Art of Recording vol. 2 released in 2014 on stockfisch records. Album of popular singers such as Allan Taylor, Sara K, David Munyon, Paul O’Brien, Brooke Miller, Ewen Carruthers, Duo Balance, McKinley Black, Bass Swing Trio & Barbara Burkle.

The tenth album from this Toronto based groove duo, Four80East. With an eclectic mix of neo-jazz, Gonna Be Alright serves up a infectious mix of soul, funk and jazz groovers to follow-up their 2022 release Straight Round. Four80East is a Toronto-based electro-jazz duo that’s all about the groove. Drawing from their diverse musical influences, Rob DeBoer and Tony Grace have created a signature sound that combines electronic production with live instrumentation. Four80East has been a mainstay on the contemporary jazz scene for over 20 years.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Imelda May is a unique vocal talent, one whose gift lies outside the normal order of pop culture time and trends. Inspired by the sounds of vocal jazz à la Billie Holiday and the sound and looks of rockabilly, May began performing with the swing outfit Blue Harlem, and released a handful of independent CDs before scoring attention in 2007 with her nomination for an award as Best Burlesque Singer as well as the release of her more official debut, Love Tattoo. The album, featuring her strong backing band comprised of players Dave Priseman, Darrell Higham, Al Gare, and Steve Rushton, was critically and commercially well received, leading to some high-profile live gigs, including hitting the road with Jools Holland. It was released in the U.S.A. by Decca in 2009, followed by two singles, and scored a mid-level success. Her sophomore effort, Mayhem, arrived in September of 2010, preceded by the single "Psycho".

One of the most obscure albums Covay cut, Funky Yo Yo slipped out in 1977 on the tiny Versatile label, with such little notice that it's even escaped getting listed in some discographies. It's a strange record, too, with production so sparse (and some dull muffle to the sound fidelity, though it's not a serious impediment) that one suspects these might be demos, or perhaps not even 1977 recordings. Yet in a way that very rootsy, stripped-down feel makes it appealing, particularly as it was appearing at a time when many fellow soul greats of Covay's generation were issuing bloated, hopeless attempts to jump on the disco bandwagon. Far from emulating Barry White, Covay sounds rather like Van Morrison on much of this material, though the similarity's probably coincidental. Particularly on the more bare-bones arrangements, these actually have a cool intimate feel, as if they're songwriter demos intended for pitches to '60s Atlantic recording artists.

This is a striking, and very well-recorded pair of performances, well worth the attention of lovers of Russian music who have not yet encountered the works.

This complete set of symphonies by the quintessential Romantic Czech composer Zdeněk Fibich (1850 - 1900), performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Karel Šejna, is part of Supraphon's golden treasure. Fibich's highly emotional music filled with inner suspense is certain to enthrall the audience by the very convincingness of its message. The symphonies are coupled here with the idyllic image, At Twilight, and the cantata to the words of Jaroslav Vrchlický, Springtime Romance. This album adds new contours to the portrait of a composer whom most listeners have known solely as the creator of the celebrated Poem.

Nigel North is one of the finest lute players in our midst today, and his legendary four-CD set, ‘Bach on the Lute’ (Linn records 1994 to 1996) remains unsurpassed in its technical and musical brilliance. Now, he completes his journey with a double CD combining Bach's original 'lute works' (more likely written for Lautenwerck, or luteharpsichord), with North's own lute transcriptions of Bach's music for flute, organ, and more. This is an exquisite recording, full of space and intimacy, which makes you feel as though it is being played just for you. A must-have.

Unless you frequent Los Angeles clubs like The Baked Potato and La Ve Lee, chances are you haven't heard of keyboardist David Garfield. But you've heard him. Appearing on over a hundred albums, Garfield has worked with artists like trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and guitarist Larry Carlton. He's a co-founder of Los Lobotomys and Karizma, two fusion-based jam bands that have included drummers like Vinnie Colaiuta and Simon Phillips, as well as guitarists Steve Lukather and the perennially-underrated Michael Landau. No recording dates are listed on The State of Things, but Garfield's clearly been working on it for years, given that a third of the tracks feature Carlos Vega—a versatile drummer who appeared on literally hundreds of albums before passing away tragically in 1998. This fusion-centric effort features many of LA's best session players, but in many ways it's as much Landau's disc as it is Garfield's. He pays tribute to Jimi Hendrix on a version of "If Six Was Nine that—as blasphemous as this may sound—might actually be an improvement on the original. While his tone says rock, his lines say jazz as he demonstrates complete facility navigating changes on the swinging version of Miles Davis' "Milestones and a more delicate mainstream take on John Coltrane's "Naima. He exhibits his more textural side on "Me and kicks things into extreme high gear on the greasy funk of "Five Storks and the more overtly rocking "Black Cadillac.

In 2001, legendary blues pianist Pinetop Perkins was edging up on 88 years of age when he played the concert date in Chicago documented on this album. Perkins sounds plenty spry here, but this certainly doesn't capture the great man at his best; Perkins was a pioneer of the boogie-woogie style and was a longtime member of Muddy Waters' band, but most of On the 88's: Live in Chicago is devoted to easygoing midtempo numbers that sound a bit timid compared to what he played in his prime. Perkins shows he still had a great touch on this recording, and his timing is more than fine, but his left hand doesn't quite anchor these tunes the way he did in his salad days (it might have helped if he'd been given a better piano for this gig, since the instrument has the tone of a second-rate electronic keyboard), and even if his singing is game, his voice was showing its wear.