1. The Red Sox Are Winning
2. As It Is Before
3. Dreamless
4. To Care At All
5. Home Of The Brave
6. The Child Bride
7. Close Your Eyes And Shut The Door
8. Time And Again
9. When You Were Full Of Wonder
10. Death By Fire

Peter Rowan - guitar, vocals
David Grisman - mandolin, mandocello, vocals
Bill Stevenson - piano, organ, vibes, harpsichord
John Nagy - bass
Billy Mundi - drums, percussion
Warren Smith - drums, percussion
Paul Dillon - drums, vocals

AMG:
"For a time in the middle/late 1960's, it seemed as though Boston might become the East Coast's answer to San Francisco - it never happened, but if it had, Earth Opera had as good a shot as any of being the East Coast answer to the Grateful Dead. Spawned out of the early/middle 1960's folk boom, Earth Opera's core was comprised of Peter Rowan, a former bluegrass player (and Bill Monroe alumnus) whose proficiency on guitar and mandolin was soon matched by his songwriting; and David Grisman, a mandolin virtuoso of no small talent who had played with a various younger ensembles, including Siegel, Grisman, Rose & Lewinger. By the mid-1960's, even the most serious and dedicated of urban folk players, attuned and attached to younger collegiate audiences, were getting caught up in the changes being wrought in music from across the Atlantic and the West Coast, which had yielded such efforts as the ineptly named bluegrass Beatles effort Beatle Country by the Charles River Valley Boys, and Wheatstraw Suite by the Dillards. In late 1967, Rowan and Grisman made the jump across the psychedelic chasm opened by the Beatles et al from their folk perch, in the guise of Earth Opera. They were joined by John Nagy on bass, Paul Dillon, and Bill Stevenson on keyboards and vibraphone, they began generating music that was closer in spirit to the spacier parts of Anthem Of The Sun than to Bill Monroe, though they didn't leave bluegrass behind entirely. The group was signed to Elektra Records which, at the time, was enjoying success with its first two rock signings, the Doors and Love and rapidly expanding into the more advanced forms of rock music. Their self-titled debut album, produced by Grisman's ex-bandmate Peter Siegel, and including veteran drummer (and Mothers of Invention alumnus) Billy Mundi on drums, was as spaced out a record as Elektra had issued up to that time and, in its mix of folk and psychedelic influences, was reminiscent of the music emanating from San Francisco in the same era. Although their debut never charted, Elektra was willing to record a second LP, entitled The Great American Eagle Tragedy. By that time, they were reduced to a quartet with the departure of Stevenson. Nagy added the cello and mandocello to their sound and Rowan and Grisman were playing tenor and alto sax, respectively, and there were present such guest players as John Cale (viola), Jack Bonus and Richard Grando on saxes, pianist David Horowitz, pedal steelman Bill Keith, double-bass player Herb Bushler, and Bob Zachary on the triangle. Despite the larger "guest" contingent, the texture of the group's sound was leaner and lighter and the music was generally more accessible, except for the 10-minute-long title track. The Great American Eagle Tragedy managed to reach number 181 on the national charts, lofted there by the number 97 placement of the group's second single, "Home To You" b/w "Alfie Finney". It's also entirely possible that the album's artwork was a small factor in its slightly better commercial performance by capturing the mood in 1969 - the cover was a collage at the center of which was a parody of the United States Presidential Seal (for those unfamiliar, visible on the reverse of the Kennedy half-dollar coin) with a skull-like death's head formed by modified component parts. The group had seen little success outside of Boston, however, and finally broke up later in 1969. Nagy went on to become a top recording engineer and sometime session musician, while Grisman and Rowan headed west and re-established themselves much more profitably on that coast - both later turned up in played in Jerry Garcia's short-lived bluegrass band Old And In The Way, with Grisman finally reaching a wider audience of rock fans when he played on the Grateful Dead's American Beauty album. Rowan joined the Blues Project offshoot band Seatrain in 1970, just in time to play on their second LP and the single "13 Questions", before forming Muleskinner with Clarence White, Grisman and Seatrain alumnus Richard Greene. Rowan later became a solo recording artist, while Grisman formed a new group, the David Grisman Quartet, and popularized a hybrid of bluegrass, jazz, and folk known as "dawg music." He also began writing film scores in the 1970's, initially taking advantage of the public's association - ever since Bonnie And Clyde -between bluegrass music, period crime films, and car chases, by composing the music for such movies as Big Bad Mama and Eat My Dust. In 2002, both of Earth Opera's LPs were reissued on CD by Wounded Bird Records. Their songs have also been included in anthologies devoted to the so-called "Bosstown Sound," and Elektra Records founder Jac Holzman listed them among the late 1960's acts on his label of which he was proud, in his book Follow The Music."

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1. Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting 5:39
2. Cryin' Blues 4:58
3. Moanin' 7:57
4. Tensions 6:27
5. My Jelly Roll Soul 6:47
6. E's Flat Ah's Flat Too 6:37

Charles Mingus - Bass
Jackie McLean - Sax (Alto)
John Handy - Sax (Alto)
Booker Ervin - Sax (Tenor)
Pepper Adams - Sax (Baritone)
Willie Dennis - Trombone
Jimmy Knepper - Trombone
Horace Parlan - Piano
Mal Waldron - Piano
Dannie Richmond - Drums

AMG:
"In response to critical carping that his ambitious, evocative music somehow didn't swing enough, Charles Mingus returned to the earthiest and earliest sources of black musical expression, namely the blues, gospel, and old-time New Orleans jazz. The resulting LP, Blues and Roots, isn't quite as wildly eclectic as usual, but it ranks as arguably Mingus' most joyously swinging outing. Working with simple forms, Mingus boosts the complexity of the music by assembling a nine-piece outfit and arranging multiple lines to be played simultaneously - somewhat akin to the Dixieland ensembles of old, but with an acutely modern flavor. Anyone who had heard "Haitian Fight Song" shouldn't have been surprised that such an album was well within Mingus' range, but jazz's self-appointed guardians have long greeted innovation with reactionary distaste. After Blues and Roots, there could be no question of Mingus' firm grounding in the basics, nor of his deeply felt affinity with them. Whether the music is explicitly gospel-based - like the groundbreaking classic "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" - or not, the whole album is performed with a churchy fervor that rips through both the exuberant swingers and the aching, mournful slow blues. Still, it's the blues that most prominently inform the feeling of the album, aside from the aforementioned "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" and the Jelly Roll Morton tribute "My Jelly Roll Soul." The recording session was reportedly very disorganized, but perhaps that actually helped give the performances the proper feel, since they wound up so loose and free-swinging. With a lineup including John Handy and Jackie McLean on alto, Booker Ervin on tenor, frequent anchor Pepper Adams on baritone, and Jimmy Knepper and Willie Dennis on trombones, among others, Blues and Roots isn't hurting for fiery soloists, and they help make the album perhaps the most soulful in Mingus' discography."

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1. Tű Fokán
2. Négyen Ülünk
3. Jeges Hevület
4. Ne Kérdezd az Árát
5. Hova-Hova
6. Szurgyata
7. Ördögök
8. Három Fényév
9. Indián
10. Narancsország

Gabi Kenderesi - vocals, violin
Csaba Hajnóczy - guitar, bass, sampling
Szini - bass
Gyorgy Dozsa - guitar
Peter Murakozy - drums
+
Dolf - sugarkeeper, cup (3), guitar (7)
Janos Dunai - elder whistle (10)
Abel Hajnoszy - scream (5)

AMG:
"Listeners who learn the name of this band will in the process learn an old Hungarian proverb, meaning "the end of pains," and normally used to describe the situation when someone dies. Neither of the words is actually Hungarian -- "kampec" is Yiddish, "dolores" is Latin -- but the band itself has been the most successful touring Hungarian rock band since the collapse of the Soviet Eastern bloc in the mid-'60s. The band first became noticed as a support act for international touring artists in Hungary, most notably the triumphant appearance of Nico in Budapest in 1985. The group went on to tour as a support act for Pere Ubu during that American underground band's 1988 12-country revival tour. The group's first album was set in motion by the Dutch avant-rock group the Ex, who invited Hungarians to perform in Amsterdam. For the following decade Kampec Dolores toured the entire European continent more than two dozen times. Musically the group started with the kind of new wave, post-punk styles that were prevalant in the '80s. The musicians worked with many different influences from ethnic music and avant-garde music including free improvisation. The vocalist Gabi Kenderesi developed her own style of scat singing, using made-up languages and extended vocal techniques. She is also a fine violinist. She is married to Gabi Kenderesi, who plays bass and guitar, and was a member of Kontroll Csoport (Control Group), one of the most influential alternative Hungarian bands of the early '80s. The couple's relationship is the obvious focal point of the group. Most of the group's albums feature singing in Hungarian, though the lyrics are usually translated into English text on enclosed inserts. The 1996 album Rapid features an extended narrative work in five parts."

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1. Don't Take Your Love from Me 5:25
2. It Shouldn't Happen to a Dream 4:51
3. I Cried for You 4:23
4. So Long 4:34
5. You Never Miss the Water (Till the Well Runs Dry) 5:08
6. It's the Talk of the Town 5:35
7. I'm Through With Love 5:14
8. Laughing on the Outside 4:07
9. Dream 4:45

Jimmy Scott - vocals
James W. "Red" Holloway - saxophone
Claston Patience Higgins - saxophone
Milt Jackson - vibraphone
Junior Mance - piano
Mitchell Froom - organ
Rick Zunigar - guitar
Ron Carter - bass
Peyton Crossley - drums

AMG:
"Vocal jazz legend Jimmy Scott's amazing 1992 comeback, after decades of obscurity, All the Way, was rapturously received by critics and fans, but proved unprofitable for his record label. For the follow-up, Sire authorized a much smaller budget, sending the singer into the studio with just a handful of sidemen and what seemed to be a curious choice as producer: Mitchell Froom, best-known for his work with rockers like Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello. But the results of the sessions - recorded in New York City during a blizzard - come closer, in their fashion, than All the Way to capturing the pain that's at the heart of Scott's one-of-a-kind instrument. His abnormally high, nearly feminine vocals (the result of a rare disorder called Kallmann's Syndrome, which arrests development permanently during puberty) are even more dominant than usual on this program of standards; without the strings of the previous album, nothing gets between Scott and the sadness of songs like "It's The Talk of the Town" and "I'm Through With Love", both reclaimed from his brief '50s heyday. Milt Jackson's vibes drift through the tunes like snowfall, while the rest of the playing is so tight and sympathetic as to be invisible. It might not be Scott's finest overall work - he was 68 at the time of this recording, and his pipes and pitch aren't quite what they were - yet as a showcase for his haunted heart, this is exactly what many fans had long been dreaming of."

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1. Lounge
2. Lambertland
3. Celebration Of The Saved Nine
4. The Bargain
5. Dance
6. Last Quarters

Jukka Tolonen - guitar
Eero Raittinen - vocals
Pekka Pöyry - saxophone, flute
Måns Groundstroem - bass
Vesa Aaltonen - drums

Wikipedia:
"Tasavallan Presidentti (in English President of the Republic) is a Finnish progressive rock band. It was founded in 1969 by guitarist Jukka Tolonen and drummer Vesa Aaltonen. Other founder members were Måns Groundstroem (bass) and Frank Robson (vocals), previously of Blues Section. Juhani Aaltonen (saxophone/flute) had earlier played in Soulset; he was replaced in 1970 by Pekka Pöyry. Eero Raittinen replaced Robson as a vocalist in 1972, the same year as the album Lambertland was released in UK. The album was a tight fusion of jazz and folk rock with highly inventive and imaginative lyrics. Tasavallan Presidentti disbanded in 1974, but nowadays it is active again"

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1. Marbles 4:13
2. Siren 5:42
3. Don't Let the Dragon Eat Your Mother 5:16
4. Purpose of When 4:44
5. Dragon Song 4:13
6. Devotion 11:22

John McLaughlin - Guitar
Buddy Miles - Percussion, Drums
Billy Rich - Bass
Larry Young - Organ, Piano (Electric)

AMG:
"This album is from a pivotal moment in McLaughlin's history. This was just after he left Miles' group, but before Mahavishnu Orchestra started, and the music captures this moment perfectly. McLaughlin's technique had not progressed to "Mahavishnu" perfection yet, but the music has the in-your-face rock drive of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. This recording date grew out of sessions Alan Douglas put together, featuring McLaughlin and Larry Young jamming with Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles (Billy Rich was the bass player). McLaughlin sounded timid next to Hendrix (none of the material with Hendrix has been officially released), but really comes to life on Devotion. This is arguably one of the finest acid rock albums of all time. McLaughlin is on fire, using fuzzboxes and phasers, over Larry Young's swirling Hammond B-3, with Billy Rich and Buddy Miles as the rock-solid rhythm section. If you think that McLaughlin's solo at the end of "Right Off" (from A Tribute to Jack Johnson) is one of the high points of his career, then this is the album for you. Soon after this album was recorded, McLaughlin holed up, practiced like crazy, and re-emerged as "Mahavishnu" John McLaughlin, with both a new sound and a new band. Documenting the period just before that transition, Devotion is a complete anomaly in his catalog, as well as one of his finest achievements."

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1. Cherry Bomb 2:18
2. You Drive Me Wild 3:23
3. Is It Day or Night? 2:46
4. Thunder 2:31
5. Rock & Roll 3:17
6. Lovers 2:11
7. American Nights 3:16
8. Blackmail 2:42
9. Secrets 2:42
10. Dead End Justice 6:58

Lita Ford - Guitar, Vocals
Joan Jett - Guitar, Vocals
Cherie Currie - Keyboards, Vocals
Jackie Fox - Bass, Vocals
Sandy West - Drums, Vocals

AMG:
"When the Runaways debuted in 1976 with this self-titled LP, aggressive female rockers were the exception instead of the rule. Women had no problem becoming folk-rockers, singer/songwriters or Top 40 icons, but female artists who had more in common with Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith than Joni Mitchell were hardly the norm. With this album, the Runaways made it crystal clear that women (or specifically, adolescent girls) were more than capable of playing intense, forceful hard rock that went directly for the jugular. Lusty classics like "Cherry Bomb" and "You Drive Me Wild" made no attempt to conceal the fact that teenage girls could be every bit as sexual as the guys -- a message that both men and women found intimidating. And on "Is It Day or Night," Cherie Currie sings about life in the fast lane with every bit as much conviction as Axl Rose would 11 years later. Currie and Joan Jett are equally riveting, and a 17-year-old Lita Ford was already an impressive guitarist. This LP was far from a commercial hit in the U.S., where timid rock radio programmers simply didn't know what to make of the Runaways. But interestingly, it did earn the band a strong following in the major rock market of Japan."

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1. I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me 5:26
2. I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me [alternate take] 5:37
3. All the Things You Are 6:36
4. All the Things You Are [alternate take] 6:30
5. What's New? 4:08
6. Tickle Toe 4:53
7. The Man I Love 6:37
8. Autumn Leaves 6:27
9. The Way You Look Tonight 6:38

Art Pepper - Sax (Alto)
Warne Marsh - Sax (Tenor) (1-6)
Ronnie Ball - Piano (1-6)
Ben Tucker - Bass (1-6)
Gary Frommer - Drums (1-6)
Red Garland/Wynton Kelly/Dolo Coker - Piano (7-9)
Jimmy Bond/Paul Chambers - Bass (7-9)
Frank Butler/Jimmy Cobb/Philly Joe Jones - Drums (7-9)

AMG:
"Despite his very erratic lifestyle, altoist Art Pepper never made a bad record. This collection is better than most. The first four titles team together Pepper with tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, pianist Ronnie Ball, bassist Ben Tucker, and drummer Gary Frommer for generally intriguing explorations of four standards. One can feel the influence of Lennie Tristano (with Pepper in Lee Konitz's place), although Pepper had his own sound and a more hard-swinging style. The success of the Pepper-Marsh front line makes one wish that they had recorded together again. The other three selections are leftovers from a trio of classic Pepper albums, and all are quite worthwhile. Pepper is heard backed by three separate rhythm sections, which include pianists Red Garland, Dolo Coker, or Wynton Kelly; either Paul Chambers or Jimmy Bond on bass; and Philly Joe Jones, Frank Butler, or Jimmy Cobb on drums. Overall, this album sticks to bop standards and finds Art Pepper in top form."

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The Singles (1973-1974)
1. El Mandato
2. Vuelve El Dia A Reinar
3. Alguien Mas En Quien Confiar
4. Blues Del Atardecer

The First Album
5. El Viejo Serafín
6. Mas Fuerte Que El Hombre
7. Hijo Del Sol Y La Tierra
8. Alguien Mas En Quien Confiar
9. Blues Del Atardecer
10. Haciendo Blues Y Jazz

Juan Esposito - Drums, Vocals And Tumabadoras En 3
Osvaldo Zabala - Guitar
Willy Gardi - Guitar, Vocals
Luis Alberto Valenti - Keyboards And Vocals
Eduardo Frezza - Bass, Lead Vocals

Dreams, Fantasies & Nightmares:
"El Reloj were from Argentina and they played a kind of hard progressive blues-rock. Their first album has a black cover with the name of the band and a picture showing a hearse carried by four horses that climb up to the darkened sky. This album, recorded in 1975, contains six long tracks that were composed earlier: in the period 1969-70. The 'A' side except an excellent introduction (Obertura) is in an avant-garde mood, and a little inconsistent in the standard of compositions. The 'B' side is much better and especially on the two last, very catchy tracks: Blues Del Atardecer, a slow melodic number with good guitar and keyboard work, and Haciendo Blues Y Jazz, which is faster and full of guitar riffs and leads."

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The Singles (1975)
1. El Hombre Y El Perro
2. Camino Al Estucofen

The Second Album
3. Al Borde Del Abismo
4. Tema Triste
5. La Ciudad Desconocida
6. Aquel Triangulo
7. Harto Y Confundido
8. Tema De Todas Las Epocas
9. Aquella Dulce Victoria
10. Egolatria

Juan Esposito - drums, vocals
Eduardo Frezza - bass, vocals
Willy Gardi - lead guitar, vocals
Luis Alberto Valenti - keyboards, vocals
Osvaldo Zabala - guitar

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