The New York Times (11 18 2016)

When the New York Dolls released their debut album in 1973, they managed to be named both "Best New Band" and "Worst Band" in Creem Magazine's annual reader's poll, and it usually takes something special to polarize an audience like that. And the Dolls were inarguably special – decades after its release, New York Dolls still sounds thoroughly unique, a gritty, big-city amalgam of Stones-style R&B, hard rock guitars, lyrics that merge pulp storytelling with girl group attitude, and a sloppy but brilliant attack that would inspire punk rock (without the punks ever getting its joyous slop quite right)…

Also known as the New York Jazz Trio, this combo is a studio-only group who specialize in recording classic standards in a straightforward, post-bop style. The New York Trio features three gifted musicians who are firmly established on the East Coast jazz scene. Pianist Bill Charlap is a member of the Phil Woods Quintet, has accompanied the likes of Tony Bennett, Benny Carter, and Gerry Mulligan, and has recorded a handful of well-received albums for Blue Note as a bandleader. Bassist Jay Leonhart has recorded as a headliner since 1983, while also making a name for himself as a vocalist and songwriter as well as backing up Marian McPartland, Louie Bellson, Lee Konitz, and many others…

For their third and certainly best record the classically inspired New York Rock And Roll Ensemble recruited Greek composer and songwriter Manos Hadjidakis. The resulting Reflections plays like a film score–not surprisingly, given Hadjidakis's experience as a composer of just such works–with epic instrumental sweeps and passages of quiet melancholy. Many of the tracks, such as "Orpheus," "The Day," and "Kemal," incorporate the folk melodies of Hadjidakis's homeland while maintaining a baroque psychedelic touch.

For the last 20 years London-based author and party organiser Tim Lawrence has dedicated himself to excavating the history of New York City party culture and bringing some of the most powerful aspects of that culture to London’s dance scene, from where it has ricocheted around the world. Having conducted the first set of major interviews with David Mancuso, Lawrence started to put on Loft-style Lucky Cloud Sound System parties with David and friends in London in June 2003. In early 2004 he published Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-79, which tracked the influence of the Loft on the wider New York DJ, dance and disco scene. In 2009 his biography of the iconic musician Arthur Russell became the first book to map the wider downtown music scene. These beautifully written and politically insightful histories have educated, inspired and celebrated the previously overlooked foundations of contemporary dance music.