French Baroque instrumental music (in this case from the last two decades of the seventeenth century) enjoys a somewhat doubtful reputation as being mannered and all cast in the same mould. Well, there is no smoke without fire, and sure enough, the individual movements on this recording do all sound in some wise “typical”, with the usual French dance movements (sarabande, gigue, rondeau, menuet, gavotte) predominating. And yet, there are here some outstanding passages: If you want a sample of what Marin Marais was capable of in an area other than that of his belovèd viola da gamba, then listen in to CD 1, Track 8 (Passacaille) or CD 2, Track 6 (Chaconne), where the instruments intertwine and swirl around each other for well over five minutes at a time.

The deep voice of Carmen Lundy is well showcased on this varied set. With assistance from an impressive backup crew (pianist Billy Childs, flugelhornist Randy Brecker, Frank Foster or Bob Mintzer on tenor, and a pair of rhythm sections), Lundy performs six standards, four of her stimulating originals, and Donny Hathaway's "Flying Easy." The music ranges from fairly straight-ahead to more R&B-oriented, with Carmen Lundy's appealing voice being the main star.

Playing a melodious synthesis of symphonic hard rock that has occcasionally been compared to Pink Floyd, Hanover Krautrockers Jane can trace their origins back to the late sixties psychedelic band Justice Of Peace. Releasing a single Save Me/War, the band featured future Jane members Peter Panka on vocals, Klaus Hess on bass and Werner Nadolny on saxophone…

As this lavishly boxed, four-CD distillation of his Pablo sessions proves, Joe Pass was probably the guitar-playing equivalent of Art Tatum on the Norman Granz roster – not only for his vast output, but also for the all-encompassing, almost orchestral way in which he got around his instrument. The set is divided equally into four sections – disc one for his astounding solo electric and acoustic guitar sides, disc two for studio recordings with various groups, disc three for various live recordings solo and with groups, disc four the delicate Ella Fitzgerald and other duo partner sessions and quartet pieces backing Sarah Vaughan…

Sacred Spirit is a musical project by Claus Zundel, Ralf Hamm, and Markus Staab. Initial volume was a blockbuster success, spawning the international smash hit single "Yeha-noha (Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity)" in 1995. Comprised of traditional Native American chants and ambient electronica, the initial volume in the series, Sacred Spirit: Chants and Dances of the Native Americans, was released on Virgin Records in 1995 and nominated for a Best New Age Album Grammy that same year. The album spawned the international smash hit "Yeha-noha (Wishes of Happiness and Prosperity)," which topped the singles charts in numerous countries, including Germany and France.

Al Bano and Romina Power are an Italian pop music duo formed in 1975 by then-married couple Albano Carrisi and Romina Power. They were highly successful in Italy and mainland Europe throughout the 1980s and the early 1990s. Their best known international hits include "Felicità", "Sharazan", "Tu, soltanto tu (Mi hai fatto innamorare)", "Ci sarà", "Sempre sempre", and "Libertà!"…

Dallas-raised guitarist, singer, and songwriter Mike Morgan formed his blues and blues-rock band in the late '80s, amid that city's still thriving nightclub scene. Morgan, who got his first guitar in elementary school, was inspired to play better guitar after hearing Stevie Ray Vaughan's debut album, Texas Flood, in 1985. He grew up in suburban Dallas listening to the radio and being inspired initially by people like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. Morgan had been playing rock guitar prior to this, but after 1985 he jumped with both feet into playing blues and blues-rock. Although he was motivated and influenced by the late legendary Vaughan, Morgan also cites T-Bone Walker, Magic Sam, and fellow Dallas area musician Anson Funderburgh as influences on his music…

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Loreena McKennitt is one of Canada's most beloved national artists, a folk chanteuse, and a new age troubadour who made her breakthrough in the mid-'80s with her literate and oft-experimental focus on Celtic-tinged traditional and original material, coupled with her haunting harp playing. As her career progressed, McKennitt began incorporating Spanish, Galician, and Arabic themes into her repertoire, culminating in a trio of career-defining albums – The Visit, The Mask and Mirror, and The Book of Secrets – that made her an international star.

Chet Atkins' albums of easygoing easy listening guitar playing had become a standard feature of the RCA Victor release schedule by the mid-'60s, and this two-fer CD reissue combines two typical efforts, Atkins' 22nd 12" LP, My Favorite Guitars (1965), and his 26th, It's a Guitar World (1967). The two albums were united – nominally – by their international themes…

Sacred Spirit is a musical project by Claus Zundel, Ralf Hamm, and Markus Staab.
Musicians have made astonishing leaps of the imagination in recent years in fusing often contradictory music - Celtic with African, reggae with Bhangra. Sacred Spirit Volume 2: Culture Clash is an album that attempts the audacious: to combine the raw essence of the blues with the sophisticated orchestral structures of classical music, and then to underpin the two with contemporary rhythms.

This series of CDs by Tactus and Modo Antiquo represents the first complete recording of the cantatas of Antonio Vivaldi. Up until now, these works have appeared only sporadically on record, yet they constitute quite an important body of works in Vivaldi’s total production. Dedicated exclusively to female voices, the cantatas have here been divided according to the classifications used in the Ryom catalogue: cantatas for soprano and continuo, cantatas for contralto and continuo, cantatas for soprano and instruments, cantatas for contralto and instruments. Modo Antiquo has approached this first complete recording of the cantatas by Vivaldi with full respect for the original texts and the performance practices of the period.