When Stars Collide: A Chicago Stars Novel

Five CD box set containing a quintet of their albums housed together in an attractive slipcase: Chicago Transit Authority (1969), Chicago II (1970), Chicago V (1972), Chicago VI (1973) and Chicago VII (1974). While Chicago are oft remembered as a Pop/Rock hit making machine, their musical roots were Jazz-oriented and this quintet of albums features the band blending their commercial sensibilities with their excellent Jazz/Rock musicianship

Born for This Moment captures the true heart of Chicago at their full creative capacity. From the undeniable swing of the lead single, "If This Is Goodbye," to the unbreakable bonds of "For the Love," to the deeply personal storytelling of "Safe Harbours," the patriarchal aspirations of "Make a Man Outta Me," the romantic reveries of "If This Isn't Love," and the sultry flare of "Firecracker," it's quite clear the collective force of nature that is Chicago is indeed alive and well…and flourishing better than ever, right here in the first quarter of the 21st century. Over the entire course of 14 vibrant new songs, Born for This Moment (a.k.a. Chicago XXXVIII) encapsulates the scope and breadth of all the compositional and performance-propelled strengths at the ready in Chicago's seemingly endless arsenal of musical acumen.

German tech death institution Obscura has returned and is ready to start a new chapter in their prolific career accompanied by their new label, Nuclear Blast Records. A Valediction, their sixth full-length record, explores the concept of final farewells while ushering in a fresh start for the lightning fast quartet.

A Chicago Blues legend in concert with a superb band. Available for the first time on CD! This superb album from the legendary Muddy Waters band member was originally released as a vinyl lp in 1985 and this is the very first CD release. The band features Bill Dicey on harmonica. This set was one of Pinetop's first recordings under his own name after a lifetime of playing with some of the greatest names in electric blues. Pinetop Perkins was a bluesman who found fame late in life. Active in the 1950s on the Memphis scene, he left the music for many years. But then came back just when blues legends had a new, wider audience in the late 1960s. A gifted blues piano player and delightful singer he had the full package as bandleader. But he found his fame as piano player with Muddy Waters.

On May 13, 2000 the Chicago Underground Quartet played one of the most searing and transcendent sets of music I’ve ever witnessed, as part of the Empty Bottle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music. Cornetist Rob Mazurek, guitarist Jeff Parker, drummer Chad Taylor, and bassist Noel Kupersmith performed with a fiery singularity of purpose, ripping through its set like a bulldozer, albeit a machine marked by nuance and soulfulness. The following year the same line-up—which had previously made two albums for Delmark as the Chicago Underground Trio despite, with Parker nominally billed as a guest—dropped its eponymous debut on Thrill Jockey, serving up one of the strongest entries in the city’s modern history. Little did anyone know it would be nineteen years for the follow-up to surface.