Another chapter is soon to be written in the story of the classic jazz label Bethlehem Records. The label, founded in 1953 by Gus Wildi, will soon be relaunched by classical specialist label Naxos in association with Bethlehem’s current owner, Verse Music Group. Titles are planned to roll out in six batches, from August 27 of this year through July 29, 2014. Bethlehem played a major part in establishing the careers of such prime vocalists as Chris Connor, Nina Simone and Julie London, and at
Review: The Monkees, "The Monkees Present: Deluxe Edition"
And then there were three. Peter Tork had departed The Monkees in December 1968, just a couple of months prior to the February 1969 release of the band’s seventh studio album, Instant Replay. The remaining trio of Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith soldiered on, though, cutting numerous new tracks and updating old ones for an eighth effort. Issued by Colgems in October 1969 on the heels of an unsuccessful greatest-hits album, it was The Monkees Present and emphasized the slimmer group
Back Tracks: John Mayer
This week saw the release of Paradise Valley, the sixth full-length album by singer/songwriter/guitarist John Mayer. The Connecticut-born performer remains one of the most intriguing figures in pop music since the dawn of the 2000s: educated at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, Mayer was the complete package for a generation - multifaceted in his musical talents (kind of an insane cross between James Taylor and Stevie Ray Vaughan), an unabashed encyclopedia of modern pop - and, as it
Original Jazz Classics Celebrates 60 Years of Riverside with Evans, Montgomery, Baker, More
From its headquarters at 553 West 51st Street in New York, New York, the Riverside Records label presided over an impressive roster of jazz talent. Founded in 1953 by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Riverside was home at one time or another to Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Alberta Hunter, Johnny Griffin, plus a number of artists currently being recognized with deluxe reissues from the Riverside catalogue: Thelonious Monk and Gerry Mulligan, Cannonball Adderley and Milt Jackson, Chet Baker, Wes
SoulMusic Records Delivers the Love with Phyllis Hyman's "Buddah Years"
SoulMusic Records, an imprint of the Cherry Red Group, continues its non-chronological tour through the catalogue of the late Phyllis Hyman with the release of The Buddah Years. Despite the compilation title, this 13-track CD is actually a straight reissue of Hyman’s very first solo album, recorded for Buddah Records, plus four bonus tracks. Though she had previously recorded a single for Private Stock Records, the statuesque soul singer’s first major splash came as guest vocalist for
Metal, Rated "XXX": Roadrunner Marks Three-Decade-Plus Mark with Four-Disc Box Set
One of the top labels in straight-up rock and heavy metal, Roadrunner Records, will celebrate their more than 30 years in the business with a new box set, XXX: Three Decades of Roadrunner Records, in October. From its inception in 1980, Roadrunner was often toward the forefront of metal, from traditional heavy and thrash metal in the 1980s and early 1990s to the fast-paced tracks and nu metal stylings of the late '90s. Along the way, they've opened up their roster to all kinds of hard rock,
Favorite Things: Concord Reissues, Expands John Coltrane's "Afro Blue Impressions"
When John Coltrane's Afro Blue Impressions was released on LP by Pablo Records in 1977, it marked the tenth anniversary of the saxophone great's 1967 passing. Capturing his classic quartet in its prime, Afro Blue was recorded live in 1963 in Stockholm and Berlin. Now, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of its recording, and the fortieth anniversary of Pablo, Concord Music Group has remastered and expanded Afro Blue Impressions. The roots of Coltrane's great quartet can be traced to
Review: Dionne Warwick, "We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters"
We need to go back to the songs we used to sing... - Nickolas Ashford and Valarie Simpson, “We Need to Go Back” What’s remarkable about the 19 outtakes on Dionne Warwick’s We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters (Real Gone Music RGM-0170) is that they’re every bit as good as – and in many cases, superior to - the music actually released during Warwick’s stormy five-year stay at the label. Every one of the soulful stylist’s Warner albums is represented with outtakes save 1972’s
Release Round-Up: Week of August 20
Fleetwood Mac, Then Play On: Deluxe Edition / Fleetwood Mac: 1969-1972 (Warner Bros./Rhino) The pre Buckingham-Nicks era of the Mac gets some love on CD and vinyl: their last Peter Green-led album from 1969 is expanded with bonus tracks, and it's also included in a remastered vinyl box set with follow-ups Kiln House (1970), Future Games (1971) and Bare Trees (1972) (plus the 1969 single "Oh Well" on 45). Then Play On: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1969-1972: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Jimi
Come Out of Your Shell: "Lost" Staple Singers Album Reissued by Ace
The legacy of Chicago's own Staple Singers was solidified when the quartet moved to Stax Records and became the label's biggest act at the time, courtesy of some of the best funk of the early 1970s. A new reissue from Ace extends that legacy, with the release of 1981 outtakes compilation This Time Around, available on CD for the first time. After gospel-tinged stints on Vee-Jay, Epic and other labels throughout the '60s, the Staple Singers - Roebuck "Pops" Staples and his children Cleotha,
Review: Dionne Warwick, "The Complete Warner Bros. Singles"
Dionne Warwick’s 1972-1977 tenure at Warner Bros. Records has long been a subject of much confusion. Why couldn’t the Burbank giant yield any hit records with the superstar artist after signing her to a record-breaking deal? Sure, the “triangle marriage” of Warwick, Burt Bacharach and Hal David was breaking up, but Warner paired her with some of the most famed names in soul music: Holland-Dozier-Holland, Jerry Ragovoy, and Thom Bell among them. Bell scored a hit for Warwick with “Then Came
Somewhere Only They Know: Keane Announce Greatest Hits Compilation in Various Formats
British pop-rockers Keane are set to commemorate a decade of releases with a new greatest hits compilation in November. While most knowledge of the Sussex band begins and ends with 2004's radio-ready, piano-led ballad "Somewhere Only We Know" (a modest No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100), Keane have become quite a driving force in U.K. pop/rock. All four of their studio albums (and one extended EP) have topped the British charts, and they've amassed 10 Top 40 hits, including Top 10s "Everybody's
Review: "The Muppet Movie: Original Soundtrack Recording"
I'm a pretty sensitive person, but there are few things that trigger my emotions easier than The Muppets. Searching through Muppet clips yields almost a 100% guarantee on being moved to tears; just finding the link to this ciip from the 1990 special The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson made me start tearing up, and my last trip to Walt Disney World began with me leaving the plane to Orlando, choking back my emotions over a screening of 2011's The Muppets. (For the record, this is the scene that made
Saint Etienne Hosts "A Central Park Picnic" With Phil Spector, Burt Bacharach, Dion, The Drifters
For the inaugural release of his new Cherry Red imprint Croydon Municipal, Saint Etienne’s Bob Stanley has curated a collection of Songs for a Central Park Picnic. Songwriter/producer Stanley’s label is an extension of his Croydon Municipal blog, in which he holds forth on subjects as diverse as Barbra Streisand and Barry Gibb’s Guilty, the evolution of Britpop, and the fortunes of HMV. Like Stanley’s blog, his new CD compilation reflects his eclectic musical passions. Saint Etienne Presents
Sparks Announce "Tangible Object" for October Release
Essentially quirky rock heroes Sparks have announced a "tangible object" - a new five-disc, swag-packed box set - for release through Universal Music's U.K. arm in October. New Music for Amnesiacs: The Ultimate Collection collates just about the entire experience of the band founded and fronted by hyperactive frontman Russell Mael and his Chaplin-mustached, scowling keyboard brother Ron. The set spans four discs, starting from the early art-rock of breakthroughs like Kimono My House and U.K.
She Will Survive: BBR Reissues, Expands Gloria Gaynor's "Love Tracks" and "Park Avenue Sound"
The very first release on Big Break Records, early in 2010, was an expanded reissue of the very first solo album by Gloria Gaynor. Never Can Say Goodbye spun Clifton Davis' title track into disco gold and pioneered the sidelong disco mix with a nearly 19-minute suite from Tom Moulton consisting of "Honey Bee," "Never Can Say Goodbye," and another Motown revival, "Reach Out I'll Be There." Big Break followed that landmark 1974 album with an expansion of Experience Gloria Gaynor, from 1975. It
Come Out and Play: Soundtrack Spotlight on Latest from La-La Land and Kritzerland
Kritzerland has served up quite the "miracle" with their latest release, and two of La-La Land's latest feature favorite composers and cult titles - all here in our semi-regular soundtrack round-up! The acclaimed adaptation of the Broadway play The Miracle Worker - featuring original playwright William Gibson and director Arthur Penn and returning cast members Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke - told the amazing true story of Anne Sullivan, caretaker to the deaf and blind Helen Keller, whose
Nirvana to Serve the Servants with Anniversary Reissue of Final LP "In Utero" (UPDATED WITH TRACKLIST 8/13)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-uet7twNu0] The above video repurposes a vintage advertisement to tell fans that UMe is planning a 20th anniversary reissue of Nirvana's final album, 1993's In Utero, on September 24. In its own weird way, the video - featuring band members Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl being coached through a surreal lamaze class by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait - indicates how unusual the album was. In Utero was the polar opposite of 1991's
Release Round-Up: Week of August 13
Harry Nilsson, Flash Harry (Varese Vintage) Never released in the U.S. or on CD, the wave of Nilssonmania continues with this: Harry's last album, released in 1980, now available on remastered vinyl or CD with several unheard bonus tracks. CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. LP: Amazon U.S. Nik Kershaw, The Riddle: Remastered Expanded Edition (UMC) Kershaw's second LP, featuring one of the most criminally underrated singles ever in the title track, is reissued as a double-disc set with B-sides,
Tom Petty, The Clash, Dire Straits, Pat Benatar Featured On "The Best of Fridays"
When ABC-TV’s Fridays premiered on April 11, 1980, its agenda was not a hidden one: to grab a piece of the lucrative late-night comedy pie from NBC’s Saturday Night Live. Less than a year later, on March 10, 1981, The New York Times was trumpeting in a headline, “How ‘Fridays’ Beat ‘Saturday Night.’” Of course, Fridays’ domination didn’t last, and the program was off the air after just three seasons. The series has mainly lived on due to the infamous incident in which Andy Kaufman and Michael
Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? Omnivore Serves "The Complete Waitresses"
After Omnivore's exciting announcement of the Humble Pie Fillmore box set, the label now turns to one of the most underrated American New Wave groups of the '80s: The Waitresses, whose complete Polydor output is coming from Omnivore in September. Anchored by guitarist/producer Chris Butler and irascible lead vocalist Patty Donahue, the Akron-based Waitresses cut two albums and one EP for Polydor between 1982 and 1984. They enjoyed at least three notable songs in their short lifespan: "I Know
Grateful Dead's "Sunshine Daydream" Offers Sought-After Live Show on CD, DVD, Blu-Ray
The Dead will rise in September with a new set from Rhino. Sunshine Daydream takes Deadheads back to one of the most sought-after shows in the band's history - a blistering set in Veneta, Oregon in the dead of summer 1972 - on CD and video for the first time. Having just returned from a now-legendary tour of Europe (painstakingly chronicled by Rhino in one of the biggest box sets in recent memory), The Grateful Dead were in top form when they traveled to the Olde Renaissance Fairgrounds in
Humble Pie is Served! Omnivore Preps Box Set of Complete 1971 Fillmore Concerts
The latest sensational release in Omnivore Recordings' catalogue is a massively-expanded edition of Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore, the 1972 live album and commercial breakthrough by British blues-rockers Humble Pie. This sensational album, taped over two nights at the legendary Fillmore East in the spring of 1971, is now coming out as a four-disc box set featuring all four recorded shows in their entirety. Humble Pie was the brainchild of Steve Marriott, powerful frontman for The Small
BBR Unveils Trio of "Winners" From The Jazz Crusaders, Inner Life and Kleeer
Odds and Ends Dept.: In the excitement over Big Break Records' recent quartet of titles from Philadelphia's Baker-Harris-Young production partnership, we temporarily overlooked three no-less-worthy, just-released reissues from the busy Cherry Red imprint: The Jazz Crusaders' Give Peace a Chance, Kleeer's Winners, and Inner Life's self-titled album. Prior to reinventing themselves as The Crusaders in 1971 and emphasizing a funkier electric style, Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (saxophone),
Are You Ready: Now Sounds Expands "The Association," Real Gone Uncovers "Hexagram 16"
“Where have I gone, where have I gone?” pondered Terry Kirkman on the haunting opening track to The Association’s 1969 long-player. Though the group’s fifth album, it was simply titled The Association, signifying an artistic rebirth. Gone were the session players and ornate Bones Howe production that marked their previous album, 1968’s Birthday. Taking the production reins themselves in tandem with John Boylan, The Association – Kirkman, Russ Giguere, Brian Cole, Jim Yester, Larry Ramos, Ted
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