The passing of Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord in 2012 was sad for the obvious reasons, but also because he was about to release a just finished re-imagining of his "Concerto for Group and Orchestra," a piece Deep Purple first played live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969, and one that is often cited as the first true meeting of classical and rock. Lord was a big part of the heavy orchestral prog rock sound of Deep Purple, and he could rock when needed, or take center stage and play pretty as the soundtrack for a majestic autumn wind. He played with other bands as time went on, including Whitesnake, but in his later years he increasingly pursued his aspirations as a classical composer. Which brings us to this set, one of two volumes derived from a historic tribute concert held April 4, 2014 at Royal Albert Hall that marked the 45th anniversary of when Lord's "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" first debuted there. Surviving members of Deep Purple were on hand for the tribute, as well as Paul Weller, Whitesnake's Micky Moody, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman and many others, including the Orion Orchestra conducted by Paul Mann. The evening opened with a classical set from the orchestra (that portion of the night can be heard on Celebrating Jon Lord: The Composer, the second volume of this set), then went to a more rock-oriented second act, before concluding with a set by Deep Purple, complete with an all-star closing version of "Hush." The two rock portions of the evening are what we find here, including highlights from Paul Weller ("Things Get Better" and a fiery R&B take on "I Take What I Want") and Glenn Hughes (on the lovely, haunting, and orchestrated "This Time Around") and the bouncing, joyous, and huge-sounding 11-minute all-hands-in all-star jaunt through "Hush" to close it all out. It's both fun and reverent, and it helps show just how much vision Lord really had for a classical/rock fusion, and in retrospect, how Deep Purple personified that vision.© Steve Leggett /TiVo

The passing of Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord in 2012 was sad for the obvious reasons, but also because he was about to release a just finished re-imagining of his "Concerto for Group and Orchestra," a piece Deep Purple first played live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969, and one that is often cited as the first true meeting of classical and rock. Lord was a big part of the heavy orchestral prog rock sound of Deep Purple, and he could rock when needed, or take center stage and play pretty as the soundtrack for a majestic autumn wind. He played with other bands as time went on, including Whitesnake, but in his later years he increasingly pursued his aspirations as a classical composer. Which brings us to this set, one of two volumes derived from a historic tribute concert held April 4, 2014 at Royal Albert Hall that marked the 45th anniversary of when Lord's "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" first debuted there. Surviving members of Deep Purple were on hand for the tribute, as well as Paul Weller, Whitesnake's Micky Moody, Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman and many others, including the Orion Orchestra conducted by Paul Mann. The evening opened with a classical set from the orchestra (that portion of the night can be heard on Celebrating Jon Lord: The Composer, the second volume of this set), then went to a more rock-oriented second act, before concluding with a set by Deep Purple, complete with an all-star closing version of "Hush." The two rock portions of the evening are what we find here, including highlights from Paul Weller ("Things Get Better" and a fiery R&B take on "I Take What I Want") and Glenn Hughes (on the lovely, haunting, and orchestrated "This Time Around") and the bouncing, joyous, and huge-sounding 11-minute all-hands-in all-star jaunt through "Hush" to close it all out. It's both fun and reverent, and it helps show just how much vision Lord really had for a classical/rock fusion, and in retrospect, how Deep Purple personified that vision.© Steve Leggett /TiVo

On various tracks, Jon Hendricks' first album as a leader, released in 1959, features such major sidemen as altoist Pony Poindexter, guitarist Wes Montgomery, and both Nat and Cannonball Adderley. Hendricks -- who was riding high in Lambert, Hendricks & Ross at the time -- is in superb form on such numbers as "I'm Gonna Shout (Everything Started in the House of the Lord)," a couple of songs that Hendricks had written for Louis Jordan, Randy Weston's "Pretty Strange," "Social Call," and the jubilant "A Good Git-Together."© Scott Yanow /TiVo

Of all the Jamaican DJs tearing up the sound systems during the mid-'70s, Tappa Zukie seemed the least likely contender for international stardom. Although he released a stream of singles, only a handful caught on across the island, and his hit quotient was much lower than most of his contemporaries. But in Britain, it was another story entirely. There his debut album, Man Ah Warrior, was selling up a storm; it wasn't even released in Jamaica. Zukie cut a string of singles during 1975, then began work the following year on his self-produced sophomore album, MPLA. If Warrior had blown though through the U.K.'s underground like a hurricane, MPLA was the equivalent of a nuclear bomb, exploding across sound systems and punk clubs throughout the land. And that set forms the backbone of From the Archives, bundling up eight of MPLA's tracks, tossing in Zukie's biggest Jamaican hit, "Oh Lord," and rounding up a few other period numbers as well. Much of the DJ's success came down to the phenomenal rhythms he was toasting over. They weren't his own; he had sweet-talked a number of the island's top producers -- Bunny Lee, JoJo Hookim, Yabby You, and Ossie Hibbert, into parting with a clutch of rhythms, and with those he built his album and his reputation. With the Revolutionaries laying down the sizzling rockers accompaniment, Horace Andy, Johnny Clarke, the Melodians' Tony Brevitt, and Junior Ross providing vocal assistance, and his own stellar production skills, Zukie recorded some of the most militant-sounding music around. As for his toasting -- well, by 1976 people were demanding more from the DJs than he was capable of, at least in Jamaica. Abroad, his animated delivery, obvious enthusiasm, and anthemic toasts turned him into an icon. Britons cared little about his cultural credentials and couldn't care less that "MPLA" isn't actually a tribute to freedom fighters, "Marcus" has more to do with rice and peas than the great prophet Garvey, "Chalis to Chalis" is lifted wholesale from U-Roy, and "Oh Lord" is not a devotional prayer but an ode to girls in shorts. They were too busy lapping up the rhythms and skanking away to the DJ's breezy toasts. This is where it all began, and even if Zukie's toasting fails to thrill, this collection is still hot enough to melt the most discerning listener.© Jo-Ann Greene /TiVo