Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Whitney Houston, The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban) (Arista/Legacy)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Legacy Recordings, in collaboration with Whitney Houston's estate, will release the late artist's The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban).  The CD and double vinyl release chronicles Whitney's first of three concerts in South Africa in the fall of 1994 - just a few short months after the first democratic election was held in the country, marking an official end to the apartheid state that had gripped the nation and became a flashpoint for activist musicians less than a decade before. On November 8 of that year, at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, Houston and her band took the stage to perform some of her greatest hits, from the '80s chart-toppers "How Will I Know," "Greatest Love of All," "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" and "So Emotional" to the killer run of singles from her soundtrack to 1992's The Bodyguard.  The audio release - featuring highlights on the physical release and the full concert on digital streaming and download versions - is preceded by a concurrent limited theatrical screening of restored footage from the same set. It's the first time anything from the show has been released; HBO aired Houston's second show, taped at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg on November 12, for a concert special; portions were later released on 2014's Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances. The album closes with an unreleased studio version of "Love Is," a track performed at the South African concerts. (The digital version will include a second mix of "Love Is" by gospel singer Carvin Winans.) Get the track listing and more here.

Talking Heads, Talking Heads '77: Super Deluxe Edition (Sire/Rhino)

3CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
4LP/4 7": Rhino.com

Rhino's Talking Heads revisitation won't end with Stop Making Sense - they'll release a new deluxe box set of the group's 1977 debut album, featuring rare outtakes and B-sides, a live show and the album remixed in Dolby Atmos and surround, as overseen by the band's keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison.  The super deluxe edition of Talking Heads: 77 will come in hardcover book packaging that'll feature 80 pages of rare archival photos and liner notes written by all four members of the band along with engineer Ed Stasium. Highlights in the bonus material include the band's first single, "Love ➡️ Building on Fire," acoustic versions of "Psycho Killer" and "First Week/Last Week...Carefree," and several tracks from the group's brief "pop experiment" phase, when this rather alternative record was nearly massaged into something more intentionally mainstream. (One of those versions, of closing track "Pulled Up," is released here for the first time, along with an alternate of "Psycho Killer.") Several vinyl variants will be available, including a double LP edition of the original album (on standard black or neon green, the latter exclusively at Barnes & Noble) and a 4LP version of the box set that also adds four replicas of the band's first four 7" singles.   Read more here.

Miles Davis, Miles in France 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 (Columbia/Legacy)

6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
8LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP (Discs 7-8 from box): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Two years after its last entry, Legacy Recordings revives the Miles Davis Bootleg Series with a deep dive into some early '60s live recordings that showcase the birth of his second great quintet. Miles in France 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 brings together five sets on six CDs or eight LPs: three performances from the Festival Mondial du Jazz in the summer of 1963 and two performances over a day at the Paris Jazz Festival in October 1964. (The 1964 material - which features the unbeatable line-up of Davis on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Tony Williams - will also receive its own standalone 2LP release on vinyl colored to look like the French flag.) Marcus J. Moore pens new liner notes for the set, housed in a slipcase box that includes the discs in their own gatefold jackets (three for the CD and four for the vinyl), a booklet (32 pages on CD, 20 on vinyl) and wrapped with a die-cut O-card. As always, the package is produced by Steve Berkowitz, Richard Seidel, and Michael Cuscuna (one of the final projects he completed before his passing earlier this year) and mastered by Vic Anesini at Battery Studios in New York City.  Get more details here.

Steve Perry, The Season 3 (Dark Horse)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

True to its name, The Season 3 is the third iteration of Steve Perry's 2018 holiday album, this time from Dark Horse Records.  The original eight tracks are joined by two previously-digital-only bonus tracks ("What Are You Doing New Year's Eve," "Maybe This Year") and another six cuts, from the light holiday fare of "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" to a recitation of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." There's even a pair of feel-good pop standards in the mix: "What a Wonderful World," made famous by Louis Armstrong, and the Sammy Cahn-Jimmy Van Heusen classic "Call Me Irresponsible," cast here as a moving, posthumous duet with Perry's father Ray, who passed away in 1998.  The new pressings are available on CD, vinyl and digitally. Read more here.

The Cowsills, Global (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The Cowsills' hard-to-find 1998 release gets a well-deserved refresh from our friends at Omnivore Recordings on both CD and LP as well as digitally.  The album's original 11 tracks appear on LP for the first time, while both the CD and digital versions add three previously unissued tracks from the original sessions recently discovered by Bob Cowsill. Bob, John, Paul, & Susan Cowsill (and Robby Scharf on bass) were joined on Global by an array of special guests including Vicki Peterson (The Bangles, Continental Drifters), Berton Averre (The Knack), Peter Holsapple (The dB's, Continental Drifters), John Stamos, and others.  Omnivore has spruced up the package with new artwork as well as new liner notes by Brett Milano and Bob Cowsill.

Al Jarreau and NDR Big Band, Ellington (ACT Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Ellington was captured mere months before Al Jarreau's February 2017 passing.  The album was recorded on live dates in the Netherlands and Monaco in November 2016, and features the late singer caressing such indelible Duke Ellington melodies as "Satin Doll," "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)," "Lush Life," "Sophisticated Lady," and "I'm Beginning to See the Light."

 

Judy Collins, In Concert: Wildflowers at The Town Hall, NYC (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

The folk legend's February 2024 concert celebrating her 1967 album Wildflowers, at which she was accompanied by the Harlem Chamber Players, comes to CD/DVD and vinyl.  The CD has the live version of the album while the DVD adds her additional songs including "Send in the Clowns."  A standalone vinyl edition of the live Wildflowers is also available.

Melanie, Reimaginings (Cleopatra) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This 2-CD, 42-song collection from Cleopatra features reworked versions of such classic songs as "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," "Brand New Key," "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma?" and "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow."

Garfunkel & Garfunkel, Father and Son (BMG) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Art Garfunkel has teamed with his son Art Garfunkel, Jr. (born James Arthur Garfunkel; he changed it a few years ago) for this album of duets.  Art Jr. moved to Germany when he was 16 - he's now 33 - and has already recorded two top ten albums there of Simon and Garfunkel material in German.  This time, Art (who hasn't released a studio set since 2007's Some Enchanted Evening) and his dad are singing in English and tackling such varied songs as Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon," Don McLean's "Vincent," Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again," and The Beatles' "Blackbird" in their rich and angelic style.  Available on CD, LP, and digitally.

Albert Hammond, Christmas (earMusic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Singer-songwriter Albert Hammond delivers his first Christmas set, on which he performs holiday classics including "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," "Last Christmas," "Blue Christmas," "Here Comes Santa Claus," and "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."  Available on CD, LP, and digitally.

Rachel Fuller, The Seeker (4wordhouse) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Writer-composer Rachel Fuller has reimagined Hermann Hesse's novel Siddhartha as The Seeker, a double-album in conjunction with a new, illustrated book of the same name which features the complete lyrics and narrative from the album plus artwork from Emilia Wharfe. The 2LP set includes narration by the late Christopher Plummer as well as performances by Fuller's husband Pete Townshend, Sir Elton John, Nakhane, Emeli Sandé, Layton Williams, Sunidhi Chauhan, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.  Available on CD and digitally; the book includes a QR code to stream the audio.

Paul Carrack, Greatest Hits: How Long Has This Been Going On? (Paul Carrack UK) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

After a U.K. release earlier this year, this new hits retrospective from Paul Carrack (Ace, Squeeze, Mike & The Mechanics) arrives stateside.  How Long, titled after his Ace hit, includes seven new re-recordings including that title track, "The Living Years," and "Love Will Keep Us Alive."  Available on CD and digital formats.