Omar Best By Far (2001)

Omar Lyefook MBE is without doubt, one of the greatest soul music talents the United Kingdom has produced in the last 40 years. If anyone has doubts about that, then they might want to consider the list of legendary artists who happily line up to collaborate with him musically, or simply sing his praises - from Stevie Wonder, the late Leon Ware, Erykah Badu, Common, through to Carleen Anderson, D'Angelo, and Soul II Soul's Caron Wheeler, Angie Stone and U.K. artists Courtney Pine, Rodney P, Kele LeRoc, Natasha Watts and Estelle, all appreciate his truly original and unique voice, musicianship and songwriting talent.

Spanning three discs and 47 tracks, The Anthology So Far collects highlights from all of Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band tours, which means it doesn't just have hits from Ringo (basically, all of his solo and Beatles anthems), it also has signature songs from fellow classic rockers like Dr. John, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Joe Walsh, John Entwistle, Dave Edmunds, Timothy B Schmidt, Felix Cavaliere, Randy Bachman, Burton Commings, Peter Frampton, Simon Kirke, Jack Bruce, Eric Carmen, and the great Todd Rundgren…

Spanning three discs and 47 tracks, The Anthology So Far collects highlights from all of Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band tours, which means it doesn't just have hits from Ringo (basically, all of his solo and Beatles anthems), it also has signature songs from fellow classic rockers like Dr. John, Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Joe Walsh, John Entwistle, Dave Edmunds, Timothy B Schmidt, Felix Cavaliere, Randy Bachman, Burton Commings, Peter Frampton, Simon Kirke, Jack Bruce, Eric Carmen, and the great Todd Rundgren…

Musician, music therapist and founder of Healing Music in Japan. Fumio Miyashita began his musical career in 1966. In 1969, he was an original member of the rock musical, 'Hair', in Tokyo. He formed the progressive rock groups Far Out and Far East Family Band, releasing ground-breaking albums and touring internationally. Always interested in oriental philosophy since studying karate at a young age (he became a black belt in high school), he became interested in oriental medicine after an injury on stage that only healed after undergoing acupuncture. In 1977, he immigrated to the United States, where he continued to study oriental medicine, philosophy, the Chinese Five Elements and also began, in earnest, to research music therapy…

Even geniuses (maybe especially geniuses) are taken for granted, not seen as geniuses, or only appreciated in small doses. Which is a grandiose way of saying that, no matter how partisans may complain, there are many listeners out there that don't want to delve into the deliriously rich catalog of Prince and would rather spend time with a single disc of all the hits – especially since the first singles compilation was botched, spread too thin over two discs and sequenced as if it were on shuffle play.

A powerful vocalist in the Big Joe Turner mold and a pretty solid drummer, too, Jimmy Morello has been singing his brand of vintage West Coast blues for over three decades now, and while his retro style isn't about to take over the modern R&B charts anytime soon, his allegiance to the real deal makes him more than just a nostalgia act. This set collects key tracks from his two JSP albums, 1997's Can't Be Denied and 1998's The Road I Travel, along with tracks Morello produced for the likes of Roy Gaines and Carol Fran, to make what amounts to a quick introduction to this road-tested blues veteran.

Sad Café was a British soft rock outfit, that enjoyed a recording somewhat successful career from the mid-'70s through the early '80s. The group's leader, singer Paul Young (not the same Paul Young that scored the '80s hit "Every Time You Go Away"), got his start with music in the mid-'60s, when he fronted a forgotten Manchester group called the Toggery Five, which included a few members that would later go on to join prog rockers Jethro Tull – guitarist Mick Abrahams and drummer Clive Bunker. By the early '70s, Young was fronting another forgotten outfit, Gyro, and by 1976, opted to leave the band – taking Gyro guitarist Ian Wilson with him.

Detunized Gravity The prolific and long-running De-Phazz (also known as DePhazz) is a contemporary lounge project led by Peter "Pit" Baumgartner, a German-Austrian producer who has surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that includes vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton. Beginning with Detunized Gravity (1997), Baumgartner and company have explored various forms of lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of vintage jazz and soul, easy listening, and Latin music. De-Phazz tracks like "No Jive" and "The Mambo Craze" have appeared on dozens of compilations with "lounge," "chill," and "cafe" in the title.

Detunized Gravity The prolific and long-running De-Phazz (also known as DePhazz) is a contemporary lounge project led by Peter "Pit" Baumgartner, a German-Austrian producer who has surrounded himself with a shifting cast of collaborators that includes vocalists Barbara Lahr, Karl Frierson, and Pat Appleton. Beginning with Detunized Gravity (1997), Baumgartner and company have explored various forms of lounge music, much of it balancing samples with live instrumentation, with innumerable cross-sections of vintage jazz and soul, easy listening, and Latin music. De-Phazz tracks like "No Jive" and "The Mambo Craze" have appeared on dozens of compilations with "lounge," "chill," and "cafe" in the title.