Christian McBride's 2013 studio album, People Music, is the bassist's fourth release on Mack Avenue Records and second with his quintet Inside Straight. Although the lineup has changed slightly, this is the same group of musicians that delivered the equally as stellar 2009 album Kind of Brown. Featured here are vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Peter Martin, alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, and drummer Carl Allen, with drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. jumping on board for a few cuts as well. As with Kind of Brown, People Music features McBride in straight-ahead, acoustic jazz mode with a bent toward the expansive and soulful '60s and '70s recordings of the Bobby Hutcherson-Harold Land quintet.

Hook after hook, “Rise Up” is another one of these albums where you can enjoy the dynamics of a brilliant partnership bringing out a unique result. Melodic bullet rockers are followed by haunting ballads and fabulous arena rockers in an album that leaves the listener in awe from start to finish.

Darkness is rising with a vengeance. SETH return with their fifth full-length “The Howling Spirit” after the band mysteriously disappeared following the release of "Era-Decay" (2004). The French combine the harsh and sinister sound of their country's current Black Metal movement with an unerring sense for the atmospheric and melodic.

Tommy Emmanuel’s performance at Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's Big Room in Chico, California, was filmed for his new Tommy Emmanuel: Center Stage DVD. The video firmly reinforces Tommy's world-wide reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists to step on a stage. His personal charm, musical virtuosity and adeptness at selecting captivating melodies guarantee his fans memorable performances.

Guitarist Zeno Roth is the younger brother of German master composer- guitarist Uli Jon Roth (ex "Scorpions", "Earthquake", Solo). Zeno much like his brother, is an extremely competent guitar player and composer only he separates himself through following a Hard Rock /AOR path rather than the neoclassical operatic style of his brother.

The performance of Agrippina received a guarded welcome on CD from David Vickers (7/04). Frédéric Fisbach’s production gives an amusing account, respectful yet inventive, of librettist Vincenzo Grimani’s look at the shenanigans of ancient Rome.
Agrippina shares three characters with L’incoronazione di Poppea but at an earlier stage of the story, Poppea here being pursued by Otho, Nero and the emperor Claudius. Agrippina, Claudius’s wife, spends the opera scheming to discredit Otho and to get Nero, her son by a previous marriage, designated as the next emperor. She is ultimately successful, but only after Claudius’s first attempt at a solution proves satisfactory to nobody…– Richard Lawrence, Gramophone [1/2005]

Ah, bliss. If a casual acquaintance with Kool and the Gang only brings to mind a handful of Top 40 tunes since the 1970s ("Get Down on It," "Celebration," "Joanna," etc.) then Live from House of Blues is here to broaden the record. In a thrilling display of R&B mastery, this army of horn players, vocalists, and captains of rhythm commandeers the Chicago stage, overwhelming everyone with relentless pop-funk, luscious soul, waves of jazz, and a dollop of hip-hop. Short on ballads, the Gang's set nevertheless is a stirring affair, with several instrumental tracks highlighting the group's orchestral majesty. But let there be no mistake. This show is a party, all right, and the many past and present members of the group who turn up to celebrate want to cherish the good times as much the crowd. –Tom Keogh