This was the last of the six albums John Mayall originally made for Blue Thumb/ABC Records between 1975 and 1978, about which he has said, "ABC released six of my albums as a tax write-off. A week after they were released you couldn't find them in any store." It's a live album on which Mayall fronts a quartet consisting of guitarist James Quill Smith (who sings lead on several songs), bassist Steve Thompson, and drummer Soko Richardson. The approach is rock-oriented, and the set list includes such Bluesbreakers favorites as Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm," and Freddie King's "Hideaway" (taken at a frantic tempo), along with the usual complement of generic Mayall originals, among them, a remake of "The Bear," from Blues From Laurel Canyon.

A versatile guitarist and onetime head of the guitar department at the University of Bridgeport, Sal Salvador was a capable soloist and accompanist whose single-string style, shaped by his early interest in the music of Charlie Christian, was augmented by extensive studies of guitar technique. Salvador's years of research, playing, and analysis eventually led to his writing guitar methodology books, among them Sal Salvador's Chord Method for Guitar and Sal Salvador's Single String Studies for Guitar in the '50s and '60s. He became interested in jazz during his teens, and began playing professionally in Springfield, MA, in 1945. He worked with Terry Gibbs and Mundell Lowe in New York at the end of the '40s, then joined Stan Kenton's orchestra in 1952. Salvador worked with Kenton until the end of 1953, and appeared on the New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm album…

A brand-new label from one of the world's finest early music ensembles makes an auspicious debut with this stunning new recording of Handel's oratorio Belshazzar. Les Arts Florissants, led by the great William Christie, have launched their new label with the goal of expanding the ensemble's connection to the listening public on a scale far beyond the concert hall. Belshazzar was first performed in 1745, and was frequently revised. Christie has chosen what he considers to be the most successful of the various versions of Belshazzar, resulting in the restoration of the piece in all its splendor. The libretto's subject, which focuses on the decline of a once glorious society and the ephemeral nature of Empire, is especially relevant today. This deluxe set also includes a bonus essay by Jean Echenoz entitled In Babylon, printed separately on special paper and included alongside the regular booklet. This specially commissioned work draws the reader deep into the ancient, majestic city, the seat of power of Belshazzar the King.

These are both exciting, high-powered performances very typical of Sir Georg. The dazzling qualities of the Chicago orchestra in achieving knife-edged precision of ensemble shine out consistently, and anyone who still thinks that Mendelssohn has Victorian cobwebs on him could hardly find more striking proof otherwise. The performances certainly bring out the exuberance of the inspiration, with the Scottish Symphony made almost as bright and athletic as the Italian.

Marcel Dupré had a long and busy career as a recitalist, composer, teacher, writer and editor and he exerted enormous influence on all aspects of the organist's art in the early part of this century. Dupré's place in the evolution of twentieth century organ music has yet to be fully understood or appreciated and there are those who would seek to detract from the enormous impact his playing and teaching had on countless students who studied with him. It cannot be ignored that the list of his Premier Prix students at the Paris Conservatoire contains nearly every important twentieth-century French organist and composer, including Marie-Claire Alain, Jean Langlais, Jean Guillou, Jeanne Demessieux, and Olivier Messiaën.

Lars Vogt continues his series of concerto recordings with the Royal Northern Sinfonia with this new recording of Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) First Piano Concerto together with Four Ballades (Op. 10) for solo piano. As in previous albums, Lars Vogt conducts from the keyboard. The evolution of Brahms 1st Piano Concerto took several steps. Originally conceived to become a Sonata for Two Pianos through orchestration it was developed into a four-movement Symphony until reaching into its final form of a Piano Concerto in three movements. During the process, which lasted from 1854 to 1856, some movements were also discarded and replaced by new material.

Superb 2010 performance Taylor Swift’s Fearless Tour, launched in support of her second studio album Fearless, was the singer-songwriter’s first headlining concert tour. The first 52-date North American leg began in January 2009. Before the jaunt began on April 23, 2009, in Evansville Indiana, Swift had headlined music festivals in North America. Through 2009, she announced additional dates in England, Australia, and Japan, and the Fearless Tour concluded on July 10, 2010, in Cavendish, Canada. Kellie Pickler, Gloriana, and Justin Bieber were supporting acts. Upon completion, the Fearless Tour drew 1.2 million people in attendance and grossed $66.5 million from 118 shows across 15 months. Several shows were recorded and released for a concert series, Journey to Fearless, which aired on The Hub from October 22 to 24, 2010. Among the very finest shows of the entire tour, Taylor’s concert at The Staples Center in Los Angeles, on 15th April 2010, stands out as a true classic performance.

Fifteen tracks covering the pioneering blues-rock guitarist's '60s work, which was by far his best and most influential. Bloomfield worked with a bunch of bands during the decade, and the compilation flits rather hurriedly from his contributions to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Electric Flag, to his collaborations with Al Kooper, as well as some late-'60s solo tracks (none of his groundbreaking mid-'60s work with Dylan is here). Collectors will be interested in the first five songs, which date from previously unreleased sessions produced by John Hammond in late 1964 and early 1965. Featuring Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, this pre-Butterfield Blues Band outfit plays convincingly, but the material is standard-issue, and Bloomfield's vocals are thin and weak (they didn't improve much over time)…

Can - Monster Movie (1969). Though Monster Movie was the first full-length album in what would become a sprawling and often genre-defining discography, Can were on a level well ahead of the curve even in their most formative days. Recorded and released in 1969, Monster Movie bears many of the trademarks that Can would explore as they went on, as well as elements that would set the scene for the burgeoning Krautrock movement. This would be the only album Can's first singer Malcolm Mooney would sing the entirety of, as he was replaced by Damo Suzuki by the time of 1970's Soundtracks, leaving the band after going through a highly unstable time. Mooney was known for his erratic ways, and some of that mania undoubtedly comes through here, with his caterwauling howls on the unexpectedly garage-influenced "Outside My Door"…

The German sound-pioneer Schiller is a household name in the world of electronic music, particularly in the fields of ambient and chill out music. In the past he has produced chill out mixes for artists such as Rammstein and Mike Oldfield. Now he presents a full-length album packed with chill out versions of his gold-selling #1 album Sun. Sun - Chill Out Edition includes chill-out mixes of the best tracks on the regular Sun album and sets a new precedent in the world of ambient and chill out music. Inspired by electro classics from the likes of Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Jean-Michel Jarre, Christopher von Deylen creates visionary sounds that are ahead of their time.