Benny Goodman The King Of Swing (1928 1949) 20cd Box Set [repost]

One of two paired box sets chronicling the entirety of Kate Bush's recorded work as of 2018, Remastered, Vol. 2 features upgrades of the three albums since 2005: Aerial, Director's Cut, and 50 Words for Snow. In addition to these records, Remastered, Vol. 2 contains four CDs of non-album tracks, featuring a disc of 12" mixes, two discs of B-sides (labeled "The Other Side"), and a disc of covers (called "In Others' Words"). For the diehards, having these rarities on a proper album is reason enough to acquire Remastered, Vol. 2, and they do elevate a box that doesn't have as many classics as the first box: the 2005 comeback Aerial is teamed with an album where she revisits her past and the lush orchestral 50 Words for Snow. Like its cousin, Remastered, Vol. 2 boasts clean, detailed remasters that feel fuller than their predecessors. That's appropriate for music as sumptuous and transporting as this; the improved fidelity has the effect of making the music seem more vivid, not less.

Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of black pop by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contemporary jazz, blues, and (in the '60s) country. Then there was his singing; his style was among the most emotional and easily identifiable of any 20th century performer, up there with the likes of Elvis and Billie Holiday. He was also a superb keyboard player, arranger, and bandleader. The brilliance of his 1950s and '60s work, however, can't obscure the fact that he made few classic tracks after the mid-'60s, though he recorded often and performed until the year before his death.

Radical Action to Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind is a box set by King Crimson, released on 2 September 2016. The box set contains recordings from the group's 2015 tours of Japan, Canada and France. Some of the material has not been performed live since the 1970s, although the songs were rearranged to suit the current line-up…

With 19 symphonies spread across six CDs, this major reissue set of Trevor Pinnock's performances (with The English Concert) of a substantial selection of Haydn's "Sturm und Drang" symphonies is outstanding in every regard. Derived from the German literary movement that affirmed that emotionalism and dark-hued urgency powerfully reflected the human condition, "Sturm und Drang" (literally "Storm and Stress") exerted a profound impact upon the evolution of the Classical symphony, especially in Haydn's hands. No one with an interest in either the period or the composer can possibly afford to be without this set. The performances are simply magnificent! Pinnock's periodist band sounds brilliantly accomplished throughout, and the recorded sound is clear, impactful, and detailed.

In King Crimson's extensive catalog of archival recordings and box sets, The Great Deceiver (Live 1973-1974) is the undisputed winner, the item truly worth acquiring. The four-CD set Frame by Frame, released 18 months earlier, was light on material previously unavailable and included a few edits and overdubs on classic King Crimson tracks that shocked the fans. Epitaph, another four-CD collection culled from the group's first live shows in 1969, boasted understandably flawed sound and more repetitive content. But The Great Deceiver has it all. Over four discs, the set chronicles the on-stage activity between October 1973 and June 1974 of the most powerful King Crimson lineup. Robert Fripp, John Wetton, David Cross, and Bill Bruford were mostly performing material from their previous two LPs (Larks Tongues in Aspic and Starless and Bible Black)…

The Action are one of the great "lost" bands of mid-'60s England. Though they filled mod clubs with happy patrons and managed to score George Martin as a benefactor, they only released a handful of unsuccessful singles during their brief existence. Most of their music remained in the vaults for years, only to be discovered later and celebrated. After years of reissues that only told part of the band's story, Grapefruit's 2018 Shadows and Reflections: The Complete Recordings 1964-1968 collects everything: their five officially released singles, BBC sessions, their legendary demos from 1967, backing tracks, alternate takes, different mixes, and songs they recorded just before the band broke up in 1968…

Tenor saxophonist Coleman "The Hawk" Hawkins (1904- 1969) was one of the most important instrumental soloists in jazz. The "father of the saxophone" conquered this previously unpopular instrument for jazz and influenced generations after him. He also possessed a strong personality, enormous presence and a pronounced musical adventurousness, so that he always remained stylistically on the cutting edge until the sixties…