Jim & Andy:

James Thurston Nabors was an American actor, singer, and comedian. "The Complete Columbia Christmas Recordings" combines Jim Nabors' two holiday albums for Columbia – 1967's Jim Nabors' Christmas Album and 1972's Merry Christmas – adding a couple of seasonal religious tunes from 1968's The Lord's Prayer & Other Sacred Songs and 1971's How Great Thou Art for good measure (as it happens, these bonus cuts include two different versions of "Ave Maria." Of the two albums, the 1967 set is slightly stuffier – there's a reliance on old-fashioned carols and the string arrangements are a bit stiff – but 1971 conjures just a bit of the spirit of Hollywood holiday specials, its strings feeling slightly snazzy, not starchy. His sensibility belongs in an era that was bypassed when these records were recorded, so this release functions as dual nostalgia: pining for pining for days of Christmas past.

A behind-the-scenes look at how Jim Carrey adopted the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon (1999).

During this two-decade association with Columbia Records, Andy Williams chalked up more hit singles and sold more albums than any other traditional pop crooner of the period. Boosted by the popularity of his Emmy-winning television series The Andy Williams Show, the personable singer bridged the classic American Songbook of standards and showtunes with the modern pop-rock songs of the 1960s and 1970s. His widespread popularity saw Williams become the host of the Golden Globe Awards in the 1960s followed by annual duties fronting the Grammy Awards in the 1970s. All of which begs the question: why haven't we seen (and heard) a rarities collection from this iconic vocalist? Now, for the first time ever, Andy's immense archive of Columbia recordings has been combed through to dig up a bounty of previously unreleased tracks from his peak 1962-1972 era, including covers of familiar tunes such as You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, 'This Guy's in Love with You, Homeward Bound, Too Young, and I Don't Know How to Love Her.

Did anybody know that Traffic was planning to regroup and tour!? This fact alone makes the new double CD concert: Dear Mr. Fantasy: Featuring The Music Of Jim Capaldi & Traffic all the more poignant in its release. Put together by the drummer’s wife Aninha, this concert was held at London’s famed Roundhouse and features ex-Traffic mate Steve Winwood, Pete Townshend, Joe Walsh, Bill Wyman, Jon Lord and Paul Weller. Fronting a ‘backing band’ that includes Andy Newmark (heard from too little these days, as far as I’m concerned) Ray Cooper, Mark Rivera, Simon Kirke, Dave Bronze and Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens, the ‘stars’ take the stage to perform various Capaldi-penned tunes along with the more famous Traffic tunes he co-wrote.

Take one of the best rhythms in circulation in Europe: Dario Deidda and Andy Watson, add a couple of "masters" of international guitarism: the American Peter Bernstein and the Italian Guido Di Leone and you will get a mix of great quality for one of the best tributes, to be found in circulation dedicated to the figure of the great Jim Hall. A very enjoyable record, the result of a tour that took place in Europe at the end of 2019. The pleasure of listening to pieces from the repertoire of the great Jim Hall reinterpreted with respect and stylistic relevance and at the same time with modernity and freshness. A careful recording where you can enjoy the different personalities and expressiveness of two super guitarists on the individual channels (right and left). Really a valuable and enjoyable record.