Mr. Lucky

First released in 1991, Lean into It, is the second studio album by the American rock supergroup, consisting of Paul Gilbert, Eric Martin, Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey, Mr. Big. This is the band's breakthrough album - Lean into It peaked at number 15 on the Billboard 200 charts, while the single 'To Be with You' became the band's first and only song to hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The follow-up single, 'Just Take My Heart', was a Top-20 hit, peaking at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.The million-selling album also contains the popular tracks 'Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy','Alive and Kickin' and 'Green Tinted Sixties Man'. Lean Into It shows that Mr. Big could also strip away all the flash and 7-minute solos and simply create well-written songs with rhythm, groove and good melodies, making the band one of the iconic new wave of progressive 'musician's bands' who could play mind-blowing complicated riffs on their instruments at lightning speeds.

Since his emergence onto the New York scene in 1959, pianist Harold Mabern has become one of the few true living jazz stylists on the piano. Having played with everyone from Lionel Hampton to Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Wes Montgomery, and Lee Morgan, Mabern has the experience and the depth of knowledge sufficient to be called a master. There is no one on the scene who sounds like him, and his sense of lyricism, rhythm, time, and the entire range of dynamics in his playing attract other players as well as listeners. The Leading Man, issued in 1993, is considered a classic, both for its selection of material and the performances of the various ensembles Mabern assembled for the date…

Sarah Vaughan's Viva! Vaughan is a curious blend of jazz and pop with Latin percussion, with arrangements by ex-Basie sideman Frank Foster, recorded in the midst of the mid-'60s bossa nova craze. Vaughan is in great voice throughout the date and the material is generally first-rate, except for the bland "Night Song." Although the back of the CD hypes a "full-scale" orchestra, it is an unusual blend with seven trombones, flute, violins, piano, bass, and drums, plus Latin percussion, but no trumpets or saxophones. Foster's best arrangements omit the string section, including a swinging take of Henry Mancini's "Mr. Lucky," a wild if brief "Avalon," a campy "Tea for Two," and Foster's own "Shiny Stockings." Unfortunately, the bossa nova selections ("The Boy From Ipanema" and "Quiet Nights") are burdened with pedestrian string arrangements that date the music as much as the generally uninspired Latin percussion. It's likely that this lack of focus confused the record-buying public as to what type of music this was and caused it to be overlooked. The brevity of the tracks and the lack of solo opportunities for the strong supporting cast (which includes Kai Winding, Jerome Richardson, Barry Galbraith, George Duvivier, among others) make it seem like receiving airplay was a major goal of this release. However, the golden voice of Sarah Vaughan is this CD reissue's most dominant factor, and it is worth acquiring. ~ Ken Dryden, All Music Guide

He was beloved worldwide as the king of the endless boogie, a genuine blues superstar whose droning, hypnotic one-chord grooves were at once both ultra-primitive and timeless. But John Lee Hooker recorded in a great many more styles than that over a career that stretched across more than half a century. "The Hook" was a Mississippi native who became the top gent on the Detroit blues circuit in the years following World War II. The seeds for his eerily mournful guitar sound were planted by his stepfather, Will Moore, while Hooker was in his teens. Hooker had been singing spirituals before that, but the blues took hold and simply wouldn't let go. Overnight visitors left their mark on the youth, too: legends like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Blind Blake, who all knew Moore. Hooker heard Memphis calling while…

As modern big-band leaders go, Quincy Jones in the '60s would be first choice for many composers who wrote for a television series or the cinema. Though not the original themes, Jones was quite able to produce a full album featuring Henry Mancini's famous songs from movies and the small screen. This collection of the familiar and obscure Mancini done in 1964, preceded famed epic scores written by Jones from films The Pawnbroker and The Deadly Affair. It comprises several well-known hit tunes and a smattering of cuts not easily identifiable as the hummable and memorable Mancini classics. Taken from three separate sessions, the bands assembled by Jones are loaded, including Jerome Richardson, Billy Byers, Urbie Green, Clark Terry, Ernie Royal, Snooky Young, Mundell Lowe, Zoot Sims, Phil Woods, and Seldon Powell, Drummer Osie Johnson plays on all tracks, pianist Bobby Scott is a central figure…

Frank Patton is the promoter of the Lucky Legs Contest. The problem is that he always skips town before paying the $1000 to the winner. Mr. Bradbury, suitor of Cloverdale winner Margie, hires intoxicated Perry Mason to find Frank. Perry knows the scheme that Patton is using and has Spudsy find him, but Frank is dead when Perry arrives. The how is a surgeons scalpel, but the who is not yet known.