Charlie Shoemake may not have the name recognition of Gary Burton, Lionel Hampton, or Milt Jackson, but the vibraphonist recorded a number of memorable sessions during the 1980s, such as this LP for Discovery.

Lots of people say that J.J. Cale had a great influence on the early Dire Straits' guitar sound. Knopfler went on to a different, brasher sound and became a latter day guitar hero. J.J. Cale himself kept plowing the furrow that he had largely invented, perhaps even taking the occasional page out of the DS book. And yes, listening to his 7th album, it's hard not to notice the similarities with early Dire Straits material. "Downtown LA" for example, sounds a lot like "Down To The Waterline", and so on and so forth.
Comparisons apart, this is a very pleasant listen. It's full of soft, understated vocals and twangy electric guitars. It's a nice piece of rootsy Americana which plays heavily on the whole "drifter hobo" trip. It will rock out if you listen to it closely but won't invade your privacy unless you want it to. As someone has already mentioned, you get the feeling that some of these songs could have been AOR radio hits ("City Girls" for one was a minor hit) There's lots of tasty guitar licks and, with the addition of congas and other percussion, a couple of nice forays into more ethicky territory. Fortunately JJ stays close to his roots and that's enough for the real fan.

If not for the Mahavishnu Orchestra's first album, The Inner Mounting Flame, this second, 1973 outing might well be considered the greatest of all jazz-fusion essays. If you're new to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, this is probably the best place to start, then pick up 1971's The Inner Mounting Flame.

The sonatas of Marco Uccellini, for violin and continuo, represent early manifestations of the virtuoso violin impulse that led to the instrumental masterpieces of the High Baroque. The music on this disc was written between 1645 and 1667, and it elaborates the semi-improvisatory quality of the earliest instrumental sonatas into spectacular, free-rhythmed fantasies of instrumental display.

Pianoscapes was technically the first album on Narada, one of the top new age contemporary instrumental labels in the U.S., of Jones's solo piano improvisations. Jones's playing has a carefree quality grounded in classical impressionistic form and technique. His pieces breathe and pulse as if they were a part of you, pause for introspection (the somber passage of "Daybreak"), then resolve with glistening clarity. The overall tone is gentle, tender at times, but without being surface or trite. The music is very easy to let go into the background, yet it will pull you to notice soul-stirring passes of exquisite beauty and introspection.

Carol Wright, All Music Guide