In the history of jazz music, there is only one bandleader that has the distinction of having his orchestra still performing sold out concerts all over the world. The work, with members personally chosen by him, for over 30 years after his passing. Pianist and bandleader William James “Count” Basie was and still is an American institution that personifies the grandeur and the excellence of jazz. The Count Basie Orchestra, today directed by Scotty Barnhart, has won every respected jazz poll in the world at least once, won 18 Grammy Awards, performed for Kings, Queens, and other world royalty, appeared in several movies, television shows, at every major jazz festival and major concert hall in the world.

The talented Chemirani family - Keyvan, Bijan and Maryam - have recorded an album called Hâl (pronounced ‘Hol’), which explores the intersection of Iranian, Indian and Irish music. Subtitled ‘Love ballads’, it features love poems with texts sung in English or Persian. The ‘hâl’ corresponds to the moment when one lets oneself go, that ecstatic state between awakening and self-forgetfulness… Keyvan, a zarb and percussion virtuoso, and Bijan, an expert on the saz lute and also a percussionist, are known from the highly regarded Trio Chemirani, formed with their father. This album introduces their sister Maryam, a singer but also a nurse, who followed in the footsteps of Mother Teresa in India, then worked in the Alpes de Haute Provence. Keyvan devised this programme especially for her, inspired both by her voice which is ‘warm and deeply generous’ and her compassionate spirit which imbues her performance with added emotion. The incredible flute player Sylvain Barou, their brother in music, completes the ensemble.

The first album to bring together all of Fanny Mendelssohn’s four piano sonatas, written over the course of almost 20 years, and including the ‘Easter Sonata’ rediscovered in 2010.

Philippe Herreweghe records his third disc devoted to a controversial figure in the world of music and art in general: Carlo Gesualdo, who had his wife murdered and is suspected of having his son smothered. This time Collegium Vocale Gent performs his fifth book of madrigals (1611), published two years before his death. A collection that even today contributes to the eternal debate: to what extent does art become impregnated with reality, and how can it be appreciated when it emanates from a mind living so close to horror? Here the bold dissonances and sometimes tortured expressiveness that can be perceived in his harmonic language offer food for thought. Can we speak of redemption through art for a murderous composer in the twilight of his life?

HYBRID/C is a musical and cultural fusion project with a common point that is Afro-Cuban music and jazz. Jazz serves as a vehicle on this journey to the roots of Cuban music and Afro- Cuban culture from a modern musical perspective. Born in Spain to a Cuban father and French mother, Carlos Cippelletti’s compositions reflect his various identities. jazz, cuban folklore, neo-soul and classical music combine to create a sound all its own. This album was recorded with a traditional Afro-Cuban jazz sextet, (trumpet, tenor sax, piano, double bass, congas / batá drums and drums) adding a seventh element of electronics and synthesizers to create a point of union between tradition and modernity. HYRBID/C, is a fusion project that shows how, regardless of our roots and ages, beauty always prevails, and unites us through the most universal language we know, music.

Herbert von Karajan isn’t alone in celebrating his 100th birthday this year. Among composers whose 100th anniversary falls in 2008, Olivier Messiaen (10 December) is definitely the most important To whet your appetites for further releases in this anniversary year, here is a 1-CD midprice compilation of Messiaen’s ecstatic slow movements: a sequence of eight movements from major works that together make an unforgettable impression: supple in rhythm, subtle in melody and incredibly rich in harmony. Almost like variations on a theme (with plenty of F sharp major too!), the 70-minute disc is uniquely relaxing and moving at the same time – by no means the usual pot-pourri compilation.

Simon & Garfunkel's second album, Sounds of Silence, was recorded 18 months after their debut long-player, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM – but even though the two albums shared one song (actually, one-and-a-half songs) in common, the sound here seemed a million miles away from the gentle harmonizing and unassuming acoustic accompaniment on the first record. In between, there had been a minor earthquake in the pop/rock world called "folk-rock," which resulted in the transformation of their acoustic rendition of "The Sound of Silence" into a classic of the new genre, complete with jangling electric guitars and an amplified beat that helped carry it to the top of the charts…

An album of full-on European style progressive rock music from the powerhouse trio of Andy Tillison, Jonas Reingold and Roberto Tiranti, Allium: Una Storia is a conceptual work which takes as its subject a real band - Allium - that Andy saw play and jammed with in Italy when he was a teenager in the mid-1970s.
The album features three songs, the side long epic Mai Tornare and two shorter tracks Ordine Nuovo and Nel Nome Di Dio, in 2 very different mixes mixes. "Original Mix” by Andy Tillison strives to be authentic to the sound of the times and “2021 Mix" by Jonas Reingold is a respectful remix made with modern technology…

To coincide with Messiaen’s 100th anniversary DG presents this recording of rarely heard spiritual works of the beloved French composer. Religiosity and Catholicism have been important sources of inspiration for Olivier Messiaen throughout his artistic life and form the key aspect of the repertoire selected for this album. The Trois Petites Liturgies for piano, ondes martenot, choir and orchestra were premiered in occupied Paris in 1943, and received highest praise by Jean Cocteau, Francis Poulenc and Arthur Honegger among others – with the aim of bringing “a kind of organized act of praise into the concert room” Messiaen achieved one of his most colourful and enduring works up to that point – he himself described the music as “nothing but an act of love”.

Nina Simone Sings the Blues, issued in 1967, was her RCA label debut, and was a brave departure from the material she had been recording for Phillips. Indeed, her final album for that label, High Priestess of Soul, featured the singer, pianist, and songwriter fronting a virtual orchestra. Here, Simone is backed by a pair of guitarists (Eric Gale and Rudy Stevenson), bassist (Bob Bushnell), drummer (Bernard "Pretty" Purdie), organist (Ernie Hayes), and harmonica player who doubled on saxophone (Buddy Lucas). Simone handled the piano chores. The song selection is key here. Because for all intents and purposes this is perhaps the rawest record Simone ever cut. It opens with the sultry, nocturnal, slow-burning original "Do I Move You," which doesn't beg the question but demands an answer: "Do I move you?/Are you willin'?/Do I groove you?/Is it thrillin'?/Do I soothe you?/Tell the truth now?/Do I move you?/Are you loose now?/The answer better be yeah…It pleases me…." As the guitarists slip and slide around her husky vocal, a harmonica wails in the space between, and Simone's piano is the authority, hard and purposely slow.