Peabo Bryson I'm So Into You: The Passion Of Peabo Bryson (1997)

While the '80s may have been littered with many second-rate pop-metal knockoffs of little musical merit, Judas Priest, decked out in leather and studs, always stood tall above the pretenders as the genuine article of metal greatness. Along with Iron Maiden, they helped lead the way of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and are certainly one of the best and most influential metal bands ever. The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight provides fans with a collection of late-'70s/early-'80s hard-rocking classics by one of the best in the metal business. This collection focuses on the hits of Judas Priest's career, which came mostly during the early '80s, their artistic and commercial peak.

Jackie Payne is an American blues singer. He was nominated in both 2007 and 2008 for the Blues Music Award for Best Male Soul Blues Artist. Payne was the lead singer for the Johnny Otis Show for fifteen years. He recorded several albums with Otis's band and appeared for many years on the Johnny Otis Saturday morning live radio show broadcast on KPFA-FM. Spirit of the Black Territory Bands, recorded by The Johnny Otis Orchestra, featured Payne on vocals and was nominated for a 1993 Grammy Award. Payne's 1998 CD, A Day In the Life of a Blues Man, was produced by Kenny Blue Ray for the British JSP Records label.

This is a rather unusual tribute to Herbie Hancock on a couple different levels. There is no piano on the date, so obviously no one is heard trying to sound like Hancock; the intimate all-star trio (bassist Christian McBride, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and guitarist Mark Whitfield) avoids such typical Hancock hits as "Watermelon Man" and "Maiden Voyage," and several of the songs are real obscurities. The 14 Hancock compositions date from 1962-79, with one tune from 1985, so they do not cover his later output. Among the lesser-known tunes are the title track (first played by V.S.O.P.), "Sly" (from the Headhunters LP), and two melodies taken from the 1965 soundtrack of Blow-Up. Several of the songs (most notably "Driftin'") deserve to be revived more widely…

'Dans Ma Chair' was the album that first introduced me to Patricia's music. I fell in love with it from the first time I heard it. Even if the French language is not your forte, that will not keep this CD from being an exciting experience for you. Patricia has such a beautiful distinct voice which will take you through a journey of pop, soul, blues, and even a little bit of country. The relaxing sound of songs such as 'Quand J'ai Peur de Tout', and 'L'amour Devant La Mer', (though melancholy in subject matter) will flow ever so gently on you soul.

For this 1997 release, the Keystone Trio focuses its refined elegance on Sonny Rollins the composer. While not principally known as a writer, but rather as a remarkable improviser and interpreter of standards and bop classics, Rollins has written dozens of originals over the decades. Other than "Airegin," none of Rollins' best known pieces, such as "Doxy," "Oleo," "St. Thomas," or "Blue Seven," are presented here. Instead, pianist John Hicks, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Idris Muhammad mainly explore items from the saxophonist's Milestone releases from the '80s and '90s, along with some from mid-'50s Prestige dates. The trio's approach is to draw out the melodic and structural substance of each piece, casting them in a light that has more in common with the grace of the Bill Evans Trio than with Rollins' often challenging and provocative soundscapes…

Since its formation in 1987 the Dufay Collective has specialised in colourful, themed recordings – often with a touch of the nudge-nudge, wink-wink about them (Johnny, Cock Thy Beaver; Miri It Is, etc). So 13th-century Paris, with its bawdy mix of persons of all kinds, is natural ground for this group. But not everything is treated as slapstick: the songs by Adam de la Halle and some other pieces are touchingly rendered by a delightful trio of male voices in the latest scholarly fashion (without instruments), and this seems right even in the famous ‘On parole’, a motet with street cries woven in: this work is really an academic parody of the popular style. With the ‘minstrel’ dances and song arrangements we are led into a kind of musical toyshop where bagpipes and many other instruments abound.