This CD/DVD – Release puts you back to the amazing moments of a great Blues Caravan Tour 2017. Take a floor-filling London soul man. Add a golden-voiced Southern States storyteller. Throw in a fast-rising Philadelphia based singer/saxophonist. Then hold on to your hats. Recorded at the 14th February 2017 in the Hirsch Club in Nuernberg, the most varied Blues Caravan comes back to life. You can rely on Si Cranstoun to move your feet. Inspired by the vintage soul of Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke, this charismatic British bandleader has graduated from an apprenticeship busking on the streets of London to the head of the vintage R&B scene. You hear hip-shaking original material from last year’s acclaimed Old School album – plus fan-favourite singles like “Coupe De Ville” – delivered in a voice like sunshine. “It’s most important that I don't come off as an imitator,” Si explains, “and also that the song I’m singing has a kick-ass melody, whether it's my own or on loan. I love to play ‘Old School’, ‘Coupe De Ville’ and ‘Run Free’, as they get the crowd going.

Hamburg, 1734. The most extravagant of harpsichord builders, Hieronÿmus Albrecht Hass, created an instrument whose sonority was inspired by the variety and amplitude of the organ. Here, on a copy of this unique harpsichord, Andreas Staier plays pieces by the finest composers who were attracted to the Hanseatic city: a riot of colours!

The four clarinet concertos by Louis Spohr (1784–1859) have fared well on disc, relatively speaking. Notorious for their difficulty, these works have been slow to win champions among top-flight clarinetists, but the tide is turning. Paul Meyer is a French clarinetist no relation, apparently, to the German siblings Sabine and Wolfgang Meyer who has recorded a number of CDs on various labels including Denon and EMI. For Alpha he has previously recorded the clarinet chamber music of Schumann. I believe the present recording, in which he also serves as conductor, is his first in that capacity.

Magical Power Mako - Music From Heaven (1982) {Belle Antique Japan 9460 rel 1994}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 254 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 121 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1982, 1994 Marquee Moon / Belle Antique Japan | 9460
Psychedelic / Experimental / Electronic / Ambient / Experimental Rock

Recorded and released in 1982, immediately following the rather disappointing Welcome to Earth, Music from Heaven was Magical Power Mako's creative breakthrough. The Japanese guitarist's earlier work, while fitfully intriguing, had felt somewhat derivative of British and German progressive rockers of the same period. Music from Heaven, while it still owes a debt to Brian Eno's collaborations with the likes of Cluster and Harold Budd, is a much more cohesive and listenable album.

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963) enjoys an audience for his works for the stage and for the solo piano but his grander works are usually reserved for special 'theme events' by our orchestras. This recording repairs that omission by offering three disparate works for solo instrument and orchestra. And the performances are first rate! Pascal Roge delivers the 'Piano Concerto in C sharp minor' with all the ping and tongue in cheek fun so identified with Poulenc's music. He is joined by Charles Dutoit conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra of London in a collaborative event that respects the surging melodic statements so often missing in Poulenc's concerto performances.