Gemini Rising

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band certainly knew how to have a good time while playing their music. Their spirited blending of New Orleans jazz parade rhythms with R&B-ish horn riffs made them flexible enough to welcome guests Dr. John (who sings and play piano on "It's All Over Now"), Dizzy Gillespie ("Ooh-Pop-A-Dah"), and Branford Marsalis ("Moose the Mooche") to their Columbia debut without altering their music at all. With Gregory Davis and Efrem Towns playing strong trumpet in the ensembles and occasional solos, and with sousaphonist Kirk Joseph not letting up for a moment, this is a typically spirited set by the unique DDBB.

The term experience almost inevitably raises the question: What’s the significance of the album title? After all, the name Stormchild has come up before: 1985 saw the arrival of Mad Max’s album Stormchild, which has fuelled their fans’ requests to resurrect this character ever since. “Stormchild is our warrior who battles for everything good in the world, not with weapons but with rock songs. We had Kai Brockschmidt (Pretty Maids, Pink Cream 69, among others) update him for the new cover artwork and practically revived him,” comment Mad Max, forging an arc to the early days of their career. Mad Max “Stormchild Rising” will be released on August 21st via Steamhammer / SPV Records.

Pianist Ramsey Lewis first came to fame as the purveyor of swinging soul-jazz in the mid-'60s, but like a lot of musicians he underwent some major changes by the end of that decade. Sun Goddess (1974), Lewis' biggest success of the decade, is miles away from the finger-snapping supper club sounds of "The In Crowd." By this time, Lewis had transformed himself into a jazz fusion funkateer, riffing on electric piano and synthesizer amid arrangements that meld jazz with funk, R&B, and yes, even touches of progressive rock…

American percussionist, vocalist, composer and teacher, born 1949, specializing in frame drums from around the world. He has created his own musical style inspired by both Western percussion and frame drum performance styles from around the world. His concerts include an array of instruments such as the Egyptian riq (a small, intricately inlaid tambourine), the Irish bodhran (a large single-headed drum), and the North African tar (an instrument of desert nomads).