Passages 2 Third Edition

Esoteric Recordings is proud to announce the release of a new remastered and expanded two CD edition of ‘Time Passages’, the legendary album by Al Stewart first released in September 1978.

This transitional recording sees Joe Zawinul moving from the role of jazz pianist to that of a synthesist in the broad sense of the word. The recording, made up of advanced hard bop and post bop themes, includes - with varying degrees of cohesion - passages for cello and violas. The strings never completely meld with the jazz instrumentation, but they also don't get in the way. The title suggests Zawinul sees little value in partitioning music under such headings as "Third Stream" (a rubric for the fusion of jazz and classical music). This view would be famously exemplified in the influential projects with which Zawinul would soon be involved. Zawinul sticks with acoustic piano except for "Soul of a Village", where he improvises in a soul-jazz vein on Fender Rhodes over the tamboura-like droning of a prepared piano…

It’s been eight long years since Sweden’s Progressive Metal veterans Seventh Wonder released an album. That’s a long time to be out of the game, but fortunately, fans have rabidly been awaiting this release and it doesn’t seem to have affected the band’s fan base. Indeed, quite the opposite. People have been lining up and waiting for this release for some time now. “Arrival” is a short keyboard opening piece, setting an ominous tone for what it to come. It segues into “The Everones,” which opens with a somber and intense guitar riff, leading to vocal harmonies and some Proggy time meters. A big chorus ensues, with plenty of emotions, where vocalist Tommy really stretches out, followed by a keyboard solo that will really get your juices flowing…

Every Sun Ra album is unique. Yet even by Ra's standards, DISCO 3000 is an outlier. However, it sits comfortably in the Sun Ra discography — because it's weird.