Weiss Moskau

Known affectionately as "Magic" to his professional colleagues, saxophonist/flautist Frank Wess is a living legend in the jazz world. His résumé includes stints with Billy Eckstine, the Clark Terry Big Band and a decade performing with the Count Basie Orchestra, and he is recognized as one of the first major flautists to have an impact on the music. Once Is Not Enough is an audacious recording that follows his most recent collaboration with Hank Jones on Hank and Frank II (Lineage Records, 2009), with six original compositions and three covers tastefully arranged to feature the many soloists on his hand-picked nine-piece ensemble. Among the members of the Frank Wess Nonet are trumpeters Terell Stafford and Frank Greene, trombonist Steve Turre, altoist Ted Nash and baritone/bass saxophonist Scott Robinson, with bassist Peter Washington, pianist Gerald Clayton and drummer Winard Harper rounding out the rhythm section. Guests Michael Weiss (piano) and Rufus Reid (bass) sub for Clayton and Washington, respectively, on two tracks.

The lute was a very popular instrument in Bach’s day. The various types of lute had for centuries been influential in shaping the development of music. Certain musical terms are in fact directly derived from lute-playing technique, including the expression style brise, coined by Couperin to denote lute-like arpeggiated chords on the harpsichord. During the first half of the 18th century, Sylvius Leopold Weiss was particularly renowned and respected for his consummate mastery of the lute.

The lute by Sixtus Rauwolf heard on this recording was probably built in the last decade of the sixteenth century. Some hundred years later, in 1715, it was converted to suit the musical tastes and demands of the baroque period. For this disc, Jakob Lindberg has chosen works that could have formed part of the repertory of the presumably German owner of the instrument at around the time of its final conversion.

It makes so much sense for a Portuguese record label to release a new opus of the New York pianist and composer Jacob Sacks, considering his many connections with the jazz scene of this country and musicians like João Lencastre, Sara Serpa, André Matos, Gonçalo Marques and Demian Cabaud. Sacks is widely recognized as one of the most creative musicians in his hometown, and “Fishes” presents him in the company of other notable protagonists of the New York jazz scene, all of them members of the Clean Feed family: Ellery Eskelin, Tony Malaby, Michael Formanek and Dan Weiss.

Guitarist Miles Okazaki's Figurations is a fascinating document of how musical invention takes place on the spur of the moment. It is not a mad conglomeration of notes that come out in jagged clusters, but a mellifluous harmolodic excursion by four spectacular musicians as they begin to create music on each of their instruments, with their own ideas flowing organically, yet directed by the composer, Okazaki, who defines how the melody should sound by stating its antecedents and basic idea.

"Mistaken Identity" is the sixth studio album by Kim Carnes released in the spring of 1981. It was one of 1981's biggest albums and produced Billboard's #1 song for the entire year, "Bette Davis Eyes". It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The album spent four weeks at #1 on Billboard magazine's Top Albums chart, and was subsequently certified Platinum. The album spawned three singles, "Bette Davis Eyes", "Draw of the Cards" and the title track, which peaked at #1, #28 and #60 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, respectively. The Mistaken Identity Tour found Carnes at the peak of success, selling out arenas and large venues.

As another year draws to a close, we're proud to present the 2017 edition of our annual 'Best Of' album; your ultimate round up of all the biggest releases on Toolroom and Toolroom Trax from the past 12 months. Featuring 50 tracks and two full-length DJ mixes from the labels best DJ's and producers including Mark Knight, Solardo, Max Chapman, Secondcity, Basement Jaxx, Danny Howard, Green Velvet, Weiss, Christian Nielsen, Adrian Hour, Klangkuenstler, Erik Hagleton, Rene Amesz, Format:B, Dale Howard, ZDS, David Keno, Flashmob, Olivier Giacomotto, Raumakustik, Ben Remember, Tough Love, Man Without A Clue & many more.

Pet Symmetry is a power-pop power trio consisting of Evan Weiss, Erik Czaja, and Marcus Nuccio. Vision is their second full-length album, and sixth release in all. Czaja and Nuccio are both founding members of Dowsing, a still-active Chicago-based group that has released three albums, two on regional powerhouse Count Your Lucky Stars and its most recent on seminal punk label Asian Man (who also released Pet Symmetry's first album). Weiss rose to prominence as Into It. Over It., a solo recording project that morphed into a full band with an extensive touring history of the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Weiss's fan base is rabid and loyal, taking an active interest in records he has released with Stay Ahead of the Weather and Their / They're / Their (his group with American Football's Mike Kinsella). Across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the band members have a combined social reach of 145,000+ fans who will eagerly be awaiting word of new music from Pet Symmetry.

The music on Deutsche Elektronische Musik 3 was all recorded in the 1970s up to the early 1980s, at a time when forward-thinking German electronic and rock groups were searching for a new musical identity in order to separate themselves from both the cultural legacy of post-world war two Germany as well the cultural imperialism of USA and UK rock. In this process German groups created some of the most unique and inspired music, the defining motorik beat alongside a host of ethno-musical influences from far afield including Turkey, India, Brazil as well as the musical and futurist possibilities of developments in electronics and technology itself.