Aubrey Mayhew, founder of the maverick country label Little Darlin' Records, sought out taciturn bluesman Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins in Houston in 1967 and persuaded him to make some casual field recordings for him at nearby Gold Star Studio and, as it turned out, at two small local bars. The results of these extremely loose and casual sessions were issued as a series of five short albums under the blanket title of The Lost Texas Tapes, and it is those five releases that are collected here into one double-disc set. Intimacy is the operative word for these tracks, as Hopkins (playing solo electric guitar) sounds relaxed and at ease, and while these recordings are hardly the place to start with Lightnin', die-hard fans will find them indispensable for the insight they give into his creative process…

Pianist Brad Mehldau blew up in the mid-’90s playing intense renditions of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, and the like, but he’s also famously covered rock and pop fare including Radiohead, Alice in Chains, Neil Young, Rush, and indeed The Beatles. But here is Mehldau going all in, at peak expressive form and technical command, alone with a phenomenal instrument in a superb-sounding hall (Philharmonie de Paris), offering an emotionally invested all-Beatles programme (save for one David Bowie anthem at the end). The song order flows beautifully. Mehldau opens up the forms, cannily orchestrates the melodies, departs in fascinating ways from the harmonies, in the end keeping it all about the song. The emphasis is generally later Beatles (“I Am the Walrus,” “She Said, She Said,” and “Golden Slumbers” are inspired picks), but Mehldau’s boogie-woogie treatment of “I Saw Her Standing There” takes it back—it’s him convincingly flexing pre-bebop stylistic muscles while finding openings for his own creative language to come through.

John W. Duarte (1919-2004) was educated at the Manchester University Faculty of Technology. He worked as a professional chemist until 1969, then abandoned chemistry in favor of full-time dedication to music, after having been persuaded by Len Williams, father of John Williams. His only formal musical education consisted in jazz guitar lessons with Terence Terry Usher, the rest he learned by self-instruction. He also worked professionally as a player of the trumpet and double bass, and regularly worked as a jazz musician, among others with Coleman Hawkins and Django Reinhardt.

The release of the debut album “Mas um Melodia” by Cláudia Sofia from Mindelo fits seamlessly into a whole series of amazing new musical discoveries from the Cape Verde Islands, which have been enriching the world music genre with interesting grooves and sounds for many years. The 10 original compositions by the singer and guitarist from the island of Sao Vicente, home of the icon of Cape Verdean music, Cesária Évora, who died in 2011, clearly show the cultural connection between the island of Sao Vicente and Brazilian music, in line with the Évora classic “Sao Vicente é um Brasilin”. (Sao Vicente is a little Brazil).

María de Buenos Aires is a tango operita (little opera) composed by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) with a libretto by poet Horacio Ferrer. Premiering in 1968, the piece is one of Piazzolla’s most ambitious and innovative works, blending tango, classical music, and surrealist poetry. It represents a major departure from traditional tango, showcasing Piazzolla’s distinctive nuevo tango style—complex, dramatic, and infused with elements of jazz and avant-garde music.

A key early album by Albert Ayler - a mindblowing record even all these many years later, and a key introduction of Ayler's music to the rest of the world! The set begins with a compelling spoken introduction from Albert - really taking the time to introduce himself and his new approach to jazz - then rolls into searing sounds on tenor and soprano sax, played with accompaniment from a European trio that has Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass, Niels Bronsted on piano, and Ronnie Gardier on drums. A number of the tunes are standards - used by Ayler here in ways that are similar to some of Cecil Taylor's initial recordings - as a way of marking his own different in jazz, before setting out on his own compositions in years to come. Given the quartet setting, there's less of the locked horns and rhythms of some of Ayler's ESP recordings to come - but the difference in format also makes the album a real standout in his catalog, too.