This is a group effort that finds Krantz in the company of young stars Lincoln Goines and Zach Danziger. This became a regular band for Krantz, who later put out a live recording with the same personnel. The tunes are all played with passion by all, and feature Krantz's penchant for extended and at times self-indulgent solos. Like most good jazz players, Krantz explores new territories and takes chances when he's playing. He is one of the few fusion-style players to emerge during the '90s who can improvise for long periods of time and make it interesting for the duration. This is more consistent than Signals, but it would have been an extra bonus to hear some more of his solo pieces.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the first ever CD released of Trapped in Time, a collection of rare demos and recordings made in 1969 by the legendary band Cressida. The band would later sign to Vertigo records, recording two classic albums for the label. Trapped in Time reflects the very first recordings made by the band prior to signing to Vertigo and was previously released as 500 limited edition LP. Featuring a line-up of Angus Cullen (vocals), John Heyworth (guitar), Kevin Mccarthy (bass), Lol Coker (organ), Peter Jennings (organ on tracks 3,4 & 5) and Iain Clark (drums), this Esoteric Recordings release features two extra tracks not included on the original vinyl LP and a booklet that features a new essay and rare photographs and coincides with the band’s first ever performance in the United States in early October.

This energetic, foot-tapping, no-filler album from the multi-talented Kenny Neal is a sheer delight, showcasing his fine skills on guitar and harmonica and his rich, powerful voice. Blues Fallin' Down Like Rain starts off with a bang, with an up-tempo rendition of the classic "Big Boss Man." Things settle down with "Shadow on the Moon," which features some tasteful guitar work and smooth, excellent vocals. In fact, Neal's voice is one of this album's major strengths, moving smoothly from richly sung melodies to expressive growls just as the music requires. The highlight of this album is the title track, a slow, lonely ballad with excellent guitar work and backing vocals. However, neither is as powerful as Neal's singing; when he pulls out all the stops, the results are impressive. Highly, highly recommended.

Marking a further progression in the overall Durutti sound, Without Mercy both an expanded lineup and sense of what could be done with Reilly's compositions. Consisting of a two-part full-album instrumental piece, Without Mercy integrates the slight hints of classical orchestration and accompaniment from Another Setting more fully via a slew of additional players. Besides the indefatigable Mitchell on percussion and Reilly on guitar, bass, and keyboards, performers on everything from viola to cor anglais and trumpet flesh out Without Mercy's sound to newly striking heights. Reilly's work on piano sets the initial mood for the song, a sound by now as intrinsic to Durutti's approach as his guitar work, capturing both tender beauty and deep melancholy just so…

The Hollies albums usually sound like a few friends, who know nothing more natural than singing and playing together, just giving a try for a nice little jam. And they are not the street credible baddish guys who get into a heavy blues jam or a noisy, punky-drinky ball. Instead, you can imagine them in colourful shirts and velvet trousers, now and then sipping some wine from a glass or even having tea. It feels like such a friendly atmosphere that even Hollies Sing Dylan, probably the most problematic or troublesome Hollies album ever, sounds very nice. Virtually everyone who knows anything more about The Hollies than just the hits, knows that Graham Nash made his exit (to be a member of CSN[Y]) after the other members had decided to ditch the original songwriting and make a Bob Dylan covers album…

Philippe Herreweghe, respected elder of the early choral music world, directs a pared-down version of his choir Collegium Vocale Gent in delectably careful performances of music that in less careful hands can sound plain crazy. The slippery harmonies of Carlo Gesualdo’s sixth book of madrigals, written in 1611 but sounding centuries ahead of their time, are nailed down with the sharpest, slenderest of pins thanks to the perfect tuning and clear tone of Herreweghe’s ensemble. One to each line, the singers maintain a finely balanced blend, emerging briefly as soloists at moments of emphasis. Some may find the ambience a bit churchified for these texts, in which images of frolicking cupids are heavily outweighed by the laments of unbedded lovers miserably invoking death; but the performances are full of subtle nuance, and you’re unlikely to hear passages such as the end of Io Pur Respiro, with its sliding, viscous harmonies, better done.

Musician, boxer, painter, and poet, Champion Jack was the renaissance man of the blues. He spent the last 30 years of his life living in Europe, but returned to his New Orleans birthplace for some of the early '90s Jazz and Heritage Festivals. In 1991 he stayed stateside long enough to record his second Bullseye Blues album and play a few select U.S. dates before returning to Europe for an exhibition of his paintings in a Swedish art gallery. This batch of Champion Jack originals includes "Yella Pocahontas," the name of the tribe he ran with in New Orleans in the old days (Bo Dollis of the Wild Magnolias sings and plays tambourine on this one), and features backing from his longtime guitarist Kenn Lending, slide player John Mooney, New Orleans bassist Walter Payton, Jr. and others.

Ian Matthews left Fairport Convention in 1969, and while the U.K.'s greatest folk-rock band was beginning to reinvent itself in a more traditional and very British direction, Matthews began digging deeper into the American influences that had marked his old band's first era. Later That Same Year, the second album from Ian's new group Matthews Southern Comfort (it was released in late 1970, a mere six months after their debut, hence the title), is a beautiful set of songs that splits the difference between West Coast folk-rock and early country-rock, with Gordon Huntley's pedal steel and Roger Coulam's lending an air of sunny sadness that dovetails beautifully with Matthews' silky tenor. Matthews wrote three of the songs on Later That Same Year, and they rank with the album's finest moments, especially the ethereal harmonies of "And Me" and the graceful simplicity of "My Lady," but Matthews also borrows some excellent material from American writers, including a cover of Neil Young's "Tell Me Why" that remains faithful while creating a languid mood of its own.

Unlike many bands whose careers had begun in the 1970s, Camel continued to enjoy much success in the 1980s, producing fine studio albums such as Stationary Traveller. Although destined to be Camel's final studio album for Decca Records, it was a fine effort. The subsequent tour to promote the album was equally memorable and was captured by Decca at Hammersmith Odeon on 11th May 1984 and released as the album Pressure Points later that year. The concert saw Camel joined by former member Peter Bardens for certain songs during the set, including a rousing version of Lady Fantasy, not featured on the original album. Long unavailable on CD, this newly re-mastered Esoteric Recordings reissue has been expanded to a 2CD set to include songs not featured on the original album.

Back in the '80s, Paul Murphy developed a cult following as the U.K. DJ who fueled the parties at the WAG Club's Jazz Room. By drawing heavily on the soul-jazz and hard bop records of the '50s and '60s, he developed something of an underground dance craze, one that ran parallel to Northern soul and one that got big enough to attract patrons as prominent as Jerry Dammers of the Specials. A record called The Jazz Club presented highlights from these swinging parties and Murphy continued to DJ outside of the WAG Club, but the trend faded away by the early '90s and, along with it, so did Murphy. Many years later, producer Dean Rudland eventually reconnected with Murphy via Facebook, a rekindling that led to this Ace compilation from 2014. The Return of Jazz Club: Dancefloor Classics from the Original Jazz Dance DJ is a 15-track collection culled from the Prestige and Riverside vaults…

French composer, keyboardist and guitarist Philippe Grancher is a musician those familiar with the French music scene most likely will connect with blues, as he's been a rather succesful purveyor of that kind of music for the last couple of decades. But this veteran musician, born in 1956, first honed his skills on a rather different kind of music. In his late teens Grancher became fascinated with the, at the time, state of the art synthesizers. And his experiments with these instruments ultimately lead to the recording and release of a full length album, 3000 Miles Away. The album is an experimental affair fusing classical piano, synthesizer and guitar into sparse progressive rock compositions.