The plainly named Box Set – that's the actual title – contains four CDs by a band that made only three albums in their brief lifetime. It goes without saying that this has a lot of great music, and is an essential purchase for fans of this phenomenal 1960s folk-rock-psychedelic band, containing no less than 36 previously unreleased demos, outtakes, and previously unissued mixes. It's the unreleased stuff that holds the most interest, especially since even on their outtakes, Buffalo Springfield were often superb…
While Jimmy Hughes' second album (from 1967) was titled Why Not Tonight?, this CD is more an expanded version of that LP rather than a straight reissue. The first ten tracks are indeed the Why Not Tonight? album in its original sequence, but it's followed by 11 bonus tracks from the same era, essentially doubling the length of the original LP and adding historical liner notes. Hughes isn't much known outside the soul collector world for anything besides his 1964 hit "Steal Away," but this is a quite solid collection of mid-'60s Southern soul.
Produced by Grammy-winner Jim Gaines (Santana, Steve Ray Vaughan, and Journey) and recorded at Sonic Ranch in, Tornillo, Texas, Mississippi Bar BQ showcases 10 original songs, plus a killer cover of Dylan’s classic “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Backing Zac’s guitar and vocals on most of the tracks are The Rays: Bob Trenchard – bass; Richy Puga – drums; Johnny McGhee – guitar; Dan Ferguson – keyboards; Mike Middleton – trumpet; Andy Roman - alto sax; Nick Flood - tenor and baritone sax; and Drake Dominigue - trombone and tuba. Several other tracks feature Zac Harmon and his regular touring band.
The Six Pack is a compilation album released in 1987 by the American blues rock band ZZ Top. The compilation encompasses the first five studio albums by ZZ Top plus El Loco into a three-disc set. All of the albums, except El Loco and the live tracks from Fandango! were remixed with 1980s percussion…
Gerry Mulligan's quartet recorded this studio date about seven years before his death, and it's a beautiful statement of where the refined, seasoned veteran of cool jazz was at in the later years of his life. A young Bill Charlap on the piano (rare unto itself in that Mulligan often excluded a keyboardist) was essentially introduced to the jazz world with this album, and proved to be a perfect foil for the baritone saxophonist's leaner notions. Charlap is also quite substantive, never grabbing the spotlight for himself, but tastefully adding chord progressions and comping to Mulligan's world-class musings. Only David Amram's patient California-styled "Splendor in the Grass" is not penned by Mulligan, with the rest of the set spilt between Brazilian songs, a little bop, and mostly the laid-back easygoing jazz that the leader specialized in…