How to Listen to Jazz

"Music is the Answer" with Greg Hutchinson on drums and Ameen Saleem on double bass, is an ideal about the attempt to live by pursuing some important values that music itself teaches, such as knowing how to listen, collaborate, adapt, respect and appreciate others' perspectives.

Blue Marble is the first album by Japanese artist Aiko Shimada, who released this on Tzadik. This was produced by Eyvind Kang.

Brad Turner is that rare, multi talented artist that conveys truth and beauty in a myriad of ways. Whether the channel is the trumpet, the piano or one of his compositions, Turner has consistently revealed an original voice.

Like other entries in Blue Note's excellent Ballads series, this collection features Sarah Vaughan on a number of mellow standards. The songs originate from a number of sessions Vaughan completed for Roulette between 1960-1963, and they are uniformly lovely. The settings range from the guitar/bass backing on "All or Nothing at All" to the orchestra backing on "Dreamy." Vaughan sings the tastefully arranged "You Go to My Head" with the help of the Count Basie Orchestra and the intimately quiet "In a Sentimental Mood" with guitarist Mundell Lowe and bassist George Duvivier. She slowly caresses each syllable of "'Round Midnight," "Solitude," and "Lover Man," delivering fresh takes on these commonly sung classics. A certain warmth also permeates "In a Sentimental Mood" and "If I Had You," filling each note with an air of regret. The reflective material seems tailor-made for that late hour when one's guests have departed and the cocktail glasses have been cleared. Ballads gathers 13 exquisite recordings in one place and captures Vaughan in exceptional voice. It's also enlightening to listen to how she approaches similar material when the arrangements are so divergent. To those unfamiliar with her Roulette work, Ballads offers a fine introduction.~Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.

Zaireeka is the 1997 album by Oklahoma alternative combo The Flaming Lips. Zaireeka is a 4CD set but only has eight songs as a whole. The original process of this was you would need four CD players to play each song as they were meant to be heard. Each CD features a portion of the song from the multi-track but each track sounds different from one another. By playing them at the same time, it creates a unique sonic adventure, perhaps in surround sound. You can play all four at once or in any sequence, in any and all positions/locations. This unique project was released on 28 October, 1997.

UK-only five CD collection containing a quintet of original albums from the Soul/Disco act housed in mini LP sleeves. Includes the albums Circle of Love (1975), Together (1977), We Are Family (1979), Love Somebody Today (1980) and All American Girls (1981). Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. The year 1979 saw the release of their breakthrough album We Are Family, which peaked at number three on the US Album Chart and included the 1979 US top ten singles "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "We Are Family". A third single, "Lost in Music", reached the US top forty. "We Are Family" earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

GRAMMY Award-winning MCA Nashville country star Vince Gill revealed via NPR his new album Down To My Last Bad Habit is set for release on February 12. Gill wrote/co-wrote, co-produced and is a featured musician on all 12 songs on Down To My Last Bad Habit. The album also includes guest vocals from Little Big Town and Cam.