This CD was produced to pay homage to one of the greatest Jazz musicians of this century. With the aid of two world-renowned musicians - Danish bass player Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and American pianist Mulgrew Miller - we have produced a recording that emphasises the timeless quality of Duke Ellington's music and stands as a tribute to his unique talent. Written some sixty years ago, the pieces performed here are based on Ellington's legendary duets with Jimmy Blanton which brought piano and bass together in such a new and exciting way. Pedersen and Miller have taken the same idea and come up with a modern interpretation of Ellington's compositions that captures the same spirit and mood. Recorded in Copenhagen in a single session, the result is a lyrical and magical performance that serves to demonstrate the rich heritage and lasting influence of Ellington's music.

This recording, from 1985, presents bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi in a small-group setting, accompanied by some of the finest musicians in the ECM roster: Palle Mikkelborg (trumpet and flugelhorn), Charlie Haden (bass) and Pierre Favre (percussion). As usual with ECM releases, the recording is crystalline - their audio standards have always set the highest standards for sound reproduction, clear and pristine. It puts the listener right into the room with the players.

Many of Richard Strauss's compositions had their world premiere in Dresden and the composer dedicated An Alpine Symphony to the Dresden orchestra. It is apt, therefore, that this performance is given by the Staatskapelle Dresden under the direction of Christian Thielemann. The programme includes Four Last Songs, Wolfgang Rihm's Ernster Gesang and the German premiere of the last completed Strauss song: Mallows, in an orchestral version arranged specifically for Dresden by Wolfgang Rihm. The soprano in these performances, Anja Harteros, is enjoying a flourishing operatic career with recent performances at the MET, Covent Garden, La Scala, and Salzburg Festival.

Although Sweden and Norway are the first countries that come to mind when one thinks of Scandinavian metal, Finland has turned out to be an impressive player as well - impressive for black metal, impressive for folk metal, impressive for goth metal, and impressive for death metal. Insomnium have epitomized the melodic side of Finnish death metal and they continue in that vein on Across the Dark. This 2009 release isn't a radical departure from Insomnium's previous albums, but there is one noticeable difference: this time, they incorporate some clean vocals - which are provided by Jules Näveri (who, in European metal circles, is known for his contributions to the bands Profane Omen, Misery Inc., Burning Empire, and Enemy of the Sun)…

“The Bregenz/Munich concerts were Jarrett’s most brilliant live solo recordings to date; his level of inspiration is quite extraordinary, and the music covers a wider musical and emotional range than ever.” – Jarrett biographer Ian Carr

David Bowie - Glass Spider, Live Montreal '87 (2019) {2CD Set Parlophone 0190295511135, Remastered}
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© 1987, 2019 Parlophone 0190295511135
Rock / Pop / Experimental Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Glam Rock

Newly remastered versions of the live album. The tour’s innovative set and marriage of music and theatre has been cited as a big inspiration to acts in the 2000’s. Speaking in 1991 about Glass Spider, Bowie said, “It was the first time I'd had the opportunity to spend that kind of money and do shows like that! The first time since Diamond Dogs, anyway … I thought, Right! Let's really spend some money! I had all these thwarted dreams of what I'd tried to do with rock 'n roll in the early '70s”.

This must surely be one of the most unusual items in Hank Jones' catalog. Few people would probably associate Jones - one of the finest pianists that jazz has ever known, and a man who has played with everyone from Charlie Parker to Tony Williams - with contemporary Afro-pop; yet this album is an infectiously grooving example of just that, featuring the remarkably versatile pianist alongside a stellar cast of musicians from the West African nation of Mali. At first glance, the Malian pop music that is featured on this cross-cultural outing would seem to be light-years from the kind of harmonically sophisticated jazz that Jones has played throughout most of his long and distinguished career…

George Benson rebels against the machine and comes out with an all-instrumental album, his first in 11 years and also his first full teaming with onetime protege, acoustic guitarist Earl Klugh. Klugh sounds much more mature and forthcoming here than he did as a teenager in Benson's CTI days. Yet Benson still blows him away with his effortless swing, endless invention (within the constraints of the carefully controlled arrangements, however) and totally assured placement of the notes. "Mimosa" has some especially fluid work by Benson, with Klugh serving as an effective foil.

Interesting release from some stalwarts of the Italian scene. Seven years after their previous studio album "Capitolo 7 - Tra le Antiche Mura" Il Castello di Atlante is finally back with its latest "Arx Atlantis" celebrating the band's 40th anniversary of music career. The band took a new path by evolving their sound and recording techniques, giving this new record a whole new level, maybe the highest point they ever reached: mature arrangements together with a fresh and punchy sound are the main ingredients of the 5 tracks featured in "Arx Atlantis".