Akira Sakata & Entasis Live in Europe

Sari Schorr announces her new live album, Live in Europe, on Manhaton Records. “If ever any artist needs to be seen live, it has to be Sari Schorr, described as a force of nature, well, here you are the lady live and on fire recorded during a European Tour. If there’s a better live set than this over the next year I would be amazed.” RawRamp. “A jaw-dropping voice and a live show that erupts like a volcano! The future of blues rock is in good hands. Sari is a gift to all of us from the Blues Gods!” Blues in Britain.

Placebo announce their first ever live album, Collapse Into Never: Placebo Live In Europe 2023.

In the summer of 1999, Steps Ahead founder/vibraphonist Mike Mainieri joined Eliane Elias, Bob Berg, Marc Johnson and Peter Erskine for a reunion tour of Europe. They recorded several of those shows but Mainieri didn’t listen to the tapes for two years. He eventually did, and the result is the two-CD set Holding Together (N.Y.C.). The musicians perform the tunes with great sensitivity to one another, both as an ensemble and in solo spotlights. “Uncle Bob” just swings along, while Mainieri’s gliding vibes impart an almost magical quality to a lovely version of Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood,” and “The Time Is Now” is a 22-minute-plus opus that gives everyone a chance to shine. There are too many high points on this solid set to mention, but it should be noted that Berg’s playing is vigorous and inventive throughout and provides a poignant reminder of the profound loss the jazz world suffered when he was killed in a car accident.

Stunning duo comprised of two of the most important musicians of the Japanese underground/avant-garde, Otomo Yoshihide in a duo with the great Japanese drummer, Hiroshi Yamazaki – who has Kaoru Abe among his extensive list of past collaborators, and was also a member of Masayuki Takayanagi’s pioneering New Directions group. This album is dedicated to Masayuki Takayanagi.