The Legends

15 sizzlin’ surf guitar cuts recorded at the crest of the genre! Brothers Richard and Thomas Frost, more known for their work as Powder, shred through these surf-rockin’ standards – all tucked away until now!

Out of all the soul-jazz organ players, only one was so thoroughly funked out that he personally adopted the name of his favorite keyboard, the B-3: Johnny "Hammond" Smith. While not as important in the development of jazz styles as other keyboard players such as Jimmy Smith, "Hammond" displayed an earthy, swinging talent worth listening to. Legends of Acid Jazz: Johnny "Hammond" Smith compiles under a single cover two albums Smith recorded in 1969, Soul Talk and Black Feeling! (complete with the liner notes from both original issues). On Legends, Smith gets down in the heady company of, among others, tenor saxophonist Rusty Bryant, funky drummer Bernard Purdie and guitarist Wally Richardson; Richardson here pays tribute to his bandmates with his compositions "Purdie Dirty" and "Johnny Hammond Boogaloo"…

15 sizzlin’ surf guitar cuts recorded at the crest of the genre! Brothers Richard and Thomas Frost, more known for their work as Powder, shred through these surf-rockin’ standards – all tucked away until now!

Willis "Gator" Jackson's initial reputation was made as a honking and screaming tenor saxophonist with Cootie Williams' late-'40s orchestra and on his own R&B-ish recordings. By 1959, Jackson had de-emphasized some of his more extroverted sounds (although they occasionally popped up) and had reemerged as a solid swinger influenced by Gene Ammons and (on ballads) Ben Webster. This CD reissue from 1998 brings back in full two of Jackson's 1959-60 LPs: Blue Gator and Cookin' Sherry. Some of the music (which often falls into the soul-jazz genre) is reminiscent of the funky groove music that would become popular in the late '60s. Jackson sounds fine and is joined throughout by guitarist Bill Jennings, organist Jack McDuff, one of three bassists, one of two drummers, and sometimes Buck Clarke on conga. The accessible music alternates between warm ballads and jump tunes.

A smart combination of two 1961 albums, Hip Soul and Hip Twist, both of which featured Stanley Turrentine on sax. Hip Soul is the smokier and livelier of the pair, especially on "Stanley's Time" and the Turrentine-composed title track; the material is delivered with a taut intelligence. Hip Twist doesn't suffer much in comparison, though, and gives Scott a bit more presence, as she introduces several themes with impassioned swirls; unlike Hip Soul, it has a couple of tunes from her own pen.

Legends: Crank It Up features 18 original versions of pop/rock hits from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. Among the highlights are the Doobie Brothers' "Listen to the Music," Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty," Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night," America's "Sister Golden Hair," the Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang," and Ace's "How Long."…

In 1881 Antonin Dvorak composed a set of ten 'Legends' for piano duet, dedicating them to the influential music critic Eduard Hanslick, who at the time was serving with Johannes Brahms on a committee that awarded Austrian state stipends to young composers of worth. At Hanslick's suggestion, Dvorak introduced himself to Brahms. Brahms, in turn, introduced Dvorak to his publisher, and the rest is history. Dvorak submitted the 'Legends' to the publisher, Fritz Simrock, who eventually requested that Dvorak orchestrate five of them; the composer took up the challenge and in the end orchestrated the entire set.
Dvorak's 'Legends' are delicate pieces, filled with the folksy melodic touches that are constants in the composer's music. The 'Legends' are gentle in tone and touched with just a whisper of melancholy. The Budapest Festival Orchestra under the direction of Iván Fischer has this music "in their blood" and their performances are clearly authoritative. The balance of the disc is filled out with other smaller-scale Dvorák works, the most notable of which is a set of five 'Prague Waltzes,' composed a year before the 'Legends.' Once again the orchestra plays with zest and elegance, making this a worthy addition to the Dvorák discography.

The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is the second studio album from the English keyboardist and composer Rick Wakeman. Released in April 1975 on A&M Records, it is a concept album based on the legends of King Arthur and the Round Table.