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Vital late work from the amazing Sam Rivers – masterful, energetic jazz orchestra pieces recorded live and in the studio with players culled from Orlando and the Central Florida areas around Rivers' adopted home – a treasure that finds Sam sounding as spry and fiercely creative in his 80s has he was half a lifetime ago! Trilogy features 3 unreleased sets – 2 live and one with studio recordings – and it's remarkably vibrant throughout. Sam started dabbling with orchestra jazz in the 70s, bring muscularity and dissonance to big band music in a wholly unique way, and he's been doing it as brilliantly as ever in recent years. 14 horns bring complex, but melodic sweep to the sound, with a 2 piece rhythm. We've been blown away by most of Sam's late period efforts and this exceptional 3CD set from Mosaic is as great as any of it. Players include Jeff Rupert, Chris Charles, David Pate and others on saxes, Tom Parmenter, Brian Scanlon and more trumpet players, Keith Oshiro and David Sheffield on trombone, Doug Mathews on bass and Rion Smith on drums. The first disc (Offering) was recorded at the Plaza Theater in Orlando in November of '08. Includes "Spice", "Ganymede", "Crux", "Aura", "Perkin" and "Pulsar". Disc two (Progeny) was recorded at Sonic Cauldron Studios in Casselberry, FL earlier in '08, and it includes "Robyn", "Cindy", "Monique", "Traci", Iisha", "Destiny" and more. Disc Three (Edge) is a return to the Plaza Theatre in April of '09, and it includes "Ridge", "Brink", "Precipice", "Verge", "Visions", "Point" and more.

A great title for this Wayne Shorter set – given the free flights and soaring lines served up throughout! There's no need for a net, since Wayne's hardly likely to touch the ground – really loose and free right from the start of the album – less driven by the rhythms than pulling them along with his own boundless energy on tenor and soprano sax! But the rhythm players are plenty great, too – and definitely add to the sound of the set – with Danilo Perez on piano, John Patitucci on bass, and Brian Blade on drums – all players with just the right sort of boundless drive to match Shorter's imagination. The whole thing's great, less dark and obtuse than some of Wayne's other work of the past decade or so – and titles include "Orbits", "SS Golden Mean", "Plaza Real", "Flying Down To Rio", and the extended "Pegasus", which features a guest wind quintet!

A great title for this Wayne Shorter set – given the free flights and soaring lines served up throughout! There's no need for a net, since Wayne's hardly likely to touch the ground – really loose and free right from the start of the album – less driven by the rhythms than pulling them along with his own boundless energy on tenor and soprano sax! But the rhythm players are plenty great, too – and definitely add to the sound of the set – with Danilo Perez on piano, John Patitucci on bass, and Brian Blade on drums – all players with just the right sort of boundless drive to match Shorter's imagination. The whole thing's great, less dark and obtuse than some of Wayne's other work of the past decade or so – and titles include "Orbits", "SS Golden Mean", "Plaza Real", "Flying Down To Rio", and the extended "Pegasus", which features a guest wind quintet!

Very nice bit of trippy electric jazz cuts by this short-lived group that included Michael White, Mike Nock, and Eddie Marshall. Nock's Fender Rhodes playing is excellent, and he spins out lots of blocky rhythmic chords – especially on the title track, "Sun & Moon Have Come Together". Cuts include "Ebony Plaza", "Farewell Goodbye", and "Skiffling".

A soaring set from Weather Report – captured here in an early 80s lineup that features great keyboards from Joe Zawinul and sublime saxophone from Wayne Shorter! The tunes are nice and long, and bristle with that power the quintet had at this point – a well-earned tightness that really made concerts some of their best moments – propelled by rhythms that really let the main solos fly free, especially in a live setting like this. Victor Bailey is on bass, Omar Hakim on drums, and Jose Rossy on percussion – and the set features loads of long tracks – including "Where The Moon Goes", "Fast City", "D Flat Waltz", "Two Lines", "Plaza Real", "Procession", and a great long medley of classics.

Marvelously mixed-up work from the Horse Meat Disco team – a great way for all of us to sample the revolutionary grooves they've been laying down at their famous club night in London! The work here is hardly the conventional disco you'd find on other compilations (although maybe you already guessed that from the "horse meat" in the title) – and instead, the grooves are an odd range of funky club styles from the late 70s and early 80s – including many tracks that have a jagged, percussive edge that's a far cry from smoother disco. Don't get us wrong, though – as there's definitely some great disco touches here too – yet these are still far from the mainstream, and just slide on in to warm things up before the beats take over on the next tune. 2CD set features one disc mixed by the team, one unmixed – with titles that include "In The Evening" by Sheryl Lee Ralph, "Danger" by Gregg Diamond, "Dancing Shoes" by Plaza, "Freakman" by Empire Projecting Penny, "And I Don't Love You (Larry Levan inst)" by Smokey Robinson, "Detour (party mix)" by Karen Young, "Disco Jam" by Eddie Drennon, "Love Bite" by Richard Hewson Orchestra, "I Don't Depend On You" by Two Tons, and "It's Alright" by Gino Soccio.