The Essential Chet Atkins: The Columbia Years collects 15 tracks from eight albums recorded between 1983 and 1997. While Atkins never fully gives up his country roots, much of this material leans in a definite jazz-pop direction, highlighted by memorable collaborations with Mark Knopfler on "Poor Boy Blues," "So Soft, Your Goodbye," and "I'll See You in My Dreams." Atkins also trades licks with Tommy Emmanuel on "Dixie McGuire" and "Road to Gundaghi/Waltzing Matilda," as well as longtime buddy Jerry Reed on "Sneakin' Around." The selections have been digitally remastered so every tiny musical nuance can be detected, which should no doubt satisfy guitar enthusiasts and Atkins fans.

L' Orchestra Del Titanic is the first solo album by 25-year-old Florentine pianist Stefano Bollani, "Best New Talent 1999" according to Musica Jazz, Italy's leading jazz's magazine. For years, Bollani, who has lately added his identifiable touch to many Italian jazz records, has expressed in interviews his search for a unique project to fit to his own musical taste to. As a young guy with a witty sense of black humor, the overwhelming recent popularity of the romance and tragedy of the film, Titanic was a perfect place to start.

Part of a refreshing series of two-fers from major vocalists of the '60s, British EMI issued this compilation pairing Sarah Vaughan's 1963 LP, Snowbound, with 1964's The Lonely Hours. As could be expected, the two work well together, both being sets of nocturnally oriented standards. The former is a cozy collection of romantic ballads arranged by Don Costa, while the latter is more isolated, with arrangements from jazzman great Benny Carter. Though both LPs aren't among Vaughan's more famous releases, they're nearly as good as a classic like Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi or Sarah Vaughan With Clifford Brown.

Three-time Grammy winner, Larry Carlton and Takahiro "Tak" Matsumoto, the most renowned guitarist in all of Asia, teamed up to compose, record, and release "Take Your Pick", an extraordinary collection of 12 original instrumentals already being hailed as "one of the most significant collaborations of contemporary guitar of all time."

Scott Hamilton & Bucky Pizzarelli - The Red Door …remember Zoot Sims (1998) {Concord Jazz CCD-4799-2 rec 1995}
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© 1998 Concord Jazz | CCD-4799-2
Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Saxophone / Guitar

As of 1998, when this CD was released, Scott Hamilton had recorded over 30 albums as a leader for Concord. Although all are quite worthwhile, the swing tenor's consistency and unchanged style since the 1970s have resulted in a certain sameness and predictability to his recordings. This release, however, definitely stands apart from the crowd, for it is a set of tenor/guitar duets that Hamilton performs with Bucky Pizzarelli. A tribute to Zoot Sims (one of Hamilton's early influences), this is a very successful outing. Pizzarelli's mastery of the seven-string guitar allows him to play basslines behind solos, so one never misses the other instruments.

This new release by the Vilnius String Quartet presents two exciting gems in 20th century chamber music: the first two String Quartets by Lithuanian composer Jurgis Karnaviius (1884-1941) as world premiere recordings.

Natasha Barrett - Kraftfelt (2005) {Aurora ACD 5037}
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© 2005 Aurora | ACD 5037
Classical / Electroacoustic / Experimental / Modern Classical / Musique Concrète

The first "5.1 Surround Sound" release on Aurora contains three works by Natasha Barrett. Barrett was born in England, but moved to Norway in 1999, and is a central figure on the Norwegian electro-acoustic scene. These pieces are written and developed in the electronic domain, and composed especially for the surround sound environment, however the composer has developed stereo versions of the pieces as well, which are found on the standard CD available in the package. The pieces on Kraftfelt (Force Field) take place in the space between the abstract moving and the concrete descriptive. In "…fetters…" the laws of physics control the dramatic and audial content.

Clare Fischer Orchestra - Extension (1963) {Pacific Jazz PJ77 rel 2012}
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© 1963, 2012 Pacific Jazz Records / International Phonograph | PJ 77
Jazz / Modern Big Band / West Coast Jazz / Piano / Modern Arrangement

An early moment of genius from the young Clare Fischer – one of his first sets for a larger ensemble, and the start of years of great work to come! Previous Pacific Jazz sessions featured Fischer in a piano trio – but this album lets Clare loose on a host of his own inventive arrangements – a set of charts and compositions that easily move between the modern and the groovy – sometimes using offbeat tones and sounds that rival the best that Ellington or Gil Evans had to offer – other times coming across with this fluidity that's a perfect summation of the way that Fischer pulled together all of the California cool of the 50s, and managed to come up with something completely fresh for the 60s!

Bitter is the third album by Meshell Ndegeocello. It was released on August 24, 1999, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at #105 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1999. The album also peaked at #13 on Billboard's Top Internet Albums chart and #40 on Billboard's R&B Albums chart. Billboard called the album "a modern masterpiece," writing that it "shines for its sonic presence as well as its inherent musical quality." The New York Times wrote that "its rhythms flow in circulatory patterns guided by Ms. Ndegeocello's bass playing; guitars, strings and her guarded vocals intertwine like brain waves." The Chicago Tribune called it "one long bittersweet downer."Vibe called Bitter the "Album of the Year."The Hartford Courant wrote that "though Bitter attempts to explore ambitious life themes about loyalty, faith, love and beauty, it instead commits the mortal sin of dullness."

A 3-CD set, “Looking Through A Glass Onion” assembles these disparate strands into one cohesive package, with the studio day trippers, the cultural pranksters, the genre-benders, the folk club stalwarts and the hair-down-to-his-knees prog-rock brigade all grooving up slowly to the starting line.

Sonny Criss - The Lost Recordings (1956) {Lone Hill Jazz LHJ10106 rel 2004}
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© 1951-56, 2004 Lone Hill Jazz | LHJ10106
Jazz / Hard Bop / Saxophone

This outstanding 77-minute edition includes two exquisite and rare dates of the incomparable alto saxophonist for the first time ever on one CD, as well as five exceptional bonus tracks. Joined by such talented sidemen as Joe Newman, Ola Hansen, Bennie Green, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Kenny Drew, Tommy Potter, Kenny Clarke and Buddy Rich, Sonny Criss gives truly inspired performances as only he is able. His intensity, soulful lines, and incomparable expressiveness make this edition a true gem.

Now over 20 years strong, So Fresh is the longest running, must trusted and recognised compilation brand in Australia. The Hits of Autumn 2021 compiles 20 of the biggest and best pop smashes of recent times. The set kicks off with the #1 megasmashfrom Olivia Rodrigo 'Drivers License', alongside 'Fly Away' from Tones & I, 'Save Your Tear's from The Weekndinto 'Without You' from rising star The Kid Laroi–alongside 16 more hits.

Kamasi Washington scored the new Michelle Obama documentary Becoming, which premiered on Netflix today (May 6). The film follows Obama on her tour in support of her best-selling memoir Becoming: A Guided Journal for Discovering Your Voice. Washington’s score for the documentary will be released on May 15 (via Young Turks).