English drummer and bandleader Joe Daniels is heard leading his lively Dixieland band on this smartly selected Living Era compilation of recordings made between 1951 and 1955. Although parallels have been drawn between Daniels and studiously eccentric characters like Raymond Scott, this portion of his career was entirely devoted to old-fashioned Dixieland jazz. The examples that have found their way onto this compilation are strong enough to warrant comparison with the best of Lu Watters, Eddie Condon or Jimmy McPartland.
After several albums of Western classical music, Chinese pianist Lang Lang returns to the music of his native country on Dragon Songs (…) The 63-minute CD is accompanied by a lengthy DVD that includes a 45-minute documentary of Lang's return visit to China for master classes, concerts, and even a little time with his family at "home" (an apartment he says he has slept in twice). There are also video performances of the all of the album's tracks, each one prefaced by introductory remarks by the pianist. Just as "Yellow River Piano Concerto" began the CD, it ends the DVD in a mammoth performance in Guangzhou with four orchestras combined and 100 female piano players, all spread out in a space that looks larger than a football field.
Robert Jan Meyer also started his own compilation series: "Science Fiction Jazz 1-12 (Vol. 1 at the same time, was the beginning of the "Mole Listening Pearls"- Label) and "Batucada 1-3". He compiled the double CD "Blue Note Weekend" for the renowned jazz label "Blue Note" and two more samplers on the Japanese market.
The "In Crowd - The Ultimate Collection" from the original style movement 1958-1967 was a monumental music collection, and the fact that it managed to collect such a wide and eclectic movement made the album essential. What stood out was the fact that the album for the most part stayed away from the obvious tracks and wasn't simply a greatest hits of the sixties album.