Tafsir Al Qurthubi 1

Al Cohn and Zoot Sims were lifelong friends who were frequent collaborators both in the studios and in clubs. Cohn only led four recording sessions (two for tiny labels) during 1963-74; all featured Sims. For their Sonet date, Al and Zoot are joined by pianist Horace Parlan, bassist Hugo Rasmussen and drummer Sven Erik Norregaard and they perform three standards, two Cohn songs and Jimmy McGriff's "Motoring Along." Zoot plays some effective soprano on "Yardbird Suite." As usual the two saxophonists mutually inspire each other on the cool-toned but frequently-heated bop date.

"Elysium" is the climax of this process so far. The artist has arrived where he always wanted to be. He himself thinks of Elysium as a "place of perfect happiness". A paradise where acoustic and electric components, triumphant rock and finely entwined jazz, delicate and pumping rhythms, guitars and keyboards, wide panoramas of rock and diaphanous carpets of sound come together in harmony. In this magical Elysium, everyone complements each other. Al Di Meola has brought together a five piece band with no bass. While he plays all the guitar parts himself, both acoustic and electric, including unbelievably fast and elegant riffs and effervescent rocking chords, three keyboard players and pianists provide shades of colour.

Esoteric Recordings is proud to announce the release of a new remastered and expanded two CD edition of ‘Time Passages’, the legendary album by Al Stewart first released in September 1978.

"After last year's combination of spoken narrative and new songs on Me & the Originator, I decided to relax and go back to recording just new songs of mine, as I have on my other 15 CDs. I had new songs which were inspired by the grooves of Little Junior Parker, Jimmy McCracklin, Slim Harpo, Booker T and the MGs, and many others. I divided the songs between blues and other roots forms, and as always I wrote about real life issues, both at home and in public. If you listen carefully, you'll hear what I mean!"

Esoteric Recordings is proud to announce the release of a newly re-mastered and expanded 3 CD 40th Anniversary edition of the classic album 24 CARROTS by AL STEWART. Released in 1980, the album came on the heels of a series of highly successful albums YEAR OF THE CAT and TIME PASSAGES, which saw the legendary folk-rock musician reach a wider audience and, after adopting a more rock orientated approach, gain top ten success in the USA where he had relocated.

The 1980s and '90s brought about a blues recording boom that brought some well-deserved attention to veteran blues musicians: People like CeDell Davis, R.L. Burnside, Johnnie Bassett, and Robert "Bilbo" Walker found themselves on the road again, in demand at summer blues festivals and booked on extensive tours of big and small clubs around the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Although Al Garrett had been on the Los Angeles club scene since the late '50s, extensive touring under his own name had eluded him, other than in California. Garrett's debut album, Out of Bad Luck, was released in 1999 on the New York City-based Fedora Records.