Vital is Van der Graaf Generator's first live album. Except for one-off reunions, it marked the end of Van der Graaf Generator as a band until their 2005 reunion.

Tatana contains 14 songs produced by Chris Reece and DJ Tatana’s brother Josey. Many guest singers such as Arjeta, Evelyn, Saraha Vieth aka Joanna, Laura Martin, Melanie Adami as well as Words singer Matthew Tasa and italo singer Piero Esteriore enchanted the songs with their magic voices.

Standard, in the dictionary this word means something set up as a rule for a measuring or as a model to be followed. According to a different meaning it stands for a figure adopted as an emblem by a people, or the flag. In jazz this means a well-proven repertory coming from the outside, mainly from the realm of popular music. Jazz musicians use this material since the first initiations of Louis Armstrong in the twenties.

For his third album, Herbie Hancock chose a very rhythmic setting for his improvised compositions. Supported only by bassist Paul Chambers and percussionists Willie Bobo and Osvaldo Martinez, the pianist creates each tune from scratch and the results are astonishing. The alternate take of "Mimosa" has previously only been available as part of box set.

For this interesting LP, drummer Chico Hamilton is mostly heard with an octet of Los Angeles musicians. The group, comprised of trumpet/trombone/tenor man Harold Land, French horn/flute (or piccolo) player and guitarist Gabor Szabo, bassist Albert Stinson, and the drummer/leader, performs originals by Hamilton and Szabo, plus "What's New." The concise performances (which are often tightly arranged) are full of subtleties and fine playing, particularly from the guitarist. The title cut was recorded two months later and is the last recording by Chico Hamilton with his star sideman Charles Lloyd, who is heard on flute. Not essential, but this album has its strong moments.

This live concert was a reunion celebration between pianist/composer Randy Weston and the Gnawa Master Musicians of Morocco, who recorded together eight years before for the Verve album The Splendid Master Gnawa Musicians of Morocco. It took place in Brooklyn in September of 1999 and is a remarkable document.

This 1961 live date from the legendary (and now-defunct) New York City jazz club is one of saxophonist Stanley Turrentine's finest. "Stanley's Tune" is a stately blues number that fits perfectly into the hard-bop style, and here Turrentine's solo is raucous at times, almost percussive in its delivery. "Later at Minton's" continues in the blues tradition, with a leisurely pace and solos that are decidedly relaxed and funky. On this track, the smoky timbre of Turrentine's horn is particularly reminiscent of the great Coleman Hawkins. "Love for Sale" (at almost 15 minutes, the longest track on UP AT MINTON'S) begins with a tricky 12/8 Latin feel, then morphs (rather slyly) into an up-tempo bebop groove. The two-disc set's final track, "Summertime," is played as a bluesy ballad, with Turrentine's solo beginning with a series of long tones, then building to a sudden, but well-placed, flurry of notes. The backing band is also quite creative throughout, and, not surprisingly, guitarist Grant Green shines on each track.

This is a great live set with a lot of the tracks lengthy enough to give everybody a decent taste. There is so little of Tina Brooks available (he died young) that anything (4 tracks here) is welcome. Burrell loved the blues, but only 3 tunes are blues; one, BIRK'S WORKS, is a 10-minute workout on the form and very good. SWINGIN' is a nice original by Clifford Brown, where Blakey is front-and-center. Hanna is best on the blues waltz BEEF STEW BLUES. One of Kenny Burrell's best albums. Recommended.

At first glance, it would seem like an impossible task to summarize Miles Davis' career into a succinct double-disc set. Still, a career as multifaceted and ever-changing as Miles' winds up having a clear narrative, one that can be told by just the highlights, which is exactly what Columbia/Legacy's excellent double-disc Essential Miles Davis does. There are certainly major pieces and recordings missing, which is a deliberate move, since the compilers have chosen no more than one track per record (with the exception of two cuts from 'Round About Midnight), so there are huge portions of Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, E.S.P., and Bitches Brew absent, and such classic albums as Milestones, Miles Smiles, In a Silent Way, and A Tribute to Jack Johnson are entirely MIA. The funny thing is, in this context, they're not missed, because what's here — which is how this compilation should be judged — tells the story directly yet elegantly, touching on stages of his career.

To say that John Coltrane is one of the most important figures in the history of jazz doesn’t quite begin to cover his influence. In producer Joel Dorn’s words, "It’s really very simple. The music on John Coltrane’s Atlantic records changed jazz and the way it is played, forever. The James Earl Jones character in Field Of Dreams speaks about "...an instant when all of the tumblers in the universe are in perfect alignment.’ That was Trane at Atlantic. It’s where he became himself. Everywhere he’d been, everything he’d done and was, where he was headed, all of it and more is in the Atlantic recordings." Coltrane Jazz, originally recorded for Atlantic Records right on the heels of the legendary Giant Steps sessions in 1959, has been newly remastered and features four alternate takes as bonus tracks in this deluxe edition, not to mention new liner notes. Sidemen include McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, and Steve Davis.

SHADES OF REDD is part of the seemingly endless stream of bop and post-bop albums released on Blue Note in the 1960s, and as such is easy to overlook. That, however, would be a mistake, as SHADES OF REDD is a gleaming gem of a find. With saxophonists Jackie McLean and Tina Brooks in the front line, pianist Freddie Redd leads a rhythm section through nine blues-inflected bop numbers of his own composition. Cool, elegant, and with plenty of swing factor, SHADES OF REDD might sound, theoretically, like any other disc from the period, but this is one of the sets where the elements came together perfectly. Jazz fans of nearly any stripe would do well to pick this up.

Израильский гитарист Оз Ной снова радует любителей крайне необычной игры на гитаре. Композиции поражают "безбашенностью" музыкальных решений и совершенной непредсказуемостью. Обычная мелодия в стиле безобидного смуф-джаза в одночасье может перейти в суровую психоделическую пьесу, а спокойно и расслабленно играющая гитара - стать жесткой и необузданной, звуку которой позавидовал бы сам Джими Хендрикс.