Hélène Grimaud made her first five CDs for the Denon label, when the pianist was in her mid-teens through early 20s. Brilliant Classics has reissued them as a super-bargain boxed set. Even in her formative years, Grimaud’s world-class pianism and first-rate musical mind seemed fully sprung. Listen as she fearlessly tears through Rachmaninov’s Second Sonata, or notice the way she brings out the symphonic underpinnings of the same composer’s Op. 33 Etudes-Tableaux and Liszt’s Dante Sonata and you won’t doubt that a mature artist is at work. She makes Chopin’s G minor Ballade colorful and exciting by playing it as the composer intended, rather than re-writing his dynamics, phrasings, and ritards. Sonically, her 1992 Rachmaninov Second scores over her later traversal on Erato (see my review by typing Q3366 in Search Reviews), while fans of her terrific Erato Ravel Concerto should find the earlier Denon version equally incisive and commanding.

With the release of the band’s first EP, “Shadow” (2015) and the release of their first full length LP “Sands of Time” (2017) Scardust positioned them as a promising newcomer of the new progressive metal scene. Scardust rapidly rose to the top of the local metal scene, selling out shows and opening for the likes of Symphony X, Therion and Epica and started touring overseas playing festivals and headline shows in Germany, China and the UK as well as continuing to headline shows and festivals at home. The band showed since the beginning an artistic and instrumental attitude not common, the knowledge of each members instrument is at the highest level and the voice of Noa Gruman enchant the listeners, from her most sweet tone to the most aggressive one…

A truly unique expanded edition of one of the most iconic albums of all time. This new edition takes us on incredibly personal journey through the entire songwriting and recording process - from the very first writing and demo sessions at John’s home studio at Tittenhurst Park through to the final co-production with Phil Spector - providing a remarkable testament of the lives of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in their own words.
After the harrowing Plastic Ono Band, John Lennon returned to calmer, more conventional territory with Imagine. While the album had a softer surface, it was only marginally less confessional than its predecessor. Underneath the sweet strings of "Jealous Guy" lies a broken and scared man, the jaunty "Crippled Inside" is a mocking assault at an acquaintance, and "Imagine" is a paean for peace in a world with no gods, possessions, or classes, where everyone is equal…

Born September 2, 1928, Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva - later to be known as Horace Silver - was among the most accomplished American jazz pianists and composers of all time; coming out of the hard bop school of jazz, Silver was known for his distinctive playing style and pioneering compositional contributions to the form. Influenced by a wide range of musical styles, notably gospel, African music, and Latin American, Silver also later ventured into the soul-jazz genre. This 4CD collection features Horace Silver's eight finest Blue Note albums, made between 1952 and 1963, the first, and many would say most productive and challenging, decade of this masterful composer, performer and musician's career. Despite living a long and hugely influential life, Horace Silver sadly passed away on June 18th 2014, albeit at the age of 85 and of natural causes, having generally enjoyed good health until his final hour. This compilation serves as both an ideal starting point for those new to Horace Silver's music, and as a perfect reminder for those already familiar.

A mini-retrospective of Herbie Hancock's early years as a jazz artist, this six-track CD touches on some of his best-known small-ensemble works from that period. Of his first five albums for Blue Note Records from 1963-1965, Takin' Off, My Point of View, Empyrean Isles, and Maiden Voyage are represented - his third and perhaps most individually realized LP, Inventions & Dimensions, is not. You get hits "Canteloupe Island," "Watermelon Man," "Maiden Voyage," and three lesser titles, which remove it from "best-of" status. His sixth and seventh full-length Blue Note recordings, The Prisoner and Speak Like a Child, are also omitted. This is a decent, edited, and concise, but far from comprehensive view of Hancock's salad days, which some purport might still be his best.

Duke Ellington was a bandleader and musical director, pianist, in-house composer and arranger for his own big band, he left behind around 2000 works, composed film scores, for revue theatre and show stages, but also for the classical concert hall. He combined jazz with elements of the Western European musical avant-garde of the time as well as the classical-romantic tradition and thus became one of the pioneers of the ‘Third Stream’.