Johann Joseph Fux was a contemporary of Bach, but his compositions owe more to the lyrical, Austrian-Italian musical tradition of Biber, Muffat, and Schmelzer than to the contrapuntal complexities of his North German colleagues. This is all the more remarkable when you consider that he was the author of the most revered counterpoint textbook (Gradus ad Parnassum, Vienna, 1725) in the history of Western music. Written in Latin in the form of a Socratic dialog, the book offered such a thorough and systematic course of self-study in the musical language of “Golden Age” composers such as Palestrina, and was so immediately successful, that it completely obliterated Fux’s reputation as a composer.

Vivaldi is a composer who frequently relies on formulae and simple structures as the foundation of his compositional technique. You have to use a little imagination and a bit of bravado to make his music work. Therefore–and fortunately–that's exactly what period instrument ensemble Zefiro does. It takes these concertos by the scruff of their necks and wrings out pleading phrases, brilliantly coloured sounds, moments of high drama and a whole load of fun from them. This is period instrument playing at its best–unapologetic, unafraid, ballsy even–and the soloists sound as if they are having a whale of a time.

Despite the album's title, Fourth Way remains mostly earthbound on The Sun and Moon Have Come Together. Structure is never abandoned at a song's expense and, when the group does head outward, any sense of aimlessness is avoided. No band member exemplifies this better than bassist Ron McLure. Satisfied playing a traditional walking bassline, he is just as comfortable straying from strict time. On "Farewell Goodbye," McLure breaks out of his conventional role, testing the possibilities of his instrument. His playing spans the spectrum, twisting time, bending notes, making strange leaps, and managing it all exceptionally. A similar fluidity can be felt with every member of the band. Only half of the songs on The Sun and Moon (a live recording from 1969) follow a standard jazz structure. On "Strange Love," solos emerge out of the group's interplay rather than taking place within a given number of choruses.

Mighty nice work from Kellee Patterson – a singer who should have been huge, given her range of expression – but who's maybe even better as one of the underground soul stars of the 70s! The music here is really a cut above the commercial at the time – tunes that echo some of the uptempo modes of the clubs, but which are always trying for something different too – maybe like some of the hipper female vocal recordings on Philadelphia International, handled here by producer Gene Russell and arranger Larry Farrow. Patterson can soar high one minute, hit some earthy notes the next – and the set's full of original material that really helps her find her groove.

Ornette Coleman - Free Jazz (1960) {Atlantic Japan, Paper Sleeve, WPCR-25110 rel 2006}
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© 1960, 2006 Atlantic / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-25110 | 24bit remastering
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Free Jazz / Alto Saxophone

As jazz's first extended, continuous free improvisation LP, Free Jazz practically defies superlatives in its historical importance. Ornette Coleman's music had already been tagged "free," but this album took the term to a whole new level. Aside from a predetermined order of featured soloists and several brief transition signals cued by Coleman, the entire piece was created spontaneously, right on the spot. The lineup was expanded to a double-quartet format, split into one quartet for each stereo channel: Ornette, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Scott LaFaro, and drummer Billy Higgins on the left; trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, bass clarinetist Eric Dolphy, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell on the right.

Italian band Merry Go Round first appeared back in 1985, then using the moniker Storks. They never released any official albums back then, but they released a demo tape and was an active live band, among the highlights of those early days was opening for legendary UK band The Pretty Things in 1988. Storks went into hiatus in 1990 when Michele Profeti and Stefano Gabbani decided to join Daniele Caputo and his new band Standarte. In 2012 Storks reunited, and expanded the line-up with guitar player Sandro Vitolo and vocalist Martina Vivaldi. This new and expanded version of the band was named Merry Go Round, and they released their self-titled debut album in 2015 through Italian label Black Widow Records. Their music is plain old school heavy rock with a very ballsy female vocalist. The music rocks hard and is loaded with electric guitar, roaring Hammond and vintage Mellotron, and some Moog too.

George Russell - Jazz In The Space Age (1960) {Decca–GRP GRD-826 rel 1998} (featuring Bill Evans)
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© 1960, 1998 Decca / GRP / Universal | GRD-826
Jazz / Post Bop / Modal Jazz

George Russell's third release as a leader combines two adventurous sessions. The first features two pianists, Bill Evans and Paul Bley, and a large ensemble including Ernie Royal, Dave Baker, Walt Levinsky, Barry Galbraith, Milt Hinton, and Don Lamond, among others. The three-part suite "Chromatic Universe" is an ambitious work which mixes free improvisation with written passages that have not only stood the test of time but still sound very fresh. "The Lydiot" focuses on the soloists, while incorporating elements from "Chromatic Universe" and other Russell compositions.

Brötzmann / Die Like a Dog - Close Up (2010) {FMP CD 144 rec 1994}
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© 1994, 2010 FMP-Publishing | FMP CD 144
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Saxophone / Bass Clarinet

A previously unissued live recording of Peter Brötzmann’s quartet Die Like a Dog! At the 1994 Total Music Meeting. An excellent performance kicking off with Hamid Drake on tablas, then gaining in momentum and fierceness. For those who have recently crossed the quartet Hairy Bones (Brötzmann/Kondo/Pupillo/Nilssen-Love), go back to Die Like a Dog (Brötzmann/Kondo/Parker/Drake) and have fun comparing the rhythms sections’ styles. This is excellent fire music building between an interrogation and an assertion.

A pop music band from California in the sunshine pop genre, The Association are known for their tight vocal harmony. In the 1960s the group had numerous hits at or near the top of the Billboard charts…

Dave Bailey - One Foot In The Gutter (1960) {2015 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICJ 31}
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© 1960, 2015 Epic / Sony Music Japan | SICJ 31
Jazz / Hard Bop / Drums

Reissue with the latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. Hard to have any feet in the gutter when you sound this great – as the album's a killer batch of hardbop, led by drummer Dave Bailey during his classic short run on Columbia! The lineup here is amazing – a rock-solid sextet with Clark Terry on trumpet, Junior Cook on tenor, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Horace Parlan on piano, and Peck Morrison on bass – all hitting with an intensity which rivals the best on Blue Note or Prestige – but which is arguably even better, given that most of the tracks on the set really stretch out! Side two features an extended 20 minute take on "Sandu" – and side one features "One Foot In The Gutter" and "Well You Needn't" – both over 10 minutes long! CD also features the bonus track "Brownie".

"For us „serious” musicians, the recognition that film music indeed claims a place in regular classical concert life was immensely important. Most of all because the best movie soundtracks are definitely rooted in the genre of Romantic symphonic poem. The compositions of the most significant masters of Hollywood in our days, like Ennio Morricone, John Williams both in their musical contents and elaboration are absolutely comparable to the compositions of Wagner’s and Richard Strauss’s period. Though BDO boasts a long list of monumental productions, we never lost sight of the main benefit of film music – its educative potentials. I clearly remember a concert some years ago where I selected orchestral parts from Wagner’s Ring cycle alongside with some of John Williams’ highlights. The audience mostly sitting there to hear music from some blockbusters where struck with the power of revelation. It is this spirit that I selected the compositions of this album."

This album is a collection of musical expressions of passion, pieces by Hungarian composers from the 19th century to the present day. Franz Liszt was actually an Austrian-German cosmopolitan, but in his art and deeds he clearly declared himself Hungarian. Les Préludes is casting the struggles of life and, in a Faustian sense, the conflicts of creative work into music. Ferenc Lehár's life work is unquestionably connected to the peculiarly Austro-Hungarian musical genre of operetta. While the operettas and dances of the 19th century express and serve a real or desired feeling of life, the peculiarity of Lehár’s art is the clear connection it shows to the nostalgia that is typical of the 20th century. Ernő Dohnányi's musical thought is typical of late Romanticism, preserving the tools of German Romanticism, at the same time delicately and seamlessly integrating folk music into his art.

Kellee Patterson’s rise into the public eye came in 1971 when she was the first black girl to become Miss Indiana when she entered the Miss America pageant with merits for her singing talents. Her singing started professionally when she was just 16 and following the sucess in the Miss America pageant she toured the world where she both sung and gave speeches. Kellee broke into TV to host Harambee in Chicago and continued on with her singing career later when she moved to the West Coast. Her musical recording total only four albums, that have remained fairly underground gems that sported afew minor singles.

If Sinead O'Connor can make an album of standards and Don Henley can cover Leonard Cohen, there's no reason on God's green earth why producer/multi-instrumentalist Don Was shouldn't be allowed to record jazzy R&B versions of obscure Hank Williams songs. He may have chosen some of the more esoteric gems from Hank's catalog so as to lessen the culture shock, but with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard and Sweet Pea Atkinson applying their respective talents to the proceedings, the initial novelty of the arrangements is undercut by virtuoso performances.
While the project, complete with lengthy instrumental interludes, smacks of self-indulgence, it's hard to go too far wrong with a cast of musicians as fine as the ones employed here. Was gets extra credit for talking Merle Haggard into lending his voice and guitar to "I'm So Tired Of It All."