Assembled by EMI Arabia, this collection represents some of the greatest names in Arabic song, most now deceased. Since some of the best Arabic recordings are of just one hour-long song in which the singer wrings every possible nuance from each phrase, the challenge was to find selections by major artists that would fit into a single CD. Remarkably, there are nine tracks here-the shortest, by Om Kalthoum, clocking in at just over three minutes. The liner notes give a few brief lines about each performer, but they are cryptic and frustratingly inadequate. If Mohamed Abdou is "considered a major modernizing force in Arabic music," what did he modernize? If Layla Murad was "enormously popular," why did she abandon her career in 1955 "due to political and media pressures"? The answers may be familiar to aficionados of Arabic music, but the rest of us will be left in the dark.

Although conceived by utterly divergent characters in lands and times that engender few similarities these days, the cello concertos by Elgar and Myaskovsky make a fascinating coupling due not only to the disparate nature of the composers’ lives and situations, but also, curiously, to the common ground they tread. Both men were in their early sixties when writing what was their only concertante work for the instrument, and the prevailing mood of both concertos is one of aristocratic wistfulness married to a mastery of form and rhetoric. They strike the listener almost as elegies, predominantly ruminant and rarely displaying the cut-and-thrust heroics that are so often an integral part of the concerto genre.

Breathless is a thrash band from Mallorca that debut with this album ‘Thrashumancy’. The songs and execution thereof are well done and fans of bands like England’s Sabbat, Kreator at the time of ‘Extreme Aggression’ or Coroner should give Breahless a listen.

A great little sample of the funk and soul on the French Soulbeats label – great stuff from Shaolin Temple Defenders, Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos, Martha High, Afrobeat Crusaders and more – plus special guests. Nothing but solid, classic funk & soul loving, timeless material! 13 tracks on the CD version: "Message To The Soul Sisters", by Shaolin Temple Defendersf eat Dionne Charles, "WOMAN" by Martha High, "Gonna Hold On" by Dee Ann & The Bad Soul Band, "Hurry Up" by Soul Revolution, "Can't Stand Still" by Vinz & The Mistery Machine, "Bounce" by Robertson, "Snake Charmer" by Gizelle Smith & The Mighty Mocambos, " and more.

"…I have been on hundreds of recording sessions, but not many have been as much fun, ore rewarding musically as recording with Joel Xavier." - Ron Carter

Sarah Vaughan's debut for the Pablo label is a bit of an acquired taste for the jazz fan. She is accompanied by a variety of Brazilian all-stars (including Milton Nascimento, Dori Caymmi and on two numbers Antonio Carlos Jobim himself) and Sassy (whose voice was still in tremendous form) fares quite well, but few of the performances are all that memorable and none of the dozen songs entered her permanent repertoire. This set is really more for fans of contemporary Brazilian music than for jazz collectors. ~ AllMusic