Mike Odlfield Hergest

For fans of Mike Tramp, White Lion & classic rock! New studio album from Mike Tramp (the voice of White Lion and Freak Of Nature). Mike Tramp has spent a significant portion of the last twenty years studiously carving out a solid solo career for himself as a singer/songwriter. Having long turned his back on the temptation to dwell on former arena- filling glories and extremely comfortable with his chosen path, it matters not to the Dane these days, whether he's playing a small café in some far flung town in France or a large outdoor Summer festival in his native Denmark. Mike Tramp is happy being Mike Tramp.

Pianist/bandleader/composer Mike Westbrook is a true icon of the British Jazz scene for over five decades. The immense body of work Westbrook produced over the years parallels the achievements of many Classical composers and in fact should be considered as contemporary Classical music, although he is mostly associated with the Jazz genre. This album presents a song cycle dedicated to the poems by Caroline Menis, and features Britain’s greatest female Jazz vocalist Norma Winstone. The band consists of saxophonists Mike Osborne, John Warren and George Khan, trumpeter Dave Holdsworth, trombonists Malcolm Griffiths and Paul Rutherford and a rhythm section: Chris Spedding - guitar, Mike Westbrook - piano, Harry Miller - bass and Alan Jackson - drums, all stellar Jazz musicians. Of course Westbrook’s music is never trivial and requires some serious listening to be truly appreciated, but the intellectual effort is richly rewarded.

Mike Zito’s ‘Gone To Texas’ is both a literal and metaphorical title, reflecting the fact he’s overcome his previous drug and alcohol problems and has moved to Texas from the mid- west in search of sobriety and a fresh start. In fact the album is an autobiographical step in the career of the Royal Southern Brotherhood founder member whose song writing ability was never better showcased than here. If the award winning ‘Greyhound’ was all about his troubles and running away from his demons, then ‘Gone To Texas’ is more about finding contentment and a celebration of his current life in a musical form: ‘My Eyes have seen the glory, one step at the time, I’ve found hope in redemption and a sky as big as God.’

For Islands, Mike Oldfield gathered a host of musicians to further his run of more mainstream-sounding albums. The album includes vocals by Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, and Max Bacon, as well as saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft (famous for his work on Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street"), along with the album's producer and former Yes member Geoffrey Downes…