With their second album Rides Again, the James Gang came into their own. Under the direction of guitarist Joe Walsh, the group – now featuring bassist Dale Peters – began incorporating keyboards into their hard rock, which helped open up their musical horizons. For much of the first side of Rides Again, the group tear through a bunch of boogie numbers, most notably the heavy groove of "Funk #49." On the second side, the James Gang departs from their trademark sound, adding keyboard flourishes and elements of country-rock to their hard rock. Walsh's songwriting had improved, giving the band solid support for their stylistic experiments. What ties the two sides of the record together is the strength of the band's musicianship, which burns brightly and powerfully on the hardest rockers, as well as on the sensitive ballads.

After a couple of years of relentless touring, Humble Pie capitalized on their loyal U.S. following to capture the market with this, their fifth studio album. Although lead guitarist Peter Frampton was replaced by Clem Clemson – an excellent player – the band remained essentially the same. Led by singer/guitarist Steve Marriott's soulful wail, the group enjoyed a huge hit from this record, "30 Days in the Hole" – the track which defined the Pie's not-so-subtle appeal. The rest of the record is equally funky and intriguing. Stephen Stills guests on "Road Runner 'G' Jam," playing some nasty Hammond organ fills. In the end, though, the group defined themselves as the undisputed leaders of the boogie movement in the early 1970s, as a band.

G.E.N.E. (Grooving Electronic Natural Environments) is a Canadian New Age instrumental band. The idea of this world-famous project was born in June 1987, during a conversation under the stars around a campfire and tents on the shore of the lake in the Canadian woods. That night, Cleo de Mallio took the first steps in a musical odyssey that is still not completed. The conversation was carried on the nature and technology, the world and machines, the new digital sound and lofty emotions. Father of the project and the producer is Michael Weisser - founding member of the German band Software, one of the disciples of the legendary Klaus Schulze, the founder of the company's IC/Digit music, on which he produced G.E.N.E. and Software…

Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (1657-1714) is one of those composers who was forgotten by history. Originally from East Frisia, he arrived at the court of Rudolstadt in Thuringia at the age of 24 to serve as music director, remaining there for the rest of his life: the lustre of the court faded and the collection of over 2500 works by himself and others, amassed by Erlebach during the course of his life, was destroyed by fire. Thus this once significant composer 'from the Province' faded from memory.

The Water Music and the Music for the Royal Fireworks mark two chronological extremes of Handel's career in London. The first was written in his earlier years in England, presumably by 1717, to entertain a royal party sailing up the Thames, while the second was commissioned to celebrate the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1749. Both occasions called for outdoor music, a form in which Handel was to demonstrate a particular skill during the years that he provided music for the gardens at Vauxhall.

Tchaikovskys contemporaries tell us that he was good enough to become a concert pianist, if he had chosen to follow that path. But he preferred to focus on composition, and rarely performed in public concerts. His interest in the piano is mainly to be found in his many pieces for the instrument, and since most of these were suitable for amateurs with solid skills, they sold well and played an important role in building up his fame. Despite this, some view Tchaikovskys solo piano works are not performed as regularly as his orchestral works.

This is the best playing of Bach keyboard music on original instruments in the catalog. The way Igor Kipnis plays the English Suite is easily worth the price of the disc, as he gives every movement a character of its own, thrills us with his virtuosity, and displays his imagination with his embellished repeats. The Italian Concerto doesn't offer the same opportunities for repeats, but Kipnis still gives us imagination and great sensitivity. The remaining pieces are played on the soft-voiced clavichord, an instrument that normally can't be heard across a small room. Don't turn the volume up, just save this music for late nights in the country and let it whisper to you.

Jimi Hendrix's second album followed up his groundbreaking debut effort with a solid collection of great tunes and great interactive playing between himself, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell, and the recording studio itself. Wisely retaining manager Chas Chandler to produce the album and Eddie Kramer as engineer, Hendrix stretched further musically than the first album, but even more so as a songwriter. He was still quite capable of coming up with spacy rockers like "You Got Me Floating," "Up from the Skies," and "Little Miss Lover," radio-ready to follow on the commercial heels of "Foxey Lady" and "Purple Haze." But the beautiful, wistful ballads "Little Wing," "Castles Made of Sand," "One Rainy Wish," and the title track set closer show remarkable growth and depth as a tunesmith, harnessing Curtis Mayfield soul guitar to Dylanesque lyrical imagery and Fuzz Face hyperactivity to produce yet another side to his grand psychedelic musical vision…

This is the first of two super session albums that Chess produced in the late '60s. Time has been a bit kinder to this one, featuring Muddy, Bo Diddley and Little Walter, than the one cut a year later with Howlin' Wolf standing in for Walter. It's loose and extremely sloppy, the time gets pushed around here and there and Little Walter's obviously in bad shape, his voice rusted to a croak and trying to blow with a collapsed lung. But there are moments where Bo's heavily tremoloed guitar sounds just fine and the band kicks it in a few spots and Muddy seems to be genuinely enjoying himself. Granted, these moments are few and way too far between, but at least nobody's playing a wah-wah pedal on here.

This two-CD set combines two separate concerts by the Oscar Peterson Trio. The bulk of this Jazz Lips compilation is devoted to The Complete Tokyo Concert 1964, previously only available as a Pablo LP or CD in Japan. With Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen providing their usual sterling support, covering favorite standards, time-tested jazz compositions (many of which were still relatively new at the time) like "I Remember Clifford" and "Bags' Groove," plus Peterson's stirring, gospel-infused "Hymn to Freedom." Peterson does his share of showing off his tremendous chops, though he is remarkably restrained on the ballad features, except for the rollicking setting of "Tonight" (from the musical West Side Story) and a ridiculously fast "Yours Is My Heart Alone"…