The old model for creating a hit classical recording – big-name soloist plus big-name conductor in major repertory work – is not so common anymore, but this live Brahms recording from the Staatskapelle Berlin under Venezuela's Gustavo Dudamel, with Argentine-Israeli-Palestinian-Spanish pianist Daniel Barenboim as soloist, shows that there's life in the concept yet. One could point to the virtues of pianist and conductor separately: it's a rare septuagenarian who can combine power and clear articulation of detail the way Barenboim does, and Dudamel builds a vast sweep in, especially, the Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15. But it's the way that the two work together that really makes news. Chalk it up to shared South American heritage or to whatever the listener wants, but the way the orchestra and piano define separate spheres and work them together is extraordinary. Again, it is in the Piano Concerto No. 1 and its Beethovenian drama that their mutual understanding is most evident, but there is a sense of great variety powerfully unified throughout.

The Capitol collection Essential Billy Squier compiles various hits from the '80s pop/rocker's albums. Taking up the "essential" part of Squier's catalog here are tracks from 1981's Don't Say No, 1982's Emotions in Motion, and 1984's Signs of Life, including "Everybody Wants You," "The Stroke," "In the Dark," and "My Kinda Lover." Less essential but no less worthy of inclusion are such cuts as "Lonely Is the Night" from Don't Say No and "The Big Beat" from Squier's 1980 debut, The Tale of the Tape. Also included are some lesser-known cuts like "Love Is the Hero" from 1986's Enough Is Enough, "Don't Say You Love Me" from 1989's Hear & Now, and "Angry" from Squier's unfairly ignored 1993 Capitol swan song, Tell the Truth. Taken as a collection, these are Squier's best-known and catchiest tracks and showcase his unique mix of Led Zeppelin meets Queen meets Rod Stewart-style dance-rock. While Squier continued to record for various labels from the mid-'90s onward, these tracks make up the bulk of his time as a hot commodity in the '80s, and it’s great having them all on one disc.

Bullfrog (1976). Somewhat enjoyable hard rock/prog in the style of Jane, mainly. Singer Gerd Hoch has an astoundingly gruff, rough voice that's going to be hard for some listeners to take, but his style largely suits the music. Not really a whole lot of prog on the A-side, pretty much straight-up hard boogie rock. The last two tracks, both extending longer than ten minutes, are the reasons to get this album. Full of Floydian changes and an Eloy-like spaciness, they're well-done for this style of music. Nice layers of celestial synths and aggressive Hammond organ from keysman Harald Kaltencker. Italian drummer Bruno Perosa (whose prior prog pedigree extends to playing the percussion-y bits in "Canto Nomade per un Prigioniero Politico" on Banco's Io Sono Nato Libero album) even adds a cosmic recitation (in Italian!) at the beginning of "Desert Man"…

Where a slow-burning, word of mouth campaign was hugely beneficial to Jon Allen – his debut album, 2009’s Dead Man’s Suit, was given a sizeable leg-up by one track’s use in a Land Rover campaign, while champions included Jo Whiley, Jools Holland and Emmylou Harris – second album Sweet Defeat not only has the task of matching this, but is also burdened with the albatross of assumed instant impact. But it seems as though that’s the last thing Allen is worried about. While his passport may substantiate the on-paper Britishness of this Hampshire-born artist, his yarns and philosophies paint a picture of a grizzled American folk musician, decades of abandon behind him. Sweet Defeat, in this vein, employs good honest rock'n'roll ideals, actioned via a collection of simple, folksy melodies.

Much more than the usual greatest-hits package, Collection is a well-thought-out compilation of the very best tracks of Edgar Winter's career. Obviously, his radio hits are here. "Frankenstein," "Free Ride," and "Hangin' Around" were all staples of mid-'70s AM radio. But Rhino Records doesn't kick this set off with any of the "hits," choosing to rock things up with a track from Edgar Winter's White Trash, "Give It Everything You've Got," before moving into the mellow blues of "Easy Street," highlighted by Winter's jazzy saxophone work. Also included are the excellent antiwar ballad "Dying to Live" and the melodic and catchy "Diamond Eyes" and "Round and Around." All in all, this is a definitive buffet of Winter, but don't let that stop you from sampling the original platters.

This 3CD deluxe edition Of ‘You Are The Music – We’re Just The Band’ has been expanded with the mono version of the ‘Coast To Coast’ single, plus the non-album tracks ‘Good Love’ and ‘Dat’s It’. Four tracks were aired for the 1973 Radio 1 In Concert series, taken from an “off-air” recording. One of Trapeze’s major strongholds was Texas, so it’s no surprise that this collection is completed with a track recorded in Dallas in 1972, plus a whole show from Houston the same year.

This Trapeze classic has been expanded with two bonus discs, packed with extras. It kicks off with a stereo edit and then a mono edit of the ‘Black Cloud’ single, followed by radio session versions of ‘Makes You Wanna Cry’ and ‘Medusa’. Disc Two finishes with an unreleased live show from the United States in March 1971. Disc Three features a second complete unreleased show from 1971, featuring all but two tracks from the “Medusa” LP.

"Destined to go down in history as a jazz classic" was the verdict with which The Guardian greeted this album on its release in 1997, saying, "Wheeler’s compositions and four of the world’s greatest improvisers make for a tranquil set that rewards with every listening. This is beautiful, golden music." Angel Song is among the apexes of the label’s catalogue, uniting four master-improvisers - each with a unique artistic identity - in an intimate, drummer-less quartet session. Kenny Wheeler is the composer of the nine hauntingly lyrical chamber-elaborations and endows them with his singular timbre on flugelhorn and trumpet in expressive melodic exchanges with alto saxophonist Lee Konitz. Dave Holland’s bass-foundation is as compelling as ever, giving Bill Frisell all the freedom for harmony-encompassing improvisation…

An album title that fits perfectly in two respects: "Silver Romance" is the name of the latest release by southern German melodic power metal act Freedom Call. The moniker not only stands for the band’s 25th anniversary - referred to by singer/guitarist and band founder Chris Bay tongue-in-cheek as "our silver wedding anniversary" - but also applies to the content of the recording.

This is Billy Cobham's third solo recording under his own name and is a fine follow-up to Crosswinds. The mini-suite "Solarization" not only showcases the band's technical abilities, but also Cobham's strong compositional skills. It also features a schizophrenic piano solo ("Second Phase") from the underrated pianist Milcho Leviev, who sounds like a mutation of Cecil Taylor and Bill Evans. The funky "Moon Germs," on which John Abercrombie is pushed to inspiring new heights, became a Cobham classic. "The Moon Ain't Made of Green Cheese" is a beautiful flugelhorn solo by Randy Brecker backed by Cobham's debut on piano. The band stretches out on the lengthy "Sea of Tranquility," while "Last Frontier" is a gratuitous drum solo. This recording is highly recommended as Cobham still sounds inspired.

Tributes to fallen icons don’t come any more poignant or illustrative than Eat a Peach. Released in early 1972, slightly more than three months after guitarist Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident, the double album honors the musician via sides he recorded in the studio as well as several live performances that didn’t fit on the mammoth At Fillmore East. The Allman Brothers Band, determined to press on, also contributes a trio of songs completed after their soulmate’s passing. Its execution is near perfect, its concept timeless.
In all probability, the Allman Brothers Band would’ve leapt to the fore of music’s commercial and critical elite had it not been for Duane’s fateful motorcycle accident that altered history and the trajectory of the group’s course…

Wolfsheim is one of Germany's inveterate synth-pop groups, a band that has outlived numerous rock & roll trends by remaining committed to their original sound. The group was formed in 1987 by siblings Markus Reinhardt and Olli Reinhardt and Pompejo Ricciardi (vocals). However, Ricciardi departed from Wolfsheim shortly after they recorded their first demo; he was replaced by Peter Heppner, a singer who was already familiar with the brothers since they were all raised in the same area of Wilhelmsburg, Germany. Olli eventually left the band as well, turning Wolfsheim into a duo. Heppner started writing new tracks, and Wolfsheim distributed two more cassettes to record labels. All of them replied with a rejection. In 1991, Strange Ways Records released Wolfsheim's CD single "The Sparrows and the Nightingales"; it sold more than 10,000 copies…

Soul Call is yet another great Burrell record. On "Here's That Rainy Day," he epitomizes all that is cool in jazz guitar, framing his lush chord-melody statement using a minimum of voicings, and burning up the changes without ever overplaying, sacrificing clarity, or compromising his tone, all while infusing an achingly beautiful standard with a graceful blues tinge. He then repeats this achievement in a harder-swinging vein on "Lucky So and So" and on the ballad "A Sleepin' Bee. "Mark One" is an uptempo cooker by pianist Will Davis; Burrell himself contributes two blues, the late-night, conga-fueled slink of the title cut and the relentlessly jumping "Kenny's Theme."

The third volume in John Zorn's "Olympiad" series is this solo performance in 2007 at the Kompo Cultural Center in Gyungee, Korea by Zorn associate and eccentrically eminent improviser Eugene Chadbourne, performing on electric and acoustic guitars as he interprets 15 compositions for improvisers from John Zorn's seminal 1976 series: The Book of Heads.