This Oneness-Surprize (1975)

This Oneness is another of those thousands of short-lived bands that only released one obscure and little-known album of estimable art rock. Their story is as simple as this: they were "basically" the backing band for singer Olivia Newton-John on a tour of North America in the mid-seventies. At the end of that tour, all the musicians involved decided to try their luck composing and recording the album "Surprise", a record with a multitude of influences ranging from jazz rock to progressive rock, including the more accessible melodies of American rock. The lineup of The Oneness consisted of Dale Strength (vocals and guitars), Robyn Lee (keyboards and vocals), Bernard Pershey (drums), Douglas Nelson (bass), and Greg Inhofer (keyboards and guitars). In their only recording they showcase an eclectic style that moves between complex and spacey pieces like "You Can't Do That/Surprise", to attractive and accessible melodies like "Please Let The Sunshine", passing through thrilling old school Canterbury jazz rock like "In Out In Out" or progressive jazz rock like "Surprise (Reprise/Go In Peace").

The Mahavishnu Orchestra-Visions Of The Emerald Beyond (1975)

After three intense albums, "The Inner Mounting Flame" (1971), "Birds of Fire" (1973), and "Apocalypse" (1974), the group led by John McLaughlin returned with the same lineup as on this latest release, marking the second iteration of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It's worth noting that the previous album, "Apocalypse", featured new members: violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, keyboardist Gayle Moran, bassist Ralphe Armstrong, and drummer Michael Walden, replacing former members Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Rick Laird, and Billy Cobham. With this new lineup, they recorded their fourth album, "Visions of the Emerald Beyond", recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York in late 1974 and released in February 1975. In this new release, the band maintains its approach and musical style from the previous work, but subtly shifts towards bluesier territory, as we can hear in the opening tracks, "Eternity's Breath Part 1" and "Eternity's Breath Part 2". These tracks, with a solid bluesy foundation, ingenious violin solos, and Gayle Moran's excellent vocals, along with McLaughlin's guitar exploration, result in a very harmonious and balanced song. In "Lila's Dance", the band continues down the path of the previous track with an even bluesier approach, where McLaughlin takes center stage with a long and superb guitar solo. Meanwhile ,“Can’t Stand Your Funk”, as its title implies, is a clear example of funk jazz rock with a great combination of bass, rhythm guitar, and the powerful horn section. The melodic “Pastoral”, the coherent and very well-structured jazz rock “Faith”, the haunting “Pegasus”, and the superb and spacey “Earth Ship” make up an excellent album that, while not reaching the heights of their first two works, would maintain their position as one of the leading bands in the global jazz rock scene, alongside contemporary bands like Weather Report and Return to Forever, and would also complete an essential quadrilogy within the aforementioned style.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra-Apocalypse (1974)

In 1974, John McLaughlin reformed the Mahavishnu Orchestra, bringing in keyboardist Gayle Moran, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, bassist Ralphe Armstrong, and drummer Michael Walden, who replaced Jan Hammer, Jerry Goodman, Rick Laird, and Billy Cobham, respectively. With this new lineup, he recorded the band's third album, which also featured the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, as well as session musicians Marsha Westbrook (viola), Carol Shive (violin and vocals), and Philip Hirschi (cello and vocals). The fiery rhythm section of Armstrong and Walden propelled Ponty's rich instrumental passages and the London Symphony's orchestral arrangements, all underscored by McLaughlin's dark and gritty guitar work, creating an album that, as its title suggests, is apocalyptic. All of this is reflected in the captivating "Power of Love", with its astonishing work by the French violinist, a dark guitar, and subtle orchestral passages. The terrifying "Vision Is A Naked Sword", the orchestral interlude of "Wings of Karma", and the heart-wrenching "Hymn to Him" ​​combine to create another masterpiece of jazz-rock, demonstrating the immense creative capacity of the brilliant John McLaughlin.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra-Between Nothingness & Eternity (1973)

"Between Nothingness & Eternity" was the only live album officially released by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and it came out amidst strained relations within the band, a situation that would lead John McLaughlin to reform the group shortly after its release. Composed of three extended tracks not included on their studio albums, it was recorded during the summer of 1973 in New York's Central Park and features the original Mahavishnu lineup: John McLaughlin (guitar), Jan Hammer (synthesizers and keyboards), Billy Cobham (drums), Rick Laird (bass), Jerry Goodman (violin), and Sri Chinmoy (vocals). Replete with intense jazz fusion/rock sounds, it showcases the astonishing instrumental mastery of each and every musician in the band, from McLaughlin's virtuosity on the six-string to Cobham's superb skill with the drumsticks, Hammer's powerful Moog synthesizer notes, and Jerry Goodman's tremendous talent on the electric violin. The live performance begins with the exhilarating "Trilogy Medley", a piece where the instrumental chemistry between all the musicians demonstrates they were at a superior level within the jazz-rock of that era. This is followed by "Sister Andrea", which maintains a similar style but slows the frenetic pace of the previous piece, veering towards progressive jazz-rock. The finale is reserved for "Dream", a tour de force of over twenty minutes divided between initial ambient and atmospheric sounds and a fiery jam session in its closing section. As we said at the beginning, this was the last official recording of the original band, a fact that would not surprise anyone due to the talent and individual ego of each of them, so a year later Mahavishnu would return with a completely different lineup except for its leader John McLaughlin.

Cannonball Adderley-Cannonball Adderley Sextet: Planet Earth (1969)

Cannonball Adderley was one of the greatest saxophonists in the history of jazz, a musician with a unique and innate ability to communicate his music to a wide audience and make it incredibly popular. With an established career behind him, in the mid-1950s he moved to New York from his native Florida, where he quickly became a sensation and ended up playing in Miles Davis's band. At the end of that decade, he released some of his masterpieces, such as "Somethin' Else" with Miles Davis, Hank Jones, and Art Blakey. During the 1960s, his soulful hard bop style shone through, and he recorded prestigious albums for the Riverside and Capitol labels, including "Know What I Mean" with Bill Evans and "Accent on Africa". With Capitol Records, his albums shifted towards more mainstream and commercial sounds, as demonstrated by his tremendous success "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" in 1966. Towards the end of the sixties, the now-defunct Riverside label released the live album "Cannonball Adderley Sextet: Planet Earth", featuring notable collaborations with Joe Zawinul, Louis Hayes, Nat Adderley, Yusef Lateef, and Sam Jones. A technically impeccable album, it included a series of modern jazz compositions such as the soulful "Seventh Son", exotic performances like "Brother John", and intriguing hard bop like "Syn-Anthesia", all reflecting an avant-garde style with clear Eastern influences.

Granada-España, Año 75 (1976)

Granada was a Spanish symphonic rock band that, with a very particular and unique style, released three magnificent albums in the 1970s. Led by multi-instrumentalist Carlos Cárcamo, the band also included drummer Juan Bona, bassist Antonio García, and guitarist Michael Vortreflich. In 1975, the group released their debut album, "Hablo de una Tierra" (I Speak of a Land), an eclectic work that fused different styles such as blues and rock, always through a progressive lens. On this debut, the sound of the sharp guitars and the omnipresent Mellotron take us on pleasant journeys with a Mediterranean and Andalusian flavor. A year later came their second album, "España Año 75" (Spain Year 75), an ironic title for a crucial year in Spanish history. The entire album is full of magnificent displays of symphonic progressive music with abundant folkloric allusions. The jazzy nuances and Mediterranean atmospheres, along with the atmospheric and tranquil passages, are the highlights of an album that features standout tracks such as the epic "El Calor que pasando este verano" (The Heat We Experienced This Summer), the atmospheric "Septiembre" (September), and the progressive folk songs "Noviembre Florido" (Flowery November) and "Ahora vamos a ver que pasa (vámonos para el Mediterráneo)" (Now Let's See What Happens (Let's Go to the Mediterranean)). With this album, Granada and Spanish progressive rock in general demonstrated the solid style that the Spanish music scene was producing during the musically fertile 1970s.

Rose´s Pawn Shop-Dancing On The Gallows (2010)

Rose's Pawn Shop are a band that gave a breath of fresh air to the American sound in 2005, when they were founded (this does not mean that there are not many others that have also contributed to keeping the legacy alive). They make everything from classical music ("classical" if you were born in the southern United States), from bluegrass to country to folk, rock and blues.
"Dancing On The Gallows" was the second album by this magnificent band released in 2010. By then the band consisted of Paul Givant, vocalist, guitar and banjo, Tim Weed, Mandolin, fiddle and vocals, John Kraus, banjo, mandolin and guitar, Stephen Andrews, bass and drums, Christian Hogan, Debtors of the sounds that The Byrds or The Band created in the sixties, Rose's Pawn Shop manifest their style in superb songs like "Strangers", "Debt Collector" or "Pine Box", themes that if they had been published in the 70s, we would speak of a jewel of the genre.