Pisces

One of Lyle's stronger releases was Genie, his debut LP from 1977. Produced by Wayne Henderson, this is primarily a fusion/crossover jazz effort. A young Lyle shows considerable promise on electric gems that include the imaginative title track, the congenial "Pisces," the North African-influenced "Mother Nile," and the haunting "Night Breeze" (which was also recorded by Ronnie Laws in the 1970s). Not everything on Genie is fusion or crossover jazz. "You Think of Her" and "Magic Ride" are vocal funk/soul items that find Lyle singing lead; he isn't mind-blowing as a singer, but he's decent. And Lyle detours into straight-ahead jazz with an unaccompanied solo piano performance of the standard "I Didn't Know What Time It Was." Nonetheless, R&B vocals and acoustic jazz aren't the things that Genie is best known for – instrumental fusion and crossover jazz are what caused this LP to go down in history as an electric jazz favorite. Genie falls short of perfect – the record would have been even stronger if Lyle had stuck to instrumental music, which is his specialty. But much of the album is excellent, and Genie frequently reminds us how much promise Lyle showed in the beginning.

"Old Loves Die Hard" is an album by German progressive rock group Triumvirat. The LP album was released in the United States and some other markets with a different cover from the European and later the CD edition. It featured a cornered rat seen through a magnifying hand lens.

Critically acclaimed pianist/composer Aaron Diehl's penchant for the past influencing the future has come full circle with his fully realised suite of Mary Lou Williams' Zodiac Suite - the first fully-fledged professional recording of this incredible music. Solely paying tribute to Mary Lou Williams was not the goal, as Diehl's mission is to give honour and praise to one of the greatest composers of the 20th century and the forgotten rich history of Black Classical Music.

George Harrison went quiet not long after the second Traveling Wilburys album, surfacing only for the Beatles' Anthology in the mid-'90s. He was recording all the while, yet he died before completing the album that would have been the follow-up to 1987's Cloud Nine. His son, Dhani, and his longtime friend/collaborator Jeff Lynne completed the recordings, released late in 2002, nearly a year after George's death, as Brainwashed. Given its baggage it's easy to be suspicious about the merits of Brainwashed prior to hearing it. Posthumous efforts often feel incomplete, Harrison's albums were frequently inconsistent, and Lynne favors ornate, cinematic productions that run contrary to George's desire for this project to be simple and low key - nothing that would suggest that Brainwashed would be a success…