Chimes

Universal Consciousness was the fifth solo album released by Alice Coltrane in 1971 on Impulse! Records. The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars saying "This is art of the highest order, conceived by a brilliant mind, poetically presented in exquisite collaboration by divinely inspired musicians and humbly offered as a gift to listeners. It is a true masterpiece".

Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker releases songs and instrumentals on 4AD. songs and instrumentals are two distinct collections, both written and recorded in April after Big Thief’s March tour was abruptly cut short due to coronavirus. After returning to the states from Europe, Lenker decamped to a one room cabin in the mountains of western Massachusetts. This recording is 100% analog-analog-analog (AAA). No digital process was used in the production of this sound recording. The album’s stunning artwork are watercolour paintings done by Adrianne’s grandmother, Diane Lee.

One of the greatest debuts in the history of rock, Mr. Tambourine Man was nothing less than a significant step in the evolution of rock & roll itself, demonstrating that intelligent lyrical content could be wedded to compelling electric guitar riffs and a solid backbeat…

This band has developed a following in the DC area, and this is their first CD release. This is pretty much in the neo-prog vein, with fairly strong similarities to IQ, musically, with vocals in a more "American" style. The little I heard of Kingdom of Ends came across as straight forward radio rock. Very weak in terms of progressiveness, almost laughable in fact. This is one of those bands that gives neo-prog a bad name. – Mike Borella The 55 minute Kingdom of Ends consists of two previously released cassette EPs: Cathedral (1991) and Kingdom of Ends (1992). There are four songs in the five minute range and four in the 7-10 minute range. The players on this album are: Gary Sisto, guitar; Ted Thompson, lead and backing vocals; Todd Braverman, keyboards; Mike Hounshell; bass and backing vocals; and Mark Copney, drums and backing vocals. For the most part, Cathedral fall into the Genesis/ IQ/Marillion neo-prog camp but they do it very well. There are also evident Pink Floyd influences, mainly in the guitar. This is an album I would listen to as often as IQ's The Wake or Twelfth Night's Fact and Fiction.

Pianist George Shearing meets up with guitarist Wes, vibraphonist Buddy, and bassist Monk Montgomery on this enjoyable if slightly lightweight outing. The performances are a bit too concise at times, but the album has some fine soloing by the principals. Highlights include "Love Walked In," "Love for Sale," and "The Lamp Is Low."

This 1982 recording features saxophonist Sonny Simmons and drummer Billy Higgins and a smokin' pickup band that included bassist Herbie Lewis and pianist Joe Bonner, and a horn section that added Michael Marcus on baritone, Al Thomas on trombone, and Joe Hardin on trumpet. The opener is "Sparrow's Last Jump," a stomping hard bop workout that features Simmons in top lyrical form and Lewis bowing the entire tune, despite the fact that it's based on hard bop – hell, post-hard bop – changes and is played in 6/8 Mingus tempo! Of course, Higgins is dancing all over the kit and it's obvious that, in his solo, Simmons is reading that frenetic yet seamless dance because he goes over the time signature with his legato phrasing and cascades his arpeggios right through the middle of the intervals. It settles a bit on the title track, where the horns are left out so Simmons is sitting in only the rhythm section. Here, Higgins plays out a double-time rhythm on the ride cymbal before slowing it to four.

Constance Demby is one of the few representatives of the New Age movement (in both her music and her personal philosophies) who consistently creates artistic, highly expressive compositions. Demby was trained in classical music as a child, and her artistic spirit led her to also master several other art forms; at the University of Michigan, she studied painting, sculpture, and music. It was her work as a sculptor that led her to new dimensions of sound. As she was torching a sheet of metal, it roared thunderously, and thus was born the Sonic Steel Instruments: the Whale Sail, and the Space Bass, enormous bowed instruments with deep archetypal resonances.