Mike Donovilk Hilt Wokout

The Essential Mike Oldfield is a good overview of highlights from Mike Oldfield's Virgin and Warner recordings. Some of the tracks are included in their original form, while others – including, inexplicably, "Tubular Bells III" – are present in edited or remixed versions…

It’s back. The debut album that blew up the ’90s blues scene. The songs that announced the touchdown of a major new talent. In modern times, as an established solo star and former member of the globally acclaimed Royal Southern Brotherhood, Mike Zito’s reputation precedes him. But turn back the clocks. Rewind the film reels. Slip through the wormhole to 1998, when a 27-year-old punk kid took his first shot in the studio. “Blue Room,” he reflects, “is the beginning of me becoming an artist.” By 1998, Zito had been around the block. Raised at the sharp end in St. Louis, Missouri, he’d witnessed the lean years of the ’70s, as his father – a union employee at the local Anheuser-Busch brewery – grafted to support five kids in a cramped apartment.

With all of its members exercising their expertise, the debut album from Mike + the Mechanics posted two Top Ten singles in the span of three months. The songwriting comes out on top before anything else, with the somber stir of "Silent Running," the record's first release, peaking at number six. "All I Need Is a Miracle" followed at number five, with its Genesis-like tempo and polished chorus, and even "Taken In" cracked the Top 40, a simple ballad that's bettered by Paul Young's genuine emotional charm. Carrack sounds just as sharp as he did with Ace or Squeeze throughout the album's nine tracks, while Rutherford's overseeing of the entire project is apparent. While Mike Rutherford's guitar work isn't overwhelming, both his six-string and bass guitar contributions complete a sound foundation for the vocals…

Connecticut-born / New York-based Mike LeDonne, who divides his time these days between piano and organ, has begun to record more frequently on the Hammond B3, especially with his suitably named Groover Quartet which, according to Owen Cordle's liner notes to Keep the Faith, has been together now for more than a decade. And that's a good thing, as these gentlemen certainly know how to groove, and do so with abandon on an album recorded roughly a year after the quartet's well-received The Groover.

In 1973, Mike Oldfield burst onto the British music scene with his debut album Tubular Bells, two long instrumental suites in which Oldfield stitched together a series of melodies into a grandly scaled work in which he played the many instruments himself. The album was an audacious beginning to a career than saw him become one of the most respected artists in progressive rock, as well as a successful film composer. The Complete Mike Oldfield is a collection released in 1985 which features selections from his first ten solo albums, as well as highlights from his score for the film The Killing Fields.

With all of its members exercising their expertise, the debut album from Mike + the Mechanics posted two Top Ten singles in the span of three months. The songwriting comes out on top before anything else, with the somber stir of "Silent Running," the record's first release, peaking at number six. "All I Need Is a Miracle" followed at number five, with its Genesis-like tempo and polished chorus, and even "Taken In" cracked the Top 40, a simple ballad that's bettered by Paul Young's genuine emotional charm. Carrack sounds just as sharp as he did with Ace or Squeeze throughout the album's nine tracks, while Rutherford's overseeing of the entire project is apparent. While Mike Rutherford's guitar work isn't overwhelming, both his six-string and bass guitar contributions complete a sound foundation for the vocals…

Six of New York City's heaviest hitters convene at the legendary Rudy Van Gelder studios and presents music built to tickle your mind, hit you in the heart & get your feet tappin with nine tracks written by pianist Mike LeDonne and tenor sax player Eric Alexander.