At the time of his very first recordings in 1941, Muddy Waters was not yet called Muddy Waters, and he played acoustic guitar. It wasn't his guitar since he didn't own one, but one that was lent to him by Alan Lomax, the man who discovered him deep in Mississippi when he was a farmer and an amateur musician. A few years later, Muddy Waters went up to Chicago and became the boss of electric blues, no doubt possessing many of his own guitars at that stage. However, in 1963 he went into the studio to record Folk Singer, an album with acoustic guitar. Why this unplugged turn? Was there a powercut in Chicago? Nope, it was what the market dictated. And at that time, the black public turned to soul, while the buoyant market for blues musicians became that of young white folk lovers, who confused authenticity and acoustics. Muddy Waters played the game, and played it well. This album is very well produced, with a sound makes it feel like Muddy Waters is playing in your living room… and that your living room sounds like a cathedral! Plus, he brought some buddies along, including Buddy Guy and Willie Dixon. With his majestic and solemn voice, Muddy Waters plays zen, essential, with few notes and long pauses between each one. The record demands that you don’t move, just listen. The album is hardly representative of Muddy Waters’ electric style, but it’s still one of his best. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz

In 1980, Pat Metheny had already garnered an impressive level of popularity. With sold out tours and their consequential album sales, the guitarist had imposed upon the scene a sound and style which was already being adopted by others. And under the banner of the Pat Metheny Group with Lyle Mays, Mark Egan and Danny Gottlieb, this success was furthered all the more. But some of jazz’s ayatollahs were still somewhat sceptical of his youth-carried success (Metheny himself was only 25 at the time)… With 80/81, which was recorded in May 1980 under the label ECM, things were soon to change. At the long-haired guitarist’s side was Munich-based producer Manfred Eicher. Eicher had the judicious idea of uniting, in Oslo’s Talent Studios, a pianist-free group comprising of four incontestable big names: bassist Charlie Haden, drummer Jack DeJohnette and tenor saxophonists Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker. What could have been merely a flashy and pointless casting turned out to be quite the opposite! On this copious one hour and twenty minute double album that’s as electric (on the beginning and end sections of the record) as it is acoustic, Pat Metheny shows all his colours, and writes the best part of the songs himself. Most importantly, these famed sidemen are stylistically a long-shot from his usual musical compadres. And the exchanges between this most-harmonious five are incredibly inspiring. Former musicians in Keith Jarett’s 1971-1976 quartet and match made in heaven, Charlie Haden and Dewey Redman seamlessly accommodate our young guitar maestro. No shock if you are aware of the relationship Metheny and Haden, both ailing from Missouri (they would record together some years later), have for North American folkloric music which shines through on this album. DeJohnette expertly weaves in and out of this tight canvas and is a central part of 80/81. The drummer carries a voice here that succeeds in standing out whilst remaining in harmony with others. And on songs like Open it is impossible to tear away your ear for even a second from the magical sound of his drumsticks. Finally, the saxophonists voices are opposing yet succeed in cementing their own place (Brecker is on fire on the opening of Two Folk Songs and Redman playful on his solo in Pretty Scattered). A double album which, as the years go by and after multiple listens, will stand strong among the vast discography of its artist. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

One of the better ECM recordings, this collaboration by bassist Charlie Haden, Jan Garbarek on tenor and soprano, and Egberto Gismonti (switching between guitar and piano) is filled with moody originals, improvisations that blend together jazz and world music, and atmospheric ensembles. This date works well both as superior background music and for close listening.© Scott Yanow /TiVo

African American composer Florence Price has found her champion in Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, whose affinity for broad, melodic music fits her style well. In this live release, Nézet-Séguin's cycle of Price's four symphonies comes to a close, and like the others, it is a pleasing recording. This symphony contains the most effective of Price's "Juba" movements based on African American folk music, introducing cross rhythms that generate a good deal of tension with the basic dance, and here and elsewhere, Nézet-Séguin and his Philadelphians do the work justice. The orchestra is especially effective in the subtle colors of the slow movement. Perhaps the real news here is the inclusion of William Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony, which the Philadelphia Orchestra itself premiered in the 1930s under no less than Leopold Stokowski. The Dawson work is entirely worth rediscovery. Price often wrote her own African American folk material. Dawson, by contrast, quotes liberally from the spiritual tradition, yet his quotations are woven into the ongoing texture rather than standing by themselves. It is hard to think of a comparable piece in the classical tradition, constantly filtering the source material through new lenses. The two live performances on the album were not recorded together (the Price was from a 2021 concert, the Dawson from 2023), but in a way, that is a shame; the two works together would make a powerful concert indeed; audiences for this album are lucky. Both works draw from Dvořák's example, but they diverge in their treatment of his legacy. One of the stronger items in Nézet-Séguin's series, reasonably well recorded at Philadelphia's Verizon Hall, with no applause and seemingly no audience noise.© James Manheim /TiVo

Admittedly Anne Paceo can’t be faulted for resting on her laurels. Each of the drummer’s new album is its own island. In 2016 with Circles, all stylistic boundaries faded away, stereotypes crumbled and creativity ran at full speed! With its songs and instrumental swerving, telluric rhythms, as well as libertarian energy, her fourth album unfolded an organic, poetic and inspired groove in collaboration with singer Leila Martial, saxophonist Emile Parisien and Tony Paeleman on the keyboards. Two years later with Fables Of Shwedagon, Anne Paceo’s roadmap is very original once again. She took off for Myanmar to combine her artistic expression with the traditional orchestra Hsaing Waing, a formation dating back to the 17th century, and whose composition hasn’t changed since! It consists of five main instruments: the pat waing (a set of 21 drums in a circle, played with the hands), the maung hsaing (36 small gongs installed both horizontally and vertically, played with drumsticks), the chauk lon pat (7 large drums played with the hands), the hne (reed instrument) and the siwa (small bell and wood block). Recorded live during the Jazz Sous les Pommiers festival in Coutances in May 2017, Fables of Shwedagon documents this amazing encounter that led Paceo to compose some magnificent hybrid themes. Along with saxophonist Christophe Panzani, guitarist Pierre Perchaud, pianist Leonardo Montana and bassist Joan Eche-Puig, she converses with five Burmese virtuosos to create a rather unique symphony of sharing. No matter if it is jazz or traditional music, as the blending of styles is purely exhilarating. Trippy! © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

In 1979, ECM released Magico and Folk Songs, two gorgeous albums by the creative trio of saxophonist Jan Garbarek, guitarist/pianist Egberto Gismonti, and bassist Charlie Haden. Magico: Carta de Amor is a double-disc recorded live in 1981 in Munich which has been sitting in ECM's vaults until now. The recording features a seasoned band in full command of a shared musical language developed after an extended period touring together. It contrasts sharply with the work they issued as individual players during this era: Garbarek's Eventyr in 1980 and Paths and Prints in 1981, Gismonti's Frevo (1980), and Sanfona and En Familia (1981), and Haden's collaborations with Old and New Dreams, Ornette Coleman, and Pat Metheny. The material here features five iconic Gismonti compositions -- yet only "Palhaço" appears on this trio's studio albums. Haden’s 16-minute "La Pasionaria," a number closely associated with his Liberation Music Orchestra, is presented in a glorious trio version. It features intense, forceful playing by Garbarek which contrasts with Gismonti's spacious guitar playing. Garbarek's own "Spor," which also appeared on the trio's studio album Magico, is presented as a more elliptical group improvisation here. Haden's high-pitched bowing adds a tinge of the otherworldly, while Garbarek's voice is simultaneously emotive and icy. Gismonti's pianism is given an ample showcase on "Palhaço" and Haden's "All That Is Beautiful," the latter with lovely, ethereal soprano work from Garbarek. The bassist's "Two Folk Songs" is given an urgent, dark-tinged, exotic treatment thanks in no small part to Gismonti's virtuoso 12-string playing and Haden's elegant yet propulsive push at the melody articulated by Garbarek's soprano. It differs considerably from the version he presented on Metheny's 80/81. "Folk Song," from the trio's Folk Songs album, is a group improvisation based on a traditional hymn, but moves far afield with startling guitar effects and soprano soloing. Like Keith Jarrett's Sleeper, a live quartet date from 1979 that also saw the light of day from ECM in 2012, Magico: Carta de Amor is a musical treasure trove that features three players from three continents working in near-symbiotic dialogue, offering music that showcases compositional and improvisational mastery, yet transcends the limitations of genre classification.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

During the late '50s, Ella Fitzgerald continued her Song Book records with Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book, releasing a series of albums featuring 59 songs written by George and Ira Gershwin. Those songs, plus alternate takes, were combined on a four-disc box set, Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book, in 1998. These performances are easily among Fitzgerald's very best, and for any serious fan, this is the ideal place to acquire the recordings, since the sound and presentation are equally classy and impressive.© Leo Stanley /TiVo

Invigorating head music done Rastafarian style by Cymande. "Zion I" is a spiritual chant put to music, setting the mood for Cymande. A laid-back "One More" lulls you into subliminal meditation before "Getting It Back" jolts you into some scintillating Jamaican funk-fusion. There's a message in many of Cymande's cuts, with "Listen," and "Bra" (a recognition of the women's lib movement), the most inspiring. Both are sung with passion, and are skillfully executed; the former is slow and painstaking in its message, while "Bra" slaps you upside the head with a stirring sax solo and bass-fueled vamp. An air of supreme coolness permeates Cymande, unusual for a first effort written by members of the band. Cymande sound like they have done this before; nowhere is this more evident than on the beautiful "Dove," a gorgeous concoction of lead guitar, tambourines, haunting backing vocals, and percussion, with the horns used as sparingly as table-seasoning on a gourmet dish. Along with "Bra," the group's most popular cut is "The Message" -- it's difficult keeping body parts still on this grooving mutha. All in all, Cymande is a marvelous collection that premiered a fine funk band. © Andrew Hamilton /TiVo

Magdalena Kožená has recorded folk songs before, but this 2023 release, which landed on classical best-seller charts in the autumn of that year, is perhaps her definitive statement on the subject. She is teamed with her husband, Simon Rattle, as conductor, leading the nonpareil Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. However, what is most impressive is the program and the way it shows Kožená to be capable of handling a large variety of material. Kožená completely avoids folk songs of her native Czech culture. Instead, she offers folk-influenced material by Bartók, Berio, Ravel, and Xavier Montsalvatge, exploring the various meanings folk songs might have in the non-nationalist musical culture of the 20th century. The results are fascinating, and Kožená succeeds in shifting numerous gears over the course of the album. Sample her belted Berio song "a la femminisca," or, for that matter, her expert retroflex r's in "Black is the colour of my true love's hair," or "I wonder as I wander." Berio's populist take on folk music is one approach Kožená adopts; Ravel's, using Greek vernacular music as just a moderate flavoring of his own style in the Cinq mélodies populaires grecques, is another. Sample her absolutely luminous Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques from that set. Kožená ranges from fully competent to absolutely entrancing in this set of folkish songs, which are both fresh in conception and beautifully executed. An unusually satisfying release.© James Manheim /TiVo

Underground sounds and visions rarely collide as perfectly as they did in 1995 with the release of the cult film Kids. Here we had Larry Clark, the infamous photographer behind the jaded, scarce, sex-drugs-and-everything-else-depicting early 1970s book Tulsa, teamed up with an array of vibrant young talent. From the actual skate kids who hung out around the Cube near St. Marks Place in NYC used to star in the film, to first-time screenwriter Harmony Korine (soon to be a genre-melding talent in his own right), it would be hard to find a more youth-oriented indie during an era packed with them.And then there was the music. Lou Barlow had turned to his bedroom folk-pop act Sebadoh since being unceremoniously kicked out of Dinosaur Jr. after they'd signed to a major label. The band was essentially stalked through the postal system by an enthused Korine. "Harmony was sort of bombarding me with fan letters," Barlow remembers. "That was the peak of my popularity with Sebadoh."  Barlow would then go on to collaborate with fellow DIY singer-songwriter, and Sebadoh fan, John Davis, as the Folk Implosion.  Korine invited the new band to soundtrack his film after sending Barlow a scriptThe soundtrack—mostly Folk Implosion cuts but also songs by Sebadoh, Slint, and Daniel Johnston—became a surprise hit, turning thousands of kids on to new realms of emo and indie-rock, and rightly so. Three decades later, you want to skate all night with your pals while holding the boombox with the disc inside. Now, though, we have all of the music the Folk Implosion created for the film on Music For KIDS. The tracks have been remastered, and some, like the single "Natural One" has hit streaming for the first time. "Natural One" extended their sound towards the hip-hop and R&B which Barlow and Davis were then infatuated with. It arguably achieved this with more success than Beck had with the same approach at the time. This expanded reissue adds remixes from the time by UNKLE and the Dust Brothers, as well as an instrumental version of "Nothing Gonna Stop." The music has aged far better than the film itself. Recorded at Fort Apache with full support of the music supervisor on the film, there's everything from Mellotrons, synthesizers, and the sound of a push broom. This is varied, fun, and beautifully contemporary indie-pop from back when it still was vital and vibrant. © Mike McGonigal/Qobuz

This is the sixth studio album cut by Thelonious Monk under the production/direction of Teo Macero for Columbia and as such should not be confused with the original motion picture soundtrack to the 1988 film of the same name. The band featured here includes: Monk (piano), Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Ben Riley (drums), and Larry Gales (bass). This would be the final quartet Monk would assemble to record with in the studio. While far from being somber, this unit retained a mature flavor which would likewise place Monk's solos in a completely new context. At times, this adaptation presents itself more subtly than others. For instance, Monk's extended solo in "Locomotive" never reaches beyond itself due in part to the tempo-laden rhythm section. The contrast of styles, however, appreciates the caliber of this particular solo, including an obvious assertion by Monk which leads the band, albeit temporarily, into playing double-time. Other recommended quartet selections on this disc include a liberated version of the title track, which highlights some stellar interaction between Monk and Rouse. The same can be said for "We See," which features the hardest bop on the album. In addition to the quartet sides, Straight, No Chaser contains two unaccompanied piano solos: "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "This Is My Story, This Is My Song." [The original disc only included six performances, half of which were edited due to the stringent time constraints of vinyl; subsequent reissues not only restored all of the previously abridged performances, but also added a trio of sides, two of which ("I Didn't Know About You: Take 1" and "Green Chimneys") are issued here for the first time.]© Lindsay Planer /TiVo

For these Helsinki Songs, Trygve Seim has taken on pianist Kristian Randalu, double-bassist Mats Eilertsen and drummer Markku Ounaskari. Together, they have cooked up the Norwegian saxophonist's eighth album for ECM, one which puts the accent on lyricism. From the off, the fluidity of Sol’s Song sets the tone for this warm, contemplative, sincere and melodic record that never falls into complacency. Helsinki Songs provide an ever-increasing feeling of wellbeing. Following in the footsteps of Charles Lloyd, Seim's playing tends towards a musical poetry of rare beauty. This is more proof, were it needed, of the talent of this 47-year old musician, who is still sadly under-appreciated… © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz

Nestled up cosily with Sergei Babayan, gazing into the distance, rather like Juliet next to Romeo, Martha Argerich seems to have had an eye on marketing when she produced the "Prokofiev for Two" album cover for her longstanding publisher, Deutsche Grammophon. Although well-known, these works haven't yet been released in this format: each of the 19 pieces is an accomplished transcription by Sergei Babayan. More than half of this album is given over to extracts from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, originally a symphonic work, but one that sounds devilishly good when brought to life by these two exceptional pianists. The remainder of the album is made up of various pieces of stage music, from Hamlet, Eugene Onegin and the opera War and Peace. This is a reinvigorating album, with an eighty-year-old Martha Argerich who has lost none of her extraordinary technique. As for the Armenian pianist Sergei Babayan, a student of Mikhail Pletnev and a teacher of Daniil Trifonov, he seems to be having great fun with his own transcriptions alongside his long-time partner and friend. © François Hudry/Qobuz