Mirch Masala 1987

Gold & Platinum was compiled by Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, the two surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, after the band's tragic plane crash of 1977. Though many years have elapsed since its 1979 release, the double-record set remains the best, most concise compilation of the groundbreaking Southern rock band. Over the course of two albums, all of Skynyrd's hits – "Sweet Home Alabama," "Free Bird," "Saturday Night Special," "What's Your Name," "You Got That Right" – are featured, as well as essential album tracks like "That Smell," "Down South Jukin'," "Gimme Three Steps," "I Know a Little," and "Tuesday's Gone." Some great songs like "Workin' for MCA" are missing, and the four-disc box set may be more comprehensive, but it's hard to imagine a better, more concise greatest-hits collection than Gold & Platinum.

The first of the masterful guitarist Snooks Eaglin's amazing series of albums for Black Top is an earthly delight; his utterly unpredictable guitar weaves and darts through supple rhythms provided by New Orleans vets Smokey Johnson on drums and Erving Charles, Jr. on bass (David Lastie is on sax). Few artists boast Eaglin's "human jukebox" capabilities; his amazingly vast knowledge of eclectic numbers takes in the Four Blazes' "Mary Jo," Tommy Ridgley's "Lavinia," and the Ventures' version of "Perfidia."

This CD features a logical combination: singer Diane Schuur with the Count Basie big band. In what would be longtime rhythm guitarist Freddie Green's final performance, Schuur and the Basie ghost band (under the direction of Frank Foster) perform material that includes her standards (such as "Deedles' Blues" and "Climbing Higher Mountains"), Dave Brubeck's "Travlin' Blues" and the Joe Williams-associated "Everyday I Have The Blues." Unfortunately, the Basie band is mostly used in accompaniment without any significant solos, but Schuur sounds quite comfortable in this format and her voice is in prime form.

Smooth jazz keyboardist Dan Siegel has been helping to shape the genre since his recording debut in 1980. Born in Seattle and raised in Eugene, OR, Siegel started taking piano lessons at age eight and was fronting a rock band at 12. After attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he received a degree in composition from the University of Oregon and began recording his own works.

This is the soundtrack of the horror movie Near Dark. The album has many styles, and it clearly has some elements of albums like Poland, Tyger, Livemiles and Underwater Sunlight. Mainly it consists in floating streams of keyboards and in electric guitar riffs with and without beat. The keyboards are very artificial, not really linear, and the feeling induced can drastically change from one track to another. The music can be sometimes quite scary. There are pop rock bits full of Froese's incisive guitar riffs like on "Good times". There is sometimes a good electronic beat. It is obviously better when you watch the movie.

This record doesn't get enough credit. The tunes are great and the playing is tight. Cain's guitar playing is top-notch and will have you shaking your head over and over again. Lizz Fischer's keyboard's are smooth as are the drums and bass. This is a lesser known band and this record is a little hard to come by, but well worth the effort!
The eclectic creativity of Cain’s music owes something to his mixed background. Part Greek, part African-American, he was imbued with a love of the blues by his father who grew up on Beale St. in Memphis. Thus inspired, Cain took up the guitar at the age of eight. Studying at San Jose City College, he developed his precocious talent absorbing different techniques and influences as a multi-instrumentalist, playing piano, bass guitar, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones…

Funny, we can’t remember so many singers turning up on the Crusaders’ albums, but look a little closer at the liner. For this 1987 compilation—designed, perhaps, to fill the gap between albums by a group that no longer was a full-time act—MCA reached for records by B.B. King, Tina Turner, Joe Sample, and Wilton Felder that various Crusaders played on, as well as the band’s output from Street Life through The Good and Bad Times. B.B. takes the prize for his fabulous, humorously funky, live-in-London turn on “Better Not Look Down”—he plays guitar so sparingly, and every note is right in the pocket—but Joe Cocker comes close, riding on a classic bumpy Crusaders groove on “This Old World’s Too Funky for Me.”