"Greer is a highly accomplished player of the natural horn… I find Greer's playing very musicianly: unusually graceful in the phrasing of the quick movements, with gentle, thoughtful playing in K417 and some lovely smooth and clear lines in K495, while the slow movements are all beautifully done—the Romance of K447 refined and graceful, that of K495 often truly poetic with happy details of timing. And there is no shortage of wit in the finales, or of high spirits. Greer improvises his cadenzas: in the first movement of K495 he does, rightly I think, simply a longish flourish, with no reference to the themes of the movement." (Stanley Sadie, Gramophone Magazine)

Robert Cray always flirted with gritty Southern soul, but it wasn't until Sweet Potato Pie that he made a full-fledged soul-blues record in Memphis. Cray hasn't abandoned blues, but he's woven punchy horns and sexy rhythms into the mix, resulting in one of his stronger records of the '90s. The material remains a bit uneven, but his taste is impeccable – few blues guitarists are as succinct and memorable as he, and the soul settings of Sweet Potato Pie only confirm that fact.

Most supergroups don't last long, and GTR was no exception to the rule. Steve Hackett and Steve Howe - lead guitarists for the prime periods of Genesis and Yes, respectively - formed the band in 1986, not with the intention of reviving classic prog rock, but with the idea of making a stadium-shaking hard rock band. It was two veterans with very clear musical identities of their own, teamed with a trio of supporting musicians eager for a big break. Not the ideal formula for a perfect rock album, since the scales were already tipped toward one side as the recording began. And, GTR's lone eponymous album didn't deliver the fireworks that Howe and Hackett fans desired. Part of the problem is that the two guitarists crowd each other out; it rarely sounds like they're trading licks, but rather like they're stepping forward for solos at their pre-scheduled times…

Another excellent recent set from the veteran harpist, cut down in Austin with a mixture of Texans and Chicagoans in support: pianist Pinetop Perkins, guitarists Duke Robiilard and Luther Tucker, and drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith. Pryor's made quite a substantial to his long-dormant discography in the last few years.

Exactly as advertised, Travers & Appice is a collaboration between two classic rock icons: guitarist and vocalist Pat Travers, of numerous '70s solo guitar hero records fame, and drummer Carmine Appice, ex-member of Vanilla Fudge, Cactus, Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne – heck, you name it! Paired together by the Steamhammer/SPV label, the duo cut 2004's brashly hard-rocking It Takes a Lot of Balls with the help of journeyman bassist T.M. Stevens, who has previously worked with James Brown, Joe Cocker, Tina Turner, and many more.

It s got to be a very special release that has Suzi Quatro announce proudly: The Devil In Me is the best album in my career to date! After all, the American rock vocalist would hardly utter such superlatives lightly. Suzi s enthusiasm for her latest offering has many reasons, twelve of them to be precise. Because The Devil In Me consists of exactly a dozen songs, each of them from the opening track and title song to the final Motor City Riders a real highlight. The reasons for Suzi s remarkable creative explosion: on the one hand the lockdown, which kept her from her usual touring life in spring 2020, and on the other another collaboration with her son Richard Tuckey, which had already worked out extremely well on her predecessor album No Control.

Eliane Elias' debut as a leader (she had been a member of Steps Ahead) finds her abandoning the electric keyboards in favor of acoustic piano. On seven songs she is joined by bassist Eddie Gomez and either Al Foster or Steve Gadd on drums; the remaining two selections feature her accompanied by bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Lenny White. With harmonica great Toots Thielemans making guest appearances on two numbers, Elias was at the time easily the least-known of the players on her own CD. However the pianist was already far along toward developing her own sound as she shows on four originals, two obscurities, Herbie Hancock's "Chan's Song," Blossom Dearie's "Sweet Georgia Fame" and the standard "Falling in Love with Love." A fine start to a significant solo career.

In 1963, singer Sathima Bea Benjamin persuaded Duke Ellington to see her future husband, Abdullah Ibrahim (then known as Dollar Brand), play in a club in Europe. Ellington was impressed by both of the recent South African émigrés and arranged with Reprise to record them. While Brand's record came out within a year, Benjamin's debut was lost and not heard for decades, even by the singer. As it turned out, engineer Gerhard Lehner had made a second copy and kept it for all of these years, so the initial 1997 release of this important session was possible. Backed by pianist Ibrahim, bassist Johnny Gertze, drummer Makaya Ntshoko, and (on two songs apiece) Duke Ellington or Billy Strayhorn, and occasionally joined by violinist Svend Asmussen (who here plays exclusively pizzicato, as if he were using a high-pitched guitar), Benjamin's voice sounds quite beautiful…

Tago Mago (1971). With the band in full artistic flower and Damo Suzuki's sometimes moody, sometimes frenetic speak/sing/shrieking in full effect, Can released not merely one of the best Krautrock albums of all time, but one of the best albums ever, period. Tago Mago is that rarity of the early '70s, a double album without a wasted note, ranging from sweetly gentle float to full-on monster grooves. "Paperhouse" starts things brilliantly, beginning with a low-key chime and beat, before amping up into a rumbling roll in the midsection, then calming down again before one last blast. Both "Mushroom" and "Oh Yeah," the latter with Schmidt filling out the quicker pace with nicely spooky keyboards, continue the fine vibe. After that, though, come the huge highlights - three long examples of Can at its absolute best…