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Remastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London. Pressed at Pallas in Germany!

This collection of classic jazz interpretations by Billie Holiday features all-star accompaniments from various sessions from 1935 to 1937. Tracks 5 & 6 on side A and tracks 4 & 5 on side B were taken from Billie's first and fifth sessions under her own name.

"When planning this album, I had a hellish time trying to choose what I thought were the absolute cream of Billie Holiday. In the course of this wrestling, it struck me that not only were Billie's vocals incredibly perfect, but that I could not remember a single instance of anyone playing a bad solo or even a bad phrase among the hundred or more performances I had to choose from in the golden period of her work. Checking over records (which was almost unnecessary, because I could still remember them almost note for note) was a rather beautiful and somewhat shattering experience. Jazz, a product of so many things - musical evolution, the social scene of a particular time, the economic atmosphere of the moment, what somebody had for breakfast that day - and none of those things will ever come together again as they did when these records were made." – Liner Notes

Brothers was primarily cut at the legendary Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama and the result by the duo was an even more intensely focused, deeply soulful set that includes a cover of Jerry Butler's "Never Gonna Give You Up." The performances are inventive and impassioned: Dan Auerbach extends his vocal range to falsetto on the lead-off track "Everlasting Light" and "The Only One"; "Howlin' For You" opens with a Gary Glitter-style drum riff and the chorus practically invites singing along. The tunes offer a surprising amount of lyrical candor and more than a little dark humor; the grooves alternate between ballsy swagger and bluesy rumination.

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Danger Mouse returned to co-produce "Tighten Up" on Brothers, but for the most part, the duo was on its own during their 10 day stretch at Muscle Shoals. They did additional recording at Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound System in Akron and The Bunker in Brooklyn. The album was mixed by engineer Tchad Blake, a veteran of sessions with Los Lobos, Pearl Jam and Peter Gabriel. Says Carney, "The way he approaches mixing is the same way we approach making music. Respecting the past while being in the present." – Acoustic Sounds

1972 release by the legendary blues guitarist Albert King featuring various musicians backing him including some of the Bar-Kays, the Isaac Hayes Movement, and the Memphis Horns.

“Start to finish, King’s finest album on Stax (and arguably finest, period) is 1972’s I’ll Play the Blues for You. It was released as King was still basking in the success he’d built from Born Under a Bad Sign, and it solidified his standing as one of the most unique of blues talents — one of the three “Kings of the blues”, along with B.B and Freddie.” - PopMatters

“The combination of King, members of the legendary Bar-Kays, the Isaac Hayes Movement, and the sparkling Memphis Horns was hardly a risky endeavor. The result was a trim, funk-infused blues sound that provided ample space for King's oft-imitated guitar playing. King has always been more impressive as a soloist than a singer, and some of his vocal performances on I'll Play the Blues for You lack the intensity one might hope for. As usual, he more than compensates with a series of exquisite six-string workouts.” – All Music

Possibly the greatest link between jazz/blues and rock and roll is Big Joe turner. A Kansas City native, Turner gained acclaim with Count Basie in New York. He collaborated with pianist Pete Johnson developing the boogie-woogie genre. Turner continued to play with jazz greats like Art Tatum. His exchanges or shouting at instrumentalists generated an indelible trademark.

When he signed with Atlantic Records in the early ‘50s, a legend was born. Many people consider Turner’s “Shake Rattle And Roll” to be the song that launched rock and roll (despite more popular versions from Bill Haley and Elvis Presley). He has been inducted into the Blues Hall Of Fame and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

The Boss Of The Blues represents Turner’s debut with Atlantic Records in 1956. The title description is Joe Turner Sings Kansas City Jazz. That is exactly what the crux of this album is….the connection between blues and the singer’s Kansas City jazz roots. With a stellar ensemble (including piano, trombone, saxophones and trumpet) Turner deftly executes singing prowess and agility, with brilliant arrangements by Ernie Wilkins.

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Shirley Scott set an enduring standard for tenor saxophone/organ groups, beginning with this their first recording together. Davis' authoritative, hard swinging style came through his seasoning as a key player in the Count Basie band. Scott, an accomplished pianist, took up the organ when she joined Davis in 1955, emerging with her distinctive, driving yet subtle style virtually fully formed. The music on this 1958 date holds few surprises; it's meat and potatoes all the way, but it's made using the choicest ingredients. The barbecue sauce is applied in moderation, as the band steers closer to Basie-style swing than to overt R&B riffing. Davis and his working band -- Scott and drummer Arthur Edgehill -- are joined here by reed player Jerome Richardson and bassist George Duvivier. Richardson, playing flute on most tracks, provides a useful complement to Davis' tenor. Duvivier is indispensable in anchoring the music with a commanding walking bass. Edgehill's quick, light touch helps maintain the swinging, jazzy feel. The tracks comprise three strong Davis originals, two standards, including "But Beautiful," which ranks as a master class in ballad playing, and the CD's centerpiece, the 12-minute plus "In the Kitchen." – All Music

Classic post bop blues-jazz straight from 1962, beautifully remastered for today.

The incomparable and profoundly influential pianist/singer-songwriter Mose Allison – who’s inspired everyone from Georgie Fame, The Who and The Clash to Van Morrison and Pixies – developed his own unique, idiosyncratic style that melded an ironic sense of wit and humour with country-blues inflections and a bebop-esque vocabulary. Besides cool playing and his uniquely smoky singing, has great taste in material. "Hey Good Lookin'" fits right in with revisited versions of "I Love the Life I Live", "I Ain't Got Nobody" and "Baby Please Don't Go", complete with what the singer himself calls his distinctive 'involuntary groan' during the piano solo. Teo Macero's intimate production makes it feel like you're right there in the studio. - hhv

 Harrold has come through with a recording that is altogether more distinctive and contemporary, one that seems to reflect his range of musical interests. It contains some jazz, to be sure, but a dozen tracks feature vocals of one kind or another on eight tracks: found speech (a voicemail from the leader's mom), mock news reports, singing, and rapping. The purely instrumental tracks are not swinging or standards but, rather, atmospheric groove tunes of various stripes that act as a tacked-on echo ("Lullaby"), interlude ("Ethereal Souls"), or coda ("Bubba Rides Again"). 

The stylistic range is wide, though all the music is generally in the realm of soul and hip-hop. For example, "Stay This Way" begins as a kind of slow jam romance tune, except Bilal sings it with a wide range of idiosyncrasy, from a whisper to a snarl — accompanied by the leader's heraldic trumpet but also by some distorted organ. Then, boom, incomes Chris Dave on drums playing a super-hip-hop groove as Bilal plays call-and-response with background vocalists. Rapper Big K.R.I.T. takes a laid-back verse in the middle, and the tune goes out on Harrold riding above the groove, which is somehow slick and quirky at the same time. It is marvelous and unlike just about anything. - Pop Matters