This year marks the 60th anniversary of the legendary jazz label, Impulse! Records – home to such pioneering jazz artists as John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Pharoah Sanders, Quincy Jones, and more. On May 14, as a centerpiece to its year-long celebrations, the imprint taking a look back at its first decade with the release of Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment – a deluxe, 4-LP box set. Housed in a museum drop-front box set, Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment speaks to the political, social, and spiritual elements that were omnipresent in the 60s – when Impulse! and its artists were at their creative heights. In a decade marked by protests, racial and social unrest, and the dismantling of institutions, jazz was an integral part of exploring Black identity and pushing cultural and political boundaries.

In this seventh volume of Music for Brass Septet, Septura survey two of America’s greatest and most representative composers. Gershwin’s An American in Paris charts a visitor’s stroll around the French capital, absorbing the city’s atmosphere and charm, whereas the synergy of classical form and jazz animates Gershwin’s unique Preludes. Copland’s Quiet City depicts a contrasting and more understated cityscape, while the suite from the ballet Appalachian Spring displays Septura’s luminous virtuosity.

The latest album from Christina Pluhar and her instrumental ensemble L’Arpeggiata sheds new light on the chamber cantatas of 17th century Italian composer, Luigi Rossi. He wrote more than 300 of these works and Christina Pluhar’s new double album includes an impressive number of 21 world premiere recordings, which are the fruit of Christina Pluhar’s research among music manuscripts held in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and the Vatican Library.

Karen Carroll has plenty of opportunity to strut her stuff on her debut, Had My Fun. Unlike many contemporary blues albums, which are highly polished blasts of blues-rock, Had My Fun takes its time. Many of the songs are torchy slow blues or down and dirty Chicago blues – either way, they sound natural, never forced. That's appropriate, since Carroll sings like a natural, caressing the ballads and growling the nastier numbers. Best of all, there's actual grit in the production – four of the songs were recorded live – and that allows Carroll to achieve her full potential on this impressive debut.

Little is known of the life of Paschal de L'Estocart, the French composer of the late Renaissance who was roughly a contemporary of Claude Le Jeune (1528 -1600). He seems to have been sympathetic to the Protestant Reformers – he spent considerable time in Germany and his music was published in Geneva – but later in life he applied unsuccessfully to the French King for a position at an abbey. His collection of psalms and motets, Sacrae Cantiones, 16 of which are recorded here, are mostly in French, along with several in Latin, and was dedicated to Calvinist Count Palatine Johann Casimir in 1582. This collection also includes his Ode in 12 parts, set to religious texts in French. L'Estocart's music is typical of late Renaissance polyphony, eclectic in its use of a cantus firmus, imitative counterpoint, and homophonic writing, with an unusually free use of dissonance. The French mixed a cappella ensemble Ludus Modalis, led by Bruno Boterf, specializes in music of this era and sings with passion and authority. Intonation is immaculate and tone quality is pure and unforced. The recorded sound is clean, but spacious and warm.

Jackie McLean was a hard-bop alto saxophonist with a fiery tight tone, who recorded extensively in the ‘50s and ‘60s mainly with Blue Note Records. Although his forays with an organ was confined to two albums with Jimmy Smith Open House and Plain Talk, Cory Weeds’ decision to use an organ on this session does not stray off the mark. Condition Blue accomplishes the band’s intention, to acknowledge a saxophonist who had an exploratory vision. In a set list of either McLean originals, or compositions associated with him, this tight-knit band delivers the goods in firm, yet flexible style. The key players in this session in addition, to the cooly effective altoist Weeds, are Mike LeDonne, a B-3 player of energetic disposition, and creative guitarist Peter Bernstein. Also along is drummer Joe Farnsworth who is a propulsive player.

After the Zombies broke up, keyboardist/songwriter Rod Argent formed his own band in 1969, which incorporated more classical, jazz, and art rock influences in accordance with Argent's musical training. The group's other members were guitarist/songwriter Russ Ballard, bassist Jim Rodford, and drummer Bob Henrit…

Sebastian Knüpfer is yet another Baroque composer whose reputation and popularity have been overshadowed by J S Bach. Little of Knüpfer's music has previously been transcribed from its many manuscripts, let alone published. However, in his day Knüpfer was a respected and highly sought-after composer; his compositions were admired by his contemporaries and, according to his obituary, he 'composed quotations of the Psalms and other Biblical books with such sweetness and skilfulness that he delighted even the saddest hearts, and his name is spoken with admiration not only in Leipzig but also outside'.

Fifteen tracks from 1967-1969 (some from the very end of that span were recorded when the group were known as "Leviathan"). "Children of Tomorrow" and its B-side are the only two of these items that saw official (and very limited) release; the rest are taken from demos and a 1968 session for John Peel on the BBC. While "Children of Tomorrow" is the unquestioned highlight, much of this is pretty fair pop-psych. It takes a more raucous guitar-based approach than many of their psych contemporaries, only faltering when the band occasionally opts for a hard blues/soul approach. If you like British cult bands of the time such as Tomorrow, or are in the market for psychedelia that dips the usual spacy lyrics and full harmonies in guitars that owe a lot to late-'60s Who and Yardbirds, you'll be satisfied with much of what's on tap here.

The truly definitive singles collection of this living legend – featuring all of Shaky’s singles released as a solo artist, highlighting the broad umbrella of styles from rock and country blues, to Cajun, and Americana to classic rock – and including all the classics hits. Stevens shares with the Beatles (60s) and Elton John (70s) the distinction of being the most successful UK singles chart performer of a decade (80s), as confirmed by the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles and Albums. This 3CD collection of singles is unique, in that it is the only release ever to feature all of Shaky’s singles from throughout his solo career. Exclusive to this release is also a brand new single ‘Wild At Heart (Neros Single Version)'.

A superb cornetist with faultless taste who started with Glenn Miller and was featured on Jackie Gleason's Easy Listening albums.
Bobby Hackett's mellow tone and melodic style offered a contrast to the brasher Dixieland-oriented trumpeters. Emphasizing his middle-register and lyricism, Hackett was a flexible soloist who actually sounded little like his main inspiration, Louis Armstrong.

This single-disc live compilation has also been issued as The Bright Midnight Records Sampler. However, both titles contain the exact same music. In their attempts to quash inferior-sounding bootlegs and provide Doors fans with previously unavailable recordings, the three surviving bandmembers, as well as manager Danny Sugerman and original sound engineer Bruce Botnick, formed Bright Midnight – a subsidiary of and distributed by Rhino Records. This disc contains a sampling from the various titles on the label and includes some peak moments from shows destined for complete release…