The arrival of Buddy Guy-Junior Wells band in Paris in September 1970 gave him a chance to work again with a 'hot' guitarist, an amplified- harmonica player. A sax-section and a tight rhythm background. Sharing vocals with Guy, rolling the keys of piano, he hollered the Blues with enthusiasm and real feeling. Much of the credit for this surprising release must go to producer Phillipe Rault and to the sidemen who provided the right blues workout: mention must be made of saxmen Jim Conley and AC Reed - the former has been a familiar figure on Chicago's Southside for years, while the latter is known for his fine work with the late Earl Hooker. What you hear is Memphis Slim but what you get is pure Chicago Blues - the Sound of the South, Fifties' style. Slim hadn't done anything quite like this and never did it again, and we're glad he took US back to the good old days just this once.

GATE'S ON THE HEAT

FOURTH & BEALE

ROCK N ROLL GUMBO

Reissue of a collaboration between three American roots giants from the early '70s: Canned Heat, Memphis Slim and the Memphis Horns.

DOWN SOUTH IN THE BAYOU COUNTRY

BLUE MEMPHIS SUITE

By the end of 1968, some six years before he died, T-Bone Walker's name had already gone down in history. But although history had taken the artist into it's Hall of Fame, it hadn't done much o feed him, and Walker found himself strangely torn between the status of living legend and life of a traveling minstrel. At a time when Black America was forsaking it's past in favor of soul music, Europe was providing asylum for blues musicians and T-Bone was no exception. Solicited by the powers that be at French Polydor, he recorded this collection whose critical and commercial success literally turned his career around, giving him new legitimacy and throwing a new light onto his storybook career.

Thirty years ago, in late December, 1976, Charles Mingus performed a series of concerts in Tokyo with his quintet. In 2005, also in December, another Mingus band rounded out a week at Tokyo's famous Blue Note Club with a live recording on New Year's Eve. Trumpet player Jack Walrath was on hand for both events, linking past and present. The original tour included Walrath, Charles Mingus, Danny Mixon and Ricky Ford. The current 14-piece ensemble, the Mingus Big Band, is the legacy group that carries Mingus' voice into the future. They now release a live album of Mingus' work with LIVE IN TOKYO AT THE BLUE NOTE.

SOU NI TILE

LE ROI DE LA BOSSA NOVA: THE KING OF BOSSA NOVA

VIA BRASIL 1

Beautiful new album featuring some of the most enchanting African acapella vocal arrangements.

Here we present three interpretations of Mingus's music by three different repertory bands: 1. The Mingus Big Band, which just completed a fourteen-year tenure of Thursday nights at Manhattan's Fez under the Time Cafe, 2. The Mingus Orchestra, distinguished form it's older sibling by it's more exotic instrumentation that includes bassoon, bass clarinet and French horn as well as guitar and 3. The 7-piece Mingus Dynasty, the original repertory band formed in 1979. This album features wonderful compositions from Mingus Big Band and Orchestra Dynasty.

One of jazz's leading figures, Dave Holland, continues to ascend to new heights as a band-leader, composer and arranger. OVERTIME is desinted to become one of the most celebrated albums in the Dave Holland discography. This album features 5 never-ebfore-recorded Holland compositions and arrangements, and a suite comissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival.