Malibran are Giuseppe Scaravilli - vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, flute, bass and keyboards; Giancarlo Cutuli - flute and saxophone; Jerry Litrico - electric lead guitar; Alessio Scaravilli - drums and percussion; Benny Torrisi - piano and keyboards and Angelo Messina - electric bass. Two tracks from each of their albums apart from a single excerpt from their first album “The Wood of Tales” (1990), a vinyl release are included on this compilation. ‘Trasparenze’ apparen

As part of my nostalgic look back Sherpa comes recommended. They hail from Italy and their album ‘Tanzlinde’ is also on Sulatron Records on CD and limited LP (the latter probably sold out). It is described in the press release as the sort of album I would like “translucent sounding, becoming better and more intense with each listen.” ‘Thematically ‘tanzlinde’ is literally a linden tree under which one sits to connect to one’s deepest feelings. Musically, there are “influences

A blast from the past: I’m listening again to ‘Hypnotiser’ . Right away the palpable spacey groove hauls you in for a ‘Lift Off ’ . The title track continues the journey: “Let’s have a look at the Earth- Professor, what do you see?”, a lethargic, hypnotic listen. The line-up is Sergio Ceballos on guitar and voice, Sula Bassana on bass and Pablo Carneval on drums, all original pieces of around 10 minutes in length except for ‘Kosmos Amigos’  which is instantly recognisable as

Gracious! supported The Who on tour in 1968. Touring with King Crimson prompted them to purchase a mellotron and change to a more progressive style. Their prospects were not boosted by the plain white ‘wallpaper’ image on their Vertigo debut in 1970 and their second album ‘This is Gracious!’ is often the more highly acclaimed of the two due to its variation in style incorporating rock, blues alongside symphonic prog as well as the interplay between the mellotron and electric

More hypnotic sounds from Astral Magic led by Santtu Laakso who wrote, produced, played and sang on his latest album. I particularly liked the eastern vibes of ‘The Veil of Isis’ with Fred Laird guesting on electric guitar and bouzouki and ‘Mirror Universe’ with guest Pete Bingham of Sendelica on electric guitar. ‘The Shining Ice’ features Luís Simões’ sitar, tampura, tabla and gong – the eastern vibes again. The synth exchanges on ‘Ghostly Apparitions’ are haunting (as you’d

Jazz lovers will find something special here on an album of originals (I think) and reworkings of jazz standards. There’s a swinging take on ‘Mack the Knife’ and the Hammond organ/ alto sax/ drums trio also bring a fresh originality to ‘Secret Love’. A revved up ‘The Autumn Leaves; also shows the band are not prepared to rest on their laurels as they bring a new vibrancy to a much-played piece. Then there’s a piece called ‘Facing the Waves’, an atmospheric, haunting creation

It’s hard to believe this album is 50 years old. Its core is in two parts bookending the album. It’s entitled ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’ in tribute to founder member Syd Barrett. On part one Dave Gilmour re-establishes himself as an incisive and inventive guitarist while part two veers into jazz funk territory – well, Nick Mason did call the album “the descendent of “Meddle”. The title track has become a busker’s standard. Apart from that are two songs which take a dig at t

“The third and final volume in the 'Before the End' series; a collection of non-album tracks and assorted songs brought together from the years 2022 to 2025. Like the previous instalments, everything here has been carefully remastered and sequenced to work as a cohesive album in its own right.” ‘Just Another Goodbye’ begins the album with “a touch of fusion”. The vignette ‘Project B’ sounds unfinished, electronic in style along with the more substantial ‘Project A’. All instr

Freedom Suite (1958): This near twenty-minute long number is an improvised jazz-blues was the first extended instrumental piece of protest music. Typical of the idiom in which it was written it uses a basic line-up of sax, bass ( Oscar Pettiford ) and drums ( Max Roach ) to use a melody (as well as a few straight forward lyrics) and turn it inside out in a series of variations, developing an ambience that strikes the emotion as well as the intellect. Emily Bonnell, writing f

“Underground Sounds of 1968” has an eclectic mix of music during a very creative period; some will be familiar, others not. CD one has big hits like ‘Fire’, ‘This Wheel’s on Fire’ and ‘I’m the Urban Spaceman’ rubbing shoulders with an obscure Genesis track (‘One Eyed Hound’) and nearly made it bands like Dantalian’s Chariot (‘World War Three’ and ‘Soma (Parts One and Two)’, Eyes of Blue and Tomorrow. Of course, the musicians from many of these bands went on to greater things.

The moment the "flowing" 7/8 phrase at the beginning of this piece came to Kenichi Morimoto, he felt confident it would become a strong composition. From there, the rest of the music unfolded almost unconsciously, with little deliberate effort involved in the writing process. The result was a beautiful piece that didn’t quite resemble anything in his usual musical vocabulary. The contrast between its "flowing" beginning and its unexpectedly "cunning" nature is what gave rise

TWELVE WAYS TO SPOT BEBOP JAZZ Ø  Small groups: drums, bass, horns, pianos with equal roles.   Ø  More complex than swing jazz with several rhythms possibly going on at the same time.   Ø  A faster and more frenetic pace.   Ø  Improvisation and jamming.   Ø  Democratic: skilful interplay, highlighting an individual’s virtuosity.   Ø  Not intended as dance music.   Ø  Most likely originating in New York.   Ø  Associated with a policy breaching segregation barriers i.e. mixed r

The sound of ‘Mercury’ begins the album, the ‘Love supreme’ riff is played on bass and Emma-Jean urges us to ‘Say Something’. The old and new – trumpet (played by Emma-Jean) and electronic keyboards sound as if made for one another, potent jazz fusion is being created. The word ‘mercury’ is repeated and Emma-Jean narrates- ‘to listen is to know and know is to love’; there’s something distinctly spiritual going on here; a solitary Rhodes electric piano with an exhortation to o

“Musician and producer Daniel Vincent announces the release of his latest studio album, “Means of Escape”, a captivating journey through soundscapes that blend ambient textures, progressive structures, and deeply personal lyrics. Transcending the post-progressive psychedelia of his earlier work, Means of Escape weaves the disparate elements of a rich 22-year back catalogue into a cohesive, sonically adventurous, and emotionally profound journey.” The incisive guitar on ‘Far B

♫♫ALICE COLTRANE : Alice McLeod studied classical music and had piano lessons with Bud Powell.  She also occupies the position of one of Jazz’s best-known harpists and also imports the rippling glissando and arpeggiated stylisations into her piano playing, called ‘waterfalls’ by some. She was a member of vibraphonist Terry Gibbs ’ band before replacing McCoy Tyner  in husband John’s quartet. Coltrane’s deeply spiritual music, inspired by a pilgrimage to India in 1970 is an ac

SUN RA’s LEGACY Sun Ra has been an influence on a myriad of musical artists and luminaries. These include pianist Lonnie Liston   Smith  but not just jazz artists alone: George Clinton ( Parliament, Funkadelic  et al), Afrika Bambaataa, Flying Lotus   and Sonic Youth  are just a few cited examples for whom Sun Ra’s music resonated, but Frank Zappa  also seems an obvious connecting point, consciously or not. John Sinclair , manager of the MC5  was a fan and brought the Arkestr

Born Edward Kennedy ‘Duke’ Ellington, Ellington’s mother and father had a piano each and studied James P Johnson’s piano rolls when he was young. He worked his way up in the Washington dance band scene and eventually settled in Harlem, NewYork in the spring of 1923where he became leader of The Washingtonians. The recruitment of trumpeter James ‘Bubber’ Miley (his plunger mute would define what was called the ‘jungle sound’ in the Cotton Club days) helped to define the Duke’s

*****ALBUMS: 8) MILES DAVIS: MILES IN THE SKY (1967) “A brilliant transitional album.” MILES IN THE SKY was recorded in four sessions on 16 th  January, 1968 and 15th-17 th May, 1968 at Columbia Studio B, New York. MUSICIANS: Miles Davis, trumpet, cornet (on tracks 1 and 4), Wayne Shorter, tenor sax, Herbie Hancock, acoustic and electric piano (on 1), Ron Carter, upright bass and electric bass (on 1) and Tony Williams, drums with George Benson, electric guitar guesting on 2.

*****ALBUMS: 7) MILES DAVIS: MILES SMILES (1967) “A classic post bop album that pushes the boundaries of hard bop and flirts with the avant-garde.”   MILES SMILES was recorded in two sessions on 24 th  and 25 th  October 1966 at the Columbia 30 th  Street Studio, New York   TRACKS: Orbits, Circle, Footprints, Dolores, Freedom Jazz Dance, Ginger Bread Boy .   MUSICIANS: Miles Davis, trumpet, Wayne Shorter, tenor sax, Herbie Hancock, acoustic and electric piano, Ron Carter, bas

*****ALBUMS: 5) WORKIN’ WITH THE MILES DAVIS QUINTET “Part of a series of four compilations of recordings released years later and, arguably the best.” Miles Davis’ ‘Workin’ was recorded in 1956 (There were two sessions on 11 th  May (the majority of the album) and 26 th  October (the piece entitled Half Nelson as part of a contractual obligation to Prestige Records before Davis departed for Columbia Records that produced Workin’ and three other albums, Relaxin’, Steamin’ and