Ilya Gringolts made a splash with his CD of the Paganini D Major Concerto, so it's no surprise that he excels in these fiendishly difficult solo pieces, including one of his own. His playing is dazzling, secure even in the most tortuous passages. The Hindemith sonatas are abstract, anti-Romantic works.

The second release from Katia and Marielle Labèque's own KML label largely revisits Debussy and Stravinsky works that the duo previously essayed for Philips. Their newer versions are preferable, and may well represent the Labèque sisters' finest recordings to date. Whereas a driving, steel-edged literalism characterizes their earlier Debussy En blanc et noir, the duo now imbues the score with greater rhythmic leeway.

The Labèque sisters' recordings on the Philips and London labels from the early '80s, which were big hits, largely disappeared after their initial acclaim and, as of the early 2000s, were only found in excerpts on compilations. So as the big labels continue to abandon new classical recordings, the Labèques started their own record label, as many other artists have done, allowing them the freedom to choose what kind of music they want to record, whether it be standard piano duet repertoire or new interpretations of Lennon and McCartney.

One might have thought that Satie's charmingly eccentric and obscurely evocative piano music would fit the French piano duo Katia and Marielle Labèque, like a silk chemise, but this disc of his most popular pieces for piano two-hands and piano four-hands is their first recording of any of his works.

Since they started their own KML label, the Labèque sisters have turned in one superb recording after another. First came a brilliant all-Ravel disc, then an incandescent disc of Debussy and Stravinsky, and now a disc combining Schubert and Mozart: the former with his colossal Fantasy in F minor, D. 940, plus the melancholy Andantino varié in B minor, D. 823, and the latter, with his monumental Sonata in D major, D. 448. In all three works, the Labèques are magnificent, but very different.

Country star Gretchen Wilson has set a May 15 release date for her third album, "One of the Boys," which will be released by Columbia in the wake Epic Nashville's closure last year. Wilson co-produced the 11-track set with Mark Wright and her Muzik Mafia mate John Rich of Big & Rich. Rich also guests on first single "Come To Bed," which has thus far topped out at No. 32 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. The new album is the follow-up to 2005's "All Jacked Up," which has sold 1.2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

British trumpeter Ken Colyer, one of the major New Orleans revival brassmen, had broken up his regular group in 1971 due to his erratic health but fortunately he continued playing on a part-time basis during the remaining 17 years of his life. This infectious set (which came out on CD in 1998) was performed at a church in 1972 before a live audience and although Colyer and his septet play songs that could be thought of as hymns, there is nothing somber or overly reverent about the interpretations. Colyer (who is in excellent form), clarinetist Sammy Rimington, trombonist Barry Palser, pianist Ray Smith, banjoist Pete Morcom, bassist Alan Jones and drummer Colin Bowden put lots of feeling into the music and there are plenty of stomps and ensemble-oriented jams. Among the ten selections (all of which are quite enjoyable) are "Just A Little While To Stay Here," "Sing On," "Bye And Bye" and "Walking With The King." This is easily recommended to New Orleans jazz collectors.

The Deaton Le May Project was established and set up as a 100% pure studio project by Craig LeMay (drums and percussion) and Roby Deaton on guitar, keyboards, and vocals.
The sound of the Deaton LeMay Project truly reminds of bands like Saga, Camel; but it also “shows” influences of Rick Wakeman and even Keith Emerson. The latter influence can be heard in Different Place In Time, which is packed with beautiful flowing and sometimes dramatic keyboard motifs and melodies; but the duo also has a tendency towards classic hard rock elements and even some AOR characteristics. The second part of the album which consists of the six-part Elements Of Life Suite is the highlight and most extraordinary song of The Fifth Element. A true prog rock gem packed with tempo changes, intense vocals, pompous keyboard textures, impressive instrumental passages, and stunning guitar work…

Unplugged…and Seated is a live album released by British musician Rod Stewart on 24 May 1993. It is Stewart's second live album and his first (and only) appearance on MTV Unplugged. The album was released by Warner Bros. Records. The unplugged versions of "Have I Told You Lately" by Van Morrison, "Reason to Believe", "Having a Party", and "People Get Ready" were released as singles, with "Have I Told You Lately" and "Having a Party" reaching success as singles.

['ramp] is a collective of German musicians, making music in the vein of the Berlin school of electronic music. Frank Makowski and Steve Parsick are joined by Lambert Ringlage and Martina Fantar in various studio and concert sessions. Using a wide range of synthesizers, samplers and sequencers, Ramp adds an original and fresh touch to the history of German electronic music, with a deep and dark ambient sound, similar to Tangerine Dream and Radio Masacre International.
Originally released on Manikin records in late 1998, "Nodular" became Ramp's first major exposure to the world of electronic music. Billed as "Germany's response to Britain's invasion of sequencer-based and mellotron-heavy retro electronica from Redshift, Radio Massacre International, and Node"…

Three prior Mountain collections, 1973's THE BEST OF, 1974's ON TOP, and 1995's box set OVER THE TOP, left few stones unturned in their overviews of these short-lived yet successful power rockers. If you're looking for a succinct collection of their best-known tracks, then 1998's budget priced SUPER HITS is recommended. Containing 10 tracks, SUPER HITS features such classic rock radio standards as "Mississippi Queen," "Never in My Life," "Theme for an Imaginary Western," and "Flowers of Evil." Although THE BEST OF may have a longer track listing, SUPER HITS contains several tracks not included on the former, which rank among some of the band's best–"Flowers of Evil," "Blood of the Sun," "You Better Believe It," and "The Great Train Robbery."

Three of the five musicians on this quintet date (flügelhornist Art Farmer, altoist Frank Morgan, and pianist Lou Levy) had played on Central Avenue in Los Angeles of the late '40s. Not all of the eight songs that they perform with bassist Eric Von Essen and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath are from the era ("Blue Minor" and "Cool Struttin'" were written by Sonny Clark several years later), but the outing is very much in the bop style of the period. Their live set is highlighted by spirited versions of "Star Eyes," "Farmer's Market," "I Remember You," and "Donna Lee." This CD is filled with high-quality bebop that is easily recommended to straight-ahead jazz fans.