Live05 documents the band at its very best in wonderful European settings with enthusiastic audiences. Besides a stirring take of Jack Bruce's cinematic classic "Theme from an Imaginary Western," the two-disc set includes several of the songs from their seminal albums, including "Rope Ladder to the Moon," "Stormy Monday Blues," "Those Who Are About to Die," "Lost Angeles," and "The Valentyne Suite," which showcases Greenslade's amazing keyboard artistry. Together, the musicians in Colosseum create a powerful mix of rock, blues, and jazz-fusion that transcends all musical barriers.

The Group released one album in 1978 and later evolved to the Pekka Pohjola Group. Double digipak CD. The 2nd disc features an extended studio session with the Sibelius academy orchestra plus two studio outtakes from the original album. Highly influenced by Weather Report and the jazz fusion scene of the 70s, The Group was set up after Pekka Pohjola and Vesa Aaltonen came back to Finland from Sweden. They both played in the Swedish prog/jazz rock band Made in Sweden. As The Group’s guitarist Seppo Tyni remembers, Aaltonen came back to Finland in early 1977 and Pohjola later in the summer. From the early 1977 Aaltonen and Tyni both played in Olli Ahvenlahti Quintet that for example performed at the Finnish Eurovision qualification (though they played as a quartet there)…

The 21st century version of Caravan is here to entertain the die-hard Canterbury heads, and fans of the group should be pleased by some familiar names from the good old days of the '60s and '70s, who appear either as members of the core sextet or as special guests. Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan, Geoffrey Richardson, Jan Schelhaas, Dave Sinclair, and Jimmy Hastings can all be heard at one point or another on the whimsically named The Unauthorised Breakfast Item, the 2003 CD whose title track references an apparent run-in of sorts with hotel restaurant staff when the band appeared at the 2002 NEARFest in Trenton, New Jersey.

The sprawling double LP Four Letter Monday Afternoon is generally considered the best effort from these jazzy Krautrockers. Rats Road, issued 30 years later, consists of recordings from those same sessions that had to be left off the original release because of lack of space, with material nearly as strong. Like Four Letter, this finds Out of Focus expanded to an 11-piece and stretching out on long jams with loose, funky rhythms and lots of lengthy instrumentals on various brass, keyboards, and guitar. In fact, this record is even more instrumental, with only two tracks with vocals, the energetic "I'd Like to Be Free" and "Tell Me What I'm Thinking Of," the latter which also appeared as a bonus track titled "When I'm Sleeping" on the CD reissue of Four Letter Monday Afternoon…

Astral Weeks is generally considered one of the best albums in pop music history, but for all that renown, it is anything but an archetypal rock & roll album. It isn’t a rock & roll album at all. Van Morrison plays acoustic guitar and sings in his elastic, bluesy, soulful voice, accompanied by crack group of jazz studio players: guitarist Jay Berliner, upright bassist Richard Davis, Modern Jazz Quartet drummer Connie Kay, vibraphonist Warren Smith and soprano saxophonist John Payne (also credited on flute, though that’s debatable—some claim an anonymous flutist provided those parts).

After a strong showing in the early '70s, Skin Alley drastically changed their lineup (and shifted their musical gears a bit) for their final two albums, 1972's Two Quid Deal and 1973's Skintight. There was still a strong prog rock base to their songwriting, but their folk and rock tendencies came to the fore on these two records more than ever before. Their deft instrumental technique screamed "prog," but never overshadowed the songs with unnecessary noodling or overt showings of musical dexterity. And that's the thing - there are "songs" here. With most of the tunes clocking in under the four-minute mark, there's no room for overindulgence. The arrangements are concise and even the instrumental numbers show a deliberately sophisticated restraint…

Improviser, composer and songwriter Wendy Eisenberg is a graduate of New England Conservatory and a founding member of the acclaimed band Birthing Hips. For her first Tzadik CD she is joined by the dynamic rhythm section of Trevor Dunn on bass and Ches Smith on drums and performs some of the nastiest guitar you’ve ever heard. The improvisations are powerful and intense and all styles and sounds are thrown into a cathartic blender as the trio channel an exciting new musical world. An outrageous project from these fabulous young lions!

Forq's latest release, 'Big Party,' is a celebration of its undeniable grooves, singular sonic brand, and mischievous humor. Your host for this party is critically acclaimed keyboard player, composer, and arranger Henry Hey. He’s joined by Forq veterans: Snarky Puppy guitarist Chris McQueen with his signature funky sound, Government Mule bassist Kevin Scott with his grooving bass lines, and Snarky Puppy drummer Jason 'JT' Thomas with his unmistakable musicality and relentless power. This raucous potluck shindig also boasts incredible guitarists Ryan Scott and Jordan Peters, bassists James Genus, Chris Morrissey, and Eli Menezes, and drummer Josh Dion. Tying it all together is the unexpected harmony, head-nodding, and toe-tapping joy that is absolutely Forq. It's a 'Big Party,' and everyone's invited!

Digitally remastered edition of the classic 1978 album by the British Prog folksters. These Canterbury stylists featured leading lights of the genre. Comprising former Soft Machine members Hugh Hopper on bass and Elton Dean on saxophone, former Hatfield & the North drummer Pip Pyle, and Gilgamesh keyboard player Alan Gowen, the group recorded this sole album for Charly Records in 1978, drawing stylistically upon each member's musical pedigree producing a record of excellence. Soft Heap is a classic of the Canterbury style and this remastered edition is sure to be a much sought after release by all aficionados of the genre.

In the late 1960s, when acid rock reigned and the British Invasion was still raging, Carlos Santana and his band introduced a Latin-based rock sound featuring an Afro-Cuban beat. Carlos Santana was a fourth-generation musician and the son of a violinist who played mariachi music. His father tried for many years to teach him violin, but at age eight, Santana discovered the guitar and started listening to the electric blues of B.B. King and John Lee Hooker and that was the end of it. During his long-lasting career, Carlos Santana’s name has become synonymous with some of the most important genres of music today - jazz, Latin, salsa, blues and rock.

The predecessor band of Scope was called Strange Power and was founded around 1969 in Zwolle/Holland. Rik Elings, Henk Zomer (drums) and bassist Erik Raayman had founded the fusion project and had already released a 7"-single that was added to the first Scope CD as a bonus. With the entry of guitarist Rens Nieuwland in 1972, Strange Power became Scope. Subsequently, the Dutch jazz rock foursome made a name for itself in both Holland and Germany. A talent scout from WEA/Atlantic became aware of the band and hired them for his label. In 1973 the band entered the Hamburg studio Maschen to record their debut album Scope under the direction of Jochen Petersen. The result was an exciting, varied fusion/jazz rock album, which contained a lot of improvisations and perfectly reflected the craftsmanship of the four musicians…

Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett is an album by vibraphonist Gary Burton and pianist Keith Jarrett with guitarist Sam Brown, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Bill Goodwin, recorded in 1970 and released on the Atlantic label in 1971. Jarrett also plays soprano saxophone on this recording. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow stated: "Elements of pop music, rock, country and the jazz avant-garde are used in the mixture of styles and the results are quite logical".

How could a combo named the Insect Trust be anything other than eclectic? Hoboken Saturday Night (1970) was the second of two platters from an interesting aggregate whose core consisted of multi-instrumentalists Luke Faust (harmonica, banjo, electric piano, fiddle), Trevor Koehler (baritone sax, soprano sax, piccolo, sewer drum, flute), Robert Palmer (alto sax, clarinet, recorder), Nancy Jeffries (vocals), and Bill Barth (lead guitar, steel guitar). The rhythm section was fleshed out by a sizable and equally diverse coterie of session musicians such as jazz legend Elvin Jones (drums), Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (drums), Charles "Buddy" Nealy (drums), Donald MacDonald (drums), William Folwell (bass, trumpet), Bob Bushnell (bass), Ralph Casale (rhythm guitar), and Hugh McCracken (rhythm guitar). Collectively, they touched upon facets of the singer/songwriter, psychedelic, and folk-rock subgenres, while somehow eluding them all…