Guitarist John Cephas and harmonica man Phil Wiggins, both natives of Washington DC, first joined forces in 1977, and for nearly 30 years now they've been turning out modern, shined-up interpretations of traditional rural blues, with Cephas increasingly adding his own songs to the mix. To their credit, the duo doesn't really try to replicate the traditional material they tackle, but rather they interpret it within their own framework, which means a lot of the rough edges are knocked off, an approach that is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on where one stands on the issue of performance purity in the blues. Cephas & Wiggins just do what they do, and what they do is take marginal music (marginal as far as the general public is concerned, that is) and spiff it up for accessibility…

The first lady of jazz piano, Marian McPartland, is spotlighted in her dream recording project. Her first recording with string orchestra, Silent Pool, captures Marian’s distinctive, encyclopedic jazz piano playing and her lyrical, original compositions - many of them now jazz standards - in a truly mesmerizing setting. Wrapped in lush and inventive string orchestrations from the pen of acclaimed arranger Alan Broadbent, Silent Pool stands out as a landmark recordings in Marian's long and distinguished career in music.

In 1970 members Linda Rothwell (vocals), Malcolm Grundy (guitar), Joseph Rosbotham (woodwinds), John Williamson (bass), Eric Eastman (drums, percussion) released their debut and only album self titled. Scouring the web is nigh impossible for finding information on this band, suffice to say if you like Traffic, Gravy Train or even early Greenslade then Goliath's lighter jazz infected crossover progressive sounds may well work for you. From the UK.

Arriving 12 years after the release of the film, Vangelis' soundtrack to the 1982 futuristic noir detective thriller Blade Runner is as bleak and electronically chilling as the film itself. By subtly interspersing clips of dialogue and sounds from the film, Vangelis creates haunting soundscapes with whispered subtexts and sweeping revelations, drawing inspiration from Middle Eastern textures and evoking neo-classical structures. Often cold and forlorn, the listener can almost hear the indifferent winds blowing through the neon and metal cityscapes of Los Angeles in 2019. The sultry, saxophone-driven "Love Theme" has since gone on as one of the composer's most recognized pieces and stands alone as one of the few warm refuges on an otherwise darkly cold (but beautiful) score…

Vox Humana is the second solo album by Geoffrey Downes, the former member of The Buggles, Asia & Yes. Many of the songs on this fine album were later reworked by Asia on their Archiva albums.

Solo album of instrumental covers by the former member of The Buggles, Asia & Yes. Geoffrey "Geoff" Downes is an English rock songwriter, record producer, keyboardist, icon. Downes created The Buggles with Trevor Horn in 1977. After three years of songwriting and recording process, their first album, The Age of Plastic, was released in 1980. Now recognized as a highly influent album and a landmark of the electropop era, it also spawned the single "Video Killed the Radio Star", that was No. 1 on the singles charts of sixteen countries. The same year, both Horn and Downes joined Yes and recorded the album Drama as a part of the band. The following year however, Yes disbanded.

John Wetton's early-2003 album Rock of Faith appeared after a two-year string of concert releases. It was written at a crossroads in the singer/bassist's life, in the wake of his 50th birthday – it was also occasioned by his extended visit to Vienna, which stimulated him artistically, and recorded in the wake of the dire world events of 2001 halfway around the globe. The ex-Family/King Crimson/Asia member rises to the occasion here, with an album evocative of his progressive rock past, yet slightly leaner and more focused than most of those efforts ever were, and supported by Geoffrey Downes (keyboards), Clive Nolan (keyboards), John Mitchell (electric guitars), and Steve Christey (drums).

Chronicle, Vol. 1 contains every one of Creedence Clearwater Revival's original 19 hit singles – including "Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Green River," "Down on the Corner," "Travelin' Band," "Up Around the Band," and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" – plus "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," which became a hit at the same time this double-record compilation was released. It's a lean, concise collection that tells you everything you need to know about Creedence. Several of the band's individual albums are essential, but Chronicle is not only an excellent introduction to the group, it offers definitive proof that the group was one of the definitive singles' bands of the late '60s. Rarely has a greatest- hits collection been so well-assembled.

A fine collection including many tracks from Slade's hitmaking heyday, Feel the Noize: Slade Greatest Hits stretches from the group's hit singles of the early '70s beginning with 1971's "Get Down and Get with It" all the way to 1991's "Radio Wall of Sound." In between those two songs is a selection of the group's big, dumb, irresistible, and misspelled hits – "Coz I Luv You," "Take Me Bak 'Ome," "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," "Gudbuy T'Jane," "Cum on Feel the Noize," "Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me." It also features latter-day hits like "My Oh My," but Slade never got better than they did at their stomping glitter-rock peak, and Feel the Noize captures the essence of that era.

Perhaps it’s all down to Stevie Nicks being at peace with her legacy, perhaps she was coaxed back toward the ‘70s by producer David A. Stewart, perhaps it’s the presence of Lindsey Buckingham on “Soldier’s Angel,” or perhaps it’s the fact that she excavated a 1976 song called “Secret Love” for this album, but In Your Dreams is Stevie’s first solo album to embrace the sound of Fleetwood Mac at their prime. Nicks never exactly ran away from the Mac, but her ‘80s solo hits were tempered by a steely demeanor and her subsequent solo albums strove too hard to recapture the magic that In Your Dreams conjures so easily.

The second album by Manfred Mann's Earth Band to be released in 1972, Glorified Magnified is as solid a heavy rock album as you're likely to find from that era, and it still holds up three decades later, mostly because these guys are smarter than the music they're playing and don't mind indulging their taste as well as their dexterity. They can romp and stomp through "Meat" or "I'm Gonna Have You All," complete with a slashing guitar solo by Mick Rogers on the latter, or throw in a synthesizer interlude by Mann on "One Way Glass" that's so quietly and carefully executed as to be worthy of a classical piece – and not skip a beat doing it.

Alexander Melnikov returns to Rachmaninoff with an exploration of the poetic world of the Variations on a Theme by Chopin. He travelled to Lake Lucerne to record this album on the master’s own piano at Villa Senar, Rachmaninoff’s last summer home. To accompany this eminently lyrical music, he joins forces with the luminous soprano of Julia Lezhneva and invites us to discover some of the Russian composer’s most beautiful songs from this period of intense creative ferment.

Following his exploration of Spain with the music of Federico Moreno Torroba (BIS2725), Franz Halász now takes us to Brazil with the complete works for solo guitar by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra announce their upcoming album with star pianist Yuja Wang performing Shostakovich’s two piano concertos. The recordings are part of Nelsons' and the BSO’s award-winning decade-long Shostakovich project to mark the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death.

Over the years, Robin Trower has garnered a select group of fans and aficionados for what can be described as his own unique guitar soundscape. Armed with a Fender Stratocaster and crafting his own style, which has earned him comparisons to Hendrix, he has been astounding audiences for over 50 years. This live performance from the Seattle West Studios on August 13th, 1973, broadcast on KOL-FM radio, features tracks from the two Robin Trower Band debut albums, Twice Removed from Yesterday and Bridge of Sighs. Discover for yourself the roots of his post-Procul Harum signature sound and enjoy this remastered radio broadcast.