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Most of the titles on this album are derived from Thelonious Monk's vast catalog of bop standards. Both co-leaders are at the peak of their respective prowess with insightful interpretations of nearly half a dozen inspired performances from this incarnation of the Blakey-led Jazz Messengers. This combo features Art Blakey (drums), Johnny Griffin (tenor sax), Bill Hardman (trumpet), and Spanky Debrest (bass). Immediately, Hardman ups the ante with a piledriving lead during "Evidence" that underscores the heavy-hitting nature of this particular jazz confab.

In 'Schubert & Schumann: Loss & Love', cellist Adolfo Gutierrez Arenas and pianist Josu De Solaun touch on two perennial themes that pervade all human lives. The album is a very personal one: both artists have recently lost their parents, and during a pandemic we all turn to music more than ever to find solace and a reflection of our own feelings as those experiences of loss and love are intensified.

Renowned as a great interpreter of Brahms, Jacqueline du Pré, here at the peak of her art and technical abilities, delivers the latest version recorded with her husband Daniel Barenboim in May-August 1968.
A pillar of the cello repertoire, the Two Sonatas benefit from a new remastering in 192kHz/24-bit from original tapes by Art & Son Studio, Annecy.

Through Romany Songland, soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian takes the listener on a journey through lieder by Brahms, Bizet and Dvorak, operetta by Lehar, Kalman and Herbert, and spicy Spanish songs.

With their new album "Manu Scriptum" (from Latin: written by hand), Spanish hornist Adrián Díaz Martínez - professor of horn at the Musikhochschule Lübeck since 2021 - and his Japanese piano partner Ikuko Odai once again present an exciting concept album.

I Stand Alone is American singer-songwriter Al Kooper's 1969 debut album issued on Columbia Records. It was recorded after his collaboration with Michael Bloomfield and Stephen Stills on the 1968 album Super Session. After ten years of session playing, collaborations and playing in other bands, Kooper released his first solo album in February, 1969. It is an eclectic mix of country, soul, blues, and rock with a dose of psychedelia mixed throughout. It is a continuation of Super Session in its mix of disparate covers from the likes of Bill Monroe, Harry Nilsson and Traffic, and with originals running the gamut of feelings.

I Stand Alone is American singer-songwriter Al Kooper's 1969 debut album issued on Columbia Records. It was recorded after his collaboration with Michael Bloomfield and Stephen Stills on the 1968 album Super Session. After ten years of session playing, collaborations and playing in other bands, Kooper released his first solo album in February, 1969. It is an eclectic mix of country, soul, blues, and rock with a dose of psychedelia mixed throughout. It is a continuation of Super Session in its mix of disparate covers from the likes of Bill Monroe, Harry Nilsson and Traffic, and with originals running the gamut of feelings.

Acclaimed saxophonist, philosopher, bandleader, and musician Shabaka Hutchings, now professionally known as Shabaka across all solo musical efforts, announces his first major label solo body of work, Afrikan Culture, through Impulse!, out on May 20. Entirely written by Shabaka, the eight-track digital only EP showcases him on various wind instruments and focuses on the aural meditative space.

Released in 1961, My Favorite Things made John Coltrane a star with box-office pull previously reserved for the likes of Dave Brubeck and Miles Davis. The dazzling quartet treatment of the Richard Rodgers hit song features Coltrane on soprano saxophone for the first time on record and became an instant hit single in its own right. The album also became a major commercial success, receiving the Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1998 and attaining gold record status in 2018. The recently uncovered mono version of this album once believed to be lost forever is included in this deluxe package along with the stereo version, both having been mastered from the original tapes.

CD reissue featuring the 'Special Cassette Remix' edition in which all songs, other than "Yesterday's Shadow", are remixed or extended from the standard album version. Comes with five bonus tracks including a previously unreleased 7" single edit of "Yesterday's Shadow" and the 'Extended Dance Mix' of "Beat Boy" that was originally only released on a promo 12" single.

For the third installment of Ingrid Laubrock's duo series on Intakt (following Kasumi with Aki Takase and Blood Moon with Kris Davis) Ingrid Laubrock and Andy Milne develop their own sounds in a common sound world. Fragile is characterized by the great empathy that unites these two artists. The music, which is both stirring and soothing, confident and intuitive, is deeply expressive and inventive. “Laubrock’s growth as an original writer and improviser has been marked in the last two decades, during which time she has led several bands, notably Sleepthief and Anti-House, and proved adept at creating for large ensembles and small groups that revealed her own individuality, mostly within avant-garde traditions. As for Milne he has more than fulfilled the promise he showed as a member of Steve Coleman’s Metrics in the early ‘90s. The Laubrock-Milne duo has a balance between the drive and momentum of large ensembles and the stillness and engagement with silence and space of smaller groups. Making music that releases a form of energy, something that pulses with life, while also drawing down into intimacy, suggesting feelings of tenderness or uncertainty, is no mean feat”, writes Kevin Le Gendre in the liner notes.

Like Stanley Road before it, Heavy Soul is more about vibe than songs. There are a few sharply written tracks here and there, but what's important is the rootsy, stripped-down atmosphere. Paul Weller's soul and R&B influences reign supreme on Heavy Soul, yet they are filtered through late-'60s psychedelia, blues-rock and prog folk, as he takes songs into extended instrumental jams. The band sounds tight, but Weller has suffered a bit of a songwriting slump, which is evidenced by the handful of keepers that form the core of the album. "Up in Suze's Room" is a hazy, folky gem, the soulful apology "I Should Have Been There to Inspire You" is affecting, and "Peacock Suit" is a fine "Changing Man" rewrite, but too much of Heavy Soul is concerned with texture instead of content. That doesn't make it a difficult listen – in fact, it's quite entertaining while it's playing – but there isn't much to explore on repeated plays.

Get ready to CELEBRATE! NOW Music is proud to offer the ultimate selection of 84 fabulous tracks across 4 CDs… NOW That’s What I Call Pride.

The Animals are an English rhythm and blues and rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon, as exemplified by their signature song and transatlantic No. 1 hit single, "House of the Rising Sun", as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "I'm Crying" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". The band balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm and blues-orientated album material and were part of the British Invasion of the US.

Nick of Time not only was an artistic comeback for Bonnie Raitt; it brought her largest audience yet, so there was no reason to mess with success for its sequel, Luck of the Draw. And sequel is the appropriate word, since Luck of the Draw is nothing if it isn't Nick of Time, Pt. 2. True, there's a heavier reliance on original material this time around, but the sound and feel of the record is identical to its predecessor…