Gentle Giant has announced new releases for Three Friends and Octopus. The release date is slated for September 27, 2011.

The fine folks at Repertoire Records have released a re-master of Gentle Giant’s 1972 masterpiece Three Friends. Also slated for release this month is another GG classic, Octopus.

Gentle Giant’s Live in Santa Monica 1975 has been reviewed by John Kelman over at AllAboutJazz.com:

Sound quality aside, it’s an energetic performance. “Cogs in Cogs,” from The Power and the Glory (1974)—despite entering a few seconds in, and with tape wow and flutter causing some annoyance—exemplifies much of what defined Gentle Giant: complex material filled with rich counterpoint that, nevertheless (and more than many of its peers), rocks hard.

How cool is this! Ibrido Hot Five, an Italian jazz ensemble, has recorded 3 songs by Gentle Giant: Acquiring the Taste, The Advent of Panurge, and Three Friends. Check out MP3 samples from their website.