This four-CD boxed set does a near-perfect job of summing up Dave Brubeck's extensive recorded legacy. Drawing its recordings from not only Columbia but Fantasy, Atlantic and Music Masters, the attractive package also includes an extensive booklet written by Doug Ramsey that can serve as a mini-biography.

This wonderful disc is a collaboration between Les Charbonniers de l'Enfer (an a cappella ensemble that specializes in the traditional songs of Quebec and Acadia) and La Nef (a trio that specializes in both early and contemporary classical music). The title refers to the crossing of waters both great and small by centuries of sailors; the program combines traditional seafaring songs with accounts of the Seven Years' War and its attendant sea battles. Many of the songs are in the unison, call-and-response style that will be familiar to fans of traditional Quebecois music, and sound very much like early recordings by La Bottine Souriante accompanied by a string section.

On her 2005 album for Endeavour Classics, cellist Denise Djokic explores currents of folk songs in works by composers as diverse as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Robert Schumann, Leos Janácek, and Gaspar Cassadò. The unifying plan is apparent in her choice of Vaughan Williams' pastorally flavored Six Studies in English Folk Song (1926), Schumann's rustic Fünf Stücke im Volkston (1849), and Janácek's sweet Fairy Tale (1910). Less obvious, though, are the folk song elements in Cassadò's fairly abstract Suite for solo cello (ca. 1950); and the inclusion of Igor Stravinsky's brilliant Suite Italienne (1932) – adapted from the ballet Pulcinella, and based on themes by Pergolesi and his eighteenth century contemporaries – seems outside Djokic's survey, except for the use of secondhand material.

Deluxe Edition is a solid, albeit imperfect, 13-track collection of highlights from Albert Collins latter-day recordings for Alligator. There are only a handful of genuine classics, but there are a lot of great performances that spotlight Collins stinging guitar work and impassioned vocals. Nevertheless, it's only adequate as an introduction, since Ice Pickin' remains the place to become acquainted with Collins blistering blues.

Digitally remastered and expanded edition. An 'Even Bloodier Edition' of the legendary psychobilly album Blood On The Cats which was originally issued in 1983 on Cherry Red's Anagram label. Featuring the original album which successfully combined music from UK psychobilly scene leaders The Meteors, The Sting-Rays and The Guana Batz, US pioneers Panther Burns, Irish punks The Outcasts, gothabilly rockers Alien Sex Fiend and even horror rocker Screaming Lord Sutch to create a suitably psychotic blend. Psychobilly was one of the biggest youth cults of the 1980s, remembered for the followers' gravity-defying quiffs and aggressive "wrecking" dance. The music became an adrenalized mix of rockabilly and punk featuring lyrics often inspired by horror and science fiction films. 'Blood On The Cats' was the first compilation to try to define psychobilly and many fans' first exposure to a genre that, at that stage, was still unformed, being part of a worldwide movement inspired by punk but devoted to primitive rock 'n' roll of the 1950s and 1960s.

On August 30, saxophone master James Carter will release his Blue Note Records debut James Carter Organ Trio: Live From Newport Jazz, a thrilling live performance of Carter’s imaginative soul jazz reinvention of Django Reinhardt that was captured at the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival.

Again evoking his time as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, Canadian pianist Alain Lefèvre releases a second album of French music. Paris Memories, which follows My Paris Years, comprises music by Franck, Debussy and the man who taught Alain Lefèvre composition: Pierre Max Dubois. A pupil of the prolific and multi-faceted Darius Milhaud, Dubois (1930-1995) wrote music that is full of spirit and wit. Paris Memories culminates in a four-movement piano sonata by Dubois, composed in 1984 and dedicated to none other than Alain Lefèvre. “While a student at the Paris Conservatoire I had memorable encounters with great figures in the world of music,” says the pianist. “Of particular significance was the opportunity to get to know my teacher Pierre Max Dubois, and I’m profoundly moved to have finally been able to record his piano sonata.”

Anne's 7th Opus in 13 Years, Containing 6 Fantastic Covers and 6 of Her Own Songs, Recorded in One of the Most Prestigious Studios in Montreal with Her Original Blue Mind Team.

Excellent progressive hard rock from Norway with that typical cold scandinavian sound. The guitars are heavy and vocals are clear and sometimes evil-inspired. The first Flax album sold poorly at the time of release in 1976 and has become something of a collector's item. It contained theatrical heavy rock (vocalist Hermod Falch was occasionally dressed in a skeleton costume when the group performed live), strongly influenced by Deep Purple (at the time of Machine Head) and, to a lesser degree, Uriah Heep and Queen. Their music also had some symphonic elements.

Belshazzar is one of Handel’s works that could be called a total failure at the time of its first performance. Premiered in 1745 to a nearly empty house, contemporary reports say that it was a disastrously bad performance. This oratorio never gained popularity in Handel’s lifetime, and he only performed it twice after the first performance. Yet this is no minor work. Full of great Handelian arias, and stirring choral movements, this oratorio deserves to stand among his greatest works. Drama and energy play like a flame through the pages of this work. It has everything a Handel oratorio needs: tension, excitement, and attractive melodies.

For the arch-Protestant Bach Family – as for German musicology in the 19th and early 20th centuries – through his conversion to Catholicism and his turning to Italian opera Johann Christian Bach was considerd the “black sheep” of the family. Prior to his brilliant career as an opera composer and impresario in London, from 1757 to 1760 he held the position of organist at the Milan Cathedral. During this period he composed numerous sacred works which are least well-known among the works of the youngest Bach son. Under the direction of Gerhard Jenemann, the renowned solo quartet centered around Joanne Lunn and Thomas E. Bauer, the Süddeutsche Kammerchor and Concerto Köln bring to light a completely unknown Johann Christian Bach and they make clear why the “London Bach” was also called the “Milan Bach.”