Other People's Rooms

The Best of Mark-Almond The Best of Mark-Almond is a compelling retrospective of the band's most inventive and best-loved songs. We all know the distinctive sound this innovative English band was exploring in the late 60s and early 70s, carving out a niche in the unchartered territory between rock a...	Rising 2003 Japanese edition of the British prog-rock duo's 1972 album for CBS.	Mark-Almond 2007 digipak pressing features the debut album from former John Mayall sidemen Jon Mark and Johnny Almond plus six additional tracks pulled from their albums Mark-Almond 2 and Mark-Almond '73. 11 tracks total. Body Heat.	Nightmusic	Mark-Almond 73
The Turning Point	Mark-Almond, Vol. 2 Japanese exclusive digitally remastered CD reissue of the British progressive rock act's 1972 album.	Nine Lives Nine Lives expands on all the many phases and turns of Steve Winwood's lustrous career, bristling with his pure joy of music-making. The new songs range from the inspiring "Fly" to the burning "Dirty City" (featuring a guest appearance by long-time friend Eric Clapton) to the s...	Keep It Simple Those familiar with Van Morrison's ever mercurial muse could hardly have been surprised when he turned up on the artistically centered, avant-country label Lost Highway to pay tribute to a era-spanning slate of country icons on the Nashville imprint's `06 collection, Pay the Dev...	River: The Joni Letters (with Bonus Tracks) - Amazon.com Exclusive On paper, River sounds like a match made in several versions of heaven. Legendary pianist Herbie Hancock re-imagines Joni Mitchell with his hand-picked, star-studded band--including saxophonist Wayne Shorter--in tow. Luminary guests lend vocals to a song apiece: Norah Jones ("Cou...

first CD to replace an LP-Album
Best album of M&A (and I have them all), if not best album ever.

Japan To The Rescue, Again
Over the years, many great albums have been issued and have received scant notice from either the critics or the record-buying public. Lack of publicity is one explanation, a general lack of musical sophistication is another. Does the general public settle for ... because that's all they are fed or are they fed ... because that's what they want? Its an age-old question that's impossible to answer though I suspect the answer lies within the first part of the question.Enter the Japanese. I have never been to Japan and know little of Japanese culture but one thing I have noticed is that Japanese companies have issued or reissued many obscure but great CDs over the last decade so there must be an active market for quality music over there. Great music by Astor Piazzolla, Boz Scaggs and others would have been lost to posterity had it not been for these Japanese releases. And so it is with Other People's Rooms, the excellent last-gasp of the Mark-Almond Band, where Japanese foresight and a yen for quality has once again rescued a fine body of work from oblivion.Jon Mark and Johnny Almond first came to my attention through their work with John Mayall on Turning Point, Back to the Roots, and other albums. Their eponymous debut album gave them wider recognition and an expanding fan base in my native Southern California. They hit a high point with Mark-Almond '73 and then, as far as I can recall, dropped from earshot until the late '70s when they issued Other People's Rooms.This album features an extremely mellow version of their most famous song, The City. Then it gets into some excellent new material. I really enjoy Jon Mark's almost whispering vocals which mesh delightfully with the hopeful, yet bittersweet lyrics which mark this set. And the musicianship is impeccable.I like every song. The Girl On Table Four is the story of many a shy guy who see's someone he is attracted to every day and yet can't summon the courage to approach her. You Look Just Like a Girl Again and Then I Have You are tinged with the bittersweetness of love and desire while the title cut exudes a wistful sense of loneliness and yet is at the same time romantic. This is an excellent album to have on while cuddling in front of the fireplace with a bottle of fine wine and your lover.Overall, the mood of the album is very much similar to you would expect from jazz artist Michael Franks and that shouldn't be surprising since they shared producer Tommy LiPuma at that time and the final cut, Vivaldi's Song, is a delicious Franks composition.I recommend this CD to anyone who likes quality soft jazz and a touch of happy sadness to their music. Hats off to the Japanese for coming to the rescue once again.

a gem
Hard to find but delectable. This is one of the last opus of the Californian duet, yet one of the best, thanks also to the producer Tommy Lipuma, the underrated californian wizard. A subtle nostalgia goes though most of the tunes, from a new version for the classic City to the Vivaldi Song of Michael Franks fame( a Lipuma connection). "You look just like a girl again" and the title song "other People rooms" are some of the finest representatives of the last 70's californian spirit. Amazingly, the authors of the group's Greatest Hits sleeve notes, don't think much of this work. It's true that one or two tracks are not much inspired, kind of not so great jazz-rock fusion. But the rest is so great! Does anybody have more info on Lipuma?