Over the years, the Bach Suites have become a monument of the cello repertoire, to which all cellists return regularly. Some of the greatest did not record these works until they reached their years of maturity (Casals was over 60, Rostropovich was 63), while others have not hesitated to present several versions (Yo-Yo Ma, 1990, 1998; Janos Starker, 1957, 1963, 1983). Ophélie Gaillard’s first recording of the Suites, released on Ambrosie in 2000, was highly acclaimed internationally by the critics and her performance earned her a French Classical Music Award (Victoire) as a "Revelation" in the Solo Instrumentalist category. Ten years later, at the request of Nicolas Bartholomée, artistic director of Aparte and indeed Ambroisie, she agreed to record a new version on a cello made in 1737 by Matteo Goffriller, a contemporary of J. S. Bach. Ophélie Gaillard had already given us a reference performance of these pieces. Now we discover a prodigiously renewed vision of this masterpiece.

After their two acoustic adventures, Finnish power metal veterans Sonsta Arctica will honor us with their 11th studio album Clear Cold Beyond, which will be released in March 2024.
And right from the first track First In Line, we get the keyboard-heavy power metal we learned to love from the band in their early days.
Tony Kakko, Henrik Klingenberg and co. are playing like they haven't for a long time!

Mr. Fox always stood out from their '70s British folk-rock contemporaries. They tended to disregard electric guitar for other instruments, and weave complex arrangements that highlighted the music rather than any technical virtuosity. Fronted by Bob and Carole Pegg, there was often a darkness about their own material that's especially evident on this reissue of Mr. Fox (1970) and The Gipsy (1971). Songs like "Mr. Fox" and "The Hanged Man" seemed to linger on the shadows, and the standard of songwriting was consistently good throughout (with a couple of exceptions, "Elvira Madigan," which is far from essential, and the long, overly tedious "The Gipsy"). But they're outweighed by the delights, which even extend to a pair of traditional arrangements, "The House Carpenter" (performed with suitable portent) and "All the Good Things," which saw them taking a brief detour into Americana…

Two CDs containing talented guitarist, comedian and writer Mason's five albums for Warner Bros Records, dating from 1968 to 1971. Originally featured on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' US TV show, 'Classical Gas' as performed by Williams became a US No.2 hit and a Top 10 hit in the UK and Canada. Williams has had a varied career, from recording with Mannheim Steamroller to bluegrass with Byron Berline, to writing comedy for 'Saturday Night Live'.

Spacey electric work from guitarist Pat Martino - a record that seems to be as concerned with sound overall as it is with the jazz stylings of Martino's guitar - and we mean that in a good way! The older modes of Martino's 60s soul jazz work are very far gone by now - but in their place is a new sense of space and tone, one that makes him a completely different player altogether! A few cuts get hard and funky - pairing Martino with the fierce keyboard work of Gil Goldstein - while others are mellower and atmospheric, with lots of moody sounds floating along.

2009 CD/DVD live release from the veteran Synth Pop band fronted by Terri Nunn includes a bonus DVD. Berlin's Electro-Pop sound features the enduring and assertive voice of Nunn, which is why All The Way In is the most preferable place to hear this Los Angeles-based group's music. Berlin made its first national impression with the provocative single 'Sex (I'm A…)' from the gold-selling debut EP Pleasure Victim in 1982. The Synth-soaked punch of 'No More Words' from 1984's Love Life album and the number one ballad 'Take My Breath Away' from the film Top Gun are the album's high points. Berlin's '80s poignancy provided some rather palatable music, even if the charts didn't say so. Songs like 'Dancing In Berlin' and 'Scream' could compete with anything Depeche Mode or Duran spouted at the time, and the range of Nunn's vocals elevated most of Berlin's efforts above the norm of the run-of-the-mill synthesizer glitz. All The Way In captures Berlin at their best in front of a hometown Los Angeles crowd.

Entirely self-taught, unfazed by blindness and brittle bone disease, Chicago born Chris Anderson (1926-2008) remains a legendary figure among jazz pianists and an acknowledged influence on Herbie Hancock, who studied with him in 1960. Hancock was quick to spread the word among musicians. His teacher, he said, had "a whole other facet of tools of expression and harmonies that I hadn’t heard in Bill Evans," adding that "Chris Anderson is a master of harmony and sensitivity." The reverence in which he is held by jazz musicians was not reflected in anything remotely like wider acclaim, but Anderson’s few recordings are much sought-after gems among those in the know. His first two trio albums, for VeeJay and Riverside/Jazzland, both of which are included here, were made in 1960 and ’61 respectively. They show a very individual and provocative harmonic sense, as distinctive as Thelonious Monk’s or Bill Evans’s, a light but firm and elegant swing, and a delicate balance of the cerebral and the emotional. It gave his music tremendous power to touch the heart and appeal to the intellect at the same time. His was a very special talent.

Recorded in 1972, a decade removed from the last of Horace Silver's classic quintet recordings, In Pursuit of the 27th Man has never been regarded as one of the pianist's prime releases, which likely explains why Blue Note took this long to make it available on CD. But the album, which moves gracefully between quartet performances featuring vibraphonist David Friedman and quintet numbers featuring the young Brecker brothers (Randy on trumpet and Michael on tenor saxophone), has its distinctive charms. While maintaining the crispness and sense of adventure with which he has always signed his music, Silver and bands ease through some of his most appealing melodies. Songs such as Weldon Irvine's "Liberated Brother" have the early '70s written all over them, but even in those cases their light-handed lyricism and boppish vitality keep them fresh. Friedman's idiosyncratic sound adds a sense of mystery to the music, which, with Bob Cranshaw on electric bass and Mickey Roker on drums, never lacks for a solid and soulful center.

Kitaro is one of the most popular and influential new age artists of all time, having sold millions of records and toured across the world numerous times, in addition to winning Grammy and Golden Globe awards. His style fuses contemplative, highly melodic synthesizer work with acoustic instrumentation, drawing from Eastern musical traditions as well as folk, classical, and rock influences.

Channeling new age and spiritual jazz, the multidisciplinary artist’s debut solo album creates its own thoughtful and potent world with the help of many guests and many flutes.

Five years after the release of their last studio album, legendary UK musical institution, Soft Machine, return with a brand new CD/LP, Other Doors. Boasting new material and two numbers drawn from their extensive historical repertoire, Other Doors finds the band on their usual fiery form.

The Singapore Symphony and its music director Hans Graf present a recording of Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem, together with the Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir, as well as a quartet of outstanding soloists: Olga Peretyatko (soprano), Olesya Petrova (mezzo-soprano), Boris Stepanov (tenor) and Christoph Seidl (bass). The Requiem (1798) was commissioned to Kozłowski by the abdicated King Stanisław of Poland, and can be perceived as a requiem not just for the monarch, but for the entire Polish nation, absorbed by the Russian state during the 1780s.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved and admired France, and especially the city of Paris – ever since my first visit as a young boy: I was captivated by the powerful charm of the country to the point of falling in love with it and later settling there. And today, after living there for over a decade, I still feel the same sense of wonder for this city. In this album, I pay homage to my two homelands with a selection of pieces and songs that grasp the essence of the 20th century, from the period between the two wars and in the 1950's.

Continuing their project to record all the Shostakovich string quartets, award-winning artists the Carducci Quartet return to Signum Classics for their third album of string quartets by Shostakovich.

For Everyman is the second album by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, released in 1973. The album peaked at number 43 on the Billboard 200 chart and the single "Redneck Friend" reached number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Guest artists included David Crosby, Glenn Frey, Elton John (credited as Rockaday Johnnie), Don Henley, Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt. In 2003, the album was ranked number 457 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.