In Senegal, Thiossane is a respected musician, composer, dramatist, and artist whose songs were sung since the 1950s, yet he never issued an album until this. As many senior singers, his voice is hardly prime, but he sings with spirit, and supporting him are 14 excellent West African instrumentalists, including those from the bands Orchestra Baobab, Xalam, and Africando. The music is Afro-Cuban son blended with traditional and contemporary Senegese dance beats, well-arranged by François Bréant. Thiossane grew up listening to Septeto Habanero and Harry Belafonte and brought these and other music styles into his work. Coupled to these rhythms and harmonies are lyrics that honor tradition, mythology, and important individuals. Summaries of the tunes are provided in the insert, along with photographs of his art. If you enjoy Orchestra Baobab, then this somewhat more relaxed Afro-Cuban amalgamation should likewise be appreciated. This music is splendid. The 74-year old's own debut recording is a happy discovery.

This is unlike any other release by an English band normally rooted in the blues. Think of it as Spooky Tooth's version of Concerto for Group and Orchestra by Deep Purple. After two or three promising blues-based rock releases, one member of the band somehow convinces the others to go for a wildly ambitious, experimental concept album. Jon Lord persuaded Deep Purple to dive into the deep end, and Gary Wright got Spooky Tooth to welcome Frenchman Pierre Henry for this electronic mass. Wright left the band after Ceremony and Lord never had the same influence on Purple again as Ritchie Blackmore led them to heavy metal glory.

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Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicolgist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Romania), on March 25, 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies at the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works -- most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) -- Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hungary ........ From Allmusic

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Consider the songs in our hearts that inspire us toward uplifted continence; melodies that ring out in a manner that is soulful ... even funky! Now think of an artist; an artist who George Benson describes as "joy filled in expressiveness" and "believable in any musical style," topping the jazz and adult contemporary / R & B charts with his kickin' trumpet and rich jazz melodies. That artist ... is trumpeter Tom Browne. His new CD entitled "S' Up" features Fred Wesley and Groove Collective.

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For some reason -- perhaps it was because it was used in a television commercial -- Babylon Zoo's "Spaceman" became the biggest British single of the first quarter of 1996. A bizarre, tuneless collage of hip-hop rhythms, techno keyboards and alternative guitars, the song sounded distinctive, but it didn't have any tangible hook to make it memorable. And Babylon Zoo's debut album, The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes, suffers from the same problem. Throughout the album, Jas Mann -- who, for all intents and purposes, is Babylon Zoo -- tries a vast array of modern rock styles, attempting to fuse them together into a daring, progressive whole. However, none of his songs ever gel and Mann only sounds pretentious, not ambitious.

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2009 digitally remastered, 35th anniversary edition of the veteran British Hard Rockers' 1974 album comes with a crisp new remaster. Stormbringer was the ninth studio album by Deep Purple, originally released in November 1974. (and featuring the Mark 3 line-up of the band that included David Coverdale on vocals and Glenn Hughes on bass) this album, much more prominently featured the soul and funk elements that were only hinted at on previous album Burn.

Bananas is the 17th studio album by English rock band Deep Purple, released on October 7, 2003. This is the first Deep Purple album to feature Don Airey on the keyboards, replacing founding member Jon Lord. The album was recorded in Los Angeles during January and February of 2003. It is also notable as being the only Deep Purple album that features Ian Gillan being backed by vocals other than his own, with the song "Haunted" featuring a female backing singer, Beth Hart.

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This audiophile-approved anthology, mastered and compiled by Steve Hoffman, is the only one to combine Chris Montez' Monogram and A&M recordings on one disc. The most comprehensive Montez anthology yet produced, All-Time Greatest Hits includes every one of his Top 100 hits and more. The program begins with Montez' early recordings as a Ritchie Valens protége purveying teen dance songs like "My Baby Loves to Dance" and "Let's Dance" (his biggest hit), as well as his Herb Alpert-produced adult contemporary hits of the mid-'60s. The latter include "Call Me" and "The More I See You," breezy confections with a laid-back party atmosphere and Montez' appealing boy-next-door vocals.

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Just My Luck, the latest album from the Terry Quiett Band, is an album that proves that music is just as much about feeling and expression as it is technique and ability. While Quiett is obviously a very good musician from a technical standpoint (which is proven by his unbelievable vocals on “Close to You” and gutsy guitar solos on “Satisfied” and “Getting Through to Me”), most of the album is very simple, but it is also extremely genuine and heartfelt.The first thing that stands out about this album is that the band really does sound like a band....

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The album was recorded live in the Studio, along with Daniel Ruiz Estrada (piano, organ), Steve Harrish (bass), Stephen Morin (drums) and played on three songs with Joe Murphy (harmonica).With what damn casual relaxed, he and the band interpreted here well-known and lesser-known songs, already bordering the insolence.Where a Gary Moore recorded his "walking by myself" on "Still got the Blues" in a violent way, Campbelljohn Estrada leaves the introduction to the song Daniel Ruiz on piano.Also vocally he brings out more quite a bit from the song, as it is capable of Moore at all."Walking by myself" is equipped with a slide solo, but the lion's share is part of the fine strumming of Estrada....

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Although some may be tempted to call multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer Jack Bruce a rock & roll musician, blues and jazz are what this innovative musician really loves. As a result, these two genres are at the base of most of the recorded output from a career that goes back to the beginning of London's blues scene in 1962. In that year, he joined Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. Throughout the following decades and into the 21st century, Bruce has always been a supreme innovator, pushing himself into uncharted waters with his jazz and folk-rock compositions.