This is the fifth compilation sampling the blues roster of Alligator Records as it existed in its earliest incarnation.
Koko Taylor, Elvin Bishop, William Clarke, Bob Margolin, Lonnie Brooks, Charlie Musselwhite and others.

Gary Burton hits a sweet electric funky sound here - a great groove that really makes the album stand out from most of his other work! The support Burton gets is a big reason for the greatness of the date - as he's working in a group that includes Eric Gale on guitar, Richard Tee on piano and organ, Chuck Rainey on bass, and Bernard Purdie on drums. The album's got a bit of trippiness to it - kind of in the style of some of Herbie Mann's funky production work for the Vortex label - and a few cuts have producer Joel Dorn working with Arif Mardin on the cuts, giving them a more expansive sound that pushes Burton's playing nicely. The vibes have a dark chromatic quality to them that sounds great next to the sweeter playing of the funky player - and the record's filled with nice numbers

Fourth album from their catalogue released in 1978 named Libre Service - Self-Service is almost same in manner of composing with previous one, aswell shorter pieces but full of inventive passages. Overall polished sound, some untraditional instruments here like xylophone, marimba combined with the rest gives a very solid album. Flute again is important as guitar and keyboards, again an instrumental album. Maybe in places is little more accesible then previous album and maybe lighter in aproach but never the less a great album by Maneige that keeps the flag high in those dark years of prog late '70s.

Overwhelmingly interesting and extremely variant, Jon Hassell's Dream Theory in Malaya is rescued from the stereotypical new age recipe, thanks to its ever-changing instrumental structure and the use of numerous eccentric instruments that emerge as the album progresses. The album's concept is taken from an anthropologist's 1935 study of a tribe of Malaysian aborigines who made it part of their daily routine to discuss the dreams they had the night before. To this story line, Hassell has created a novel and extraordinary set of instrumental meanderings that even includes a refurbished and re-fragmented set of rhythms that was believed to be created by the Semelai tribe. The mixture of bowl gongs, bells, and assorted drums captures the primeval spirit of the album, while Hassell's use of the trumpet on all of the tracks implements some of today's modern sound amongst the percussiveness…

There’s more to this recording than the best funeral bells and the most focused tuba playing on disc in the finale of the Fantastique. Karajan did not record much Berlioz, but like many German conductors he had a special feeling for this particular work. He recorded it three times, once for EMI and twice for DG, the present version being his last and, on balance, most compelling.

Revealing an affinity for Weill, Teresa Stratas fulfills her promise to Lotte Lenya on her deathbed to "carry on the torch for Kurt Weill's music." Stratas's glorious soprano has never sounded better as she applies her operatic expertise to deliciously caress this music without losing any of the underlying subtext. Lacking the grittiness of other interpreters, she captures the emotional angles by letting her beautiful voice express the tortured heart beneath it; where others shout at you, Stratas sings at you. She casually bounces off the cheerier selections from One Touch of Venus and Happy End, letting Gerard Schwarz's brilliantly conducted orchestra display their wit. Program notes include a fascinating interview with Stratas.

A Baroque West Side Story, Tancrède tells of the absolute but impossible love between two young people brought together by their passion but separated by their origins. We are in the time of the Crusades: Tancredi is the champion of the Frankish army, and Clorinda the passionaria of the Saracen troops. In the labyrinth of sentiments, sorcerer Isménor's magic wand confuses the issues, luring the two heroes into the enchanted forest to better prepare their downfall. With Tancrède, André Campra (1660-1744) established himself as one of the great opera composers between Lully and Rameau.

Tony Iommi and Glenn Hughes have quite a storied history together. Both hail from the same area in England. Iommi and Hughes first collaborated together on the 1986 Black Sabbath album, Seventh Star, before reuniting in 1996 to work on some new tunes Iommi had penned. The project was ultimately shelved when Iommi reunited with his Sabbath pals, but it finally saw an official release in 2004, as DEP Sessions: 1996. During the album's resurgence, the duo decided to work on a proper album together, which resulted in Fused a year later. Joined by ace session drummer Kenny Aronoff, Iommi and Hughes made a conscious decision to come up with a heavier, more riff-based album than DEP (which Iommi felt was more melody based)…

Not released until 1996, this was an unusual gig for the band, which was breaking in a new rhythm section (this may have been this lineup's first show) without much or any rehearsal. You can't tell from this 77-minute disc, which offers a typically amorphous, free-floating set of black rock - which is to say, judged by most standards, it's not typical music at all. Seguing from spaced-out jams to occasional numbers with vocals by George Clinton, and throwing in imaginative improvisations by guitarist Eddie Hazel and keyboardist Bernie Worrell, it sounds something like a combination of Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, and Sun Ra. The 14-minute "Maggot Brain" verges on prog rock/psychedelia (in the good sense), with its almost mystical guitar lines; earthier pleasures are offered with cuts like "I Call My Baby Pussycat" (two versions)…