Gene Norman Presents: Just Jazz captures the timeless artistry and improvisational brilliance of Lionel Hampton All Stars and an exceptional ensemble of jazz musicians in an energetic live-oriented session devoted to classic swing and jazz standards. Featuring extended performances filled with expressive solos, dynamic interplay, and vibrant big band energy, the album reflects the spirit of traditional American jazz at its finest. Lionel Hampton’s unmistakable vibraphone style and energetic leadership bring warmth and excitement to every performance, while the supporting musicians contribute rich instrumental textures and sophisticated swing rhythms. The lengthy renditions of standards such as “Star Dust,” “One O'Clock Jump,” and “The Man I Love” allow the musicians plenty of room for improvisation, showcasing the spontaneity and technical brilliance that define classic jazz performance. The recording balances elegance with lively rhythmic momentum, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of legendary jazz club sessions and concert halls. Gene Norman Presents: Just Jazz remains an enjoyable release for fans of traditional swing, extended instrumental jazz, and timeless American musical craftsmanship.

Nolwenn makes us rediscover the best songs from her native Brittany, already etched in our collective memory, by blending pop tones and traditional instruments. Surrounded by Jon Kelly and other great musicians from England, Scotland and Ireland, Nolwenn brings out the Celtic soul of the inland region she loves so much, revisiting melodies from yesterday and today. A return to basics Nolwenn was planning for several years, this intensely personal album already lies in timelessness.

This Decca 2CD set of Beethoven and Mozart recordings, issued along with a companion box that contains the other four Beethoven piano concertos (240 822-2), makes an apt memorial tribute to a pianist who stands as one of the ‘Great Pianists of the Century’. Katchen quite properly features in the distinguished series of recordings marketed by Universal under that title. His achievement might have been greater still but for the cancer claimed him in 1969 at the tragically early age of forty-two.

A lyricist in a thousand', Lupu has, naturally, placed Schubert at the centre of his repertoire and conjured from a seemingly recalcitrant black-and-white instrument a range of vocal colours and nuances that even a Souzay or Fischer-Dieskau might envy. Heard at his greatest in the sombre A minor Sonata, D845, he recreates a place where even the most outwardly genial phrase is troubled and despairing. Then turn to the A major Sonata's finale (D664) and you hear a pianist who can change from blazing defiance to a delectable lightness and vivacity.

This fabulous five disc set is replete with some of those old Stokowski warhorses all recorded in absolutely mind boggling Phase 4 sound, overblown perhaps but astounding for its time. Decca's remastering is absolutely magnificent and the discs are jam packed with almost six hours of music. This is another fine memorial to a great conductor who remained astonishingly vital until the very end of his life.

This marvellous set of concertos for one, two and four violins calls for a group of well-matched (not cloned) soloists who can also work together in the chamber-musical manner the music calls for—and in Monica Huggett, Catherine Mackintosh, Elizabeth Wilcock and John Holloway that is precisely what you get here. Every last detail is clearly etched in textures of wonderful clarity, intonation is as nearly perfect as humans are wont to achieve, dynamics (and contrasts thereof) are arrestingly controlled, whilst never sounding forced or unnatural.

This well re-mastered disc is a generous compilation of two former LPs. The Hummel, recorded in 1965, was originally one LP and the Weber, recorded in 1959, was the other. The two Hummel works were written in 1812 (Quintet) and 1816 (Septet) and the Weber quintet was completed in 1815 having been started some four years earlier in 1811. Hummel and Weber both belong to the generation of composers who started in service and, during their lives, made the transition to becoming independent freelance musicians. Hummel was much admired as a virtuoso pianist and most of his works feature the piano in some form or another.

A 50-CD set of legendary recordings celebrating the world-renowned Decca Sound. Classic-status pioneering stereo recordings from the past 60 years and starring a galaxy of internationally-acclaimed artistic talent.

Many collectors would agree that Sviatoslav Richter was the greatest pianist of the 20th century. His enormous recorded legacy hides hundreds of treasures, many of which are included in this beautiful 51CD set. Released to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth (20th March 2015), the edition encompasses his complete Decca, Philips and DG recordings, including his Sofia Recital as well as his collaborations with Rostropovich, Karajan and Benjamin Britten.

THE ANALOGUE YEARS presents a 50-Album overview across 54 CDs, in original jackets, of the celebrated international recordings that emerged from the London-based record label in that pre-digital era.

Universal's ubiquitous Twentieth Century Masters series is mostly oriented toward popular music, offering no-frills but generally reliable greatest-hits collections for artists whose catalogs may often present a variety of compilations, confusing for the buyer. There's nothing really wrong with this group of Luciano Pavarotti selections, but the great Italian tenor is not especially accurately represented here. Nearly half the selections are Neapolitan songs or come from related semi-popular genres. Pavarotti has a good time with these, but he is less noted for singing them than are other operatic figures.

Reynold da Silva's Silva Screen Records (of which Prime Time is an imprint) has devoted itself to new recordings of film music (usually, as here, performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra), and its box set The Music of John Williams: 40 Years of Film Music, filling four CDs and running over three hours and 45 minutes, is one of its most ambitious efforts.

One of those composers whose name you might not be instantly familiar with, but whose music you certainly will be, Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi has been captivating audiences for the best part of two decades with his beautifully delicate and minimal arrangements, many of which have gone on to become soundtrack staples for everything from costume dramas to TV adverts to Hollywood films. Celebrating his increasingly popular output, Islands: Essential Einaudi compiles the Milan Conservatory graduate's most recognizable pieces, with material from his first solo piano record, Le Onde ("Questa Notte"), right up to 2009's synth-based Nightbook (the gothic cello-led title track), alongside a brand new composition, "The Earth Prelude."

2008 release, the seventh studio album from the Voice AKA Russell Watson. People Get Ready sees the operatic tenor taking a new direction. Backed by Amy Winehouse's band, Watson delivers an album of Easy Listening, Soul and Rock standards and, for the first time, does away with the classical crossover songs that made him a household name throughout the UK. 14 tracks including 'Me & Mrs. Jones', 'Georgia' and 'Papa Was a Rolling Stone'.