Ken Brown

If you set out to create a single anthology that charted all the twists and tributaries of that uniquely American river we call jazz, you couldn't do better than this companion set to the PBS series-94 tracks on 5 CDs licensed from virtually every important label in the history of the music. Includes The Pearls Jelly Roll Morton; Charleston James P. Johnson; West End Blues Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five; The Mooche Duke Ellington; Singin' the Blues Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke; Moten Swing Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra; Strange Fruit Billie Holiday; Three Little Words Art Tatum; Body and Soul Coleman Hawkins; In the Mood Glenn Miller; Take Five Dave Brubeck; So What Miles Davis; Giant Steps John Coltrane; Desafinado Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd, and many more classics.

Ken Hensley is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, best known for his work with Uriah Heep during the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of Uriah Heep's songs during this period, including the hit singles "Lady in Black" (on which he sang lead vocals), "Easy Livin'" and "Stealin'", as well as "Look at Yourself", on which he also sang lead vocals, and "Free Me". Cold Autumn Sunday was recorded in 2005 in Spain and features a variety of tracks from across Ken's solo career as well previously unreleased tracks.

If a story of a music as expansive as Jamaica's can be told over four CDs, then TOUGHER THAN TOUGH is as close as you'll ever likely get. Bookended by the unrefined charm of the Folkes Brothers' 1960 "Oh Carolina" and Shaggy's 1993 dancehall adaptation of the same tune, this collection attempts to chart the music's diversity and development through ska, rock-steady, reggae, and dub, to dancehall and ragga.

This reissue on the British-based BGO label contains the band's second (Strange Affair) and fourth (The Return of Ken Whaley) albums along with the bonus LP Happy Days, which was included free with the Ken Whaley album. The LPs were originally released on the United Artists/ Liberty Records label in 1972 and 1973, respectively. Help Yourself remained on the second tier of British bands and was never able to break out commercially. On this set, the band blends its hippie pastoral sounds with a West Coast-styled psychedelia that will appeal to fans of such acts as the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, or even Phish. While the band did achieve some degree of success in the early '70s and developed a large fan base, it broke up after The Return of Ken Whaley…

Although Clifford Brown did a phenomenal amount of commercial recordings during his all too brief lifetime (he died prior to his 26th birthday in a car crash that also took the life of his quintet's pianist Richie Powell, Bud's younger brother), relatively few of the recordings he made were on stage. Fortunately, this CD includes performances from two 1956 broadcasts from the old Basin Street club in New York City, and two tracks from a Carnegie Hall concert the previous year. Although the MC talks over some of the music and the fidelity is typical for Airchecks preserved from the era (distorted rhythm section, barely audible piano and bass), the strong playing of both Brown and tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins still comes through the noisy clutter.

A massive, 2-disc compilation featuring cover versions of virtually every Peter Green song written during his Fleetwood Mac period, and a few drawn from his mid-80s solo period. While there are some weaker moments in this 39-track collection, the majority of the interpretations feature blues guitar, piano and vocal at their very best. Rather than simply pay tribute to Peter Green by faithfully imitating his material, the artists have chosen to re-interpret these songs and in most cases the results are superb. The power of Green's influence is felt all the more deeply when so many artists use his music as a jumping-off point. A must have item for blues guitar fans.