Blues & Jazz

The sessions that produced Out In The Open were brisk and instinctive, expansive yet intimate, visceral and immediate - and they would have had to be, for herein are songs that tell the big story by drawing the small ones. There is, to my ear, as much of Raymond Carver's literate and humane influence on display as the Osborne Brothers, as much Welty in the pointed details - both sublime and confounding - as Clark and Van Zandt. Compassion and determination act as connective tissue when, throughout this song cycle, the bones, muscle, and blood of daily life dance with loose-limbed motion toward the inevitable, guided by an ethos best articulated by Sam Beckett who directed that when we falter, we try again and ''fail better.''

While in the studio, the Rangers stood in a circle - facing each other and the music with a well-worn brotherhood that was as well open to all they could not imagine transpiring between them. The songs were written as a map, and their shared history a compass blade, but the road itself - the journey - was a moving target and, as with all relevant music, remains one. And the Steep Canyon Rangers are moving along with it. - Joe Henry

And now we have Goin' Platinum!, the newest effort from the soon-to-be legendary soul singer Robert Finley and his crack band of geniuses. From the lovelorn bombast of "If You Forget My Love" to the soul-stirring "Medicine Woman," and the home-on-the-road ripper "Empty Arms" to the yearning "Honey Let Me Stay the Night," all capped by the epic closer "Holy Wine," featuring Finley's ethereal falsetto, Finley's performance left Dan Auerbach speechless-as it will anyone who lays ears to it.
As for the album title, Dan Auerbach gives all credit to Finley and his huge but wholly considerate personality. "He was just beaming from the second he walked in the door," Auerbach says. "Every time he'd listen to playback, he'd say, ‘It's goin' platinum.' That was his catch phrase.

Doctor Ross, also known as "Doctor Ross the Harmonica Boss", made his reputation as a bluesman in Memphis before moving to Michigan. During the early '50s, Ross recorded his first sides, including "Chicago Breakdown”, with Sam Phillips at Sun Records. This compilation, Memphis Breakdown, compiles the best of those early Memphis sessions all in one place, remastered for vinyl.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll audiences, later being referred to as “the original soul sister” and “the godmother of rock and roll”. This live recording from 1960 had never been on vinyl, until now, a whole 57 years later.

The set has plenty of variety, lots of sincere feeling, and high levels of musicianship from the unique performer. Highlights include “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands,” “Didn’t It Rain,” “The Gospel Train” and “Down By the Riverside.” The album was remastered for vinyl from analog tape and pressed at Pallas Group in Germany.

Chinese Butterfly is a reunion of two musical titans, a creative partnership that dates back to the early days of Return To Forever with Chick Corea when Steve Gadd was one of the first drummers.

180g with download card.

Double vinyl LP pressing. This 1956 concert by Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars is a historical gem, which is finally getting it's vinyl debut with this double LP release. Recorded on March 26, 1956, at the Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids, MI, it affords jazz fans a chance to hear what the barnstorming Armstrong's shows were like in heartland America. Armstrong's affable presence is pervasive, but not always center stage, as each member of the All-Stars gets his turn in the course of the revue. The release was remastered for vinyl from analog tape and pressed at Pallas Group in Germany.

Rescued from the vaults: ‘Ella At Zardi's’ is the Verve Records' first live recording, and is being heard for the first time anywhere. The two sets from the evening, in front of a lively crowd, was captured February 2, 1956, a few days before Ella began recording Verve’s first album, ‘Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book.’

Two-time GRAMMY-winning vocalist Gregory Porter s 3rd Blue Note album, Nat King Cole & Me, is a heartfelt tribute to his idol, the legendary singer, pianist and Capitol recording artist Nat King Cole.

With the help of 6-time GRAMMY-winning arranger Vince Mendoza, the London Studio Orchestra, a core band featuring pianist Christian Sands, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Ulysses Owens, and special guest trumpeter Terence Blanchard on two tracks, Porter revisits some of Cole s most cherished classics such as Mona Lisa, L-O-V-E, Nature Boy & The Christmas Song

Archive collection of blues tracks pulled from the legendary Sun Records' vaults. They kept the cuts short 'n' sweet back then, which is why this 65th-anniversary Sun collection is able to pack 30 tracks into one CD. A demo of "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" by Elvis Presley joins "Rocket 88" Jackie Brenston, "She's Dynamite" B.B. King, "Folsom Prison Blues" Johnny Cash, "Roll Over Beethoven" Carl Perkins, "What'd I Say" Jerry Lee Lewis, "Decoration Day Blues" Howlin' Wolf, Elvis's early classics "That's All Right," "Mystery Train"... what a killer Sun comp!

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll audiences, later being referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the godmother of rock and roll". This live recording from 1960 had never been on vinyl, until now, a whole 57 years later. The set has plenty of variety, lots of sincere feeling, and high levels of musicianship from the unique performer. Highlights include "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands," "Didn't It Rain," "The Gospel Train" and "Down By the Riverside." The album was remastered for vinyl from analog tape and pressed at Pallas Group in Germany.