Dave Hole The Plumber

While subtlety isn't exactly his strong suit – especially live – it's also not what Dave Hole fans expect out of their Australian slide guitar slinger. The word "ferocious" best describes his over-the-fret, over-the-top technique, and what was merely intense on his studio albums gets kicked up a few notches in concert. Like George Thorogood, Hound Dog Taylor, or Rory Gallagher (whose vocal phrasing is also an influence), he's nailed his niche, best described as explosive Elmore James. Hole happily plays to his strengths without pushing the boundaries past where his fans comfortably expect.

With Under the Spell, Australian guitarist Dave Hole and his veteran backup band manage to lasso in all of the energy from their live concerts, while under the roof of a usually antiseptic recording studio environment. All but three of the 12 tracks were written by Hole and rank among his best work to date. Rocking through "Demolition Man" and delivering a sweet soul-blues ballad with "Don't Say Goodbye," Hole once again expresses his musical diversity with a flair. He manages to remain a true original while still feeding off of his major influences – people like the Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, the Animals, Howlin' Wolf, and Muddy Waters. "Holding Pattern" rocks with a Stevie Ray Vaughan feel, and Hole's passionate vocals are a real treat on his cover of John Lee Hooker's "Run With Me."

There is no denying that Dave Brubeck's hit sides for Columbia permanently established him in the popular jazz consciousness, but that's also a limiting factor: he cut great music before and after his tenure there. The Definitive Dave Brubeck, a double-disc, 26-track collection issued just in time to celebrate the pianist's 90th birthday and to coincide with the documentary film Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Time (whose executive producer is Clint Eastwood), fills in key points in the rest of the story. This compilation was assembled by Russell Gloyd, Brubeck's manager, producer, and conductor since 1976…

This unusual compilation from the Kool Jazz at Midem Festival combines parts of three separate sets. The Dave Brubeck Quartet with clarinetist Bill Smith, bassist Chris Brubeck and drummer Randy Jones, has the most interesting program, utilizing an electronic delay along with Smith's clarinet to add a new touch to "Lover Man," offering an energetic version of "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and introducing a recent work by Brubeck, the very swinging "Ol' Bill Basie" which showcases some fine playing by the leader and some choice bass trombone by son Chris. Guitarist Pat Metheny joins the Heath Brothers for "Move To The Groove; " Metheny's bluesy guitar and Jimmy Heath's soulful tenor sax work well together. B. B. King's set is at best average and an odd choice to include on what is predominantly a jazz record.

Raven's 2001 collection The Good Side of Tomorrow: 1971-1984 is the first true retrospective assembled on Dave Loggins, a '70s singer/songwriter best-known for his Top Ten 1974 hit "Please Come to Boston" (he was also known for being the cousin of singer/songwriter Kenny Loggins). Prior to this, there had been no collection, either on vinyl or on CD, that took his catalog seriously – there had only been a budget-line greatest hits – and this takes it very seriously, sampling from his five albums between 1971-1984, adding a single and a duet with Anne Murray. The emphasis is naturally on his first two albums, as both 1972's Personal Belongings and 1974's Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop) have nearly half their tracks here. There is a big difference between the two records, too, with the first finding Loggins closer to his folky roots and with Apprentice finding him working with larger but mellow soft rock arrangements. From that point, his productions stay in the soft rock vein, even when he starts bringing in a stronger country bent.

Since his self-titled 1990 smash debut, Dave Koz has been one of smooth jazz's greatest musicians. The saxman scored big on the radio and in retail even when he turned away from his established R&B/pop sound on 1996's Off the Beaten Path, which was done with more acoustic instruments. The Dance brings him back to the hard-hitting R&B funk sounds of that first album and its follow-up, 1993's Lucky Man. Aside from reuniting him with some of the producers who worked on his debut – Jeff Lorber, Carl Sturken, Evan Rogers, and his brother Jeff Koz – The Dance is a true testament to the art of collaboration.

The Solution Is Restless was written and recorded with Dave Okumu of The Invisible and legendary drummer Tony Allen shortly before he sadly passed away.

The 1981 Columbia compilation album The Best Of Dave Mason was a ten-track disc that included the four Mason singles which had hit the upper half of the charts in 1977 and '78–"So High (Rock Me Baby And Roll Me Away)," "We Just Disagree," "Let It Go, Let It Flow," and "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"–plus some of Mason's better known album cuts from his Columbia albums and live versions of his older hits "Only You Know And I Know" and "Feelin' Alright?"…