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Drummer Winard Harper leads a fine hard bop quintet on Trap Dancer, which consists of five standards and a variety of obscure originals, including one song apiece from Gary Bartz and Jimmy Heath. Trumpeter Patrick Rickman, tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen, and pianist George Cables take consistently worthwhile solos, and although there are a couple brief percussion pieces ("Oamara" and "Allahu Akbra"), Harper does not feature himself all that much except in support of the lead voices…

While Judy Collins had been singing songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney ever since her mid-1960s albums, JUDY COLLINS SINGS LENNON AND MCCARTNEY was her first album-length collection of tunes by the pair…

Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicolgist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Romania), on March 25, 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies at the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works – most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) – Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hungary ……..

From Allmusic

Fans of AC/DC's original singer Bon Scott who pick up Livestock expecting to hear AC/DC redux will be rather surprised with this release. These cuts, recorded in 1971 with Scott's previous band, Fraternity, reveal a drastically different sound than the bluesy hard rock Scott made his name with. Fraternity veer all over the stylistic map, from the funky "Summerville" to the extended prog-rock epic "Raglan's Folly" (which wouldn't sound out of place on an early Genesis album). Only "Race" (both parts) and "Livestock" bear any resemblance to Scott's most famous band, and even then just barely, since they sound closer to the Doors or mid-'60s Rolling Stones. Part of the discrepancy is that, as the extensive liner notes explain, Scott had very little creative input in Fraternity, which was chiefly the vision of bassist Bruce Howe and guitarist Mick Jurd…

Zoot Money's Big Roll Band was one of the most popular and entertaining groups of the British R&B boom era. A charismatic personality, soulful singer and cool Hammond organist, Zoot was much loved by the Mods who flocked to his shows at London's In clubs like The Flamingo. The Beatles and Rolling Stones were among his greatest fans.

The Complete Motown Singles has been a dream project of Motown and soul fanatics for many years, ever since the first decade of Stax/Volt singles was compiled in an impressive nine-disc box set in 1991. Prior to that, no soul label had its output as thoroughly documented as that set – there had been the Atlantic R&B box, which collected highlights, but it never attempted to capture the label's entire run – and while The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968 missed a B-side or two, it was an exceptional piece of music history, and pretty damn entertaining to boot.