Tom Turpin

A wonderful collector's edition of jazz pianists' records in almost all styles from the first ragtimes to modern jazz.

In this magnificent collection presented melodies performed by these masters of jazz piano: Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson, Eubie Blake, Mandy Randolph, Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Joe Sullivan, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk, Nat King Cole and many, many others …

Eliza Carthy officially inherits the British folk crown from her parents with the willfully traditional Rough Music. Described in the liner notes as "a form of community punishment practiced all over England" (basically a public beating for a heinous social crime), Rough Music sounds like a lost pre-percussion Steeleye Span record filtered through A.L. Lloyd's whaling collection Leviathan! Carthy's strong fiddling and powerful vocals – she really is beginning to surpass Norma – are ably enhanced by the chiseled performance of her backing band, the Ratcatchers. Together they celebrate longstanding English traditions like public execution ("Turpin Hero"), syphilis ("The Unfortunate Lass"), and alcohol ("Tom Brown") with equal parts reverence, earnestness, and mischief. Primarily arranged for violin, viola, double bass, and melodeon, Rough Music also features lovely a cappella cuts like "Maid on the Shore" and enough fiery instrumentals to keep your feet on the cobblestones during the long walk home from the pub. In fact, there's not a moment on Rough Music that isn't essential listening. Highly recommended.

Collective Soul has weathered many industry shifts and challenges since its 1993 hit “Shine” catapulted to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Billboard Music Award for top rock song. From the start, the band — known for crafting beautiful songs with a hard-rock edge and contagious choruses reminiscent of Cheap Trick, The Cars and The Smithereens — was incorrectly associated with grunge, simply because “Shine” arrived during the genre’s mainstream peak. It was an affiliation that vocalist-guitarist E Roland did his best to dismantle.