John Sanford Twisted Prey

“Those songs and recordings will live forever and continue to bring joy to those who listen to them. John has left us all a gift, and it is a very precious one.” Geoff Downes, speaking about John Wetton in 2024. ‘Concentus: The John Wetton Live Collection, Volume I’ is the first in an on-going series of three box sets celebrating the life and times of this incredible musician, focusing on the concert arena.

Sir Elton John, born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, has been for a great part of the past five decades, one of the dominant forces in rock and pop music, especially during the 1970s, when he produced hits like "Your Song," "Rocket Man”, "Bennie and the Jets," and "Crocodile Rock." He has sold more than 250 million albums and over 100 million singles, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. He has also won five Grammy awards and one Academy Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him number 49 on their list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. John has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. In The Many Faces of Elton John we will embark on a journey that will give us a profound insight into the career of one the pop music's most legendary superstars.

As It All Began: The Best of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers 1964-1968 is an excellent 20-track retrospective, capturing Mayall's band at their peak. The Bluesbreakers went through several different lineups during those four years, with musicians the caliber of Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Paul Butterfield, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Peter Green floating through the group. Hardcore fans of any of those musicians, or of British blues, will naturally want to familiarize themselves with the original albums, but As It All Began is a fine sampler for the casual fan, featuring such staples as "Lonely Years," "Bernard Jenkins," "All Your Love," "Parchman Farm," "Double Trouble," "The Death of J.B. Lenoir," and "Miss James." Even at 20 tracks, there are a number of fine moments missing from this collection, but As It All Began remains the best available single-disc overview of the Bluesbreakers' prime period.

These two sessions were produced by Lee Kraft in 1957 featuring the inimitable tenor saxophonist John Coltrane in two different formats; a quintet with Donald Byrd, Walter Bishop, Jr., Wendell Marshall and Art Blakey, and a 15-piece big band organized by Blakey. Coltrane was featured prominently in both settings and played exceptionally throughout. While the other soloists were all top-notch musicians, Coltranes compositions and performance clearly stole the show. His solos were powerful and confident, ripping out sequences of 16th note lines that soared over the full range of the horn with complete command.