The Faux Frenchmen are acoustic guitarists Brian Lovely and George Cunningham, acoustic bassist Don Aren, and violinist Paul Patterson. They’ve played Hot Club-driven gypsy jazz in and around Cincinnati and the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. since 2002. Guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stephane Grappelli fronted the Quintette of the Hot Club of France in and around Paris from 1934 to 1939, and constituted the first generation of European jazz musicians. The Hot Club blended backgrounds in traditional gypsy and European popular and classical music with the then-new sounds of American jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong to create a new musical genre, now often called “gypsy jazz.”…

Nearly as famous for his reluctance to play as for his outstanding abilities, guitarist Tal Farlow did not take up the instrument until he was already 21, but within a year was playing professionally and in 1948 was with Marjorie Hyams' band. While with the Red Norvo Trio (which originally included Charles Mingus) from 1949-1953, Farlow became famous in the jazz world. His huge hands and ability to play rapid yet light lines made him one of the top guitarists of the era. After six months with Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five in 1953…

For those who have followed the career of Kalevi Aho (for instance through the more than 20 discs of his music released on BIS), it will be clear that he enjoys large-scale projects. One such project has been his ‘oboe project’, composing works in every genre for the instrument. These plans can be said to have begun soon after the Sonata for oboe and piano included here, composed in 1984–85 and thus possibly the first such work for this combination by a Finnish composer……

Greatest Hits is a greatest hits album by American rock musician Lenny Kravitz, released on October 24, 2000. The album featured an unreleased track for promotion called "Again" which became a hit, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, following a very successful string of hits from the album 5.

From spacy mood music to some funkier sounds, this is a fine outing for distinctive electric bassist Mark Egan. Teamed up in various combinations with guitarists Toninho Horta and Steve Khan; saxophonist Bill Evans; keyboardist Clifford Carter; drummer Danny Gottlieb; and the percussion of Don Alias, Manolo Badrena, and Gordon Gottlieb, Egan is often in the spotlight during a set dominated by originals (plus John Coltrane's spiritual "After the Rain" ). Fans of the group Elements should enjoy this CD too.

Ah, 1994. Those were the days, weren't they? Tired of being slapped around by clubland techno, you just wanted electronic music to stay in the background and serenade as you and yours padded around the kitchen or made love on a pallet set up in front of the stereo speakers. Most of the artists in "the ambient music division" of this particular label apparently mastered the art of staying alongside the action - and the first third of this compilation carries a nice, mild, erotic charge. Synthesized woodwinds dominate the beats, so that Jaydee's "Think for a While" with its breezy flutes and Melt's "Sunsailor" with its bubbling synths are respectively the setup and throwdown for Man-Delo's "Shomyo"…

One of the all-time great tenor saxophonists, Stan Getz was known as "The Sound" because he had one of the most beautiful tones ever heard. Getz, whose main early influence was Lester Young, grew to be a major influence himself and to his credit he never stopped evolving. Getz had the opportunity to play in a variety of major swing big bands while a teenager due to the World War II draft. He was with Jack Teagarden (1943) when he was just 16, followed by stints with Stan Kenton (1944-1945), Jimmy Dorsey (1945), and Benny Goodman (1945-1946)

Instrumental Organic Rock! It grooves. It flows. It's psychedelic. It's tough … Anfänglich stark durch Stoner-Einflüsse geprägt, sind es nun vorrangig Elemente aus dem Psychedelic-, Alternative- und Progressive-Rock, die den Sound der Berliner Band charakterisieren. Harte Gitarrenriffs wechseln sich ab mit sphärischen, ausufernden Klangteppichen, unterstützt durch kraftvoll treibende Grooves von Schlagzeug und Bass.