World premiere recording
These ricercares come from two publications, one Italian and one Spanish, intended for the instruction of instrumentalists in the tasteful practice of improvisation and ornamentation of pre-existing melodies, a practice called 'diminution' or 'division.' In other words, they are textbooks for performers and as such have served every professional wind and string player of our times as guides to historical performance practice. They are indispensible.

Jimmy Rogers - Blue Bird
1994 | Chicago Blues | MP3 320kbps | 140MB

Guitarist Jimmy Rogers was the last living connection to the groundbreaking first Chicago band of Muddy Waters (informally dubbed the Headhunters for their penchant of dropping by other musicians' gigs and "cutting their heads" with a superior onstage performance). Instead of basking in worldwide veneration, he was merely a well-respected Chicago elder boasting a seminal 1950s Chess Records catalog, both behind Waters and on his own.

Gabriella Cilmi - Lessons To Be Learned (2008)
Label: Warner Australia | All Covers | MP3 @256kbps | Time: 43:54 | 88.1 MB
Genre: Rock/Pop

With LESSONS TO BE LEARNED finished but still months away from release, word started to get out that something very special was in the offing and things started happening quickly for Gabriella. There were gigs around London and she was asked to record a cover version of the Martha & The Muffins’ classic “Echo Beach” as the theme song of a new British TV drama of the same name. Then, at the end of last year, the producers of Later With Jools Holland, one of the most popular and distinguished music shows on British TV, got to hear an advance copy of “Sweet About Me” and insisted that Gabriella appear on their end of year show, despite the fact that the single was still ages away from release.

“That was awesome,” beams Gabriella. “I’ve always watched the show and thought I want to go on it one day. It’s the coolest music show around because it’s only about the music. It was so funny walking in there because it felt like I’d walked into my television set. It was really fun. I was just smiling all day. It was cool. I met Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones. He shook my hand and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I nearly died.”

A taste of many extraordinary things to come, no doubt. Rest assured, “Sweet About Me” will shortly blow away everyone, everywhere. But it’s just a sampler from an extraordinary debut album from a gifted new artist.

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED is the album that will make Gabriella Cilmi one of the most talked about new artists of 2008.