When not working as one half of the production team of Deep Forest, Michel Sanchez composes eclectic worldbeat soundscapes drawn from all corners of the planet. His musical pieces often sound like flipping through radio stations from high above the Earth or a soundtrack to a film that has never been produced. Sanchez' first solo work was Windows, released in 1998, followed by Hieroglyphes in 2000.
Think of what might happen if there were a collaborative effort among Weather Report, New York Voices, Cirque du Soleil, and Rob Mounsey's Flying Monkey Orchestra - all pumped up on steroids - and you begin to get the idea…

Impossible de vivre un 31 décembre et célébrer le passage au Nouvel An sans musique ! A chaque réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre, une playlist festive s’impose : pop, dance, disco, rétro, chacun voit midi - ou plutôt minuit - à sa porte, selon ses goûts…

The Classic Prestige Sessions 1951-1956 collects all of the sides recorded by trumpeter Miles Davis and tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins for Prestige during their time together as young players in New York City. Both musicians were just past their formative years during this period, having broken free from the heavy sway of their bop elders – especially alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, who appears here in several classic cuts originally released on Collector's Items. Both Davis and Rollins were expanding the bop mold and beginning to discover their own sound. Davis had already made his mark with the innovative West Coast jazz masterpiece Birth of the Cool and was further developing his romantic and cerebral minimalism. Similarly, Rollins was quickly becoming the heir to Parker's throne as the most searching and muscular saxophonist on the scene. The dichotomy of their sounds made Davis and Rollins a perfect rub as jazz partners and these recordings helped foreshadow and define such future jazz movements as hard bop, post-bop, and even free jazz.

Level 42 was steadily perfecting and evolving their dance/pop, funk, and rock mix during the '80s, and when they hit the big time, the label began reissuing their earlier, less successful material. It's hard to understand why this didn't do as well as later albums like World Machine, Running in the Family, and Staring at the Sun, although the obvious reason would be that no singles ever broke that compared with the ones from those releases. But it was just as well produced, the songs were almost as cutely performed, and the arrangements are very similar.

The Ragazze Quartet with its classical roots, Slagwerk Den Haag with the sounds of today, and the idiosyncratic jazz trio Kapok… Contrasting contours, but a common denominator: none of our three ensembles belong to a specific category. All three push the boundaries of our genres in our quest for new forms and adventurous joint projects. It is through this inquisitive musicianship that the unusual combination feels so wonderfully natural. The choice for Riley’s repertoire gave another stir to our boundary reconnoitre. For Riley’s music allows considerable space for creativity and improvisation. The tension that arises through freedom within strict frames means that every performance is different. And it brings with it that the music has a strong sense of spontaneity and joie de vivre. In In C, performed by the Ragazze Quartet and Slagwerk Den Haag, the dynamic range is enormous. Long, melodic lines as well as short, rhythmic motifs may be employed, producing an effect of both tranquil contemplation and pulsating explosiveness. Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector was originally written for string quartet. But the Ragazze Quartet invited jazz trio Kapok to make a new arrangement together.The mix of string quartet and horn, electric guitar and percussion, all expanded with electronic effects, offers a rich pallet of timbres.

Like Stevie Wonder and Allen Toussaint before him–and Prince and D'Angelo afterward–Shuggie Otis was a musical visionary whose early 1970s recordings showed he could do it all, writing, arranging, performing, and producing some of the decade's most satisfying, innovative, and, unfortunately, overlooked music. This reissue of his 1974 Inspiration Information album–a soulful song cycle that took three years to create and was worth every minute–ranges from early drum machine-driven experiments like "Xl-30" and "Aht Uh Mi Hed" (note the Sly Stone spelling influence) to Otis's most stunning pop confection ever, "Strawberry Letter 23." (The latter song, which ended up being a big hit for the Brothers Johnson, is one of four bonus tracks taken from Otis's 1971 Freedom Flight album). Otis, who once turned down an offer to replace Mick Taylor in the Rolling Stones, continues to perform around the Bay Area on his own and with his father, bandleader Johnny Otis. Hopefully, the long-awaited resurrection of this material will help bring him the attention he deserves.

Mango Santamaria utilizes a colorful cast of musicians on this CD. Flutists Hubert Laws and Dave Valentin are featured on two songs apiece (although unfortunately not together) and the nonet has trumpeter Eddie Allen, altoist Jimmy Cozier, and Craig Rivers on tenor and soprano, along with three percussionists. There are a lot of percussion features including the closing nine-and-a-half minute "La Mogolla," making this an excellent if not quite essential recording.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood's first double album was a huge hit. Their second offering also met with some success, although it is not as well remembered. And yet, on many accounts, Liverpool can be considered as an improvement over its predecessor. For one thing, the album is shorter, more conventional. While Welcome to the Pleasuredome had some strong material, the length weakened the whole in many places. Here, the band focused on eight tracks and the result is somewhat more convincing. "Warriors of the Wasteland," "Rage Hard," and "Watching the Wildlife" were all minor hits back in 1986, and the other tracks are, for the most part, of the same quality, with perhaps "For Heaven's Sake" standing out as a favorite. Again, Trevor Horn was involved in the production (the band was signed to his famous Zang Tuum Tumb label, so it's no big surprise) – thus the production is impeccable, as one would expect from a Horn-produced album. Worth a listen if you like the band or have an interest for '80s music – of which this is not such a bad sample.

This collection of six live songs recorded by Deep Purple at the San Diego Sports Arena in 1974 includes their rock anthem "Smoke on the Water" and a five minute keyboard solo. The album was recorded at the final show of a highly successful American tour, the first to feature new members David Coverdale (Lead vocals) and Glenn Hughes (Bass, vocals) replacing Ian Gillan and Roger Glover respectively, and just 3 days after Deep Purple's legendary performance at the California Jam.

Guitarist Ronnie Earl continues his string of all instrumental albums with this stunning follow-up to 1997's critically acclaimed The Colour of Love. With sturdy yet subtle assistance from Anthony Geraci on keyboards, Mark Greenberg or Don Williams on drums, Michael "Mudcat" Ward on bass, and, for two tracks, special guest Jimmy McGriff handling the Hammond B-3 in his inimitable fashion, Earl peels off sweet and spicy jazz-blues-gospel licks with the touch of a musician whose heart and soul is intimately infused in his music.
Earl's love of Muddy Waters shines on a sizzling cover of "Catfish Blues" where his guitar alternately screams and moans through the stop-start rhythm of the song as if it's singing the lyrics. But this is primarily a jazz album with a heavy blues influence, and Earl's Kenny Burrell and Grant Green roots are pervasive throughout…

As a leader, saxophonist and composer Gary Thomas is wildly ambitious. Throughout the 1980s and into the '90s, Thomas experimented with everything from free jazz and funk to heavy metal and hip-hop. Exile's Gate is another such exercise. There are two distinct bands accompanying him here. One is made up of Thomas on tenor with drummer Jack DeJohnette and guitarist Paul Bollenback with organist Tim Murphy and bassist Ed Howard. The other features the latter two musicians, Marvin Sewell on guitar and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. The first band plays Thomas' free-spirited and aggressive originals while the second plays standards for the most part. Only Thomas would think of putting the two approaches together on one record on alternate cuts.

The title of Ronnie Baker Brooks' Times Have Changed may refer to the decade gap between this 2017 album and its 2006 predecessor, The Torch. A lot has happened during those ten years, including the deaths of Bobby "Blue" Bland and Lonnie Brooks, artists who make cameos on this 11-track album, but that's not the only way the past is present on Times Have Changed. With the assistance of producer Steve Jordan, Ronnie Baker Brooks has created a tribute to the Southern soul of the '60s and the smooth funk of the '70s. Guests abound – apart from the dearly departed, Steve Cropper, "Big Head" Todd Mohr, Angie Stone, Felix Cavaliere, Lee Roy Parnell, Eddie Willis, and Al Kapone all make appearances – and a few familiar old tunes, like Joe Tex's Texas soul classic "Show Me" and Eric Clapton's slow-burning "Old Love," sit alongside some fine new originals.

David Sanborn's third album as a leader has him steering away from the N.Y.C. neo-bop, skunk funk, Seventh Avenue style he helped co-found with the Brecker Brothers band. That it is recorded in Miami speaks volumes about the sunny attitude and less jazz-oriented music he is fomenting. Guitarist/vocalist Hiram Bullock and emerging electric bass guitar star Mark Egan have something to do with this, but the extraordinary drummer Victor Lewis is the one who gives this music an R&B heft while also adding Latin flavors, like boogaloo on growth hormones. Keyboardist Rosalinda DeLeon, percussionist Jumma Santos, and four female vocalists help with the sexy Afro-Caribbean underpinning, while Sanborn plays his trusty St. Louis soul vibrato-drenched alto sax, and also experiments with sopranino sax and the lyricon.

Mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza's career always had something of a Spanish flavor to it, even though she excelled in Mozart and Rossini roles and other elements of the traditional repertory. She consistently championed Spanish music, from zarzuela to the songs of Granados and Falla. She also sang the title role of Carmen frequently, bringing her own unique sense of the character to both stage and recordings. A musician of unusual breadth and ability, Berganza was an accomplished pianist and organist and even studied conducting and composition. Her voice, which had an impressive upper extension, managed to cross boundaries as well: in 1960, she was offered the role of Violetta – a mainstay of the soprano repertory – in Verdi's La traviata at La Scala in Milan.

The band Steely Dan - in essence the musicianship and songwriting team of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen - has long divided the critics : some have marvelled at a highly imaginative blend of intelligent, "literary" lyrics and a carefully crafted influence of jazz and Latin rhythms within the rock template, whilst others have detected a certain coldness in the work, due perhaps to over-elaboration and perfectionism. Of course, deciding to name your b.nd after a dildo in William Burroughs's cult novel Th Naked Lunch will invite criticism , but none of those who questioned Steely Dan's Status at the top of the tree of 70s rock could ever seriously dispute the immaculate execution of their vision.