Prointro: Birthday

Liverpool's King's Dock on July 19, 2003 was the venue for a long awaited and much anticipated reunion between Eric Clapton and John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. The occasion was both a celebration of John Mayall's 70th year and a fundraiser for UNICEF…

Rachel's Birthday are a German, Stuttgart-based quintet, working together since 1997. Their line-up are Alfred Müller (keyboards), Michael Six (bass), Jürgen Hägele (drums), Bernd Müller (guitars) and Ralf Glasbrenner (vocals). They shifted their style from the more "straightforward prog rock" in the early days to the more original approach blending various elements, including new-wave, symphonic prog, neo prog and folk. After stabilizing their musical style, they started touring and soon gained a significant success: they won the "Battle Of The Bands" contest in Stuttgart in 1998, where they achieved a second place, and the first place on SDR3 festival. In the meantine they released their first and to day only CD "An Invitation To Rachel's Birthday", highly prized by both audience and the critics.

Before releasing their debut album, Extra Ball gained some popularity among polish jazz fans. Leaded by guitarist Jarosław Śmietana, band starded off at the Jazz on the Oder-River festival in 1974, winning the second, and a year later, the first prize. Thus Extra Ball wasn't unknown at the time, unfortunately they are rather forgotten these days…

The liner notes neglect to mention in what year this April 29th birthday performance was recorded, but given the orchestra's lineup and set choices, 1953 or 1954 is likely. Unlike the majority of recently-discovered live tapes, this dance at Portland's McElroy's Ballroom was professionally recorded (by the great engineer Wally Heider) and so the sound is astonishing. This five-CD series is easily the best representation we have of Ellington's early-'50s lineup in an intimate ballroom dance setting.

Both charting albums from this British band led by ex-Manfred Mann guitarist Tom McGuinness! Includes the hit When I'm Dead and Gone underappreciated rock from 1971…

After reaching an international level of success with Demons and Wizards, Uriah Heep continued to build their fan base by knocking out another album of prog-like metal before the year's end. The end result, The Magician's Birthday, is not as consistent or cohesive as Demons and Wizards but still offers plenty of highlights…