Two of Jimmy Raney’s most remarkable albums make up this set. The performances on the first feature Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn, and Red Mitchell, all felicitous choices, since, in addition to being compatible and inventive soloists, their presence adds to the tonal palette and avoids the similarity in tonal color of most guitar records. But Raney also shows that his superiority in the quick, alert swinging of the up tempo tunes is balanced by his lyric work on the ballads. For the second album he teamed up once again with Brookmeyer, adding Osie Johnson, Teddy Kotick, adding pianists Dick Katz and Hank Jones, who combine taste and imagination with swinging time, on four tunes each. Among the several virtues of this quality example of the art of improvisation on relatively challenging…

Two of the modern masters of jazz guitar, Bucky Pizzarelli and Frank Vignola are a generation apart in age but of the same mind when it comes to their style of playing. Both lovers of memorable melodies, Pizzarelli has long favored a seven-string electric guitar and primarily sticks to playing inventive rhythm accompaniment behind Vignola's bright lead lines. This duo guitar date focuses on ballads, most of which were standards at one time, though many of them have unjustly fallen from favor at the dawn of a new century, including songs like "Moonlight Serenade" and "Deep Purple"…

Maurizo Pollini, the great concert pianist from Milan, is shown in fine form throughout this 13 CD box set "edition" of his previously released recordings on the Deutsche Gramophone label ( celebrating his 30th year with DG ). The performances were selected by the artist himself and so retain a merit absent in some other types of repackaging "schemes".

Davis Cup is the debut album by American pianist Walter Davis Jr. featuring performances recorded in 1959 and released on the Blue Note label. It would be his only effort for the label and one of the few recordings where he figured as the leader. The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine states "Walter Davis Jr.'s debut record as a leader for Blue Note is a terrific hard bop session, a driving collection of six original tunes that emphasize the strengths not only of the pianist himself, but also his supporting band.

Although Maria Callas died over three decades ago, she remains an icon: as a supreme singing-actress; as a celebrity, and as a woman of great style and elegance. The epitome of the operatic diva, the American-born Greek soprano is recognised as a singer who defined, and even redefined opera in the 20th century and she has never lost her place among the world’s top-selling classical artists.

Steve Vai - Stillness In Motion. Vai Live In L.A. (2015) [2CD] {Sony Music}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 994 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 314 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 62 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2015 Light Without Heat / Legacy / Sony Music | 88875057512
Rock / Guitar Virtuoso / Hard Rock / Instrumental Rock

Steve Vai's first album for Sony/Legacy is Stillness in Motion, a double-live set – it's available as a two-CD/two-DVD package – that captures the guitarist's October 12, 2012 concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. This is, for want of a better word, something of an extravaganza: 22 tracks over the course of 130 minutes, Vai dipping into nearly every phase of his career. He's as precise on-stage as he is in the studio, which may mean Stillness in Motion lacks the kinetic energy that is the hallmark of so many great live albums. What it has instead is fluidity: Vai and his backing band may specialize in pyrotechnics, but there's a grace to the playing on even the frenetic numbers, and that lyricism may be eye-opening to skeptics. To the converted, it is certainly a good reason to dive into this generous live set.

Inner Ear Brigade is a ayoung american prog band who just releases their first album named Rainbro not long ago at italian label Altrock. Very nice surprise this album , it sounds quite avant prog to me with some jazzy moments here and there, with some great moments like on opening track Knee, Oomp Pah , Missing the train or the longest track 25 Miles to Freedom with nice female vocals made by Melody Ferris with tenacious sax playing by Ivor Holloway combined with groovy guitar parts and great mellotron arrangements in the mix, very nice overall.

A spinoff of its parent magazine, Classic Rock Presents Prog takes a look at progressive music and the artists who weave them together. Each issue takes a soul-searching foray into the hearts and minds of the heroes of rock, reviewing both new and old releases. Building upon the history of some of the most genre-defining pieces ever devised and those who followed who continue to refine, revolutionise and completely discard the formulas of those who came before. Reflecting on the proud genesis of this unexpected genre, Classic Rock Presents Prog is an able tutor for those in the dark about the evolution of progressive music, and a tonic for existing fans.