Albert Hude

Albert Marcoeur, French multi-instrumentalist/composer, was born on December 12 1947, in Dijon, France. During his formal education of clarinet at the National Academy of Music and Dance of Dijon, Marcoeur actively participated in many straightforward college rock 'n roll bands. Closing an end to his formal training Marcoeur's musical visions had gravitated towards the experimental facets of music, wishing "to do nothing else but make my own music". In 1970, the realisations of Marcoeur's 'unclassifiable' forays found their conception, marking the being of studio life. It was to be another four years until the release of his first self-titled album, which still ranks as his greatest recording to date. Loosely classified as proto-RIO chamber-rock, the album lays down several RIO foundations (much like Robert Wyatt's, "The End of an Ear"), later to be picked up by the likes of Aksak Maboul…

Ice Pickin' is the album that brought Albert Collins directly back into the limelight, and for good reason, too. The record captures the wild, unrestrained side of his playing that had never quite been documented before. Though his singing doesn't quite have the fire or power of his playing, the album doesn't suffer at all because of that - he simply burns throughout the album. Ice Pickin' was his first release for Alligator Records and it set the pace for all the albums that followed. No matter how much he tried, Collins never completely regained the pure energy that made Ice Pickin' such a revelation.

Paul Graener’s early happy years in London motivated him to gain British citizenship, but it is no secret musicians and musicologists have detoured around his music because of his allegiance with the Nazi Party. His music is anything but nationalistic; it is the work of a late romanticist with a strong inclination toward French impressionism. Having previously released his Piano Trios, cpo now turn their attention to his Orchestral Works, giving his music the recognition it deserves.

Recorded live in Chicago in 1977, this captures a a brief set by each of these blues legends. The Albert King set finds him in excellent form, tearing up his guitar on "Born Under a Bad Sign" and "I Worked Hard," and turning in fine vocals on "The Very Thought of You" and the title track, here mistitled as "When You Down." John Lee Hooker's set is a typical boogie-infested one, with solid support from a small combo doing a nice job following his idiosyncratic timing. Everything stays pretty much uptempo, with the exception of "Serves You Right to Suffer" (here mistitled as "Serves Me Right") and "Crawlin' King Snake." Actually nice live sets from both performers, and a decent addition to either artist's discography.

This studio date came about as a result of Albert Mangelsdorff's appearance at the Third Yugoslavian Jazz Festival, where pianist John Lewis was impressed enough with his performance to set up a recording session a few days later. With bassist Karl Theodor Geier and drummer Silvije Glojnaric also on hand, none of the musicians had ever played together, though it made little difference as they quickly absorbed the originals of Lewis and Mangelsdorff, along with the familiar standard "Autumn Leaves" (a trio arrangement omitting Lewis) and Gary McFarland's "Why Are You Blue." The leader's judgment is validated with Mangelsdorff's impressive work. The final track showcases a separate group, the Zagreb Jazz Quartet, featuring pianist Davor Kajfes, vibraphonist Bosko Petrovic, bassist Miljenko Prohaska and Glojnaric on drums.

Soft & romantic piano music, slight scents of jazz, beautiful songs and ballads - all these elements united in the lovely piano player from Atlanta, Georgia and her second album on Innovative Communication. She's all woman and her music expreses exactly that quality in songs that are catchy and full of lovely, evergreen melodies.

Albert Schweitzer was a German (writing in French also) theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary. As well as his important theological work (he depicted Jesus as literally believing the end of the world was coming in his own lifetime), he developed various theories on music, in particular the work of J.S. Bach. He explained figures and motifs in Bach’s Chorale Preludes as painter-like tonal and rhythmic imagery illustrating themes from the words of the hymns on which they were based.