Tough Enough completes singer/guitarist Buddy Reed’s transformation from sideman (veteran of the blues group Canned Heat) to solo star. In terms of maturity of concept, this is the newest, boldest entry in what at times appears to be a year-by-year plugging away at the blues business. Reed is finally calling his shot.

Ohrwurm-Melodien, Mitsing-Refrains und Texte, die uns zum Lachen bringen oder ein Herz auf unsere Seele malen: „Weil du Liebe gibst“, „Nur für dich bin ich geboren“, „Verlorenes Gold“. Darum werden sie seit 55 Jahren geliebt. Die Amigos sind ein Mythos, zum Greifen nah. Der Rock rollt und der Beat brennt noch in ihren heißen Schlagerherzen - Pettycoat und Rock'n Roll -. „Die Beat-Clubs von damals gibt es nicht mehr“, doch die Könige des Discofox folgen dem Pulsschlag der Musik „solange unsere Herzen schlagen. Wir machen’s wie die Rolling Stones – wir hören niemals auf!“ Karl-Heinz und Bernd Ulrich können sich auf ihre Intuition verlassen. Sie haben Stimmung und emotionalen Ausdruck eines Liedes bereits im Ohr, bevor die Songs im Studio zum Leben erwachen.

There’s one thing Forth Wanderers want to make clear as they prepare to release their third album The Longer This Goes On: “We’re not back,” guitarist Ben Guterl says emphatically. It’s perhaps an unexpected sentiment to pair with the band’s first album since they parted ways seven years ago, but the band insists it’s just an honest answer—they came together to record the ten intricately constructed gems that make up this new record, and they’re still figuring out what being in Forth Wanderers means to them, over ten years after the project’s conception. Listening to these songs, each a glittering celebration of vocalist Ava Trilling’s urgent and intuitive lyrics and the band’s natural musical chemistry, though, it’s hard to feel like there’s much of anything left unsaid. Filled with spit-shined melodies, chiming vocal harmonies, and slinky, slanted rhythms, the album is more expansive than just a return to form. Here, the band aren’t afraid to take the scenic route to a hook, layering instrumental flourishes to fill in the empty spaces, creating room for Trilling’s haunting range, or repeating a riff or a lyric until it becomes a Zen koan. On The Longer This Goes On, Forth Wanderers sound more self-aware and self-assured than ever before. Just don’t call it a comeback.

The concept of the album is all about trusting feeling over thought. It’s a stepping into and an acceptance of the stories, experiences and memories that shape who I am. When I listen to what my body’s telling me, it feels like an unwavering light at the end of the tunnel, an orienting point - something fixed like a ‘true north’ while everything else around it spins. When I follow thought, I'm in with everything that’s spinning.

Grammy-award winning blues icon Koko Taylor was a force of nature. The legendary Queen of the Blues was one of the genre’s best-selling and most recognizable artists. With her huge, gritty voice and the backing of her powerhouse band, The Blues Machine, she delivered tough Chicago blues over a 45-year career, ending with her death in 2009. For people all over the world, her music IS the blues as much as BB King’s or Buddy Guy’s. Crown Jewels is the first new Koko Taylor vinyl to be released in 35 years, and as the title makes clear, it’s packed with over 50 minutes of the finest performances from her celebrated Alligator years. These are songs blues fans know and love by heart, from “Wang Dang Doodle” to “Hey Bartender” to “Let The Good Times Roll.” It’s gritty, unvarnished, old-school blues and proud of it, every track infused with Koko’s ageless energy and passion. Fellow Chicago blues greats Buddy Guy and Carey Ball guest.

If You Love Retro Jazz Divas, Emma Smith’s Latest Album May Be Just the Nostalgic Escape You’re Craving.

Jade Bird's triumphant third album Who Wants to Talk About Love invites us to join her quest to understand the powerful, addictive, beautiful, destructive force that drives us all. “I want it to be a conversation,” she says. “I want it to be a real back and forth.” Bringing us into some of the most personal, psyche-forming bonds in her life, Jade uses both upbeat pop melodies ("Dreams", "Save Your Tears") as well as gentle ballads ("Who Wants", "Avalanche") to take us on a journey through heartbreak, doubt, acceptance, and hope.

You’ll Be Alright, Kid builds upon the vision of Alex Warren’s debut. While You’ll Be Alright, Kid (Chapter 1) focused on dealing with grief, You’ll Be Alright, Kid turns the page to show the full picture: struggle and strength, healing and resilience. The complete album contains standout tracks “Carry You Home” and “Burning Down,” along with his earth shattering smash hit single “Ordinary” and newest release“Bloodline (with Jelly Roll).

Blues-rock titan Joe Bonamassa is back with Breakthrough, his powerful new studio album dropping July 18th.

London-born and Hackney-raised artist Berie Newman has captivated audiences with his heartfelt indie-folk sound, drawing inspiration from Bon Iver, Hozier, and Gregory Alan Isakov. His recent releases, including the widely acclaimed Seaside Eyes, have garnered significant attention, amassing over 5 million streams with editorial support from Acoustic Chill, New in Singer-Songwriter, and New in Indie. The track has also been featured on Spotify's Fresh Finds UK and Fresh Finds Folk playlists, as well as receiving support from YouTube Music.

Berget Lewis, Candy Dulfer, Edsilia Rombley and Trijntje Oosterhuis are the Ladies of Soul. The Dutch supergroup pays tribute to their favorite pop- and soul music during their annual liveshow in the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. The ladies are accompanied by a top notch live band and surprising local and international guest artists like Billy Ocean, En Vogue, Sheila E, Oleta Adams, JT Taylor (former lead singer Kool & The Gang), Sister Sledge and Gwen Dickey (voice of Rose Royce).

This arresting new album presents a major addition to the solo flute repertoire, bringing together the visionary artistry of flautist Noemi Gyori and the intricate, evocative music of composer Sinan Savaşkan. Spanning nearly five decades of Savaşkan’s compositional output, the album explores the full expressive range of the flute—its lyric warmth, its structural clarity, and its capacity for sonic transformation—often in dialogue with subtly woven electronic elements.

For Ferruccio Busoni, Bach’s music was the root and the foundation of piano playing. His many transcriptions confirm this point of view, whilst his monumental Fantasia Contrappuntistica attempts to provide a conclusion to Bach’s unfinished Kunst der Fuge. Busoni received a great deal of criticism for this, to which he replied “the musical art-work exists both within and outside of Time… there is no Old or New. There is only Known or Unknown”. Today — one century and many fashions of “authentic” ways of performing Bach later — is possibly the time to rediscover the true voice of this great musician; for Bach, music was like “a divine child who did not touch the earth with his feet but floated on air”. Jan Michiels takes you into this divine air with an ‘old’ Bechstein from 1860 as well as with a brand new Straight Strung Grand Piano by Chris Maene.

Pah-Dah-Ah-Dah is a modern high-energy 12/8 Afro-rock tune with an infectious groove that just might have them dancing in the aisles.

Mozart's piano concerto in E flat KV 271 has long been known as the 'Jeunehomme' - but it was discovered in 2004 that it was actually composed for Louise Victoire Jenamy; Mozart misspelled her name as 'jenomy' in a letter to his father in 1778 and so created a misunderstanding that lasted for over two centuries. Mozart composed his piano concerto KV 414 in Vienna in 1783; Evren Ozel, the soloist in these two works, says that this work "is more carefree and allows the performers to explore a gentler and more tender side of Mozart". It was only two years after his first violin concerto that Mozart - then 19 years old and concertmaster to the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg - composed his second, KV 211; two more followed within the year. "The art of performing Mozart's music is to play it with simplicity and life while remaining true to the Classical style", says Jan Mracek, the second soloist on this, the twelfth volume in the Next Generation Mozart Soloists series conducted by Howard Griffiths.