Halfway to Heaven is the second studio album by Brantley Gilbert. It was originally released on March 16, 2010 via Average Joe's Entertainment. The deluxe version of the album was released on September 13, 2011 via Valory Music Group. This re-release featured remixes of all the tracks, as well as several new tracks that were not on the original version of the album.

Best known as the composer and performer of the huge early-'80s dance hit "Maniac" (from the movie Flashdance), songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Michael Sembello has issued several solo albums over the years, in addition to producing, composing, and performing on other artist's recordings. Born in Philadelphia during 1954, Sembello got his start as part of Stevie Wonder's band in the early '70s, later doing session work for the likes of Sergio Mendes, the Jackson 5, Stephen Bishop, Randy Crawford, and David Sanborn, among others.

Mo' Bop II is an album by guitarist Kazumi Watanabe. It was released in 2004 and features only two other members in the lineup, besides Watanabe. The album is part of a project called "New Electric Trio" which began in 2003 with Mo' Bop and continued till 2006 with Mo' Bop III. The album is characterized by a heavy fusion sound.

Bobby Hutcherson - Farewell Keystone (1982) {Theresa TRCD 124 rel 1988}
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© 1982, 1988 Theresa Records / Bellaphon | TRCD 124
Jazz / Post Bop / Vibraphone

Recorded a year before San Francisco's legendary club Keystone Korner (which was open for 11 years) closed, this live set features tenor-saxophonist Harold Land with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson (who co-led a group with him in the 1970's) and trumpeter Oscar Brashear (who has often teamed up with Land during the past 15 years). With pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Higgins completing the sextet, it is not surprising that the music is hard bop-oriented and of consistent high quality.

What is most interesting about this two-disc set, which contains the first four albums of Procol Harum in their entirety, is the absence of two of the group's biggest and best songs, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "Homburg," both of which were originally issued as singles only in the U.K…

Disco (1986). Released at the height of dance-pop in 1986, the Pet Shop Boys' remix album Disco defiantly asserted the roots of the current trend with the title. And with its long remixes, Disco is designed to be pumped at a dancefloor. As casual listening, it gets a bit tedious, but even at these extended lengths, the melodic craft of the Pet Shop Boys' material shines through…

Art Farmer - Baroque Sketches & The Time And The Place (2001) {Columbia–Collectables COL-CD-6870 rec 1966-1967}
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© 1966-67, 2001 Columbia / Sony Music / Collectables Records | COL-CD-6870
Jazz / Hard Bop / Bop / Third Stream / Trumpet

Two very different records by Art Farmer are combined on this Collectables CD reissue. Art Farmer enjoyed playing pieces with strong melodies, and the original concept of Baroque Sketches was to adapt the music of Johann Sebastian Bach into a jazz setting. After initial research, it was decided to also include works by Chopin and Albeniz, as well as John Lewis' "Little David's Fugue" and Sonny Rollins' "Alfie Theme." With arrangements by his former Jazztet partner Benny Golson, Farmer creates music that is entertaining, though unlikely to stand up to repeated listening. The Art Farmer Quintet are featured in a 1967 concert at the Museum of Modern Art in the second half of the disc, released originally as The Time and the Place.

FM Tokyo recorded these live performances, Westwood One broadcast them in the States, and Bop Doo-Wopp included five of the tracks, but the rest weren't made available to the public until 1996. Backed by their touring sextet of the time, Man-Tora!: Live in Tokyo is certainly a more spontaneous Manhattan Transfer CD than that of their carefully produced recordings, genuinely overflowing with the joy of singing with each other. Listen to their ebullient interplay on "Jeannine," with Cheryl Bentyne's chirping voice way up top for a charge that the group only delivers live.

This relaxed disc (recorded in 1981 but released for the first time in 1994) sounds a bit like Pharoah Sanders (in one of his peaceful moods) meeting the rhythm section of Miles Davis's Bitches Brew. The use of the late Gene Adler's kalimba adds atmosphere to one song and his piano is a major asset during the lengthy episodic exploration of Annette Peacock's "Skin on Skin." Ralph Simon's soprano recalls Wayne Shorter a bit in spots, he cooks on tenor during "Gepetto" and his solos are consistently thoughtful and full of purpose. With sympathetic support from one of two rhythm sections, Simon constructs an interesting set of moody music.

Night Ranger is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in the early 80's. A band that epitomized the mega-selling, big hair, soft metal sound, Night Ranger took a break at the end of that decade but reunited in 1996 and they continue to perform in various guises…

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - At the Cafe Bohemia Vol.2 (1955) {Blue Note Japan, CP32-5243, Early Press}
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© 1955, 1986 Blue Note / Toshiba EMI Japan | CP32-5243 | Mono
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Drums

Volume deux of the 1955 Cafe Bohemia sessions from Art Blakey's second edition Jazz Messengers is better than the first. The music is more energetic, cohesive, and pushes the hard bop farther. Where the first volume featured compositions of newly recruited trumpeter Kenny Dorham, it is tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley asserting himself on the bandstand with his set pieces that formed the foundation of the first studio edition of the quintet that included Donald Byrd. Here, Mobley does not defer to Dorham, pushing his sound forward without compromising his vision.

If Leszek Możdżer is today regarded as the most important discovery in young Polish jazz and as one of the most exceptional pianists of the international scene, it is not least because of his pioneering style of crossing the border between classical music and jazz. He is the great romantic amongst Europe’s jazz pianists, having founded his reputation with improvisations on themes from Frédéric Chopin. Since then, his sparkling music and unrivalled technique clings to lyrical melodies, full of emotion. He also proves himself to be an exceptional improviser, paying close attention to chromaticism, harmony and particularly the "ornamentation" of the music.
Leszek Możdżer uses his solo ACT debut as an opportunity to pay homage to the second great national hero of Polish music (next to Chopin), Krzysztof Komeda…