Tendres Cousines (1980)

This is a surprising release from Kenny Burrell, for the veteran guitarist plays half of the selections on acoustic guitar and does a very effective job giving a bossa nova rhythm (à la Laurindo Almeida and Charlie Byrd) to some of the tunes. The set, which also features bassist John Heard, drummer Roy McCurdy, and percussionist Kenneth Nash, is mostly laid-back, although the renditions of Billy Strayhorn's "U.M.M.G." and "Stolen Moments" swing. Best are the more lyrical pieces (such as "My Ship" and an unaccompanied "Lost in the Stars"), which allow Burrell to show off his pretty tone.

2006 special collector's edition reissue for first time on CD. Signed to Polydor in the UK and A&M in the US in 1980, Johnny Van Zant teamed with legendary producer and original Skynyrd A&R man Al Kooper to cut this blistering debut album. Drawing from his southern roots and Skynyrd's fiery guitar fuelled legacy, the music is a hot burrito of fuel injected riffing (aided and abetted by twin lead guitarists Robbie Gay and Eric Lundgren) and the kind of down home back porch rocking that brings to mind the best work of Skynyrd,.38 Special, Marshall Tucker and the Allman Brothers Band. Look out for 'Standing in the Darkness' a poignant and touching tribute originally written as a poem for late brother Ronnie, surely one of the finest closing tracks on any southern rock album.

When drummer Leon "Ndugu" Chancler brought his Chocolate Jam Co. project to Epic in 1979, he signed a contract that called for two albums. Epic didn't do a lot to promote either the Company's first LP, The Spread of the Future, or its sophisticated effort, Do I Make You Feel Better?. Consequently, the vast majority of R&B fans didn't know that the albums existed. And that's regrettable because even though Do I Make You Feel Better? is a fantastic album.

Jan Garbarek is, of course, one of ECM’s longest standing composers and saxophonists, yet he is first and foremost a spectacular improviser who often manages to reach farther than (I imagine) even his own expectations in touching new melodic concepts. Paired with the Spheres-like church organ of Kjell Johnsen, he plumbs the depths of spiritual and physical awareness in a way that few of his albums have since. Here more than anywhere else, he shapes reverberation into its own spiritualism, exploring every curve of his surrounding architecture, every carved piece of wood and masonry.

Celebrating 40 years of Rush's Permanent Waves, deemed the poignant moment the band reinvented themselves and their sound. This Super Deluxe Edition includes the two CD set and the three 180-gram vinyl LP collection. With additional features like a 40-page hardcover book filled with reimagined artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme, unreleased photos from the band's archive and an exclusive essay…