AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic album series with a re-mastered 2CD release by Duke Pearson, complete with original artwork and liner notes. Another child protégé, Duke Pearson (yes the Duke does come from his uncle’s favourite film star John “Duke” Wayne…….only joking, it is of course from the great Duke Ellington !), began piano lessons at six. However by 12 he had stopped them in favour of the trumpet, sax and mellophone. In fact so enamoured was he of the trumpet he would go on to play it through college and during his draft in the Army. It was while in the army that he met pianist Wynton Kelly and was so inspired by his playing that he immediately decided to switch back to the ivories. This did of course necessitate learning the instrument he had abandoned years ago practically all over again! Duke’s early career would include playing with R&B acts like Little Willie John before moving to New York in 1959 where he met trumpeter Donald Byrd. Byrd would use some of Duke’s compositions and he and Duke would play regularly on each other’s albums, including one of our featured sets, “Byrd In Flight”.

AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD second set release from Charles Mingus, complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. Jazz history tells us that Charles Mingus was right up there with the truly great legendary artists in his chosen musical field, as composer, arranger and musician. His status as a composer and arranger stands alongside Monk, Ellington, Miles and Basie, while his status as a musician stands alongside Coltrane, Prez, Bird and Dizzy. The list of jazz musicians Mingus played with would indeed have to include almost the entire range of jazz legends from Ellington (who actually fired him from his band), to Dizzy, Bird, Lionel Hampton, Dolphy, Dannie Richmond, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Pepper Adams, Jaki Byard, John Handy, Jackie McLean, Sonny Rollins etc etc. We feature four Mingus classics, from what was considered his first major work as band leader and composer, “Pithecanthropus Erectus” in 1956 to the perhaps under-rated classic “Tijuana Moods” recorded in 1957 but only released in 1962.

This double-CD set gave bassist Milt Hinton an opportunity to engage in reunions with many of his old friends from the 1930s. The seven sessions were compiled during a 12-month period and the results are often delightful. The opening "Old Man Time" is sung by Hinton himself, and it is both insightful and humorous. The other highlights include Joe Williams singing "Four or Five Times" (which features some very rare Flip Phillips clarinet), three bass guitar duets with Danny Barker, appearances by Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Al Grey, Ralph Sutton, and the formation of a group called "The Survivors" that has guitarist Al Casey at age 75 being the youngest member; the latter band also includes 85-year-old trumpeter Doc Cheatham, Eddie Barefield, Buddy Tate and even Cab Calloway. A lot of storytelling takes place during the songs and, in addition to the 92½ minutes of music, there are two "Jazzspeaks." The 13-minute one features Hinton, Calloway, Cheatham and Barefield reminiscing about their experiences in the early days, while a marvelous 45-minute monologue by the bassist covers most of his long and productive life and is consistently fascinating. Highly recommended.

As part of The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions series, alto saxophonist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson is spotlighted on 14 digitally remastered tracks, recorded at Cargo Studio in Paris on March 9, 1969. This straight-ahead session pairs Cleanhead with pianist Jay McShann, Gene Ramey on bass, and McShann's drummer at the time, Paul Gunther. While this disc doesn't contain any unreleased tracks, it does feature several first-rate renditions of Vinson's signature tunes, including "Mr. Cleanhead Blues," "Kidney Stew," and "Juice Head Baby".

There’s a palpable sense of energy and enthusiasm from the audience captured on the tapes at this concert as King Crimson (sharing a European tour with then label band mates Roxy Music) take to the stage in Fréjus, France, in late Summer, 1982. With two albums’ worth of material to draw upon (Discipline, Oct 1981 & Beat, June 1982) & extensive touring that had already seen the band play concerts in the UK, Europe, USA & Japan, the live shows - as often with King Crimson – had a dynamism & punch that simply couldn’t be replicated in a recording studio. Add a pair of classic KC instrumentals, (Red & Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Part Two), to that mix & all the ingredients were there for a very special performance. Recorded initially for a video release, the audio from the concert has, inexplicably, never been issued as a standalone release. Nor has a live album from the 1980s line-up previously appeared on vinyl.

Wild Frontier is the sixth solo studio album by Irish guitarist Gary Moore, released in 1987. His first studio effort after a trip back to his native Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1985, the album contains several songs about Ireland and even the music itself is steeped in Celtic roots. The album is dedicated to the memory of Moore's close friend and former Thin Lizzy bandmate Phil Lynott, who died on 4 January 1986, with the words "For Philip" on the rear cover.

Freddie Mercury was a British singer, songwriter and record producer, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. He was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury wrote numerous hits for Queen, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and "We Are the Champions". He led a solo career while performing with Queen, and occasionally served as a producer and guest musician for other artists. He formed Queen in 1970 with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Mercury died in 1991 at age 45 due to complications from AIDS, having confirmed the day before his death that he had contracted the disease.