A separate entity from the Ian Gillan Band and distinct from Ian Gillan the solo artist, Gillan was a band bearing the ex-Deep Purple frontman's name which provided an outlet for his straight-ahead hard rock inclinations (as opposed to the prog rock tendencies of the Ian Gillan Band or Ian Gillan's more polished solo material of the 1990s). Gillan the singer put the band together in 1978, initially recruiting Steve Byrd (guitar), John McCoy (bass), Colin Towns (keyboards, ex-Ian Gillan Band), and Pete Barnacle (drums); this lineup proved short-lived, recording a self-titled Japanese-only album before disintegrating. Bernie Torme replaced Byrd, and Mick Underwood took over for Barnacle; this shift resulted in 1979's Mr. Universe, a surprise U.K. hit album.

The Arcadia Quartet reaches the penultimate release in its acclaimed complete Weinberg string quartets series with this volume, featuring Quartets Nos 3, 9, and 14.As in previous volumes, the works are taken from contrasting periods of Weinberg’s compositional development, and so present a varied programme that works in its own right. Quartet No. 3, composed in 1944, could be considered as the first ‘mature’ quartet, and is set in three movements. The Ninth Quartet, composed in 1963, dates from his self-described ‘starry decade’, when his work was championed by a significant group of enthusiastic performers, including Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, Kirill Kondrashin, Rudolf Barshai, and the Borodin Quartet. Quartet No. 14 dates from 1978, three years after the death of Weinberg’s great friend and mentor Shostakovich: a time when Wein berg was questioning and renewing his artistic identity. The album also includes the short Improvisation and Romance, from 1950.

Giovanni Legrenzi (1626–1690) today does not enjoy the fame he deserves, but he must have been esteemed in his lifetime considering he left his Bergamasque hometown of Clusone and – despite a somewhat tortuous path – managed to culminate his career as capellmeister of the ducal Basilica of St Mark in Venice. His music was influential not only on his documented pupils (Antonio Lotti, Antonino Biffi, Giovanni Varischino and likely Tomaso Albinoni) but also on later, great composers such as Handel and J.S. Bach. Legrenzi’s music, in turn, was influenced by that of Monteverdi, although it does not appear he was a direct pupil of the Cremonese master.

Fazil Say’s gifts as a ground-breaking pianist are allied to the breadth of his compositions. The Violin Concerto No. 2 was composed in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown during which Say was enchanted by the colours and textures of sunrises while walking on the beach, inspiring this atmospheric work. Leopards is a vivid piece for string sextet that utilises Say’s unique melodies and rhythms. The Sonata for Solo Violin is an expressive tribute to the noted Turkish violist, Ruşen Günes, while String Quartet ‘Divorce’ relates the experience of separation and the failure of a relationship with the language of music.

2014 release, the fourth solo album from the British keyboardist. Airey has been a member of Deep Purple since 2002 but has also worked with a long list of other artists including Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Whitesnake, Saxon, Wishbone Ash, Steve Vai, Michael Schenker, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Brian May and many others. The album features many of Dons friends and peers and, sadly, represents one of the very last times that Gary Moore recorded a guitar part. He features on Adagio and also on Mini Suite, which is dedicated to his memory.

From his time as a student at the Leningrad (today’s St Petersburg) Conservatory, Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) developed a strong connection with cinema, earning a living in the 1920s as a pianist for silent films. He would go on to write scores throughout his career for dozens of sound films, among them Aleksandr Faintsimmer’s The Gadfly (1955), beloved in the Soviet Union for its themes of revolution and atheism. The writing, with its highly diversified contours, combines in an extraordinary way severe accents and romantic outbursts of a purely Russian style with atmospheres of a Mediterranean character. Vadim Borisovsky’s viola and piano arrangement is based on the suite for orchestra prepared from Shostakovich’s score by Lev Atovmyan.

The new album ‘Mass & Gloria’ by the Dresdner Kreuzchor, together with the Dresdner Philharmonie under the direction of Martin Lehmann, will be released on 25 April 2025 on the Berlin Classics label, distributed by Edel:Kultur. This extraordinary recording combines two important works of classical music: Poulenc's ‘Gloria’ and Schubert's Mass in A flat major. Both pieces were recorded at the Kulturpalast Dresden with soloists Elsa Benoit, Irike Malotta, Patrick Grahl and Klaus Häger and continue the Kreuzchor's long-standing collaboration with the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

Journey to the Centre of the Eye is the debut album from English progressive rock band Nektar that came out in November 1971. Though formally divided into 13 tracks, the entire album consists of a single continuous piece of music, with some musical themes which are repeated throughout the work. Because of its narrative nature, it has been called a rock opera and/or dense concept album. The story follows an astronaut who, while on a voyage to Saturn, encounters aliens who take him to their galaxy, where he is suffused with knowledge and wisdom. It is usually interpreted as a commentary on the nuclear arms race.

Two brothers, cello and voice, creating hauntingly beautiful music without borders.
Their intimate jazz and world music fusion captures the transformative power of words, complementing the album’s themes of renewal and quiet beauty.

Caught in the Game is the fourth album by American rock band Survivor, released in September 1983. It features guest appearances by Mr. Mister's Richard Page and REO Speedwagon's Kevin Cronin. It is the band's last album to-date to feature lead vocalist Dave Bickler, who left due to vocal surgery; despite the fact that he rejoined the band between 1993 and 2000, and again in 2013.

2007 GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING BEST TRADITIONAL BLUES ALBUM OF THE YEAR HISTORY IN THE MAKING Once in a lifetime you may experience a brief moment when the stars align and something truly extraordinary happens. This was the case in October 2004, when four of the greatest living blues legends were assembled in Dallas, Texas for one incomparable night of music. At the time they ranged in age from 89 to 94 and all had received the National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship Award, the highest honor in the USA for traditional arts. These musicians have devoted their entire life to playing the blues, and staging such an epic event was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once reunited, the old magic reemerged. It was if they were long lost school buddies.

Even now, as he reaches his eighth decade, with a lifetime of accolades and a seminal body of music behind him, Robin Trower is still chasing the biggest high he knows. It always starts the same way, with a road-scuffed Fender Stratocaster and a revved-up Marshall amplifier, those skilful fingers exploring the fretboard until a riff sticks and a new song ignites. And from the cultural flashpoint of Sixties London with Procol Harum, through 1974's stadiumfilling Bridge Of Sighs, right up to this year's acclaimed Come And Find Me, it's these addictive moments of creation that have kept the guitarist vital, relevant and contemporary while his peers trade on past glories. "Some people say I'm driven, but I think it's just the love of doing it," reflects Trower of a multi-million-selling solo catalogue fast approaching thirty releases (and that's before you compute his collaborations with everyone from Jack Bruce to Bryan Ferry). "I play guitar every day and just through messing around, ideas happen. I can never feel the songs coming. But all of a sudden, you get a sliver of an idea and you think, 'Oh, what's this?'"

It took decades for Andy Bey to become an overnight success, but in the mid-'90s he was finally recognized as a premier talent, and recorded a handful of finely crafted discs. A true jazz singer avoiding monochromatic crooning, his style is deeply blue-hued, silky smooth but never slick. This live club date at Birdland in New York City was recorded in 1997, around the time of his overdue success, but not released until a full decade later. The pacing of the program is a little up-and-down, which is atypical of the normally mellow Bey. He does sing more than his share of balladic material, and when he does, there is no more patient virtue expressed in all of jazz, his slight vibrato ruminating and tripping heartstrings. The title track and "Hey Love," the 4:00 A.M. mood for "On Second Thought," and the solo closer "Someone to Watch Over Me" dip into this dynamic, as drawn-out slow and steady as a daily sunset. To play this way may be the most difficult thing to do in music, but Bey is absolutely masterful. Like his parallel performing shadow Nat King Cole, Bey is also an excellent pianist, and a true player of the instrument.

Alice Cooper was oorspronkelijk een band onder leiding van zanger Vincent Damon Furnier. De band pionierde een theatrale en gewelddadige soort heavy metal, bedoeld om te shockeren. Hoewel de visuele effecten zeer belangrijk waren voor hun impact, was de muziek bijna net zo herkenbaar, gedreven door rauwe, eenvoudige riffs en melodieën afgeleid van niet alleen guitar pop uit de jaren 60 maar tevens show tunes. Het was de meest fundamentele en aangrijpende rock & roll, zelfs wanneer de band zich in psychedelica en art rock waagden. Nadat de oorspronkelijke groep uiteen viel en Furnier een solocarrière als Alice Cooper begon, verloor zijn muziek veel van het theatrale vermogen en werd het gewoon heavy metal.

Murmur is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on April 12, 1983 by I.R.S. Records. Murmur drew critical acclaim upon its release for its unusual sound, defined by lead singer Michael Stipe's cryptic lyrics, guitarist Peter Buck's jangly guitar style, and bass guitarist Mike Mills' melodic basslines. Since its release, Murmur has featured heavily in various "must have" lists compiled by the music media. In 1989, it was rated number eight on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s.