Dave Clayton

To mark the ninetieth anniversary of the legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson's birth, Peterson's widow, Kelly Peterson, produced a tribute album for the ages: Oscar, with Love, a marvelous three-disc set comprising ten never-before-recorded Peterson compositions, nineteen of his better-known works and seven compositions written especially for him, performed by sixteen contemporary piano masters on Peterson's personal Boesendorfer Imperial piano at his private studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

Avid Jazz here presents three classic Buck Clayton albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. Buck Clayton first came to prominence when he joined Count Basie’s orchestra in 1936 and henceforth grew in stature to become one of the pre-eminent trumpet players of his generation. For our three fine selections let’s get a flavour of our hero and his music by quoting a few lines from the original sleeve notes of the albums.

On this recording and his second as a leader, "Wanted", the exceptional chromatic harmonica player Grégoire Maret once again finds himself moving away from his complementary duties as a sideman, and focusing on his role as a leader with his own musical vision. Naturally, Maret finds collaborating an important part of developing as an artist, but he is especially aware of the pressures imposed by the needs of others, and the necessity of removing these outside influences in order to get to one's core identity.

On this recording and his second as a leader, "Wanted", the exceptional chromatic harmonica player Grégoire Maret once again finds himself moving away from his complementary duties as a sideman, and focusing on his role as a leader with his own musical vision. Naturally, Maret finds collaborating an important part of developing as an artist, but he is especially aware of the pressures imposed by the needs of others, and the necessity of removing these outside influences in order to get to one's core identity.

Arkansas-born, Austin-based roots troubadour Arkansas Dave releases his self-titled debut album on BIG Indie Records. The album runs the gamut stylistically from southern rock to blues, Americana to rock'n'roll and as Dave says himself, "a collection of songs that tell my story." The album was recorded over eight days at Fame Studios with The Swampers, the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section Will McFarlane, Clayton Ivey and Bob Wray, with horn arrangements by Charles Rose and Jim Horn-Jamie "Gypsy" Evans and Arkansas Dave produced the album. Vocals were completed at Arlyn Studios in Austin, TX.

"The Works" is the 4th studio album by the English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nik Kershaw. It was released in 1989 and was the last album he created for MCA Records. Kershaw chose the album's title as he felt the album represented "the collected works of Nik Kershaw". He did not release any new solo material until "15 Minutes", 10 years later. The album was not commercially successful, though the lead single "One Step Ahead" reached No. #55 in the UK. "Elisabeth's Eyes", the second and final single, failed to chart altogether.