Ray Charles : The Grand Master

In his own inimitable fashion, Billy Joel has crafted some of the catchiest pop hits of the '80s and '90s, and most of them–17, to be exact–are on this disc. The jaunty, nostalgic "Keeping the Faith" opens things up, and we cruise right down memory lane with Billy: through the pop-soul of "A Matter of Trust", the brash, rocking "I Go to Extremes" and "All About Soul" (remixed here to good effect). Joel has grown over the course of his long career, and you can trace his maturity as an artist through these later songs. The tone is a bit darker, a bit edgier than on his earlier tunes. This is an artist who has always been about making pop music, but he's also lived and learned: "You gotta get tough/but that ain't enough/it's all about soul". Fans will probably agree, and will enjoy this collection immensely.

Azar Lawrence (born November 3, 1952) is an American jazz saxophonist, known for his contributions as sideman to McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Woody Shaw. Lawrence was the tenor saxophonist Tyner used following John Coltrane's death. Lawrence released Summer Solstice on Prestige Records in 1975, produced by Orrin Keepnews. It featured Raul de Souza, Gerald Hayes, Amaury Tristão, Dom Salvador, Ron Carter, Guilherme Franco on the songs "Novo Ano" and "Highway" which were composed by Amaury Tristão, and Lawrence, Souza, Albert Dailey, Carter and Billy Hart on all other selections.

Venez vivre un moment de musique inoubliable avec le pianiste-compositeur virtuose Jean-Michel Bernard, qualifié par Ray Charles de "genius".

Another Dutton Vocalion's reissue combines a pair albums of Charlie Rich, remastered from the Original Master tapes by Michael J. Dutton. "Behind Closed Doors", from 1973, received the Country Music Association award for Album of the Year and Rich was named Best Male Vocalist for his performance on the album. Rich won the 1974 Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance Male and also took home four Academy of Country Music awards for this album. "Everytime You Touch Me (I Get High)" was released in 1975, and the title track peaked at number three on the country chart.

A little while ago, the British 'Guardian' wrote that ACT was on a mission to sign the best European pianists to its label. Creative virtuosos like Yaron Herman, Leszek Mozdzer and Gwilym Simcock bear witness to the fact that these pianists do not have to come from Scandinavia. And that they don't have to be young is now proven by the Emil Viklicky ACT debut 'Together Again'. The 65 year-old Czech national has perhaps stayed too down-to-earth for us to have discovered him earlier for what he is: the 'patriarch of Czech jazz piano', as the London Evening Standard put it. And 'one of the best contemporary pianists, whose touch, voicing and chords have a lot in common with the grand masters of taste the likes of Tommy Flanagan and Jimmy Rowles,' as the American periodical Jazz Time wrote of him in 2004.

In twenty years as leader, pianist/composer Bojan Z has been judicious with the frequency and quality of his releases. Soul Shelter is his ninth CD in that time, and his first solo outing since Solobsession (Label Bleu, 2001). A new release by the pianist is always an event, and the wait, as always, has been worth it. The music on Soul Shelter covers wide stylistic territory and marks another significant milestone in Z's captivating career to date.

20 Original Recordings Series Collection from 1930 to 1990!