B.b. King Vintage Years

By 1967, King had refined his singing and guitar style (which were always intertwined) to a fine point. What was just beginning to emerge during this period was King the showman, the singer with a story to tell his audience; sometimes a sad story, sometimes an angry one, occasionally even a downright mean one. Nowhere was this more apparent than in live performance. Here he's captured in concert in Chicago, home of the blues and the ideal place to testify to the congregation. From "Tired of Your Jive" to "I Know What You're Puttin' Down" to the unequivocal "Baby Get Lost," B.B. lets his audience in on the ups and downs of romance in no uncertain terms, both through his impassioned vocals and characteristically stinging guitar. The effect is both cathartic and awe-inspiring.

"Together Again… Live" is a live album recorded in 1976 at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles, California by two of the greatest blues artists of all time Bobby Bland as a vocalist and B.B. King on guitar.

King Tuff is the neo-garage alter ego of Kyle Thomas (Happy Birthday, Feathers, Witch). "The Other", his fourth full-length release, was self-produced and features contributions from Mikal Cronin, Jenny Lewis, Charles Moothart Kevin Morby, Greta Morgan, and Ty Segall. While not all-out riotous slacker-pop, he incorporates particles of honky-tonk rock, wry witticism in an admittedly more muted and seasoned, but still measured, present-day evolution of King Tuff.

B.J. Thomas was one of the most consistent - and consistently good! - purveyors of American pop for more than a decade. A major chart star for most of the second half of the 1960s and through to the mid '70s, B.J.seemed to always be able to anticipate the needs of the US Top 40 at every career twist and turn, and his great records like Hooked On A Feeling and Mighty Clouds Of Joy were ever a positive enhancement to the AM radio waves of their time (as they are to oldies FM radio stations across the USA in the 21st Century). For around eight of those years, B.J. recorded exclusively for the go-ahead, New York-based independent Scepter Records, and its his best recordings for Scepter that are the subject of Ace's first-ever UK anthology to seriously appraise, and afford historical significance to, Billy Joe Thomas.

Three years ago, the Vintage Orchestra was born through the motivation of its members. Some are reference points at the music stand; others are formidable improvisers at the clubs. Together, they make up an ensemble of rare qualities. Their first album, consecrated to Thad Jones, besides being a love declaration to one of the great writers of the 60’s, is also a proof of mastery, a great example of their abilities.

You can see the snow gently drifting down through the sky, taste the eggnog, and feel the yuletide spirit gently wrapping its arms around you as Vintage Christmas Trio pleasantly glides on by. Building on a branding-savvy holiday portfolio that includes Vintage Christmas (Prescott Records, 2011) and Vintage Christmas Wonderland (Prescott Records, 2014), pianist David Ian delivers a stripped-down set of ten holiday chestnuts that values clarity and concision.

Marica Hiraga is Japan’s leading jazz vocalist with a rich talent both in expression and technique. Her professional career began in 1981 after she was awarded the Asia Music Award in Hong Kong. She has acquired her understanding and feeling of jazz by performing and traveling between Tokyo and New York. Her first Jazz standard album, My Shining Hour, was released in 2001, and won the Best Singing Techniques award at the 19th Japan Jazz Vocal Award hosted by Jazz World magazine in 2003. Her 2nd album, Faith, released in 2006, was recorded with Eric Alexander and Harold Mabern Trio. Faith was selected as “ Swing Journal Gold Disc” and became her breakthrough album.

As the momentum continues to build for old-school blues rock trio GA-20, the band takes their expanding fanbase by storm with the release of its first full-length live LP, Live In Loveland. Featuring 11 rowdy, blistering performances (including five songs from 2022’s Crackdown, three from their 2019 debut Lonely Soul and three previously unrecorded tracks), Live In Loveland captures GA-20 feeding off the energy of the wall-to-wall crowd and delivering each song with raw emotion and body-shaking force.