Way back in 1991, Brazilian-born pianist Eliane Elias opened Illusions, her debut solo album, with a tune called "Choro." It offered a swinging distillation of the musical form that has been at the heart of her life-long study of samba. Since then, she's revisited her musical heritage over and over again, wedding modern jazz to post-1960 Brazilian jazz and MPB. In the process, she's developed an instantly identifiable sound as a pianist. Dance of Time follows 2015's fine Made in Brasil, a set that relied most heavily on bossa nova.
RARE TRAX is a continued series of promotional samplers given away with the german edition of Rolling Stone magazine since the 1990's and has reached volume 80 already. Each version covers a special topic and presents lesser known songs and/or artists.
Another Self Portrait, the tenth volume in Bob Dylan's official bootleg series, assembles a slew of unreleased tracks, un-and over-dubbed alternate takes, and demos, mostly from 1970's Self Portrait and New Morning sessions – they were recorded simultaneously and released within months of one another – and other material. Dylan restlessly dug into the fakebook of folk, blues, and country tunes that nourished him from the beginning. The few original songs are minor ones. Twenty-six of these 35 selections were recorded between March and June. Dylan is in fine voice and he tries on many: some raspy, others crystal clear, all of them bold. The interconnected nature of these albums is revealed with the opening demo for "Went to See the Gypsy" (used on NM). It's just Dylan and guitarist David Bromberg. (Another take recorded three months later features just Dylan on electric piano.)
Nearly a decade after the Lemonheads released Varshons, Evan Dando’s outfit will return with Varshons 2, the follow-up to their 2009 covers LP.
The Atipico Trio's Gone with the Winds could also be called "Three Guys Passing Wind" or "Middle-Aged Farts at Play." No disrespect meant; in fact, quite the opposite. The clarinet, saxophone, and voice trio (each member does everything, sometimes at once) is comprised of Carlo Actis Dato, Sandro Cerino, and Stefano Corradi, sly dogs all. They would have you believe by their album cover – and the fact that they dedicate their works to aunts, pharmacists, dogs, etc…