Chicago native and classically trained pianist Patricia Barber's sixth album is a collection of downtempo standards, perfect for a rainy day. Taking on classics like "Autumn Leaves," "I Fall in Love Too Easily," "Bye Bye Blackbird," or even "Alfie" is always a risk, but her confident vocals and interpretations eradicate any doubt that she is a master. Her production is spare, allowing her to sing with such melancholy it's almost eerie. Not many performers can relay such harrowing feeling without over-emoting, but Barber makes it seem effortless. Nightclub is an appropriate title; listening to these love songs is like being in a smoky room, courted by a lounge singer. This is a classy, solid effort.

Companion was recorded in a special three-night series of shows in July, 1999 at Chicago's famed Green Mill jazz club -- an unusually short amount of time to produce a live album. To mine as much material as possible from those nights the performances were run more like recording sessions than live shows, with the crowd reverently hushed. Patricia Barber is in her element and the only thing that seems to have suffered for the recording circumstances is the album's length -- at seven songs and 40 minutes, it walks the line between standard EP and full-length size. One surmises that it might have been longer had there been more album-quality material from the performances. Recalling the energy that was present on her critically worshipped Café Blue album, there is an ease and creativity on Companion which makes her fans' devotion understandable. Barber has been criticized for being a jazz singer in the loosest sense -- her style borrows heavily from R&B and she often covers pop songs (Sonny Bono's "The Beat Goes On" is a sheer stylish delight), and her song "If This Isn't Jazz" answers that criticism with a thumb to the nose. What many critics fail to notice, however, is the strength of her musicianship. Sexism within the industry keeps many from seeing female jazz performers playing roles other than those of vocalists -- Barber's warm, breathy voice and creative phrasing are wonderful, for sure, but what really shines are her arrangements. With a talented band behind her, on Companion Barber has made magic with her compositions, her piano playing, and yes, her voice. Intended to be a companion to Modern Cool, this album of mostly previously unrecorded material serves as an excellent introduction to all of her work.

Electric Rendezvous is an album by Italian-American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist Al Di Meola released in 1982. It features Flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía who also recorded Friday Night in San Francisco with Di Meola.

Издание включает два аудиодиска (40 классических треков Ray Charles), а также DVD‑видео с концертной записью фестиваля Jazz Festival d’Antibes 1961 - найденной спустя 50 лет, с легендарным выступлением Рея и The Raelettes.
Выпущено в Европе и Великобритании в 2014 году лейблом Metro Sound & Vision в сотрудничестве с Union Square Music.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist and bandleader of jazz orchestras. His career spanned over 50 years, leading his orchestra from 1923 until he died.
He is widely regarded as the most important jazz composer and bandleader, with some admirers even seeing him as America's greatest composer in any musical field, with a vast library of compositions, from pop songs to extended works. The sidemen in his band included many leading jazz soloists, and he influnced many younger performers, from Miles Davis and Charles Mingus to Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan.

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974) was a jazz pianist and band leader, one of the big names in the history of the genre, and one of the USA's greatest popular composers.
He hailed from a middle-class family in Washington, DC, and learned piano both from lessons and from imitating the ragtime pianists in the community. After attaining modest success in DC as a pianist and jazz band leader, Duke sought the big time by taking his band to New York City, the center of the music world and the most glamorous scene of The Roaring Twenties. He first played in the Kentucky Club, then the Cotton Club, honing his songwriting chops and gathering more musicians around him until he was no longer leading a band but an orchestra. During the 1930s and 1940s, as big-band swing grew in popularity throughout the US and the world, Duke's jazz orchestra became renowned as one of the best.

Son orchestre big band est un des plus réputés de l'histoire du jazz, avec ceux de Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman comprenant des musiciens qui sont parfois considérés, tout autant que lui, comme des maîtres de cette musique et virtuoses de leurs instruments.

The release "Various - Jazz Sampler (1987) [MFSL]" refers to a compilation album, likely a promotional or audiophile release, produced by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) in 1987. MFSL is known for producing high-quality reissues of audiophile recordings. The "MFSL" designation indicates that this album was part of their audiophile series, often featuring remastered recordings and special packaging. The "sampler" aspect suggests it was intended to showcase a variety of jazz artists and tracks.

Melvin Howard Tormé - nicknamed "the Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Tormé won two Grammy Awards and was nominated a total of 14 times.

Will Power is the eighth album by Joe Jackson. Released in 1987, it is his first experiment with classical music, continued in later albums including Night Music, Heaven and Hell, and Symphony No. 1.
The album peaked at #131 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Night-Lines is an album by American pianist Dave Grusin released in 1984, recorded for the GRP label. The album reached No. 4 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart.
The album's cover is from the November 1983 issue of Electronic Fun with Computers & Games.