A really beautiful early album from the legendary Jean-Luc Ponty – a set that's maybe more straight jazz than some of his later work, and which also represents a pivotal shift in the use of the violin in jazz! Ponty's phrasing here is very different than previous players who handled the instrument in such a setting – almost more informed by a saxophone than earlier instrumentalists – often with notes that are not nearly as sweet as others, and heard to perfection in the company of this quartet! The whole group is great – Wolfgang Dauner on acoustic piano, also straighter than in later years – plus Niels Henning Orsted Pederson on bass, and Daniel Humair on drums. Titles include "Sunday Walk", "Cat Coach", "Suite For Claudia", and "Carole's Garden". LP, Vinyl record album

Features George Duke on keyboards, Jean-Luc Ponty on violin, and Jack Bruce on bass – and titles include Frank's classic "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" – plus "Nanook Rubs It", "Father O'Blivion", "Cosmik Debris", "Exentrifugal Forz", "Stink Foot", and "Apostrophe". LP, Vinyl record album

One of those records that should be an insane dark mess, given the look of the cover – but which turns out to be a surprisingly well put-together effort all the way through! Zappa does a great job of hiding behind his hair here – never acting with the pomp that a pop genius like him could easily have enacted – and instead passing off the record as if it's just another freakout – despite the fact that the arrangements are some of his tightest, most focused, and downright groovy so far! There's plenty of key musical help to make the whole thing come out right – including bass from Shuggie Otis, the inimitable voice Captain Beefheart, on the cassic "Willie The Pimp", violin from Jean-Luc Ponty, drums from Paul Humphrey, and bass from Max Bennett – all players who really live up to the musical complexity of Zappa's compositions – often with a pre-fusion vibe that's almost unexpected. Other titles include "Son Of Mr Green Grass", "The Gumbo Variations", "It Must Be A Camel", "Peaches In Regalia", and "Little Umbrellas". LP, Vinyl record album