K - L

Henry Kaiser is a guitar virtuoso that has recorded on more than 175 releases.

Yo Miles! Sky Garden
In 1998 Kaiser recruited Wadada Leo Smith to form a music project devoted to Miles Davis music from the early to mid 1970's. Kaiser described the music in the 10/21/99, issue of SF Bay Guardian as a system of making music. "These pieces that Miles played in the 1973 - 1975 period weren't tunes really, they were composed of tiny thematic fragments, which Miles would usually state, an ostinato bass line that Michael Henderson would play, and a harmonic climate environment. The tempos could change and the tunes could be superimposed on each other."

Yo Miles! is Kaiser and Smiths band devoted to using Miles formula for making music. If you like electric fusion jazz, Yo Miles! second release, Sky Garden, is as good as it gets serving up over 2 1/2 hours of inspired improvisational jazz. The tracks are a mix of original and Davis covers. They have an all star line-up of musicians.

Contrary to what the Amazon description says, this can be played on a regular CD player, and the sound quality is amazing.

Guitar Party
Another interesting album from Kaiser's discography is Guitar Party. An album of cover versions of some great songs as interpreted by Kaiser and guitarist Glenn Philips. Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead sits in on the Hendrix remake "If Six Was Nine."

Henry Kaiser's official website - To learn more about Kaiser's music, his website is a great resource.

Kansas has several compilations. Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection is a good choice if the price isn't too high. It has two CD's and one video disc. The music is chronological and disc one covers the first four albums, Kansas, Song For America, Masque, and Leftoverture; all of these albums are very good to excellent. The second disc has a large helping of Point of No Return material and a sampling of songs of material that extends to the Steve Morse era and beyond. 

The DVD included with Sail On: The 30th Anniversary Collection is not one concert but excerpts of a few different performances. In all cases the quality is not great, but not horrible. The first five songs get my attention. They cover material up through Masque and are from the Don Kirshners Rock Concert. These early performances remind me of why I used to listen their early albums over and over. 

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B. B. King is great live and there are certainly no shortage of recordings to select from. We've highlighted some of the best, including a two-disc compilation.

Of them, Live at Regal is a spectacular choice offering a balance between musicianship and entertaining. While the recording was made 11/21/64, the sonics are very good. Beside King's striking guitar and vocals, his supporting cast is fabulous. This album lives up to its reputation. 

For the essential Carole King accept no less than her 1971 classic Tapestry, one of the best albums ever; it's that good.  We have a review of the album in our misc. reviews section. 

If you want to expand beyond Tapestry her two disc compilation, A Natural Woman: The Ode Collection 1968-1976, includes the complete Tapestry album in order,  plus highlights of her material between 1968 - '76, mostly studio, and a few live tracks. 

Carole King plays piano and back up vocals on James Taylor's classic album Sweet Baby James.

Additional Carole King content
Carole King overview

Press Release
LOS ANGELES, CA — Close your eyes and it’s 1974. Legendary blues musician Freddie King’s distinct voice, second only to his unmistakable guitar playing, fills the room. Shout! Factory brings this matchless combination back to life on Live At The Electric Ballroom, 1974, originally released in 1996 by Black Top Records. King’s 12th album kicks off with “That’s Alright” and “Dust My Broom,” the only two known acoustic tracks ever put on tape by King. Recorded in the early ‘70s, these two rarities were captured during an interview with Dallas DJ Jon Dillon who coaxed the blues legend to pick up the acoustic guitar that day. Following these gems are eight live tracks culled from an old reel-to-reel recording made in 1974 at the Electric Ballroom in Atlanta, GA. Live At The Electric Ballroom, 1974 arrives on February 14th for the suggested retail price of $11.98. The new liner notes for this album, written by Dave Alvin (Grammy® Award-winning singer/songwriter and cofounder of The Blasters), describe Alvin’s feelings when he first met the blues legend.

King’s down-home style of thumb and finger picking is displayed on this remarkable collection. These rare treasures went unknown to audiences for over 20 years and the performances are just as relevant today as they were when recorded. King’s legend is evidenced by today’s musicians who site him as an influence, including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Clapton and King toured together in the ‘70s and both Clapton and Jeff Beck have recorded his songs. In 1977, King was the winner of the W.C. Handy Award for Blues Reissue of the Year, beating out classic reissues by B.B. King, Mississippi John Hurt, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and Slim Harpo.

The fascinating interview during which Dillon coaxed King into the impromptu acoustic performance can also be heard on this piece of Texas Blues history. The pair has an intimate chat about King’s albums, his feeling for the blues and life in the big D. Snippets of their conversation are also heard between the acoustic tracks during which the humble King tries to convince Dillon he is not an acoustic guitar player. Lucky for fans, Dillon believes otherwise and gets the songs on tape. The live tracks capture the essence of King and his band, their passion and love of the blues.

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Hide Away interpretations by Jerry Garcia

Led Zeppelin was one of the super groups of the 1970's. Their continued popularity and appeal  decades later substantiates their legendary status.

Led Zeppelin's music has a dynamic progression to it, starting in blues and flowing to hard rock, folk, heavy metal, perhaps a few hints of reggae. 

In 2003 Led Zeppelin released a reasonably priced three disc set of live material recorded June 25 and 27, 1972, that we consider their best live release, far overshadowing the BBC Sessions and The Song Remains the Same. 

Additional Led Zeppelin content
Led Zeppelin profile
DVD All Star List

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David Lindley & Wally Ingram Live in Europe Available Now at David Lindley.com

This C.D. is a combination of recordings of two shows we did in Europe last year. The Fabrik in Hamburg, Germany and Muhle Hunziken in Rubigen Switzerland. Muhle Hunziken is, by far, our favorite club in Europe. An amazing multi-level building, formerly an old mill, it has the best staff and best stage setup of any club in Europe. Peter also has the best food backstage. He does the introduction to the CD. The “Fabrik” runs a close second in all respects. We recorded other concerts but none of them came out as good as what we got from these two shows. Kai Fricke and Joe James are responsible for all the recording. They used a Sony Pro Tools program on a laptop to record it all. It was very difficult to decide whether or not to make a two CD set or pick the best of both shows and we decided on the latter. There’s some great stuff on here. The drums were mixed hotter than on any of the other Twango Bango CDs to get a more “band-like” effect. The bass end is also hotter than usual because it actually sounded like there was a bass player. I’m paying my thumb extra for working harder. This is also the first CD I’ve done where I let someone else, Kai Fricke, do the mixing and mastering without me being there, and he did a fabulous job. He never slept and drank a lot of coffee to get it done in time. Thanks Kai. - - David Lindley

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Official David Lindley's Website
Rosebudus

Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of the best southern rock bands. They have had several re-unions and even variations, such as the Rossington Collins Band. Though, Lynyrd Skynyrd's prime is up to their album Street Survivors.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's box set is put together perfectly, including the right mix of albums tracks and supplements of unreleased material. It is done so well that it leaves a fan with practically all the Skynyrd one would need.  

Serious fans may want to also buy their live classic One More From the Road; while most of the tracks from this album are on the box set, the live renditions with guitarist Steve Gaines are excellent.

Additional Lynyrd Skynyrd content
Lynyrd Skynyrd Profile
Southern Rock