2005

Two CD collection, the 12th installment in this popular Chillout series. This series of compilations manages to keep the moods and memories of Café del Mar alive for the many who have visited and also serves as an aural invitation to those who have not. The music captures the essence of Ibiza, always keeping in mind it's spectacular sunset.

It speaks well for the continued viability of their catalog (probably second only to Bob Dylan's among '60s folk artists) that this is only the sixth compilation ever done on Peter, Paul & Mary's music in four decades of musical activity - and since one of the others was a Readers' Digest mail-order release and two of the others were done for special markets outside of the United States, that low number is downright astonishing. This release effectively supplants the perennially popular Ten Years Together: The Best of Peter, Paul & Mary, from 1970, and also outdoes the 2003 WEA International Very Best Of, with more songs drawn from a much wider chunk of their history as well. The material at hand covers not only most of the key singles and a handful of important album tracks by the trio from the 1960s, but also acknowledges their less widely heard solo material from the 1970s and their much more directly provocative work from the 1980s…

This release is very interesting set of nostalgic sides from sessions in Art Blakey's name, with a big band he formed independently of the Jazz Messengers. Featuring Trane in an ensemble setting with Al Cohn (writer of most of the charts, according to Charles Waring's liner notes) Donald Byrd, Sahib Shihab and Bill Graham, the record has a slick but not superficial, swinging sound, bright and cheering. This package also features a second disk of alternate takes and one bonus track ("Oasis") making the set a nice catch.

This release is very interesting set of nostalgic sides from sessions in Art Blakey's name, with a big band he formed independently of the Jazz Messengers. Featuring Trane in an ensemble setting with Al Cohn (writer of most of the charts, according to Charles Waring's liner notes) Donald Byrd, Sahib Shihab and Bill Graham, the record has a slick but not superficial, swinging sound, bright and cheering. This package also features a second disk of alternate takes and one bonus track ("Oasis") making the set a nice catch.

It speaks well for the continued viability of their catalog (probably second only to Bob Dylan's among '60s folk artists) that this is only the sixth compilation ever done on Peter, Paul & Mary's music in four decades of musical activity - and since one of the others was a Readers' Digest mail-order release and two of the others were done for special markets outside of the United States, that low number is downright astonishing. This release effectively supplants the perennially popular Ten Years Together: The Best of Peter, Paul & Mary, from 1970, and also outdoes the 2003 WEA International Very Best Of, with more songs drawn from a much wider chunk of their history as well. The material at hand covers not only most of the key singles and a handful of important album tracks by the trio from the 1960s, but also acknowledges their less widely heard solo material from the 1970s and their much more directly provocative work from the 1980s…