Let me invite you to listen to this potpourri of favorite musical stories spotlighting some of the rich contributions from American immigrants and other countries. Laden with cultural pride, they celebrate people like my Scottish friend Stuart, who capped a fulfilling international career with retirement to Cape Cod but never forgot his roots–and would sing the old song I Belong to Glasgow, at the drop of a hat. I Lift My Lamp pays musical homage to his Glaswegian pride—and the pride of so many other immigrants for their homelands. In a conversation between old and new, it honors living, community traditions not set in stone. Influenced by my work with storyteller Ken Burns, I feature vintage immigrant songs and dances from my Pittsburgh childhood, later life in Boston and travels–my own arrangements of American standards, lesser-known gems, and imported and homegrown creations, from countryside to Tin Pan Alley…

"Memories Unsettled" explores music that has too often been marginalized from the historical musical canon. Sun Min Kim and Hilary Glen joined forces during the height of the pandemic, forming the Gibbs Street Duo. This piano-cello duo tours colleges and universities across the country, sharing their inspiring music with students, faculty, and other patrons of the arts. The album features composers from diverse backgrounds including Dorothy Rudd Moore, James Lee III, Ching-chu Hu, and HyeKyung Lee. Moore’s Dirge and Deliverance is a sonata in two movements written in 1971 that uses music to reflect on the Black experience in 1960s America. Abraham’s Sons written by James Lee III was written in 2013 to express horror and outrage at the killing of Trayvon Martin. Through these pieces and more like them, the Gibbs Street Duo demonstrate the power and relevance of music as a catalyst for change.

Wizard of Strings Geir Sundstøl is back with his fourth solo album, St.Hanshaugen Steel. The title is an homage to the long gone steel factory located on his own stomping ground, and also a reference to Sundstøl’s reputable broad spectrum-treatment of the pedal steel guitar.

Featuring Joff Winks (vocals, guitars, drum programming and samples), Matt Baber (Rhodes, synthesizer, percussion, mini drum kit), Brad Waissman (bass) and Paul Mallyon (drums, percussion, mini drum kit), the band was formed from the ashes of the Joff Winks Band and the Antique Seeking Nuns (a heady mix of Zappa and Canterbury influenced instrumental compositions with songwriting that owed much to artists such as Robert Wyatt). However, after a year of not performing live and only working in the studio, the need for the duo to be back in a band reached a feverish pitch. So with an ever-mounting pile of new songs the members of the Joff Winks Band came back together under the new moniker of Sanguine Hum, recording the album "Diving Bell”. Initially released in limited quantities on the Troopers for Sound website, the album is a complex ensemble work, featuring profound song writing…

Corima is a new Zeuhl/R.I.O. band based out of Texas very influenced by Magma, Koenjihyakkei, and Present at times. Formed in the year 2005, they started out with 4 musicians: Sergio Sanchez on drums, Juan Tarin on bass, Jaime Silva on guitar and Erik Martinez on guitar as well. They started out playing music very influenced by King Crimson and ELP. About a year later Francisco Casanova joined the band in keyboards. They remained together for about a year and a half and after that Erik Martinez was forced to leave the band for personal reasons and soon after Jaime Silva left the band as well. It was during this period that Corima found out about the Zeuhl and R.I.O. genre and fell completely in love with it. After the departure of both of the guitarists Corima stayed as a trio of keyboards, bass and drums and it happened to work perfectly for its new sound so they started composing new songs. They released their self-titled debut full length in late 2007.

Neptune Towers was a solo project begotten by influential black-metaller Fenriz (of Darkthrone fame) as a tribute to the seventies albums of Klaus Schulze and the space-themed television programmes of his youth. The output amounted to a two-album concept seemingly based on alien abduction. Fenriz viewed the project as the fruition of his ''old yearning for the space vibe finally coming alive''. The two lengthy exposures that span the width of the first album, "Caravans To Empire Algol" (1994), represent a great celestial voyage to the eclipsing binary star that marks The Gorgon's Head. The sound was delimited by the available equipment, basically an Ensoniq synth plus a borrowed echo and reverb box, with dark meditative panoramic discoveries and cold-void visionary drone-modes permeating the atmosphere…

Formed in 1998 by Yoshida Tatsuya, Japan’s KOREKYOJINN (alternately spelled Korekyojin) is a progressive-jazz-rock band determined to redefine the polyrhythmic ensemble. The band’s name translates to “This Giant”, a sly pun inspired by THIS HEAT and GENTLE GIANT, two band’s the group draws inspiration from. In Japanese the word “kore” translates as “this”, while “kyojinn” is “giant”. While the style of KOREKYOJINN will be recognizable to fans of Yoshida Tatsuya’s other acts, the band has carved out a sound all its own. The trio dance on razors, are sharp as a tack – and their overwhelming ability jettisons them into the outer limits – where progressive rock and contemporary jazz collide into a breathtaking, futuristic, hard rock funk.

Charles Ives composed his first two symphonies between 1897 and 1902, but they weren't performed until a half-century later, when Leonard Bernstein premiered the Symphony No. 2 in 1951, and Richard Bales conducted the Symphony No. 1 in 1953. The contrasts between the two symphonies are striking, since the First was a student work, composed in emulation of the European tradition, while the Second was more idiosyncratic in the use of hymn tunes, folk songs, and other Americana, all developed in a freewheeling manner that reflected Ives' eclectic musical upbringing. This 2015 hybrid SACD by Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is a straightforward presentation of both works, side-by-side, and their differences are highlighted in the styles of playing.

For a brief moment at the start of the '90s, everyone seemed to be doing the retro-rock thing, and while most bands were digging back to the late '60s for inspiration, the Four Horsemen's ambitions went no further than the late '70s – more specifically AC/DC. There's not a single original riff on all of their first full album, Nobody Said It Was Easy, mind you, but the band's raunchy guitars and gritty delivery make up for this in spades. And had he not been arrested seemingly every six months for one misdemeanor or another, outlaw frontman Frank Starr may have even challenged Axl Rose for his "king of the bad boys" crown. Starr's whiskey and broken glass vocal style literally ignites the album's best moments, including the title track, "Can't Stop Rockin'," and the incredible "Rockin' Is Ma' Business." And while "Hot Head lifts its main riff directly from AC/DC's "Rock'n'Roll Damnation," the slightly more original "Tired Wings" actually received some MTV rotation thanks to its mellower Southern rock vibe and slide guitars.