Ruben Rada (born 1943; moniker "El Negro Rada") is an Afro-Uruguayan percussionist, composer and singer. He is closely associated with Candombe, an Afro–Uruguayan rhythmic style music, which is based on the sound of three types of drums: ґchicoґ, ‘repique’ and ‘piano’. Rada has recorded more than 30 albums, which today are considered Uruguayan classics. On November 9, 2011 Ruben Rada was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Latin Grammy Award.

Bollani is the pianist who made such a vivid impression on trumpeter Italian Enrico Rava's recent Miles Davis tribute, also for France's Label Bleu. Rather unexpectedly - and perhaps a little uneasily - for a musician who is evidently both a formidable virtuoso and a structural provocateur, Bollani has opted for a largely orthodox acoustic piano-trio set, bookended by two more abstract unaccompanied pieces.

Tom Harrell has had a lot of success with his series of quintet recordings for HighNote, but his fifth release for the label, which uses the same musicians as the first four CDs (tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and drummer Johnathan Blake), takes a different path, featuring the full band on four of the eleven tracks, then in various configurations from solo to duo, trio, and quartet.

Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote the book on Southern rock with their first album, so it only made sense that they followed it for their second album, aptly titled Second Helping. Sticking with producer Al Kooper (who, after all, discovered them), the group turned out a record that replicated all the strengths of the original, but was a little tighter and a little more professional…

Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century. She was the first person to record Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations on the harpsichord in 1933. She became a naturalized French citizen in 1938.

This 7CD set is the fruit of the love affair that developed in Paris between Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France in the 1970s. Beside long-admired studio recordings, featuring Mstislav Rostropovich and Alexis Weissenberg among the soloists, it presents live performances completely new to the catalogue: a 1975 programme to celebrate Ravel’s centenary – with Bernstein himself as soloist in the G major piano concerto – and orchestral suites taken from two of Bernstein’s most celebrated and brilliant works, both infused with jazz: the film score On the Waterfront and the landmark Broadway musical West Side Story.

Born in Hammond, Indiana, he studied with Leon Sametini at the Chicago Musical College and with Efrem Zimbalist at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he taught from 1981 until his death. Particularly noted for his insightful and passionate performances of the romantic repertoire and his beautiful but not syrupy tone, Rosand recorded prolifically and appeared all over the world with many major orchestras and concert organizations.

Pepper Adams was one of the greatest jazz baritone saxophonists of all time. During a time when Gerry Mulligan's cool-toned baritone was very influential, Adams rose to prominence with a harder and bigger sound, much more hard bop than cool. This relatively obscure release, originally an LP for the World Pacific label, finds the baritonist in Los Angeles matching his hard-driving style with several players identified with West Coast cool jazz. Trumpeter Lee Katzman, who is on every selection but "Blackout Blues" and "Four Funky People," has a tone closer to Chet Baker than to Donald Byrd, but fits in well with Adams. The rhythm section is mostly laid-back and quiet but swinging…

In 2000 Vic Rek organised a meeting of Tangerine Dream fans at the Okefenokee swamp. During the event Free System Project and Dave Brewer improvised a superb set of music. This was released as 'Okefenokee Dreams'. A year later the event was held again but this time Bill Fox as well as John Christian and Pete Ruczynski from AirSculpture joined in with the fun, all the musicians playing together on most of the tracks. What you get here on 'Okefenokee Dreams 2001' is a selection of the best tracks from these sessions.

Charlie Haden Quartet West - Haunted Heart (1991) {Verve 314 513 078-2}
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© 1991 Verve Records / Gitanes Jazz Productions | 314 513 078-2
Jazz / Neo-Bop / Bass

Charlie Haden loves film as much as music, combining both loves on the critically acclaimed Haunted Heart. Haden led his tremendous group Quartet West through 12 numbers, several, like Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye," and Alan Broadbent's "Lady In The Lake," Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz's "Haunted Heart," and even the short introduction, with film ties and/or links. Haden transferred vocals on some numbers from Jeri Southern, Billie Holiday and Jo Stafford into the mix without disrupting or disturbing the group framework. Quartet West has emerged as a premier small combo, and Haden nicely paid tribute to the past without being held hostage to it.

In Spring 2019, the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists, led by John Eliot Gardiner, presented a critically-acclaimed European tour of Handel’s opera 'Semele', including Alexandra Palace Theatre in London, where this live recording took place. Semele had not been performed by John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi ensembles since they originally recorded it in the 1980s and this recording gives listeners the chance to hear a fuller version of the work.

This LP, recorded for the Italian label Bubble, is probably Keith Emerson's most eclectic, with a sense of humor thrown in as well. The opening medley of Emerson's "Hello Sailor" and George Malcolm's Baroque-flavored "Bach Before the Mast" provides quite a contrast, moving from a subdued sea shantey to furious solo piano, and finally segueing into a full-fledged rocking strut with a Caribbean twist…

Zez Confrey - Keyboard Wizards Of The Gershwin Era - Volume IV (1921-1943) {Pearl GEMM CD 9204 rel 1998}
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© 1921-43, 1998 Pearl | GEMM CD 9204
Jazz / Vocal / Traditional Jazz / Pop / Piano

This fourth volume in Pearl's series Keyboard Wizards of the Gershwin Era includes 26 tracks of piano-roll recordings by Zez Confrey, a gifted pianist with nimble fingers and a light touch. Barring the four versions of "Kitten on the Keys," the selections here – "Coaxin' the Piano," "Poor Buttermilk," "You Tell 'Em Ivories," "Mississippi Shivers," and "Charleston Chuckles" – will be unfamiliar to most. It's an enjoyable collection nevertheless, and a fascinating document from nearly a century ago.

Charles Kynard - Woga (1972) {2017 Japan Mainstream Records Master Collection Series CDSOL-45220}
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© 1972, 2017 Time / Mainstream Records / Solid Records Japan | CDSOL-45220
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Organ Hammond B-3

Sweet organ lines, heavy drums, and a great little groove throughout – a tight batch of groovers from the mighty Charles Kynard! The keyboardist is in fine 70s form here – stepping away from the sparer sound of his albums for Prestige with a fuller style for Mainstream Records – in a groove that's almost part blacksploitation funk, thanks to some sharp backings from arranger Richard Fritz! The mighty Paul Humphrey is at the bottom of the set on nicely funky drums – and other players include Arthur Adams on guitar, Chuck Rainey on bass, and some great additional horns, which give the record a larger jazzy finish, but never get in the way of Kynard's lean, mean organ lines. There's a great version of "Rock Steady" on the album, one that has a great funky intro – plus the cuts "Shout", "Lime Twig", "Slop Jar", "Name The Missing Word", "Little Ghetto Boy", and "Hot Sauce".