Leading Lightly

Complex re-release of the most remarkable and worldwide sought afterSeries The Dark Side Of The Moog by German electronic pioneers Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook (aka Peter Kuhlmann) in three slip lid boxsets, each with 5 CDs, incl. bonus material and new linernotes. The second box contains Vol. 5 to Vol. 8 and the Bonus CD. Their relationship between Klaus and Pete and the exchange of ideas was unorthodox from the beginning of their co-operation, in that they rarely met personally. The most remarkable contacts they had were outside of their studios, for instance their concert of April 1999 at the Jazz Festival in Hamburg , which was released as an edited version on 'Dark Side Of The Moog, Vol.8' (will be released in the second Boxset) - the interplay and chemistry between them is clearly evident, and it becomes even clearer on the un-edited version of the concert (which will be released as bonus CS on the third boxset).

Emerson Lake & Palmer - From The Beginning (2012) [5CD BoxSet] {Sony Music}
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© 2012 Legacy / Sony Music / Leadclass Limited | 88697946622
Rock / Art Rock / Prog Rock

New title in the excellent value "Booksets" range. These are limited edition, multi-CD sets packaged in DVD sized Ecol-books, containing the contents of rare, expensive & hitherto unavailable box sets. Finally, EL&P has a retrospective to match the band's music. 5 CDs, basically chronologically arranged. The set includes unheard mixes and an excellent unreleased 'Tarkas'-era track that would have benefitted that album greatly. After a raft of chances missed where presenting the 'band that never ends' were concerned, the record label has, as this review's title says, at last made up for it all. Anyone hearing these CDs will be unable to laugh at the band or take them lightly. Emerson, Lake and Palmer truly were the greatest progressive act on earth. And, now, here's the proof.

One normally thinks of Divertimenti being occasional works, written to accompany other activities. While this was the intent of Mozart, his brilliance just can't be caged. These works are varied, interesting, expressive, and even famous. The three Divertimenti K136, K137 and K138 are actually string quartets but someone (W. Mozart? Leopold Mozart?)wrote "Divertimento" on the autograph score. Each has its own character and all have found their way into the repertoire. Often heard on classical music stations, they are tuneful and energetic works that predict correctly the brilliant future Mozart would achieve.

Teddy Pendergrass - Original Album Classics (2014) [5CD Box Set] {Sony Music}
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© 2014 Sony Music / Legacy / Philadelphia International Records | 88843043842
Funk / Soul / R'n'B

Released by Sony's Legacy division in 2014, Original Album Classics offers a compact bundling of Teddy Pendergrass' first five solo albums, all of which were originally released by Philadelphia International. This contains Teddy Pendergrass (1977), Life Is a Song Worth Singing (1978), Teddy (1979), TP (1980), and It's Time for Love (1981) – all Top Ten R&B albums, and all platinum, with the exception of the fifth release, which merely went gold. When this was issued, it retailed for roughly the same amount as a double-disc anthology – a reasonably priced way to obtain a major chunk of the great Philly soul singer's catalog.

Monumental isn’t even a word strong enough to describe the new Epica offering, Ωmega, the first collection of all-new material in five long years. On their eighth full-length, the Dutch symphonic metal titans go all cinemascope, in a stunt both effortlessly and cunningly unleashing their biggest, grandest, flashiest opus yet. Mind you, that’s not lightly said for a band like Epica. Formed by composer Mark Jansen after leaving After Forever back in 2002, they quickly gained attention outside their home country, taking big steps towards becoming the leading symphonic metal superpower they have long proven to be. After their ambitious debut The Phantom Agony (2002) and the surprisingly eclectic sophomore work, Consign To Oblivion (2005), the road took them to new heights via their first concept masterpiece, The Divine Conspiracy (2007) and their global breakthrough, Design Your Universe (2009).

Mosaic Select is a jazz reissue series of numbered limited-edition releases that focus on an artist's important but neglected work in a 3 CD set.
The music on Mosaic Select 14 was recorded live at the Keystone Korner, San Francisco, between May 13, 1978, and March 27, 1979

I doubt if many of us have found our ideal set of Brandenburgs, but most, I suspect, have settled on a favourite collection. The field is enormous, reflecting a wide range of performing styles as well as smaller discrepancies where some of the instruments themselves are concerned. These reissued recordings of the Brandenburgs are style-conscious, period-instrument performances. For sheer refinement of thought and elegance of phrase Parrott’s set has few rivals, though some of the intellectual and artistic excitement that must have gone into its preparation seems a little chastened in the finished product. Parrott never lets us down in his lightly articulated performances and stylistically consistent concept of the music.

Al Cohn, Joe Newman & Freddie Green - Mosaic Select (2007) {3CD Set, Mosaic Records MS-027 rec 1955}
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© 1955, 2007 RCA Victor / Mosaic / BMG Music | MS-027
Jazz / Bop / Mainstream Jazz / Trumpet / Sax / Guitar

This Mosaic compilation draws from material that comprised five separate RCA Victor LPs of the 1950: Al Cohn's The Natural Seven and The Jazz Workshop: Four Brass, One Tenor, Freddie Green's Mr. Rhythm, plus two Joe Newman records, All I Wanna Do Is Swing and I'm Still Swinging. Cohn, Green, and Newman are the common element to all of the recording sessions, leading bands ranging from septets to nonets.The Natural Seven was inspired by the Kansas City Seven drawn from the Count Basie band of the 1930s, and while the arrangements by Cohn and Manny Albam swing lightly in the style of Basie's septet, the focus is more on originals written for the session rather than simply recreating earlier recordings.