Spanish composer and musician Angel Ontalva is perhaps best known as a central member of the Spanish band October Equus, but he has been involved in multiple side projects and collaborative productions in the last few years as well, in addition to establishing a solo career. He has released several solo albums. "Tierra Quemada" is his new studio album, released in 2015.

Schumann’s late works for piano and orchestra, the Introduction and Allegro appassionato op. 92 (1850) and the Introduction and Allegro concertante op. 134 (1853) have, like many of Schumann’s later works, not managed to establish themselves in the repertoire. And I think few would claim that these works are anywhere near the concerto in ingenuity or level of inspiration – they are by all means enjoyable works of the kind many lesser composers could dream of being able to compose, but they are hardly masterpieces and do provide some fuel for those who, probably correctly, like to point out the decline in Schumann’s creative powers over the last years of his life.

Charlie Feathers - Jungle Fever: 1955-1962 Recordings (2016) {Hoodoo Records 263534}
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© 1955-62, 2016 Hoodoo Records | 263534
Rockabilly / Rock & Roll / Country / Early Pop

This special collector's edition contains 30 remastered recordings by Charlie Feathers, consisting of a selection of the magnificent tunes he made at his peak for different labels (such as Sun, Meteor, Kay, Wal-May and King Records) between 1955 and 1962. All of his most famous songs and enduring singles are featured on this great CD, which is a quintessential testament to the true genius of rockabilly's main man, the late, great Charlie Feathers.

Pianist/composer Eddie Palmieri has long been a giant of Afro-Cuban (or Latin) jazz. While some recordings in this idiom lean too far in one direction - not enough jazz improvising, or in other cases, a percussion section that sounds as if it were added on as an afterthought - Palmieri has struck a perfect balance. In trumpeter Brian Lynch, trombonist Conrad Herwig and altoist Donald Harrison, he has three strong soloists who match well with the trio of percussionists. In addition to Palmieri, bassist John Benitez and drummer Adam Cruz (the latter is on just four of the eight Palmieri originals) are flexible enough to play both swing and Latin. A strong plus to this date are the compositions/arrangements of Palmieri, which pay close attention to varying moods, instrumental colors and grooves. Consistently complex and unpredictable, the music is still always quite accessible and enjoyable, thanks to the percussionists.

The first Debussy disc (La Mer 1C1165) received very positive critical acclaim from the classical press and rightfully hailed Emmanuel Krivine as one of the conducting greats, revisiting one of the greatest French composers. Emmanuel Krivine is one of the most distinguished European conductors, with a particular expertise in French repertory and classics of the 20th century literature.

In no piece is the competition very wide because there never have been many recordings of the Der Bürger als Edelmann, the Duetto-Concertino, or even the Sextet from the Capriccio by Richard Strauss. But in every piece, the competition is as good as it gets with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony on one Der Bürger and Herbert von Karajan and the Philharmonia on the Sextet. But despite the odds, Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie of Bremen perform as well or better than the competition. Järvi is alert to the tone color, the rhythmic impetus, and the ironically affectionate edge of Der Bürger.

Phil Woods & Michel Legrand and Orchestra - Images (1975) {2014 Japan Jazz Collection 1000 Columbia-RCA Series SICP 4280}
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© 1975, 2014 RCA / Sony Music Japan | SICP 4280
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone / Modern Big Band

Reissue with the latest remastering. Comes with liner notes. A wonderful record – one in which Phil Woods blows alto solos over the arrangements of Michel Legrand – handled in the masterful style of Legrand's best jazzy soundtrack work, and in a way that lets Woods hit some of his best solos of the 70s! Legrand's always been great at this sort of album for any jazzman – and here, he unlocks a romantic tone in Woods' style that is a nice counterpart to some of the hippy-dippiness that he'd been showing in other sides from the 70s.

This is a well-organized, smartly chosen 20-track compilation of some of the lesser-known early Mississippi blues artists. Garfield Akers is about the most famous, which tells you right there how obscure most of these names - King Solomon Hill, Otto Virgial, Mattie Delaney, Joe Calicott, Blind Joe Reynolds, John D. Fox and others - are to the general listening public. It's quality material, however, and not in a drastically different league than the most renowned classics by singers like Tommy Johnson and Son House. The guitar playing and singing are emotional and inventive throughout, but standouts include Mattie Delaney, Elvie Thomas and Geeshie Wiley, some of the relatively few guitar-playing Delta blueswomen who recorded; Wiley's minor-key, doomy "Last Kind Words" is particularly affecting.

Bunk Johnson & Louis Armstrong - Bunk & Louis (2002) {GHB Records BCD-101 rec 1938-1945}
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© 1938-45, 2002 GHB Records | BCD-101
Jazz / Early Jazz / New Orleans Jazz / Trumpet

This is the Bunk Johnson World Transcription session, beautifully recorded in World's superior recording studios. It's not a typical Bunk session with George Lewis and Jim Robinson, but a West Coast studio session with well-known artists such as Floyd O'Brien, Wade Whaley, Frank Pasley, Red Callender and Lee Young (includes alternate and incomplete takes). This CD also includes tracks by the man who learned the art of playing the blues by absorbing everything Bunk played…Louis Armstrong. With him are J.C. Higginbotham, Jack Teagarden, Sidney Bechet, Bud Freeman, Fats Waller, Al Casey, Paul Barbarin and others. Includes material from the Second Esquire Jazz Concert, Louis' only recording with Bunk, and a 1938 Saturday Night Swing Club broadcast.