The Fantastic Boogaloo Kings - Blues (Germany)

The blues formation of "The Fantastic Boogaloo Kings" consists of four established musicians from the European Blues & Jazz scene. Due to their previous association with such world famous artists as:Luther Allison, Country Joe Mc Donald & Toto Cotugno, also winning various music awards and creating great interest from the European Jazz & Blues Media proves, this band really has something to offer!

The Belgian "Bobtje Blues Magazine" has described their style as "west coast swing with an original soul influence”, and not always rigidly orientated to the 12 bar theme.Their own compositions and unique arrangements have become a trademark of the "FBKs".They've had numerous fantastic concerts in various renowned Blues & Jazz clubs and venues all over Europe, Jazz Rally Luxemburg, Jazzweek Burghausen (Germany), Bluesfestival Baden (Switzerland), Jazzfestival Zug (Switzerland), International Wiehler Jazztage (Germany), Blues & Jazzfestival Fieberbrunn (Austria) to name but a few.

Band:

Mello Yellow (voice, harp)

Andrea Tognoli (bass)

Colin 'The Highlander' Jamieson (guitar)

Martin 'Professor' Czemmel (drums)

Cool For Cats

Urge Overkill - Alternative Rock (USA)

Urge Overkill is an alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, United States, consisting of Nathan Kaatrud, who took the stage name Nash Kato (vocals/guitar), and Eddie "King" Roeser (vocals/guitar/bass guitar). They are widely known for their song "Sister Havana" and their cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", which was notably used in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. Their first album since 1995, Rock & Roll Submarine, was released in 2011.

 Stull

The Supersonic Storybook

LINKS

Interstate Blues - Blues Rock (USA)

If you like straight ahead 70's style blues based hard rock with heavy drums, solid bass and screaming guitars then this is the band for you! Formed by Jamie Purpora (guitar,vocals), Jeremy Crowther (drums) in Los Angeles in 1995. The idea? Go back to the blues to re learn the roots of rock and roll (which most of our contemporaries have missed). And then evolve back to the hard rock we loved growing up! Interstate Blues have released eleven albums "Let It Go" (1996), "Interstate Blues" (1997), "Velvet" (1998), "Southern Lips" (2000), "White Lightning" (2003), "El Diablo" (2005),  "Redemption" (2007), "Redux" (2009), "Red Was The Sky" (2010) “Two Thousand Miles Away” (2013) and "Dragon Lady" (2016). With each release the songs and sound get more refined. Between 1995 and 2018 Interstate Blues have played over to two hundred shows in the Los Angeles area. From The Whisky A Go Go to The Roxy to The Mint to The 1650 Club to The Viper Room to Skinny's Lounge just to name a few.  

Velvet (1998)

The Insomniacs - Mod Rock (USA)

Don't let the fact they're on Estrus Records fool you: The Insomniacs are not just another bunch of down and dirty garage revivalists. This New Jersey three-piece has a healthy taste for British Invasion and power pop sounds that are tuneful without sounding wimpy, and while their music definitely harkens back to pop's past, the songs have a very contemporary snap, and they play with enough punch to make these songs truly rock without losing sight of the melodies. While Get Something Going! doesn't represent a radical departure from their previous work, it shows the Insomniacs keep getting better at what they do, and the best cuts ("Guilt Free," "Something for the Weekend," and "And the Candle Burns") show they have an aural personality that sets them apart from the fuzztone-and-paisley crowd while still honoring their obvious influences. Cool stuff that's ideal for your next teenage party (assuming your guests were teenagers between 1964 and 1967 -- or at least wish they were).

Get Something Going!

The Gentlemen's Agreements - Freakbeat Groove & Blue Eyed Soul (Europe)

French Freakbeat-Hammond-Mod-sensation THE GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENTS bring you their spectacular and mindblowing debut album 'Understanding!'... and it is a true hitrecord indeed! These French lads have already proven themselves worthy with their fantastic first 7" 'All Good Things', if not at the Soundflat Records Ballroom Bash with their amazingly powerful live-show, and now we can celebrate the birth of their very first LP! This album includes twelve tracks, twelve of which will make you dance and shake to over and over again! Their trademarks are roaring hammond sounds, groovy beats, heavy fuzz- and distortion guitars, cool bass riffs, and last but not least great, blue-eyed soulvocals by charismatic and energetic singer Lord Barnaby 'Street' Weissm\\'fcller. 'Understanding!' is the wonderful result of a friendship-fun-project between talented musicians and members of some of the best French bands of today's 60s-Garage-Rock scene (TOWERBROWN, SHEETAH ET LES WEISSM\\'dcLLER, HAWAII MEN, PENELOPE) that became this great new Mod-band called THE GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENTS. A furious debut through and through! "

5 musicians , 5 friends, 5 talented Gentlemens and lot of freakbeat groove & blue eyed soul from the end of the 60's with a today sound !

Understanding! 

The Ensemble Al-Salaam - Jazz Funk & Soul

 

Sublime spiritual jazz from Strata East – one of the label's rarest recordings, and one of its hippest too! The set has an incredibly righteous feel – a blend of keyboards, saxes, guitar, percussion, and vocals that steps off with a very deep feel – one that's heavy on the best post-Coltrane modes of expression in jazz, and which really takes advantage of the freedoms of the Strata setting to open up the sound in really beautiful ways! Beatrice Parker handles the vocals, with a very warm and spiritual style that's not unlike some of the early, righteous recordings by Dee Dee Bridgewater – and other group members include Khaliq Abdul Al Rouf on saxes, Bevin Turnbull on keyboards, Mashujaa Aliye Salamu on guitar, Leroy Seals on bass, and Fred Kwaku Crawley on a host of hip percussion instruments. There's a slight undercurrent of funk on a few tunes, but most tracks are focused more in a soaring, spiritual groove – with titles that include "Circles", "The Sojourner", "Peace (Salaam)", "Traces Of Trane", "Ecstasy", "Music Is Nothing But A Prayer", and "Malika".

Band:

Agogô, Bells, Tambourine, Maracas, Claves, Wind Chimes, Vocals, Percussion [Be Yoing], Liner Notes – Fred Kwaku Crawley

Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Piccolo Flute, Flute [Alto], Concert Flute – Khaliq Abdul Al Rouf

Bass [Fender], Vocals – Leroy Seals

Drums – Andrei Strobert

Electric Guitar – Mashujaa Aliye Salamu

Piano [Acoustic], Electric Piano, Vocals – Bevin Turnbull

Vocals – Beatrice Parker

The Sojourner

THE FLOWER KINGS - Symphonic Prog • Sweden

The Flower Kings biography (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=110)

Active since 1994

It's hard to make a biography about THE FLOWER KINGS, being that there's so much to say about them, so any attempt of telling their history may seem insufficient.

This esential Swedish group was born around 1993 as a power trio formed by Roine Stolt (Ex-KAIPA) in guitar and vocals, Jaime Salazar (Drums) and Hasse Bruniusson (percussion), and ex-SAMLA MAMMAS MANNA, this lineup worked with Stolt in his solo album "The Flower King" with the participation of Hans Fröberg (Lead and Backing vocals) who would stay with them.

Soon they decided to form a band using the name of the solo album so THE FLOWER KINGS was born, the keyboardist Tomas Bodin and Roine's brother Michael in the bass joined and the band was officially born.

For 1995 they have their first release ready "Back in the World of Adventures" which impressed the critics very much for their closeness to the style of early bands such as Moody Blues, genesis, Jethro Tull etc, borrowing ideas but not music, so you can easily find their inspiration but a single chord copied, I personally liked the album but found it closer to Neo Prog than to Symphonic but this is only a stylistic precision that has no relation with the quality of the album.

The next few years are prolific with few changes and they release "Retropolis" in 1996. Stardust we Are" in 1997 and "Flower Power" in 1998 with no great changes.

In 1999 Michael Stolt leaves the band and is replaced by Jonas Reingold so the new formation for "Space Revolver" in the year 2000 also includes Ulf Wallander playing the Sax as a guest that remains for a long period with them.

After "The Rainmaker" in 2001 Jaime Salazar leaves the band and the drums are taken by Zoltan Csörsz who stays in the band until the release of "Paradox Hotel" (2005) when is replaced by Marcus Liliequist.

As most Swedish bands the quality of their music and the musicianship of their members is impeccable but don't expect the complexity of their most illustrious compatriots like Anglagard or the dark and almost religious atmosphere of Par Lindh Project (With whom Roine worked in Gothic Impressions), being that the music of THE FLOWER KINGS is a bit lighter but not inferior by any means. 

Iván Melgar Morey - Perú

Back in the World of Adventures

Humble Pie - Rock (UK)

Humble Pie is the third album released by English rock group Humble Pie in 1970, and their first with A&M Records. Humble Pie was a transitional album and a harbinger of the band's new, heavier direction. The material was darker than their previous two efforts, with striking contrasts in volume and style – Peter Frampton's gentle "Earth and Water Song" is buttressed between two of the heaviest tracks on the record, the band composed "One Eyed Trouser Snake Rumba," and a cover of Willie Dixon's "I'm Ready". Drummer Jerry Shirley contributed a rare lead vocal on his song "Only a Roach," a country-twinged ode to cannabis that also appeared as the B-side of the summer 1970 single "Big Black Dog". This was their first release under the auspices of new American manager Dee Anthony – who'd pushed for a louder, tighter sound both live and in the studio – and for their new label, A&M Records. At the end of 1969, the Pie's old label, Immediate, owned by Andrew Loog Oldham, went bankrupt – a saga chronicled by Marriott on the satirical ballad "Theme from Skint (See You Later Liquidator)".

Humble Pie

Personnel:

Steve Marriott - guitar, keyboards, vocals

Peter Frampton - guitar, keyboards, vocals

Greg Ridley - bass, guitar, vocals

Jerry Shirley - drums, guitar, vocals, Lead Vocal on "Only a Roach"

- Additional musicians

John Wilson - drums on "Only a Roach"

B.J. Cole - steel guitar

Recorded by Glyn (The Man) Johns at Olympic Sound Studios, London

Mutual Ideas by Glyn Johns / Humble Pie

APHÉLANDRA - Symphonic Prog • France

Aphélandra biography (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=900)

APHÉLANDRA is a French symphonic prog band who recorded one album in 1976 but never saw its release, due to the ridiculously low offer from their record company at the time. For the next 25 years, the tapes have gathered dust in the keyboard player's attic until Mellow Records decided to release it in cd format in 2001. The stellar line-up included Philippe Grancher (keyboards), Pierre Videcoq (vocals, flute, tenor sax), Gérard Perret (electric guitar), Philippe Herbin (bass), Dominique Iroz (drums, percussion) and Clément Duventru (drums). Famous violinist Didier Lockwood as well as Cyrille Verdeaux (on piano and synth) also appeared as guest musicians. Except for those two, all members of APHÉLANDRA have long since left the music industry, each going their separate way.

Their self-titled album ("Aphélandra" is the name of a flower) is made up of classic French 70's prog with an interesting mix of classical sections, composed ensemble work and free-wheeling improvisation. The mainly symphonic nature of the music is interrupted now and then by solitary piano that gives their sound a distinct feel. The long instrumental passages are a welcome change from the melodramatic vocals often characteristic of early French prog bands. Not a masterpiece by any means but still worth a listen, if only for the 18-minute epic opening track.

For collectors of rare 70's symphonic prog.

Aphélandra

Paul Desmond - Jazz (USA)

Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer, best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's biggest hit, "Take Five". He was one of the most popular musicians to come out of the cool jazz scene.

In addition to his work with Brubeck, he led several groups and collaborated with Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Jim Hall, and Ed Bickert. After years of chain smoking and poor health, Desmond succumbed to lung cancer in 1977 after a tour with Brubeck.

 Take Ten

MILLENIUM - Neo-Prog • Poland

Millenium is a staple of the neo-prog genre, consistently churning out brilliant melodic rock year after year, closing in on 2 decade's worth (one of the few neo-prog bands whose ENTIRE back catalog is worth seeking out). The release of 44 Minutes is notable for an additional reason however, the last with long-time lead vocalist Łukasz Gałęziowsk. He's been amazing throughout, a pure talent, very sad to see him go. That said, the band shows zero sign of slowing down as they've quickly recruited new singer Mirek Smelkowski but for now, focus should be on the majesty that is this swan song release with Gałęziowsk on the mic.

44 Minutes

Micky Moody - Blues Rock (UK)

Michael Joseph Moody (born 30 August 1950) is an English guitarist, and a former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake. He was also a founder-member of Snafu. Together with his former Whitesnake colleague Bernie Marsden he founded the Moody Marsden Band, and later, The Snakes, having previously collaborated with unofficial 5th Status Quo member Bob Young in Young & Moody. Along with Marsden and ex-Whitesnake bassist, Neil Murray, he formed The Company of Snakes and M3 Classic Whitesnake with which they mainly performed early Whitesnake songs. More recently, he has toured and recorded with Snakecharmer.

Besides this, Moody has also toured with Roger Chapman, Frankie Miller and Chris Farlowe. He has also performed live alongside the likes of Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, Mick Taylor, Bruce Dickinson, Sam Brown, Gary Brooker, Suggs, Dennis Locorriere, Paul Jones, P. P. Arnold, James Hunter, Rick Wakeman, Jon Lord, Newton Faulkner, Uriah Heep, Alice Cooper, Mark King, Alfie Boe, Sandi Thom, Brian Auger, Paul Weller, Eric Bibb, Meat Loaf, Boy George, Elkie Brooks, Nona Hendryx, Mud Morganfield and one of his early guitar heroes, Duane Eddy.[citation needed] Since 2000 he has released several solo albums: I Eat Them For Breakfast (2000), Don't Blame Me (2006), Acoustic Journeyman (2007) and Electric Journeyman (2009). A versatile guitarist, Moody has been an active session musician and his own website lists over 100 albums to which he has contributed musically. 2006 saw the release of the autobiographical Playing With Trumpets – A Rock 'n' Roll Apprenticeship, a memoir about his early days on the music scene. Another book of memoirs Snakes And Ladders was released in 2016. His library music has been featured on such TV programmes as Waking the Dead, Bo' Selecta!, America's Next Top Model, How to Look Good Naked, Top Gear, Horizon, Jersey Shore, Mad Men, Wife Swap and Paul Hollywood's Bread.

 I Eat Them For Breakfast 

Living Colour - Rock (USA)

Living Colour began working on Shade about a year after the release of The Chair in the Doorway. In a 2010 interview with The Break Down Room, vocalist Corey Glover hoped that a new Living Colour album would be released in 2011, and stated, "We're going to do something different [for us] and make a real record, right now, right after we've done this one. Imagine that." In a May 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, guitarist Vernon Reid revealed that "Living Colour just got together a few weeks ago – preparing to do a bunch of writing in preparation to make a record for 2013." He added, "Everyone is insanely busy, but it feels so good when we're together and connecting that I really look forward to making the next record."

On June 30, 2014, it was announced that Living Colour's sixth studio album, titled Shade, would be released in the fall.[9] However, the album's release date was later pushed back to early 2015. For unknown reasons, the release of the album would continue to be delayed. Asked in March 2015 about the meaning of the album's title, Glover replied, "As time progresses, a shadow falls, and it's about the progression of time. We're trying to dissect and really take the roots of the music that created us and take it to task."

On the making of Shade, Glover explained to Loudwire in June 2016:

"It took us almost four years to make this record. We went through problems with managers, with record companies and schedules — it just took forever and finally we got it done. I can't wait to get that process over with so I can go back and start working on new stuff again, personally, and just start writing new things. Part of the process was that we weren't going to compromise on a lot of stuff. There were some sonic things that we weren't going to compromise on; we needed to get it right. It took long enough, so hopefully it's right. I mean, we'll still have to fix things — 'right' to us is that you don't go, 'Uh, if only I had done this.' At the same time, there's something about discovering something as you play it that changes it and that makes the difference between the recorded version and the live version. "Cult of Personality" live doesn't sound the way it was recorded because we've been playing it for almost thirty years and it changes based on the environment, the gear and the temperament and all that. I think we're satisfied with Shade for what it is as a recording."

On May 12, 2017, it was announced that Shade would be released on September 8, and its artwork, by Washington, D.C. area artist Anike Robinson, was released.

Shade

Steely Dan - Rock (USA)

Steely Dan is an American rock band founded by core members Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals) in 1972. Blending elements of jazz, traditional pop, R&B, and sophisticated studio production with cryptic and ironic lyrics, the band enjoyed critical and commercial success starting from the early 1970s until breaking up in 1981. Throughout their career, the duo recorded with a revolving cast of session musicians, and in 1974 retired from live performances to become a studio-only band. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies".

Can't Buy a Thrill is the debut studio album by the American rock band Steely Dan, released in November 1972 by ABC Records. It was produced by Gary Katz and written by band members Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The album was recorded at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles.

Musicians:

Steely Dan

- David Palmer – lead vocals on "Dirty Work" and "Brooklyn", backing vocals

- Donald Fagen – acoustic and electric pianos, plastic (YC-30) organ, lead vocals (except on "Dirty Work", "Midnite Cruiser", and "Brooklyn"), backing vocals

- Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – guitar, pedal steel guitar, spoken word on "Only a Fool Would Say That"

- Denny Dias – guitar, electric sitar

- Walter Becker – electric bass, backing vocals, dual lead vocal on "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again"

- Jim Hodder – drums, percussion, lead vocal on "Midnite Cruiser", backing vocals

Session musicians

- Elliott Randall – lead guitar on "Kings" and "Reelin in the Years"

- Jerome Richardson – tenor saxophone

- Snooky Young – flugelhorn

- Victor Feldman – percussion

- Venetta Fields, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews – backing vocals on "Brooklyn" and "Kings"

Can't Buy A Thrill (1972)