Alan Stivell. He brings together five musicians friends of different musical cultures (traditional, jazz, folk, rock'n'roll) around a common passion, the Celtic music, to form the band Gwendal. At that time in France many bands inspired by the Breton and Irish traditional music appeared. Gwendal distinguished itself from the very start by the choice of what will make the continuity of its style during its entire career: a sound mixing melodies of traditional influence, with arrangements and rhythmic strongly influenced by modern musical currents of various times: jazz, rock'n'roll…

A Japanese promising unit Stella Lee Jones were founded as a progressive rock septet by Satoshi HIRATA (guitar) who was one of the founders of FLAT 122, soon after their disbandment in 2009. They have highlighted their originality under Satoshi's soundscape mixed with jazz, avantgarde, and art rock. Thie debut album "A Floating Place", released in late 2011, came out as a gem crystallized rigidly with their innovative eclecticism. Escape From Reality is the second album by Stella Lee Jones, released 2016.11.16 by Dizziness Records.

On FIRST LOVE, contemporary jazz saxophonist and composer Everette Harp moves deeper into the space he addressed on 2007's excellent MY INSPIRATION. Produced by George Duke, the meld of acoustic and electric instruments here is perfectly balanced. Melodic and harmonic structures are much more complex and don't always fit the C-jazz cookie-cutter mold.

Speed, Glue & Shinki's landmark debut album, 1971's Eve, is one of the greatest contradictions of its time (maybe all time): a primitive, deranged, and at times downright sloppy mutation of acid blues and proto-metal, akin to the Bloomfield/Kooper/Stills Super Session crashing headlong into earliest Zeppelin and Sabbath records, as performed by musicians whose instrumental chops were actually beyond reproach…but you'd never be able to tell from this!

The Jazz King record is the result of a composition Carlton wrote for H. M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. The Jazz King project was initiated to celebrate the 60th anniversary of King Bhumibol's accession to the throne as well as his 80th birthday in 2007. Carlton was commissioned to write this composition by the Royal Project Foundation and Rotary Club of Bangkok. These compositions were released on CD only in Thailand.

Composed in 1778, J.C. Bach's La Clemenza di Scipione is a nice, direct, fat-free work. The arias tend to be short (not one of them is a da capo), the recitatives are to the point and likewise brief, and the action moves swiftly. Roman Scipio (tenor) has taken Cartagena and Spanish soprano princess Arsinda (and her soprano pal, Idalba) prisoner. Male soprano, fellow non-Roman Lucieo, is betrothed to Arsinda, while the Roman general Marzio (tenor) is in love with Idalba and vice-versa. The whole plot revolves around the heroic Lucieo's attempts to rescue Arsinda, et al., his being taken prisoner, and his being threatened by death if he refuses to pledge allegiance to Rome.

It's clear that Tommy Conwell & the Young Rumblers were given a bigger budget on his second album, 1990's Guitar Trouble, a record that has clean, slick punch thanks to Dwight Yoakam producer Pete Anderson and star cameos from the likes of Chuck Berry pianist Johnnie Johnson. Anderson's presence and his drafting of Johnson conspire to give Conwell a roots rock credibility he never aspired to in the first place, probably because he was writing boogies like "Let Me Love You Too" to get the barroom rocking – and when he wasn't doing that, he could toss off a bit of Sun rockabilly in the title track or turn introspective in songs like "I'm Seventeen," an angst anthem that plays like shorthand Paul Westerberg.