A singer with an exciting presence and a voice to immerse yourself in. A band that lit up with high wattage a repertoire including both standards and popular songs. A band leader who had his ensemble under control through proven discipline and could, when needed, take the lead as a soloist, but tended to hold back amidst his all-stars. The result a mixture that whisked the concert hall in Freiburg (Germany) for one evening in October 1959 into a wonderful world of successful jazz entertainment and sent the audience out into the night with an earworm.

Six CD set. First-ever complete anthology of early 70s UK progressive rock band notorious for occult- based lyrics and explicit stage act. Features their three CBS albums, demos, including an early demo version of 'Sacrifice', out- takes, live recordings and a pre-Black Widow LP as Pesky Gee! And their final unreleased album from 1972. Inspired by the popularity of Hammer Horror films and Dennis Wheatley novels, in 1969 Leicester progressive rockers Pesky Gee! Became Black Widow and immersed themselves in the occult. Sharing management with Black Sabbath, they signed to CBS and issued concept album 'Sacrifice', a Top 40 set that included their calling card, the demonic invocation 'Come To The Sabbat'. Also including two live sets from 1970-71 and all surviving tracks from an aborted 1971 solo LP by vocalist Kay Garrett on which she was backed by Black Widow (who also wrote the songs). Featuring a 40-page booklet that contains the band's full story with quotes and many rare photos/press clippings, 'Sabbat Days' is a must-have for fans of vintage UK progressive rock, and is a fascinating document of a time when rock music still had the power to offend mainstream society.

Good recordings of Vivaldi’s first printed opus are hard to come by. The set lacks the distinctive imprint of what we understand and recognize as Vivaldian, yet the pieces have great charm if handled sensitively and imaginatively. These have long been virtuous features in Monica Huggett’s playing: her gently inflected approach to the music, shared by the other members of Sonnerie, is a constant pleasure, and is heard to great advantage in the many beguiling slow movements of which the Largo and Sarabanda of Op. 1 No. 4 immediately spring to mind.

Pietro degli Antoni (1639-1720) was a founding member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica in his native Bologna, an institution bringing together professional musicians “so well united that they always play together, creating fine sound”. Many famous composers were member: Vitali, Tosi, Colonna, and later Corelli, Bononcini, Torelli and Bassani. Even Mozart, when visiting Bologna, became a member, being highly impressed by the sheer size and quality of the Accademia (..”the music was grave and majestic..” he wrote home).

The stunning second album from Cherish the Ladies lead vocalist Heidi Talbot, "Distant Future" is a wondrously evocative collection poised at the intersection of Irish and American folk traditions. Working closely with remarkable guitarist/vocalist/producer John Doyle (ex-Solas, solo artist) and a cadre of musicians from both shores, Talbot has crafted an album of sublime beauty and enchanting subtlety. Blending traditional material with original songs from Talbot, Doyle, Boo Hewerdine, and others, "Distant Future" is a compelling step forward from an important young voice in Irish music.

The vocal group the Rose Ensemble, along with a few guest instrumentalists, has produced a terrifically fun and lovely album of Christmas music from the Mexican Baroque. The nine composers represented were mostly active in the 17th century, but there is one from the 16th; some were born in Spain, but all had careers in Mexico. Some of the pieces are virtually indistinguishable from European works from the same period, and some are distinctively flavored with the character of New World dances like xácara, guaracha, and negrilla.

The "+" in the title of Live+ refers to the two studio recordings tacked onto the end of this 2015 live set: a tense, cloistered original called "Tribal," where Jeff Beck spits out squalls of noise over thundering primal drums; and a cover of "My Tiled White Floor," a wash of electronic soul with vocals by Veronica Bellino that feels constructed out of faded memories of Prince. They're nice additions that wouldn't have quite suited 2010's Emotion & Commotion, nor do they quite feel of a piece with the rest of Live+, all recorded on tour in August 2014.

Hubcap Music is the sixth studio album by Seasick Steve. The title derives from his Morris Minor guitar made out of two hubcaps placed back-to-back. Steve uses the guitar frequently, both live and in the studio. Guests on the album include Dan Magnusson on drums (who also plays live with Seasick Steve), John Paul Jones on bass (amongst other instruments), and Jack White on guitar on the track "The Way I Do".

Featuring Tommy Bolin as Richie Blackmore's replacement. His guitar work can be seen on Deep Purple Mark IV, where he brought a funk influence to their hard rock sound! In early 1976, Deep Purple travelled to the US, where they performed more than 30 concerts. One of the finest of these was also their first American show of the jaunt, performed in Springfield, Massachusetts on January 26th ’76, at the city’s Springfield City Centre. Now available on this new 2CD set for the first time, this release will prove a delight for Deep Purple fans the world across.

Known for their lush and atmospheric, largely instrumental music, the Irish/Norwegian duo Secret Garden rose to fame in the mid-'90s and have since won an international following for their gentle but emotionally evocative sounds, dominated by violin and keyboards and combining notes of Celtic and Norwegian folk, pop, and new age styles. The duo first came together to write and perform the song "Nocturne," which became Norway's winning entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. While they would dabble in vocal music on 2007's Inside I'm Singing and pare back their arrangements on 2013's Just the Two of Us, the sizable majority of their releases saw them remaining loyal to their trademark sound, playing music that touched the hearts and soothed the souls of their many fans around the world. “Storyteller” is the tenth original album from the award-winning Norwegian-Irish act Secret Garden.

Big bands were on their way out by the late '40s, which left bandleaders and musicians who had played swing in a quandary: embrace bebop or become a nostalgia act. Certain wise musicians like Gene Krupa and Harry James, however, found a middle course by modernizing swing with new arrangements and selling it to ballroom dancers. The Complete Capitol Recordings of Gene Krupa and Harry James collects a multitude of splendid performances from both players as they transitioned from one era to the next. The four Krupa discs were recorded in 1946-1947 during the drummer/leader's successful comeback following a drug conviction. His band averaged around 17 pieces during these sessions, and occasionally featured vocalists Caroline Grey and Buddy Stewart. The band covers everything from bouncy straight-ahead swing like "Indiana" to tender ballads like "How Deep Is the Ocean." Of special interest are a number of stripped-down tracks, including "Body and Soul" and "Limehouse Blues," that feature Krupa, saxophonist Charlie Ventura, and pianist Teddy Napoleon. The three James discs were recorded between 1955 and 1958 and find the semi-reclusive trumpeter returning to the limelight.

Osibisa, the West African high-life band from Ghana, waxed their first LP in 1971 and continues to spit them out. Their longevity can be attributed to a vibrant sound and the ability to inject humor into music. They don't allow themselves to become mired in social issues as did the short-lived but often brilliant Cymande, whose LPs were essentially political statements. Osibisa's only agenda is making good music, and if it happens to strike a political or social nerve, fine, but it's not what they're totally about. "Wango Wango" starts slow but evolves into a wicked jam that's heavy as P-Funk. Pleasant flute and trumpet riffs accent the lovely "So So MI La So." The bands' tribute to America, the floating "Sweet America," teases and tantalizes. Percussion heads will appreciate "Ye Tie Wo" and "Che Che Kule." The deepest slabs of social commentary are the thought-provoking "Sweet Sounds" and "Did You Know." All tracks were written by all or various members of Osibisa, who share production credit with John Punter.

Hooray for Boobies is the third studio album by American rock band Bloodhound Gang. It was released on October 4, 1999, in the United Kingdom and on February 29, 2000, in the United States. Produced by Jimmy Pop and Richard Gavalis, it is the band's second release with Geffen Records after One Fierce Beer Coaster (1996). This was the second and last album to feature drummer Spanky G, who left the band to finish his studies. The album was a commercial success that generated favorable reviews and brought the Bloodhound Gang into the mainstream consciousness. In the US, it peaked at number 14 on the Billboard 200 chart. It reached number one in Austria and Germany. Five singles were released from the album: "Along Comes Mary", "The Bad Touch", "The Ballad of Chasey Lain", "Mope", and "The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope". "The Bad Touch" was listed on 14 charts worldwide, and reached number one on five of them.

There are two kinds of Zephyr fans; those who think the band died when Tommy Bolin left, and those who know it didn't. Zephyr's second and final Warner Bros. album (and third album overall) featured Boulder, Colorado guitar slinger Jock Bartley in place of Bolin, the replacement of Bobby Berge and John Faris, and one of the few known recorded appearances of Bobby Notkoff, other than his work with Neil Young, for whom he created the heart-wrenching violin break on "Running Dry." Without Bolin, the band took a decided turn toward jazz. This is a stunning album, featuring unknown classics like "Moving Too Fast," "Chasing Clouds," and "Winter Always Finds Me." Lead singer Candy Givens died in 1984, and this album is perhaps her most passionate legacy.

1st pressing on vinyl. Limited Edition of 500. 250 on Black (This), & 250 on White. Although their first two efforts, 2000's Terra Incognita and 2003's The Link, had been quite impressive in their own ways, Gojira's third album, 2005's From Mars to Sirius, was the one that really stamped the French quartet's all-pro credentials, gaining them access into the exclusive top echelon of the world's progressive metal elite. Meticulously conceived from the inside out, the record radiated a newfound confidence to match both the unprecedented diversity of its musical palette, and the evocative cover art (featuring a whale adrift amongst mystery planets) representative of its often otherworldly qualities. Yes, the band's primary influences – Pantera's heavy grooves, Meshuggah's icy technicality, Neurosis' post-metal atmospherics – were still very evident in complex new musical excursions like "Ocean Planet," "From the Sky," and "The Heaviest Matter in the Universe" (listen for their shared, Dimebag-inspired, jarring guitar-squeal effect).