P&0

This truly is an all-star affair. Parliament and Funkadelic alumni like Bootsy Collins, Eddie Hazel, Walter "Junie" Morrison, and Garry Shider, among others, resurface from various stages in the Mothership's time upon earth to contribute to this stylistically sprawling and urbanely funky session; adding to the impressive roll call are high-profile soul and funk guest stars such as Sly "Sylvester Stewart" Stone, Bobby Womack, Fred Wesley, and Maceo Parker. And leading the charge is the master himself, George Clinton.

This compilation features some of the best solo material from the Parliament/Funkadelic crew during the late '70s and '80s under the direction of George Clinton. Ever the entrepreneur, Clinton had farmed his aggregate of loose booties to no less than five respective (major) labels. While technically Parliament was recording for Casablanca and Funkadelic was signed to Warner Bros., Clinton's short-lived Uncle Jam imprint was issued and distributed by Columbia/Epic. It is here that listeners find the 15 tracks – nine of which are making their debut in the digital domain – that comprise Six Degrees of P-Funk: The Best of George Clinton & His Funky Family (2003).

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, as part of his regular duties as kapellmeister in Hamburg, composed 19 passion settings, alternating the four Gospel texts so that a new setting of a given text appeared once every four years, as his predecessor Georg Philipp Telemann had done. Until the discovery of the Berlin Sing-Akademie collection in Kiev in 1999, all that remained of this considerable body of work were bits and fragments of individual pieces, most of them extant because they were used in other contexts.

C.P.E. Bach eclipsed his legendary father s fame to become the mid-18th century s leading German composer. This wide-ranging collection of symphonies, concertos and vocal works by the great forerunner of Haydn and Mozart is performed by authoritative interpreters including Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert. The evident delight of the musicians in this music makes for rewarding listening … Impressive and fascinating.

The second full-length album by Danish sound artist and composer P Jorgensen, this release on Low Point excels at delivering a warm, balmy sound flow of harmonious drones and textural field recordings, recalling material from the more experimental catalogue of Stephan Mathieu to the pastoral tapestries of Tape, Mountains and Rameses III. You certainly couldn't say that this music would constitute anything particularly new to a regular consumer of electroacoustic drone music, but its glowing swathes of all-round auditory loveliness are certainly worthy of your attention if you're a follower of labels like Type or Kranky.

What must it have been like for James P. Johnson to have taken young Thomas Waller under his wing, teaching him everything he knew about piano, watching him evolve into a brilliant composer and internationally famous performer, then to have him pass away suddenly at the age of 39? The best answer to this question lies within a series of Waller tribute recordings made by Johnson in late 1943 and early 1944. They are a striking example of grief and shock transformed into relaxed, enjoyable music. The duets with drummer Eddie Dougherty, recorded on June 8, 1944, are particularly satisfying, especially "My Fate Is in Your Hands." What's the best James P. Johnson session of all? Poetically, musically, emotionally, and fundamentally, the "New York Orchestra" session of June 12, 1944, is in fact unparalleled…

German band fronted by Klaus-Peter Matziol of Eloy, and with fellow ex-Eloy people Hannes Arkona and Hannes Folberth.