Between 1978 and 1986, Bay Area-born composer-pianist Rodney Franklin released eight albums for Columbia Records. Flourishing in the period where jazz met R&B and funk head-on, Franklin charted seven singles in the United States and scored one major hit in the United Kingdom (1980's "The Groove"). Now, Cherry Red's Robinsongs imprint has collected all eight of his Columbia albums on two CD sets, four albums per set. Having had the opportunity to meet such legendary jazz figures as Oscar
French singer and actress Nicole Croisille can be safely described as a national treasure in her homeland, but her fame has extended to international shores. One listen to her recordings, and it's easy to see why. She's perhaps most famous as the female voice of composer Francis Lai's irresistibly catchy "A Man and a Woman" ("Un homme et une femme") opposite Pierre Barouh from the 1966 film of the same name. (Croisille had a solo, translated as "Today It's You," on the soundtrack as well, and
On Friday, Universal Pictures announced plans to preserve and restore its classic library of movie music as well as the birth of a new imprint to release those scores on compact disc. The Universal Pictures Film Music Heritage Collection will launch this week as a joint venture with La-La Land Records with the premiere release of Michel Colombier's 1970 score to the sci-fi thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project. In August, Henry Mancini's score to the 1979 Peter Sellers remake of The Prisoner