Blues & Jazz

There are box sets and then there are BOX SETS. John Mayall’s The First Generation 1965-1974 set sits firmly in the latter category, being substantial both in the artefacts contained within and the superb music it encompasses.

The first set of this size to be released documenting John Mayall’s early years sees not only all albums from his much lauded formative career, but also unreleased tracks aplenty. Featuring Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Harvey Mandel, Blue Mitchell, Jon Mark and many more outstanding musicians, this mammoth package contains 35 CDs, a beautiful hardback book and much more.

Not for nothing did Mayall earn the moniker ‘Godfather of the British Blues’. For a short but compelling time in the 60s and 70s he recognised raw talent, took it in, nurtured it, and everyone thrived and benefitted as a result. Many of the best musicians of the period passed through the hallowed ranks of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. All are on show here in a stunning set crammed with musical highlights.

Put together with John Mayall’s full co-operation, the full list of contents is as follows:

• 35 DISCS, inc. 3 CD singles & 8 previously unreleased discs, alongside newly remastered versions of the original Decca & Polydor albums
• MUSIC FROM SEVEN UNRELEASED GIGS (inc. Windsor 1967, Gothenburg 1968, Berlin 1969 and San Francisco 1970)
• 28 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED BBC TRACKS featuring Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor
• HARDBACK BOOK inc. many rare photos and memorabilia plus a full gig listing for the period • INDIVIDUALLY SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH
• FAN CLUB BOOK of letters and correspondence • 2 REPLICA POSTERS - Ten Years Are Gone and 1968 tour poster
• REPLICA PRESS PACK for John Mayall Plays John Mayall

Double DVD edition. Eric Clapton, one of the world's pre-eminent blues/rock guitarists, once again summoned an all-star team of six-string heroes for his fifth Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2019. Held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, the two-day concert event raised funds for the Crossroads Centre in Antigua, the chemical dependency treatment and education facility that Clapton founded in 1998. With actor Bill Murray as the Master of Ceremonies, the 2019 festival features outstanding performances by Clapton, James Bay, Jeff Beck, Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Clark Jr., Robert Cray, Sheryl Crow, Andy Fairweather Low, Peter Frampton, Vince Gill, Buddy Guy, Sonny Landreth, Lianne La Havas, Los Lobos, John Mayer, Keb' Mo', Bonnie Raitt, Robert Randolph, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jimmie Vaughan and many more.

If you know anything about Joe Bonamassa-the post-millennium’s breakout bluesman/pre-eminent Anglophile-you’ll know that a lifelong ambition is to blow the roof off Abbey Road. Royal Tea brings Bonamassa full circle, the backdrop of Abbey Road demanded British Blues, reconnecting with the guitar-slinging kid who stumbled across Jeff Beck Group, John Mayall, Cream, etc. in his dad’s vinyl collection. Cowritten by notables like Bernie Marsden (Whitesnake), Pete Brown (Cream), Jools Holland.

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of his TOURIST album, Ludovic Navarre aka 'St Germain' has invited UK, South Africa, USA, Reunion Island and France producers, DJs and remixers with various musical inspirations, from Deep House to Afro House and Chicago House

Vinyl LP pressing. Mood Indigo: Complete Bethlehem Singles - Nina Simone's classic Bethlehem singles collected in one package including a bonus 7" single featuring remastered "Porgy (Porgy, Loves You)". Carefully curated and packaged together to bring back Nina's classic recordings.

Chris Hillman co-founded some of the most classic, seminal, groundbreaking acts of the '60s and '70s including The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Manassas, and The Souther-Hillman-Furay Band. But, in the mid 1970s, Hillman decided it was time to try things on his own. Hot on the heels of his 2017 critically acclaimed album (produced by Tom Petty), The Asylum Years presents both of those '70s albums on one compact disc, with an essay from Scott Schinder, featuring a new interview with Hillman.

Nina's second album for her new label Colpix, Nina Simone At Town Hall was largely recorded in concert at New York City's Town Hall on 15 September 1959. Some of the songs featured in the concert were subsequently re-recorded in a studio the following month, with the album being released before the year was out. Most of the material on the album was either written or arranged by Nina herself, but there are interesting interpretations of Billie Holiday's Fine And Mellow and the standard Summertime.

This 2 CD retrospective reflects over 60 years of Barbara Dane's eclectic musical history in folk, blues and jazz. The 39 tracks include 13 never-before-released recordings, featuring collaborations with Lightin' Hopkins, the Chambers Brothers, Doc Watson, Pete Seeger, Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon, Art Hodes, and more. The extensive liner notes give insight into Dane's singular trajectory as an outspoken and indomitable artist who, unwilling to make the compromises demanded by the music business, struck out on her own path, singing for peace and social justice. 2 discs-150 minutes, extensive notes and photos in a 40-page booklet.

Never underestimate the power of a woman with her back to the wall. In March 2020, as Covid blew across the planet, the shutters came down on live venues and recording studios, and the music scene fell suddenly silent, Ghalia Volt faced the same dilemma as every other artist. What now? The answer was One Woman Band.For Volt, the rebirth as a solo performer wasn't a decision made lightly. Since the early days, she's been a musician who thrives on the buzz of the hook-up, surrounding herself with the best players and soaking up their vibe. Back in 2017, it was the Belgium-born songwriter's taste for collaboration that led her to New Orleans, for the meeting with local blues legends Mama's Boys that became her smash-hit debut album, Let The Demons Out. Two years later, it was that same spirit that lured Volt to the fabled hill country of Coldwater, Mississippi, to hold her own at second-album sessions with greats like Cody Dickinson, Cedric Burnside, Lightnin' Malcolm and Watermelon Slim.With the breakout success of 2019's Mississippi Blend - a record that broke into the Top 3 of the Billboard Blues Chart on three separate occasions - it seemed the world was Volt's for the taking, her seven-year transformation from Brussels busker to the adopted daughter of American roots gathering pace. Now, with One Woman Band, the journey takes a thrilling left-turn. If her apprenticeship on the mean streets taught Volt anything, it's that she already had everything she needed to make magic - and in March, she reconnected with that one-woman philosophy. "I started playing on a real drum set," she recalls. "Playing a kick, snare and hi-hat plus a tambourine with my two feet, while playing slide/guitar and singing at the same time."

For the first time, all of Ella & Louis' classic duets are in one place. This 4CD set gathers their timeless three Verve albums newly remastered versions of Ella and Louis, Ella and Louis Again and Porgy and Bess combining them with their eight Decca singles, live recordings from Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl plus several alternates & false starts from the Decca & Verve eras, illuminating their craft & good humor. The set also includes an extensive essay by Ricky Riccardi.

The latest entry in the award-winning Miles Davis Bootleg Series focuses on the final chapter in the landmark collaboration between Davis and saxophonist John Coltrane: their last live performances together, in Europe in the spring of 1960.

Miles and Coltrane first collaborated in 1955, when Davis recruited the tenor saxophonist alongside pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones. This "first great quintet" made their Columbia Records debut in 1957. Those early recordings showcased the stunning contrasts between Miles' spacious, melodic lines and Trane's cascading high-energy solos, famously described by the critic Ira Gilter in 1958 as "sheets of sound."

While the quintet disbanded shortly after the release of 'Round About Midnight, Coltrane was back in Miles' ensemble in early 1958. A year later, the Miles Davis Sextet (Davis, Coltrane, Chambers, saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly, and drummer Jimmy Cobb) recorded the historic Kind Of Blue, the best-selling jazz album of all time. And for this final tour the rhythm section of Kelly, Chambers and Cobb backed Miles and Trane.

These historic performances marked Miles and Tran's last outing together and showcased both musicians' incredible influence on the changing sound of jazz. The beautiful music they made together is presented here officially for the very first time.

A 150 gram vinyl version, The Final Tour: Copenhagen, March 24, 1960 will include that complete set on one LP.

The latest entry in the award-winning Miles Davis Bootleg Series focuses on the final chapter in the landmark collaboration between Davis and saxophonist John Coltrane: their last live performances together, in Europe in the spring of 1960.

Miles and Coltrane first collaborated in 1955, when Davis recruited the tenor saxophonist alongside pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones. This "first great quintet" made their Columbia Records debut in 1957. Those early recordings showcased the stunning contrasts between Miles' spacious, melodic lines and Trane's cascading high-energy solos, famously described by the critic Ira Gilter in 1958 as "sheets of sound."

While the quintet disbanded shortly after the release of 'Round About Midnight, Coltrane was back in Miles' ensemble in early 1958. A year late, the Miles Davis Sextet (Davis, Coltrane, Chambers, saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly, and drummer Jimmy Cobb) recorded the historic Kind Of Blue, the best-selling jazz album of all time. And for this final tour the rhythm section of Kelly, Chambers and Cobb backed Miles and Trane.

These historic performances marked Miles and Trane's last outing together and showcased both musicians' incredible influence on the changing sound of jazz. The beautiful music they made together is presented here officially for the very first time.

The 4CD set The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 includes concerts recorded in Paris, Copenhagen and Stockholm.

It's been 4 years since the critically acclaimed, Grammy nominated, and #1 Billboard Blues album Seesaw was released by singer-songwriter Beth Hart and guitar hero Joe Bonamassa. They have reunited for Black Coffee - another collection of scorching interpretations of ten soul gems that pair Hart’s breathtaking vocals and Joe’s masterfully expressive playing. Featuring songs made famous by; Edgar Winter, Ray Charles, Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Lucinda Williams and more. LP is 180g, red vinyl, and contains an exclusive bonus track.

BMG proudly release Gary Moore’s Blues and Beyond, a remarkable collection of his powerful and emotive blues studio recordings. Blues and Beyond is released on double CD, 4 LP and as a box set, which includes unreleased live recordings and the official Gary Moore biography I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow written by Harry Shapiro. Best known for his evocative solo hits, Parisienne Walkways and Still Got the Blues (live versions feature in this set), and his on/off membership of Thin Lizzy, Gary Moore’s solo career comprises over twenty albums. Throughout the 1980s, Gary moved up the rock hierarchy, but turned his back on what he regarded as the empty flash of metal and reverted to his heart music – the blues – where ironically he scored his biggest commercial success through his 1990s and 2000s blues albums. As well as running his own bands, during a successful solo career, Gary mixed with the best that rock and blues could offer, playing live and on record with George Harrison, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Greg Lake, BB King, Albert King, Albert Collins and many others. Gary was also the guitarist many looked up to, not just for the terrifying speed of his fretwork, but for the passion, fire and honesty in his playing.

The sessions that produced Out In The Open were brisk and instinctive, expansive yet intimate, visceral and immediate - and they would have had to be, for herein are songs that tell the big story by drawing the small ones. There is, to my ear, as much of Raymond Carver's literate and humane influence on display as the Osborne Brothers, as much Welty in the pointed details - both sublime and confounding - as Clark and Van Zandt. Compassion and determination act as connective tissue when, throughout this song cycle, the bones, muscle, and blood of daily life dance with loose-limbed motion toward the inevitable, guided by an ethos best articulated by Sam Beckett who directed that when we falter, we try again and ''fail better.''

While in the studio, the Rangers stood in a circle - facing each other and the music with a well-worn brotherhood that was as well open to all they could not imagine transpiring between them. The songs were written as a map, and their shared history a compass blade, but the road itself - the journey - was a moving target and, as with all relevant music, remains one. And the Steep Canyon Rangers are moving along with it. - Joe Henry

And now we have Goin' Platinum!, the newest effort from the soon-to-be legendary soul singer Robert Finley and his crack band of geniuses. From the lovelorn bombast of "If You Forget My Love" to the soul-stirring "Medicine Woman," and the home-on-the-road ripper "Empty Arms" to the yearning "Honey Let Me Stay the Night," all capped by the epic closer "Holy Wine," featuring Finley's ethereal falsetto, Finley's performance left Dan Auerbach speechless-as it will anyone who lays ears to it.
As for the album title, Dan Auerbach gives all credit to Finley and his huge but wholly considerate personality. "He was just beaming from the second he walked in the door," Auerbach says. "Every time he'd listen to playback, he'd say, ‘It's goin' platinum.' That was his catch phrase.

Doctor Ross, also known as "Doctor Ross the Harmonica Boss", made his reputation as a bluesman in Memphis before moving to Michigan. During the early '50s, Ross recorded his first sides, including "Chicago Breakdown”, with Sam Phillips at Sun Records. This compilation, Memphis Breakdown, compiles the best of those early Memphis sessions all in one place, remastered for vinyl.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll audiences, later being referred to as “the original soul sister” and “the godmother of rock and roll”. This live recording from 1960 had never been on vinyl, until now, a whole 57 years later.

The set has plenty of variety, lots of sincere feeling, and high levels of musicianship from the unique performer. Highlights include “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands,” “Didn’t It Rain,” “The Gospel Train” and “Down By the Riverside.” The album was remastered for vinyl from analog tape and pressed at Pallas Group in Germany.

Chinese Butterfly is a reunion of two musical titans, a creative partnership that dates back to the early days of Return To Forever with Chick Corea when Steve Gadd was one of the first drummers.

180g with download card.

Double vinyl LP pressing. This 1956 concert by Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars is a historical gem, which is finally getting it's vinyl debut with this double LP release. Recorded on March 26, 1956, at the Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids, MI, it affords jazz fans a chance to hear what the barnstorming Armstrong's shows were like in heartland America. Armstrong's affable presence is pervasive, but not always center stage, as each member of the All-Stars gets his turn in the course of the revue. The release was remastered for vinyl from analog tape and pressed at Pallas Group in Germany.

Whipsmart songwriter, electrifying guitarist and lap steel player, and gruff, commanding vocalist Selwyn Birchwood is one of the blues' brightest young stars. His third album amazes with potent rhythms, startlingly fresh lyrics and jaw-dropping musicianship. Selwyn's first two releases, 2014's Don't Call No Ambulance and 2017's Pick Your Poison have scanned over 16,000 units combined.Alligator publicity and social media teams will be expanding awareness for an artist who has been featured on NPR's World Café and XM/Sirius Satellite radio and in Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, DownBeat, Vintage Guitar and No Depression, plus tour press from coast to coast. Selwyn has enjoyed strong Triple A support from format leaders like WXPN/Philadelphia and WMNF/Tampa, as well as being championed at blues radio worldwide.A tireless live performer, Selwyn has logged over 150 live performances a year since his 2014 debut and will be scorching stages across the U.S. as soon as tour dates are feasible.Produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Susan Tedeschi), Living In A Burning House is a master class in distinctive, contemporary roots music and positively brimming with immediately catchy lyrics, undeniable grooves and some of the most exhilarating guitar playing in any genre. Thirteen compelling originals include horn-fueled declarations of love, rocking reflections on modern life and low and slow ballads, all bound by Selwyn's raw, urgent vocals. National advertising includes a Facebook ad campaign, plus color ads in Living Blues and Blues Music Magazine. Regional advertising for Selwyn Birchwood tour dates and in major blues society newsletters. Aggressive promotion at Triple A and Americana radio, plus specialty blues shows, radio syndicators and various internet music programmers.Whipsmart songwriter, electrifying guitarist and lap steel player, and gruff, commanding vocalist Selwyn Birchwood is one of the blues' brightest young stars. His third album amazes with potent rhythms, startlingly fresh lyrics and jaw-dropping musicianship. Selwyn's first two releases, 2014's Don't Call No Ambulance and 2017's Pick Your Poison have scanned over 16,000 units combined.Alligator publicity and social media teams will be expanding awareness for an artist who has been featured on NPR's World Café and XM/Sirius Satellite radio and in Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, DownBeat, Vintage Guitar and No Depression, plus tour press from coast to coast. Selwyn has enjoyed strong Triple A support from format leaders like WXPN/Philadelphia and WMNF/Tampa, as well as being championed at blues radio worldwide.A tireless live performer, Selwyn has logged over 150 live performances a year since his 2014 debut and will be scorching stages across the U.S. as soon as tour dates are feasible.Produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, Susan Tedeschi), Living In A Burning House is a master class in distinctive, contemporary roots music and positively brimming with immediately catchy lyrics, undeniable grooves and some of the most exhilarating guitar playing in any genre. Thirteen compelling originals include horn-fueled declarations of love, rocking reflections on modern life and low and slow ballads, all bound by Selwyn's raw, urgent vocals. National advertising includes a Facebook ad campaign, plus color ads in Living Blues and Blues Music Magazine. Regional advertising for Selwyn Birchwood tour dates and in major blues society newsletters. Aggressive promotion at Triple A and Americana radio, plus specialty blues shows, radio syndicators and various internet music programmers.

Over the course of his astounding career, acclaimed singer-songwriter, Seal, has sold over 50 million albums globally.  Now this iconic voice is tackling timeless songs with a collection of stunning versions of standards. Standards will release on November 10 and will include hit tracks “Luck Be A Lady” and “It Was A Very Good Year.”

Rescued from the vaults: ‘Ella At Zardi's’ is the Verve Records' first live recording, and is being heard for the first time anywhere. The two sets from the evening, in front of a lively crowd, was captured February 2, 1956, a few days before Ella began recording Verve’s first album, ‘Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book.’

Blue Note Records will release a new Deluxe Edition of Norah Jones’ acclaimed album Day Breaks. A 2-CD set and limited edition 2-LP 180g silver foil-cover vinyl.

The expanded track listing includes the addition of nine songs recorded live in New York City during Norah’s memorable album release shows at the Sheen Center’s Loreto Theater in October 2016. The live cuts include versions of songs from Day Breaks like “Flipside” and the Horace Silver ballad “Peace,” as well as fan favorites like “Don’t Know Why” and “Sunrise,” performed by Norah (voice, piano), Chris Thomas (bass), Brian Blade (drums), Pete Remm (Hammond B-3 organ), and background vocalists Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball & Anjelika ‘Jelly’ Joseph of Tank and The Bangas (winners of NPR Music’s 2017 Tiny Desk Contest).

Two-time GRAMMY-winning vocalist Gregory Porter s 3rd Blue Note album, Nat King Cole & Me, is a heartfelt tribute to his idol, the legendary singer, pianist and Capitol recording artist Nat King Cole.

With the help of 6-time GRAMMY-winning arranger Vince Mendoza, the London Studio Orchestra, a core band featuring pianist Christian Sands, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Ulysses Owens, and special guest trumpeter Terence Blanchard on two tracks, Porter revisits some of Cole s most cherished classics such as Mona Lisa, L-O-V-E, Nature Boy & The Christmas Song

The Luckiest Man confirms Ronnie Earl’s status as one of the most soulful blues/soul/jazz guitarists working today. A three-time Blues Award winner as Guitarist Of The Year, Earl has worked with his band The Broadcasters for almost 30 years. This is his 25th release. This album is dedicated to the memory of long-time Broadcaster bass player Jim Mouradian. As Jim would say when he first met someone, “I’m the luckiest man you know — and I don’t even know who you know.” Playing with spellbinding intensity and soul, Earl has a legion of fans that await each new release.

2017 release from the blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. Fish recorded Belle of the West in the relaxed, rural creative atmosphere of the legendary Zebra Ranch Studios in the North Hills of Mississippi with producer Luther Dickinson (of North Mississippi Allstars fame), with whom she worked previously on her 2015 album Wild Heart. The studio team included some of the region's most iconoclastic musicians, including Dickinson, solo artist and Jack White associate Lillie Mae, much-traveled juke-joint blues artist Lightnin' Malcolm, Squirrel Nut Zippers founder Jimbo Mathus, upright bassist and beloved solo artist Amy LaVere, Tikyra Jackson, Trina Raimey and Shardé Thomas, granddaughter of the legendary Southern bluesman Otha Turner.

2017 release from the veteran blues outfit. Blues is not for the faint-hearted. Since the genre first drew breath, it's greatest practitioners have embraced the darkness, spinning tales of hardship and death, hellhounds and devilry. If the sleeve of Witchy Feelin' suggests that Kim Simmonds, too, has a tendency towards the macabre, then Savoy Brown's iconic leader is happy to confirm it. "Blues has always dealt with themes of the Devil, witchcraft and so forth, and I've always written along those lines. At least three of the songs on Witchy Feelin' have that hoodoo vibe..." Witchy Feelin' proves the Devil still has all the best tunes. From the thrillingly brittle guitar riff that opens Why Did You Hoodoo Me, we are in the hands of a master, with Simmonds reigniting the seismic vocals and searing fretwork that established Savoy Brown as linchpins of the '60s British blues boom. Recording alongside Pat Desalvo (bass), Garnet Grimm (drums) and engineer Ben Elliott, Simmonds leads us into a world of dark nights, wild weather, women and whiskey: all perennial themes given a modern twist by this ageless bluesman. "The songs on this album have been two years in the making," he reflects. "I tried to write songs that had a personal point of view yet can be relatable to everyone. On 'Vintage Man', I wrote about being the type of guy who doesn't change as he gets older. I wrote about the power of love on 'Why Did You Hoodoo Me'. And with 'Guitar Slinger', I wrote a song about seeing a great guitar player in an old country bar - as I did when I first saw Roy Buchanan in '69."

2017 release. Grammy-nominated artist Seth MacFarlane's love affair with standards continues with his fourth album, In Full Swing. MacFarlane wraps his rich, expressive baritone around 16 toe-tapping tunes he handpicked, utilizing his near encyclopedic knowledge of songs from the era. A connoisseur of the period, MacFarlane delighted in finding obscure gems, many first featured in musicals, to sprinkle between the better-known tracks from the '20s, '30s, '40s and '50s. In Full Swing is irrepressibly upbeat about cupid's arrow finding it's mark. - Two collaborations bolster the set: MacFarlane duets with longtime friend Norah Jones on the lovely "If I Had A Talking Picture of You" and he concludes the album with the bright and jaunty "My Buick, My Love and I," a duet with Elizabeth Gillies.

2017 release from the king and queen of the banjo. Béla Fleck is a fifteen-time Grammy Award winner who has taken the instrument across multiple genres, and Abigail Washburn a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who re-radicalized it by combining it with Far East culture and sounds. From writing concertos for full symphony orchestra, exploring the banjo's African roots, to jazz duos with Chick Corea, many tout that Béla Fleck is the world's premier banjo player. Washburn has the earthy sophistication of a postmodern, old-time singer-songwriter who has drawn critical acclaim for her solo albums. She has done fascinating work in folk musical diplomacy in China, presented an original theatrical production, and has contributed to singular side groups Uncle Earl and The Wu-Force. With one eye on using the banjo to showcase America's rich heritage and the other pulling the noble instrument from it's most familiar arena into new and unique realms, Bela & Abigail meet in the mean, head-on, to present music that feels wildly innovative and familiar at the same time. Whether at home, on stage or on record, their deep bond, combined with the way their distinct musical personalities and banjo styles interact, makes theirs a picking partnership unlike any other on the planet.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bishop and Grammy-winning harmonica great Musselwhite join forces for a fun and historic collaboration of front porch blues. Among the most famous bluesmen in the world, with over five decades each of recording and performing, Elvin and Charlie have scanned over 600,000 units combined, despite over two dozen of their releases coming before the advent of Soundscan. Aggressive press, radio and social media outreach around the great story of these two legends recording their first album together. Radio promotion for regular airplay on Triple A and Americana stations, as well as play on blues specialty shows that are guaranteed to give it bountiful spins. Tour dates at theatres and performing arts centers as they become feasible.

Archive collection of blues tracks pulled from the legendary Sun Records' vaults. They kept the cuts short 'n' sweet back then, which is why this 65th-anniversary Sun collection is able to pack 30 tracks into one CD. A demo of "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" by Elvis Presley joins "Rocket 88" Jackie Brenston, "She's Dynamite" B.B. King, "Folsom Prison Blues" Johnny Cash, "Roll Over Beethoven" Carl Perkins, "What'd I Say" Jerry Lee Lewis, "Decoration Day Blues" Howlin' Wolf, Elvis's early classics "That's All Right," "Mystery Train"... what a killer Sun comp!

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was the first great recording star of gospel music and among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm-and-blues and rock-and-roll audiences, later being referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the godmother of rock and roll". This live recording from 1960 had never been on vinyl, until now, a whole 57 years later. The set has plenty of variety, lots of sincere feeling, and high levels of musicianship from the unique performer. Highlights include "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands," "Didn't It Rain," "The Gospel Train" and "Down By the Riverside." The album was remastered for vinyl from analog tape and pressed at Pallas Group in Germany.

One of the South's finest vocalists, international recording artist Susan Marshall began her career Off-Broadway as a leading soprano in the Rep-Company Light Opera of Manhattan. Shortly after moving back to Memphis in 1990 she began fronting rock-soul band The Mother Station and was signed to a record deal with EastWest / Atlantic Records.  In 1994 they released their debut album "Brand New Bag" which peaked at #34 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts.

Since then, Susan has released three critically praised solo albums - "Susan Marshall Is Honey Mouth", "Firefly" and "Little Red".

Susan has toured all over the world as part of the Afghan Whigs as well as with Cat Power & The Memphis Rhythm Band, which included appearances on Austin City Limits, The Late Show w/ David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brian, and the BBC's Later...with Jools Holland.

Her new release on Madjack Records is titled "639 Madison".  Recorded at world renowned Sam Phillips Recording Studio in Memphis, TN, the album includes Susan's interpretation of several classic songs including one new song written by Sam Phillips' son Jerry.

The theme of friendship has carried Mitch Woods along through his career and has led him to this, his current duets and trios project…. Friends Along The Way. Featuring Guests: Van Morrison, Taj Mahal, Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite, Ruthie Foster, Joe Louis Walker, Maria Muldaur, Cyril Neville, Marcia Ball, John Hammond, Kenny Neal, James Cotton, John Lee Hooker and more… Mitch Woods has delivered a career spanning tour de force. What you hear on these songs is a simple duo or trio of musicians each expressing their innermost feelings and emotions through their instrument….the voice, piano, guitar, harmonica, tambourine…anything that can communicate the feelings, the rhythms of life to the audience. Friends Along The Way finds Mitch reaching into his historical sense of music. He reaches backwards to the roots rather than forward for his inspiration. This shines through on the first single “Take This Hammer” featuring a stunning vocal performance from Van Morrison and backed on guitar by Taj Mahal and of course Mitch Woods on piano. With Friends Along The Way, Mitch wanted to get a chance to play with some of his contemporaries in an intimate and mostly unplugged environment. The piano as an instrument lends itself to this format so perfectly. Mitch can play rhythm, lead, bass, and sing while accompanying some of his friends, who happen to be today’s blues and musical greats. It is a great instrument for bringing out the best of these awesome artists who are keeping the blues flame burning for generations to come. Some say music is a gift. It is a gift, not only to the person who performs it but to the world. The musicians you hear in these songs have spent a lifetime doing what they love to do….play music. Enjoy…this album is Mitch Wood’s gift to you