It's not surprising, considering their trailblazing nature, that Fripp and company would attack the new technology of DVD in imaginative ways. This title exploits many of the features of DVD, such as selectable camera angles, archival material and commentary, for an experience that is as interactive or passive as the viewer desires…
Archie Shepp has long established a reputation as a fiery avant-garde jazz stylist, though he is remarkably restrained in this collection of ballads recorded in 2001. The rhapsodic songs help restrain him somewhat, along with the presence of the terrific rhythm section, consisting of pianist Harold Mabern, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Billy Drummond. "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life" has a few rough edges to retain Shepp's personal flavor, while the rhumba setting of Sidney Bechet's "Petite Fleur" works well, too.
Canadian singer-songwriter John Vehadija has assembled a stellar cast for the project Light Freedom Revival, and their new album ‘Eterniverse Déjà Vu’ is released on March 7th, 2017. Accompanying him are Billy Sherwood (Drums, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards), Oliver Wakeman (Lead Keyboards), Eric Gillette (Lead Guitar) and Marisa Frantz (Harmony Vocals) as a like minded group of spiritual individuals who have joined together on this 13 track LP to lend their own skilled touches to help create a bigger sound in order to explore the concept of how consciousness and positive energy shape all our future destinies.
A 4CD/1LP set that includes a pristine version of the original Déjà Vu on both 180g vinyl and CD, plus hours of rare and unreleased studio recordings that provide incredible insight into the making of this glorious record.
A major influence on artists as varied as roots rocker Dave Edmunds, Lou Reed, and Bruce Springsteen (two of whose Lucky Town songs he covers here), Dion effectively mixes his tough yet delicate city-styled street corner harmonies with basic Chuck Berry chords to produce evocative tunes that, although embedded in the echoes of his youth, bubble with a soothing, low-key effervescence. Dion's perennially youthful voice delightfully swoops and swirls on the autobiographical "In New York City" and the Everly Brothers-styled "Hey Suzy," but it's on the Springsteen tracks, especially the beautiful a cappella ballad "If I Should Fall Behind," which seems like it was written with this arrangement in mind, that the concept fully clicks.
One of the most hotly awaited second albums in history - right up there with those by the Beatles and the Band - Déjà Vu lived up to its expectations and rose to number one on the charts. Those achievements are all the more astonishing given the fact that the group barely held together through the estimated 800 hours it took to record Déjà Vu and scarcely functioned as a group for most of that time. Déjà Vu worked as an album, a product of four potent musical talents who were all ascending to the top of their game coupled with some very skilled production, engineering, and editing. There were also some obvious virtues in evidence - the addition of Neil Young to the Crosby, Stills & Nash lineup added to the level of virtuosity, with Young and Stephen Stills rising to new levels of complexity and volume on their guitars…