One of the great landmarks in British jazz. Never before had such a panorama of fresh, articulate ideas been drawn together on a single recording. The potential for small-group jazz envisaged by John Coltrane is literally extrapolated here to such an extent that it enters an entirely new and different territory, with each musician adding entirely individual elements to the unique wholeness of the group. John McLaughlin unashamedly deals in melodic and timbral elements which are more reminiscent of Hendrix than of Joe Pass, while playing what is unmistakably "jazz guitar" in the truest sense, as well as managing to offer a foretaste of the Indian influences which became so prominent later in his career. Tony Oxley's drumming has all the intricacy of late bebop but achieves a sense of punctuation as precise as a rock backbeat, while Brian Odges and John Surman wring an unprecedented level of harmonic richness from their instruments. Beyond its own unique identity, this music also sits at the precise centre of the crossroads which would lead to the modern European jazz sound, fusion, "world jazz" and much more. Essential. -Roger Thomas.

After rhyming over Premier's doctored jazz beats in Gang Starr, Guru decided to take it to the next level, employing the talents of actual jazz musicians to create the grooves over which he would flow. Coming off like a jazzier extension of the Brand New Heavies' Heavy Rhyme Experience: Vol. 1, Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1 brought together a diverse group of jazz cats both old-school and new, including Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, Lonnie Liston Smith, Ronny Jordan, and Courtney Pine. Guru even enlisted the serene pipes of Carleen Anderson and N'Dea Davenport and acted as something of an international hip-hop ambassador when he flipped "Le Bien, Le Mal" with French mic pro MC Solaar. From the Blue Note-style cover art to the hepcat spoken-word intro, this package is pure hip-hop jazz music. Jazz purists may wish to note that the grooves lean heavily toward the funkier 1970s era of jazz, and hardcore hip-hop heads my be turned off by the mellower musical stance. But then again, this is neither pure jazz nor hardcore hip-hop but rather an extension of the two. -Spence Abbott.

Stinging urban blues by way of Texas and Memphis distinguish Robert Cray's major-label debut, which followed three strong independent releases. Here he fleshes out his sound with bursts of brassy Southern soul courtesy of the Memphis Horns, but keeps his pungent, steely guitar solos out front in an engaging dialogue with his plaintive vocals. Released in 1986, Strong Persuader signaled that Cray, as a writer-like his contemporary Stevie Ray Vaughan-had something to say about his interior life beyond the usual bluesman's laments, an approach that pays homage to the music's rich traditions while suggesting new areas of inquiry. -David McGee.

Eurotrash sex/horror auteur Jesus Franco's Female Vampire delivers nudity, drinking of human body fluids, plentiful zoom shots, languorous music, a vestigial storyline and the odd moment of surrealism (a flapping bat car ornament). It opens with a soulful-eyed brunette (Lina Romay) striding through misty woods wearing only thigh-boots, a leather belt and a black cloak, then chancing across a breeder of tropical birds upon whom she performs an act of oral sex that winds up painfully and fatally for the poor chump. One of Franco's better films, this still has an extremely leisurely pace which means that the story drifts dreamlike (or tediously, depending on your point of view) between protracted but unappealing sexual encounters as a smitten fellow with the requisite 70s porno moustache (Jack Taylor), a vampire-hating doctor (director Franco) and a blind coroner pursue the gloomy Countess for their own reasons. The vampire is mute but has an Anne Rice-style whining voice-over, and the dubbing means that everyone else seems equally dissociated from the words that fail to approximate their lip movements. Fans of Lina's frustrated naked writhings get to see her do the thing on top of several men and women, a bed, a tree and in a bath of blood. To Franco-philes, it's a masterpiece; to everyone else, wearisome tat. On the DVD: Female Vampire on disc comes with a nice widescreen transfer of a print that goes on longer than any previous UK release (though it runs 94 mins, not the 101 listed on the cover); an alternate opening sequence (with the title The Bare Breasted Countess); a fairly complete list of Franco credits; a French trailer (for La Comtesse aux Seins Nus); and four brief alternate scenes from a version of the film with less explicit sex but more blood (i. e. , necks are bitten but not private parts). -Kim Newman.

Try to forget the fact that Bing Crosby probably never had to record another song in his life after he immortalised White Christmas. If you can do that, you'll find plenty more to like in this crooning Christmas collection. There's the romantic Bing, charming the tinsel right off the tree with "The Christmas Song", and that cure for cabin fever, "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" There's the Reverent Bing, solemnly singing "Adeste Fideles". And of course, there's Bing the showman, belting out "Good King Wenceslas" with a bit of that ole vaudeville shine. But no matter what you're told, "White Christmas" will be the number one reason for sticking this one in your stocking and who can blame you? It's as timeless now as it was way back then. -Steve Gdula.