Born in Trenton, NJ but raised in Philadelphia, acoustic pianist Orrin Evans was among the "Young Lions" of straight-ahead jazz who emerged in the 1990s. His main focus is hard bop, although he has occasionally detoured into soul-jazz and R&B when backing such vocalists as Denise King and his wife, Dawn Warren. Influenced by McCoy Tyner, Horace Silver, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, among others, Evans graduated from high school in the early 1990s and studied at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ before going on to study privately with Kenny Barron and…

With his seventh and latest Warner Bros. CD, Beyond, 31-year-old Joshua Redman offers further proof that he's dedicated to exploring new musical territory. "My career has been an adventure," he says. "But this album represents a new stage in the journey. It's definitely an extension of what I've done, but it's deeper, more patient, more mature, more personal than the other records." On Beyond, Redman unveils ten originals that are both compelling in their complexity (including odd time signatures and polymetric structures) and alluring in their unadorned beauty (from catchy grooves to indelible melodies).

The Best of Free: All Right Now is a 1991 album by the band Free. All the tracks on this album were remixed by Bob Clearmountain; these do not represent the original album versions.

David Gilmour released his second solo venture in 1984, following the apparent dissolution of Pink Floyd. He had released a record on his own in 1978, but About Face is much more accessible. Gilmour has a stellar band backing him, including Jeff Porcaro (drums), Pino Palladino (bass), and Anne Dudley (synthesizer). The songs on About Face show a pop sensibility that Pink Floyd rarely was concerned with achieving.

Euge Groove (the stage name for saxophonist and ex-Tower of Power member Steve Grove) is the closest contemporary soul-jazz has to a superstar, and his groove-driven smooth pop-soul has continually topped the genre charts since his debut with a self-titled album in 2000. This set is his ninth album overall, and the fourth for Shanachie Records, and it features a solid core session band of Tracy Carter (keyboards), Cornelius Mims (bass), John "Jubu" Smith (guitar), Trevor Lawrence (drums), and Lenny Castro (percussion), with guest spots from Peter White, Althea Rene, Paul Brown, Elliot Yamin, and Chanel Haynes, whose vocal on "In Love with You" is one of the album's many highlights.

The debut by the international sensation of blues and heavy rock! The limited first pressing digipak includes a bonus DVD. The young American-Swedish-French quartet create a very unique, intense and extraordinary rock atmosphere while at the same time having a major mainstream appeal that takes you right back to the time of BLUES PILLS’ ancestors Aretha Franklin, THE ORIGINAL FLEETWOOD MAC, LED ZEPPELIN, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and CREAM. Driving bass lines, grooving drums and guitar solos from another planet by the only 18 year old Dorian Sorriaux, harmonized and tied together with such easiness, such delight, by Elin’s incredible voice.

Mindflowers are a group of six young talented Hungarians who fuse prog rock with jazz and world music. The band was formed in 2000 by bassist Balázs Szendõfi and guitarist Zoltán Szentpál, both students from the Dr. Lauschmann Gyula Jazz School in Székesfehérvár. They enjoyed composing together and soon expanded their circle with the addition of keyboardist Zsolt Nagy and drummer Gergely Gáspár, both students at a music school in Kõbánya (Nagi was later replaced by Bubenyák Zoltán). While pursuing various side projects with other bands, Mindflowers released an album in 2002, a mostly instrumental CD titled "Improgressive"…

Reunited '80s cult metal outfit SANCTUARY will release its comeback album, "The Year The Sun Died", on October 14 in North America and October 6 in Europe via Century Media. Recorded in Seattle at Soundhouse Studios with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris (SOULFLY, SHADOWS FALL, HATEBREED, MUNICIPAL WASTE), the CD will feature 11 tracks. The cover artwork for the album was created by Travis Smith (OPETH, NEVERMORE).

With album number three, Xerath makes the difficult jump between a good idea and a well-executed idea. This English-based band presents an interesting take on modern progressive metal. This is symphonic, grandiose progressive metal mixed with modern groove metal. You could describe it as Meshuggah produced by Devin Townsend, and you wouldn’t be far off. The band loves two things (riffs and symphonies), and it uses them in epic amounts throughout.

McKendree Spring is a progressive folk-rock band, active mainly in the early 1970s. The band consisted of Fran McKendree (vocals and guitar), Fred Holman (bass), Dr. Michael Dreyfuss (electric violin, viola, Moog, Arp, Mellotron), Martin Slutsky (electric guitar)…