Billy Woodward Sun Session

Introducing a musical treasure from the enigmatic Sun Ra's expansive discography, Strut Records proudly presents "Inside The Light World: Sun Ra Meets The OVC”. This extraordinary album unveils previously unreleased recordings from the year 1986 for the very first time, showcasing a unique chapter in the Sun Ra catalogue, officially released for Record Store Day 2024.

Billy Idol’s second studio album, 1983’s Rebel Yell, is being reissued for its 40th Anniversary. The album features the singles ‘Eyes Without a Face’, ‘Flesh for Fantasy’, ‘Catch My Fall’ and ‘Rebel Yell’. There are two physical editions of this reissue, a 2CD set and a 2LP vinyl version. The former features 13 bonus tracks, including five that were on the 1999 expanded CD. The extra tracks include the rather good ‘Poolside Remix’ of Eyes Without A Face (a new remix was issued as a digital single in early 2021), the previously unreleased ‘Best Way Out of Here’ and a cover of ‘Love Don’t Live Hear Anymore’ (from the original sessions). Of the latter, Billy said “We found out Madonna was doing a version on her Like A Virgin album and we had a full compliment songs so we thought we’d leave it off the album”.

Lightnin' Hopkins woke up The Dead when he played San Francisco in the 1960's and his song 'Wake Up The Dead' is the centerpiece of this two and a half hour journey into the electrified world of Texas blues. Accompanying Lightnin' on this journey is his long time harmonica player, Billy Bizor. While Lightnin' had a prolific recording career, Bizor's stature is relatively obscure due to the lack of solo recordings he released during his lifetime. Fortunately, 'Wake Up The Dead' seeks to rectify that situation by including the complete June 17, 1968 session with Lightnin' and Bizor, plus all of Bizors' 1969 solo recordings. As an added bonus, the rest of the April 11,1969 session that could not fit onto Lightnin's 'Shootin Fire' album is included on 'Wake Up The Dead'…

Coinciding with the 25-year anniversary of iconic vocalist Billy MacKenzie’s passing, a triple-CD collection, highlighting Billy's collaborations with Steve Aungle.

This is Billy Cobham's third solo recording under his own name and is a fine follow-up to Crosswinds. The mini-suite "Solarization" not only showcases the band's technical abilities, but also Cobham's strong compositional skills. It also features a schizophrenic piano solo ("Second Phase") from the underrated pianist Milcho Leviev, who sounds like a mutation of Cecil Taylor and Bill Evans. The funky "Moon Germs," on which John Abercrombie is pushed to inspiring new heights, became a Cobham classic. "The Moon Ain't Made of Green Cheese" is a beautiful flugelhorn solo by Randy Brecker backed by Cobham's debut on piano. The band stretches out on the lengthy "Sea of Tranquility," while "Last Frontier" is a gratuitous drum solo. This recording is highly recommended as Cobham still sounds inspired.

Following two studio recordings, this impressive band hit the road and cut this session with keyboardist George Duke. Their encounter provided for an uneven, but infectious, recording. "Hip Pockets," composed by Cobham, and "Ivory Tattoo," composed by Scofield, begin the session with some intense playing. Things get a bit goofy with "Space Lady" (a song which probably worked better live), and a bit melodramatic with "Almustafa the Beloved."