Phillip

Grammy Award-winner Alex Klein, former principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performs sonatas that signify the oboe’s 20th-century reemergence as a brilliant solo instrument. One of the world’s most famous oboe players, Klein says he waited to acquire a professional lifetime’s worth of experience before putting his stamp on the six sonatas heard here.

Phillip Walker delivers 11 prime cuts of funky, down-to-earth blues on this easygoing release. He is backed by some fine musicians, including guitarist Derek O' Brian and grunting saxman Mark Kazanoff. The songs are well crafted; "My Name Is Misery" is as down and out as it gets, the title cut takes Walker back to his roots with lots of brooding guitar and passionate lyrics, and "I'd Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy" is about that dreadful heartbreak we've all felt. Then there's "Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time," a New Orleans style rocker in the best sense with a little added social commentary thrown in for good measure. This is groove oriented music. It's not about flashiness, it's about telling it as Mr. Walker sees it and he sees it as it is.

The Bottom Of The Top (1973). There weren't many blues albums issued during the early '70s that hit harder than this one. First out on the short-lived Playboy logo, the set firmly established Walker as a blistering axeman sporting enduring Gulf Coast roots despite his adopted L.A. homebase. Of all the times he's cut the rocking "Hello My Darling," this is indeed the hottest, while his funky, horn-driven revival of Lester Williams's "I Can't Lose (With the Stuff I Lose)" and his own R&B-drenched "It's All in Your Mind" are irresistible. After-hours renditions of Sam Cooke's "Laughing & Clowning" and Long John Hunter's "Crazy Girl" are striking vehicles for Walker's twisting, turning guitar riffs and impassioned vocal delivery…

These are the indigenous Afro-Jazz Sounds of the Genius, Phillip Tabane — the original Malombo Jazzman. It started in 1964 at Orlando Stadium, when Phillip went on stage, leading his group — "The Malombo Jazzmen". On that Saturday afternoon, South Africa was staging it's third Jazz Festival. Phillip and his group walked away with all the honours.

The punk rock of the Sex Pistols and the Clash has had a major effect on the music of German vocalist and songwriter Phillip Boa. As leader of the Voodoo Club, from 1985 until 1993, Boa created some of Germany's hardest hitting music…

A loopy concoction of transcendant post-punk pop. There are a few clunkers here (Primitive Man, I'm Waiting for my Man) but the brilliance of the gems (You Sent All My Letters, Happy Spider, They Say Hurray, Albert is a Headbanger, Fine Art in Silver, etc.) more than makes up for it…

Walker remains in fine form on this 1995 set, a mix of remakes of past triumphs ("Hello, My Darling," "Hey, Hey Baby's Gone") and fresh explorations. Two distinct bands were utilized - a New Orleans crew populated by bassist George Porter, Jr., and his funky cohorts, and an L.A. posse with more of a straight-up swinging feel.