Hot Tuna-Yellow Fever (1975)

In 1975, Hot Tuna, the band led by former Jefferson Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, decided to shift their blues-folk style, which characterized their first four albums, towards a harder, blues-rock sound. "America's Choice" would be the first of this new phase for the group, dubbed "The Rampage Trilogy", and characterized by this new stylistic direction. Six months after the release of "America's Choice", came "Yellow Fever", the group's seventh album, which, like its predecessor, featured a new drummer, Bob Steeler, replacing Sammy Piazza. Long instrumental developments, heavy rock with distorted riffs and dense blues sounds are the common denominator of a repertoire composed of pieces such as the boogie rock "Baby What You Want Me To Do", the hard rock "Free Rain" and "Half/Time Saturation", the psychedelic southern "Sunrise Dance With the Devil", the blues rock "Hot Jelly Roll Blues" and "Song for the Fire Maiden", or the energetic instrumental "Surphase Tension".

Brian Auger & The Trinity-Befour (1970)

In 1969, Julie Driscoll decided to leave Trinity, the band she led with Brian Auger, with whom she had released some of the best rhythm and blues and jazz fusion rock albums of the 1960s ("Open", "Jools and Brian", and "Streetnoise"). Despite this significant departure, Brian Auger decided to carry on, recruiting guitarist Gary Winston Boyle. Together with the rest of the lineup,Dave Ambrose (bass), Clive Thacker (drums), and Auger himself (keyboards and vocals), they recorded Trinity's sixth album, "Befour", released in mid-1970 by RCA. Drummers Mickey Waller, Barry Reeves, and Colin Allen also contributed to the album. On "Befour", Auger presents a series of surprising jazz-rock and groovy fusion covers, driven by Brian Auger's brilliant work on the Hammond organ and Boyle's phenomenal guitar style. The ingenious interpretations of the classics "Pavane" and "Adagio per Archie e Organo" showcase Brian Auger's intelligent style, which, far from seeming pretentious, demonstrates his incredible mastery of the organ. The atmospheric version of Traffic's "No Time to Live" is performed in a haunting manner, while the audacious cover of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" is unorthodoxly but equally effectively redirected to the territory where the band excels. The exuberant "Listen Here", a brutal fusion of jazz-rock rhythms with four drummers and two bassists delivering undeniably powerful sounds, and the captivating "Just You Just Me" are tracks that foreshadow the direction Auger and Oblivion Express will take in the following years. The latter is a hypnotic piece of repetitive rhythms with intricate guitar work and captivating, atmospheric organ solos. With this album Brian Auger once again created a work that was as vibrant as it was captivating, and a true masterpiece of early 70s jazz rock.

Kansas-Freaks Of Nature (1995)

"Freaks of Nature" marked Kansas' return in the 1990s, an album preceded by the conceptual "In the Spirit of Things" from seven years prior. However, after all those years, much had changed within the group, and with a revamped lineup, Robby Steinhardt, Kerry Livgren, Dave Hope, and Steve Morse were no longer present, replaced here by Greg Robert (keyboards), Billy Greer (bass), and David Ragsdale (violin and guitar), while original members Steve Walsh (vocals and keyboards), Phil Ehart (drums), and Rich Williams (guitars) led this new incarnation of the Topeka band. The first thing that stands out is the return of the prominent violin of yesteryear, after several albums where it had lost the prominence it displayed in their 1970s work. Another characteristic of this new release is its departure from the melodic rock sounds of the eighties, taking a step back towards the progressive rock of the seventies, but with a strong emphasis on hard rock. This progressive hard rock style is present in tracks like "Desperate Times", where violinist Ragsdale and the powerful instrumental section drive a magnificently executed piece. The melodic "Hope Once Again" becomes one of the highlights, contrasting with the heavy "Black Fathom 4", the exotic "Need", and the acoustic "Peaceful and Warm". On the other hand, the most progressive moments are embodied by the dramatic "Under The Knife" and the complex "Cold Grey Morning". In short, "Freaks Of Nature" marked the return of the most eclectic and effective Kansas, undoubtedly a great starting point for their subsequent releases, which would continue with the orchestrated "Always Never The Same" (1998) and the epic "Somewhere to Elsewhere" (2000).

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers-Moanin´ (1959)

Art Blakey was a drumming prodigy, a leader who perfectly combined talent, skill, technique, power, and subtlety. Along with other legendary drummers like Max Roach and Kenny Clarke, he invented the modern bebop drumming style. His hard bop style, infused with blues elements and funk rhythms, was fundamental in influencing subsequent generations of drummers worldwide. Blakey mastered swing tempos like no other; he knew how to complement his style within a band, employing his instrumental technique to provide the necessary drama and inspiration. For many years, Blakey led one of the most formidable jazz bands, The Jazz Messenger, which featured some of the greatest musicians of the era, including Wynton Marsalis, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, and Clifford Brown. All these facets and qualities are perfectly represented in his album "Moanin'" with The Jazz Messenger, which was released under the Blue Note label in early 1959. The soul-infused jazz style of the title track, a composition written by pianist Bobby Timmons, was very popular during the 1960s. On this album, saxophonist Benny Golson also composed four extraordinary tracks, including "Blues March", "The Drum Thunder Suite", and "Along Came Betty", all of which are modern jazz standards, in which Blakey displays his dazzling instrumental prowess.

Morse Code-La Marche Des Hommes (1975)

Behind the name Morse Code Transmission lies one of the key players in the early Canadian avant-garde rock scene. Between 1971 and 1994, they released seven compelling albums rooted in classical symphonic rock. Founded in Montreal in the late 1960s, their initial lineup consisted of Christian Simard (vocals and keyboards), Jocelyn Julien (guitar), Peter Schenkman (cello), Al Cherny (flute), Michel Vallée (bass), and Raymond Roy (drums). Their debut album, released in 1971, and their second, released a year later, showcase a style still lacking a clear musical direction, but where psychedelic folk sounds and baroque pop serve as the common thread. Three years later, with guitarist Julien replaced by Daniel Lemay, and the band shortened to Morse Code, they released their third album, "La Marche Des Hommes", a more evolved work where the band reached full compositional maturity. This album produced a remarkable work that moves between hard rock and progressive rock, a style that placed them somewhere between the more pastoral and theatrical Genesis and a softened version of 1970s British hard rock bands. Tracks like the memorable and ethereal title track are the prelude to a delightful repertoire of excellent symphonic songs such as "Qu'est-Ce Que T'as Compris?", "Une Goutte De Pluie", and "Cocktail", which together form a remarkable example of classic 1970s progressive rock.