Jimi Hendrix's show at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival was the performance that broke him in the United States. While half of this was previously available as one side of an LP that also featured a side of live Otis Redding from the same event, Jimi Plays Monterey has his whole performanc…

After well over a dozen albums, Helloween still has an impressive knack for grafting memorably anthemic choruses over full-throttle power metal. What's more, their quieter, more melodic moments never dissolve into schmaltzy sentimentality (a mistake made too often by the band's many followers); the ballad "Don't Stop Being Crazy" has a certain pathos without being corny…

Soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy's first recording as a leader since moving to Europe (except for the obscure Roba from three months earlier) was originally cut for the Byg label before being reissued on an Affinity LP. Lacy was in Rome after being "stranded" in South America for quite some time. He had embraced many of the aspects of free jazz, and his interplay with the Italian musicians (trombonist Italo Toni, clarinetist Claudio Volonte, bassist Marcello Melis, and drummer Jacques Thollot), as well as cellist Irene Aebi (who would soon become a permanent member of his groups), is intriguing, often dense, and quite passionate…

Engelbert Humperdinck is an English pop singer. Humperdinck has been described as "one of the finest middle-of-the-road balladeers around." His singles "Release Me" and "The Last Waltz" both topped the UK music charts in 1967, and sold more than a million copies each…

Marooned Live is the second live album in Sodom's career, and a fraction more substantial than its predecessor Mortal Way of Live, even if my enjoyment was not necessarily on par with that…

Alto saxophonist Gary Bartz attended the Juilliard Conservatory of Music and became a member of Charles Mingus' Jazz Workshop from 1962-1964 where he worked with Eric Dolphy and encountered McCoy Tyner for the first time. He also began gigging as a sideman in the mid-'60s with Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, and later as a member of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers. His recording debut was on Blakey's Soul Finger album…

Cray found himself in some pretty intimidating company for this Grammy-winning blues guitar summit meeting, but he wasn't deterred, holding his own alongside his idol Albert Collins and Texas great Johnny Copeland. Cray's delivery of Muddy Waters' rhumba-rocking "She's into Something" was one of the set's many highlights.

One of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll, Kim Fowley was, over the course of his decades-long career, a true jack-of-all-trades: singer, songwriter, producer, manager, disc jockey, promoter, and published poet. He was also the catalyst behind much of the pop music to emerge from the Los Angeles area during the 1960s and '70s, guiding several of his associates and protégés to fame and fortune, while remaining himself a shadowy cult figure well outside the margins of the mainstream…

This is one of Thelonious Monk's most important records, even though it was his last studio session. He went out with a bang, with old friends Art Blakey and Al McKibbon on board in late 1971…

It is rare that the simple saxophone and drums duo has something new to say. That this one does makes this refreshing recording from free improvisational whiz and tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler and his partner, Norbert Pfammatter, something special. Newness by itself does not imply quality; fortunately, this partnership revels in a substantive, freewheeling, though thoughtful, approach that never lets go…

Although most fans and critics will commonly point to 1991's Mental Vortex as Coroner's best all-around effort, the adventurous Swiss trio had yet to deliver one last semi-masterpiece before going their separate ways. Ultimately Coroner's last will and testament, 1993's multi-faceted Grin drew strong criticism from some of the band's more extreme fan contingent upon release – these being of the opinion that its experimental songwriting was simply too "out there," even for Coroner…

The two-time GRAMMY Award-winners return as you've never seen them before with Synthesis Live. Filmed in the fall of 2017 at the Grand Theater, Connecticut, this concert film features a reimagining of some of Evanescence's best-loved songs with the spotlight on Amy Lee's virtuoso piano and voice supported by the combination of full orchestra, electronics and the band…

Although his early Columbia albums brought him worldwide stardom, it was this modest little album (first released on Imperial before the Columbia sides) that first brought Johnny Winter to the attention of guitarheads in America. It's also Winter at the beginning of a long career, playing the blues as if his life depends on it, without applying a glimmer of rock commercialism…