Joe Pass, J.j. Johnson

This wonderful DVD features Ella Fitzgerald, one of the great divas of jazz singing. This performance consists of the second half of a 1983 Tokyo concert. We begin with a set presenting Ella backed by her regular trio with Paul Smith on piano. The accompaniment is then augmented to a quartet with the addition of the great guitarist Joe Pass. The singer and guitarist had made a few unique albums together, and their magical chemistry can be seen here on an Ellington medley and a version of the Carmichael evergreen “Georgia on My Mind’. For a big finale, a number of jazz stars (Clark Terry, J.J. Johnson, Zoot Sims, Oscar Peterson…) join them on the classic “Flying Home”, ending the concert in the spirit of the great jazz jam sessions.

Sessions is Union Square Music’s 2CD urban and dance music range. Aimed at both the hardened dance music fan and the impulse purchaser, each Sessions title is packed full of hit singles, big club tracks and a choice selection of forgotten gems and underground classics picked out by our expert crate-digging compilers. Strong generic packaging including an outer slipcase, informative sleeve notes and a low price in the shops have made Sessions one of our most popular labels.

Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat (after bands from Liverpool and nearby areas beside the River Mersey) is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll (mainly Chuck Berry guitar style and the midtempo beat of artists like Buddy Holly), doo-wop, skiffle and R&B. The genre provided many of the bands responsible for the British Invasion of the American pop charts starting in 1964, and provided the model for many important developments in pop and rock music, including the format of the rock group around lead, rhythm and bass guitars with drums. The Beat Of The Pops - excellent selection of beat tracks.

This is the type of CD that frustrates completists and veteran collectors; the 13 selections are taken from a variety of sessions and the recording dates that are given are often incorrect. The great boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons is heard on five of the nine piano solos he recorded at Blue Note's debut session in 1939 along with a solo number apiece that were cut for Columbia and Storyville…..

Chuck Goering is an unsung veteran of sorts. While his name doesn't inspire the reverence reserved for Pinetop Perkins, he had the rare opportunity to study under Chicago's blues piano legends. The journeyman cuts loose on this release and has a number of A-list stars sitting in. With a style that's both flexible and disciplined, he handles the ivories with ease. Willie Kent makes an appearance on his own tune, 'Mama Told Me', and transports the listener to a South Side juke joint. Other covers include Hound Dog Taylor's 'Walk In The Ceiling' and Earl Hooker's 'Wah Wah Blues'. Chuck takes great care in preserving the integrity of each tune and does so thanks to guest shots from Kent, Sam Lay and Carl Weathersby. A great collection of work!

Serving to embrace the floral heavens of British pop, this ceremonious edition combines the first ten prized volumes of the acclaimed Piccadilly Sunshine series. Celebrating the obscured artefacts of illustrious noise that emerged from the Great British psychedelic era and beyond, it is the essential guide to the quintessential sound of candy-coloured pop from a bygone age Pop is NOT a dirty word!