Label: Warner

To call David Axelrod an auteur is putting it mildly. Although finally revered the world over by hip-hoppers and lovers of his 60s and 70s cinematic instrumentals (and an excellent eponymous solo offering on the Mo’ Wax label from 2001), Axelrod’s earliest recordings from 1967-70 have remained shrouded in mystery.

Covered, A Revolution in Sound is a tribute album produced and released by Warner Bros. Records to commemorate its 50th anniversary as a record label. The album consists of some of the greatest hits from previous and current artists from the late 20th century, while the songs featured on the album themselves are performed by current artists that are signed to Warner Bros. Records. Warner's sister label Elektra Records had done something similar to this nearly 20 years before with an album titled Rubáiyát: Elektra's 40th Anniversary, which featured then-current Elektra artists covering other songs originally released on Elektra or sister label Asylum Records.

The young Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut has been described as “a miracle of musicality”, while Anne-Sophie Mutter has singled her out as “undoubtedly one of the musical hopes of her generation”. For her debut as a Warner Classics recording artist, Noa has chosen a programme of Mozart that combines concertante and chamber works.

This boxed-set features all three albums Herbie Hancock released for Warner Bros Records between 1969 and 1971. They were an extraordinary creative three years, a little island of free-wheeling experimentation between his stint with the Miles Davis Sextet and his later career as the presiding genius of jazz-funk. Herbie Hancock’s Warner Brothers recordings represent the emergence and unfolding of his Mwandishi Band. This genre-crossing group pioneered an expressive use of sound and technologies, a blend of beat and abstraction, Afrocentric sensibilities, and while fronted by a strong leader, a collectivist approach to making music. The band prepared the groundwork for Hancock’s emergence as a proponent of a synergy between jazz and funk.