Nial Ferguson

Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne veteran Jay Ferguson had one of the most enjoyable hits of the '70s with 1977's "Thunder Island." The vocalist/keyboardist was spared one-hit wonder status with one more Top 40 single, the terrific "Shakedown Cruise" from the 1979 follow-up Real Life Ain't This Way. It's a slick, professionally performed album, but except for "Shakedown Cruise," the songs aren't terribly memorable. The high level of craftsmanship is due to the personnel involved.

Bassist Jim Ferguson does something on Deep Summer Music and his 1999 debut, Not Just Another Pretty Bass, that few on his instrument can muster. And it's so simple, so dynamic. He sings. Well, he not only sings, but he offers up a pliable voice that can wrap around a lyric like a hug (try the lovely title tune here), and then morph into a playful, sardonic, jab-rich vehicle that shows off how much style he has. A most important follow-up to Ferguson's auspicious debut.

Fabulous Maynard in his mid-60's form.This CD is interesting as it contains two albums Maynard recorded for the Camden label in 1964.It's swinging, straight-ahead jazz, with a number of high-note trumpet features for Maynard and some tasty solos by some of his talented sidemen.Wonderful.

By 1983 MoFi had grown into a company with over 25 employees and grossing over $8 million annually. Then they nearly lost it all. The new darling on the scene was the compact disc. Because MoFi had been putting something on the order of 20% of their earnings back into research, they were prepared for the next wave. In the mid ‘80s, they launched their assault on the CD market with their half-speed wares.

Their first efforts were released on aluminum discs, very much like all other discs at the time. And, in fact, some of these have become quite rare. Recently copies of them regularily go for >$75 on e-Bay. Partly, in an effort to justify the higher price they needed to charge, MoFi began to release their works on gold-plated compact discs called UltraDiscs. Although gold in and of itself isn’t significantly better than aluminum for the reproduction of ones and zeros, it oxidizes roughly ten times more slowly than aluminum. It is also supposed to coat more evenly than aluminum. This last attribute is said to cut down on the pin-holing so common to aluminum CDs, which allows for less error-correction during playback. This means more of the actual recording and less processor interpolation gets to your ears. So there was some inherent advantage to the gold treatment.

An acclaimed historian offers a radical new history of the links between politics and economics, one that draws unsettling conclusions about the future of both capitalism and democracy. Does money make the world go round, as Cabaret's Master of Ceremonies sang to us? In The Cash Nexus, acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson offers a radical and surprising answer—No. Ferguson thinks it is high time we re-examined the link between economics and politics, in the aftermath not only of the failure of socialism but also of the apparent triumph of American-style capitalism. His central argument is that the conflicting impulses of sex, violence, and power are together more powerful than money. In particular, political events and institutions have often dominated economic development.

Limited Edition 10 CD set of only 5,000 copies worldwide.After immersing yourself in nine hours and 141 tracks of the Ferguson orchestra of the late 1950s and early sixties, Double high Cs will be ringing in your brain for months.Ferguson gave the orchestra a signature sound and much of its drive, but this was an arrangers’ band.The high-note trumpeter had charts from established writers like Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Ernie Wilkins and Benny Golson, but he also encouraged arrangements from band members, and launched the arranging careers of Slide Hampton, Don Menza, Mike Abene and Don Sebesky.Simply Amazing!.

Rare Groove Spectrum Vol. 2 is another solid collection of re-works and re-imaginings taking in a broad range of classic tracks, traversing jazz funk rarities, balearic digs, latin groovers and more.