Carmen McRae always had a nice voice (if not on the impossible level of an Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan) but it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretations of lyrics that made her most memorable. She studied piano early on and had her first important job singing with Benny Carter's big band (1944), but it would be another decade before her career had really gained much momentum. McRae married and divorced Kenny Clarke in the '40s, worked with Count Basie (briefly) and Mercer Ellington (1946-1947), and became the intermission singer and pianist at several New York clubs. In 1954 she began to record as a leader' and by then she had absorbed the influences of Billie Holiday and bebop into her own style.

Applying their famous two-fer philosophy to the digital era, Fantasy combines Mighty Mongo and Viva Mongo! on a single CD, showcasing two somewhat different slants on Mongo Santamaria's music during a period of exploration. Mighty Mongo leans more to Mongo's jazz side without sacrificing his Afro-Cuban rhythmic base, while Viva Mongo has a more distinctly ethnic Cuban sound with Rudy Calzado's solo vocals and the band's group chanting, Rolando Lozano's wooden flute riding playfully above the ensemble, and the traditional Cuban use of string counterlines. On Mighty Mongo, "Descarga at the Black Hawk" sets an especially tasty groove, with some timbales/congas/cymbals action on an extended vamp.

Peer Gynt, Op. 23 is the incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play of the same name, written by the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in 1875. It premiered along with the play on 24 February 1876 in Christiania (now Oslo). Later, in 1888 and 1891, Grieg extracted eight movements to make two four-movement suites: Suite No. 1, Op. 46, and Suite No. 2, Op. 55. Some of these movements have received coverage in popular culture.

The Paris Jazz Festival is a tradition in the jazz concert calendar with artists from around the world delighted to accept an invitation to perform.
The unique 1987 Paris Jazz Festival series not only captures some of jazz's finest innovators in concert but also the rehearsals for this prestigious event and candid backstage interviews with the artists. Swiss drummer Daniel Humair has worked with the best American and European jazz musicians.

Tony Bennett’s first album of celebrity duets (2006's Duets: An American Classic) featured an impressive cast of superstars answering the call from the dean of pop vocalists, but the arrangements were overly safe – virtually all of them ballads with soft strings or brassy finger-snappers. Duets II follows the first by five years and features, surprisingly, a cast just as star-laden, but also arrangements that are much more dynamic, and suitable for each song and its participants…

The three talented members of the California Guitar Trio met in 1987 at a guitar workshop taught by Robert Fripp. Like Fripp, the CGT favors a trebly, textured sound and expresses its unity in complex but sweet fugues that fuse elements of pop, jazz, Americana, world music, and other diverse sounds. This 10-year retrospective begins with "Yamanashi Blues," (the title track from their highly acclaimed first album) in which acoustic guitars imitate kotos and mirror the relentless beauty of Mt. Fuji. Other selections display the trio's awesome technical skills. "Pathways," another title track from a much-beloved album, rocks mightily despite having no drums and then segues into an intense classical-derived number. Other CGT favorites here include the vaguely sinister "Happy Time in Fun Town" and three-fifths of the furious "Train To Lamy" suite. For the uninitiated, this retrospective is good place to start.

NewUrbanJazz.com 2 (Re-Vibe) is an incredible follow-up to his previous CD, and contains an outstanding collection of smooth contemporary grooves. Featured guest performers include Freddie V., Darren Rahn, Joey Sommerville, Glenn Jones, and Bo Valentine. On this 14 track compilation, Bob delivers a splendid balance between the funky and the mellow.

Kitaro crafts this musical journey from the ancient chronicle (Kojiki) that recounts the birth of Japan and it’s people. Featuring the string section from the Skywalker Symphony, along with Kitaro’s signature keyboard and flute sounds, the score to this thematic backdrop is full of passion and beauty that is masterfully conceived, arranged and performed.

Five years after their breakup, Iron Butterfly reunited in 1975 and released Scorching Beauty, an undistinguished album that fell between the group's heavy acid rock and mid-'70s arena rock conventions…

After hiding out in the catacombs of Creepsylvania for years, Ghoul returns with their 4th album. 11 tracks of their trademark death/thrash/crossover mayhem, tweeked with elements of surf rock and doom.

New York-based death metal band FUNERUS will release its second album, "Reduced To Sludge", on November 22 via Ibex Moon Records. Violent and brooding, this eleven-track nightmarish beast was engineered by Sam Inzerra, Jim Roe and John McEntee. FUNERUS — which consists of INCANTATION guitarist John McEntee, bassist/vocalist Jill McEntee and drummer Sam Inzerra (MORTICIAN, MORPHEUS DESCENDS) Commented John McEntee, "I feel we were able to capture the natural FUNERUS essence on this album. It continues in the same vein of the first album, 'Festering Earth', in heaviness and songwriting. I think it will be well received."