Joe Muscolino

Two of the most masterful crafters of sophisticated art rock united on stage for a series of special live engagements in 2005, Joe Jackson and Todd Rundgren.

When the definitive swamp rocker Tony Joe White signed with Warner Bros. in 1971, it sure seemed like a good idea – while White seemed like an anomaly at Nashville's Monument Records, WB was a label with a reputation for nurturing creative mavericks with a taste for stylistic crossbreeding, and with his soulful, organic fusion of rock, blues, and country sounds, White was as individual as they came in the late '60s and early '70s.

This long-lost debut of Joe Henry is a mixed bag compared to his later material. Fans of "Trampoline" or "Fuse" may want to take a pass but if you enjoy "Murder of Crows" and "Shuffletown", then this one belongs in your collection. Some songs have that over-produced mid 80's sound (reminds me of the first Bruce Hornsby record)but the more "spare" stuff sounds pretty vital. At it's core, TOH is still Joe Henry with everything you'd expect…sharp lyrics, nice melodies, the cover song (although Mellencamp's cover of "Wild Night" is better), etc. One nice surprise is more singer and piano material then his later work. If your devotion to Joe includes his early stuff, add this to your delight. For those into his last two discs, don't dig back quite so far. Try "Short Man's" or "Shuffeltown" instead.

Few "guitar shredders" of the late '80s were able to cross over into the upper reaches of the pop charts, but Joe Satriani proved to be an exception to the rule. And with over eight full-length studio albums in the shops by late 2003, Satch was ripe for a "best-of" collection – resulting in the release of the double-disc overview Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology…

American expatriate Joe Dassin was one of France's most popular singers during the late '60s and '70s, initially building his name with stylized adaptations of folk and country material from his birthplace. As his career blossomed, Dassin turned increasingly to traditional-style chansons penned by some of the genre's best writers, scoring an all-time classic with his 1975 smash "L'Eté Indien." Notorious for his perfectionism, Dassin could play the introverted romantic, but his persona also played off of American archetypes and imagery. His premature death of a heart attack in 1980 robbed French pop of one of its greatest modern-day practitioners.

Joe Pass - Virtuoso #4 (1973) {2CD Set, Pablo PACD-2640-102-2 rel 1993}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 519 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 250 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 32 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1973, 1993 Pablo Records / Fantasy | PACD-2640-102-2
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Guitar

Joe Pass became famous with his unaccompanied guitar showcase on Virtuoso, the beginning of a very notable series. However, this double CD (a reissue of a 1983 double LP plus three new performances) actually preceded the first Virtuoso by a month and differed in that Pass exclusively chose to play acoustic guitar, rather than electric. The relatively little-known set finds the guitarist sounding very much like a self-sufficient orchestra, and although his tone is necessarily softer on acoustic than electric, he swings hard on the uptempo pieces. Among the many highlights are "Indian Summer," "My Shining Hour," "I'll Remember April" and "Limehouse Blues."