Meet Market (2008) [dvdrip][rmvb]

So just how did the Smithereens become a Beatles tribute band? It's no great surprise that they owe a debt of influence to the Fab Four, but instead of absorbing the lessons of their music, lately the Smithereens are content to simply play their songs, generally as close to the original arrangements as they can muster, and B-Sides the Beatles is the second album in two years from the Smithereens that's devoted entirely to Beatles covers…

Byther Smith stands today as one of the most important links to the heady days of mid-50s Chicago blues. "Got No Place to Go" presents the man in concert with all his intensity and raw power learned from his years playing with greats such as Otis Rush, Junior Wells, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Lockwood and Big Mama Thornton. This Fedora recording finds him at the very peak of his powers: a fiery spark plug of a man, stepping to the microphone, and in a full, gospeldrenched voice, barking the lyrics to Otis Rush’s Keep On Lovin’ Me Baby like commands then stepping back and discharging a series of clear, surprisingly fat-toned notes from his Stratocaster, turning the dancers into watchers, and the watchers into people standing, whistling, and applauding.

English Boy Wonders is the second studio album by the English progressive rock band, Big Big Train. It was released in 1997 by Giant Electric Pea. In February 2008, it was announced on Big Big Train's BlogSpot that English Boy Wonders was going to be re-recorded and partially re-mixed. It was re-released on the band's new record label, English Electric, on 1 December 2008. The re-release adds one track and changes the running order. Big Big Train are an English progressive rock band formed in Bournemouth in 1990. Until 2009, the band were mostly as a studio project band headed by Gregory Spawton and Andy Poole with changing line-ups and guest musicians. They have released eleven studio albums and three EPs.

Duke Robillard has always had one foot in the blues world and one in the swing/jazz universe. He loves both styles of music and enjoys not only playing them separately but combining them together. The founder of Roomful of Blues back in 1967, Robillard has led dozens of projects throughout his career, including collaborations with guitarist Herb Ellis, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Jay McShann. On A Swingin Session, he plays with some of his favorite musicians, many of whom originated (like he did) in Rhode Island. While six horn players participate, there are no more than four on any one selection, and some numbers do not have any. The contrasting tenor solos are fun to hear, with Scott Hamilton sounding smooth and mellow on his numbers while Sax Gordon is greasier and much closer to Illinois Jacquet. Present throughout are Bruce Katz (mostly on organ), one of three bassists (usually Marty Ballou), and drummer Mark Teixeira. Robillard takes vocals on half of the selections in his personable way, but it is his guitar solos, which hint at both Charlie Christian and T-Bone Walker, that often take honors.

The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes is the twenty-second studio album by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea, released in 2008 by his own record label, Jazzee Blue. It comprises three CDs and double 10" Vinyl records in an 80-page hardback book. It is the second album of his project, the Hofner Blue Notes (2003). The project narrates the history of The Delmonts, an imaginary guitar instrumental band from the late 1950s, who in early 1960s evolved into blues band The Hofner Bluenotes. It also gives a brief history of the Hofner guitar, and its importance in the development of music in Britain. The music was recorded by Rea (guitars), Colin Hodgkinson (bass) and Martin Ditcham (drums), who feature in the book, together with Niel Drinkwater and Robert Ahwai.

Partly on the basis of his several discs on BIS, Freddy Kempf enjoys a reputation as an explosive and physical performer but also as a highly sensitive artist. His performance of Chopin’s Etudes received high praise, for instance in American Record Guide: ‘At 27, Kempf has attained something most pianists strive for over an entire lifetime …