Celebrated violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter introduces a new concerto by her friend and frequent collaborator John Williams, with the legendary composer himself conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Composed especially for Anne-Sophie Mutter, John Williams's Violin Concerto No. 2 is the culmination of several years of collaboration and friendship between two of the world's most celebrated musical artists.

Though recorded on one day, at standard length for an LP, this is really two albums in one sleeve, showcasing two rather different formats this highly original guitarist pursued. "The Blues Sonata" is set up in a pseudo-classical three-movement manner, with a polonaise, ballad, and scherzo, and the liner notes refer to a sonata form of development. The classical trappings, if any exist, are worn very lightly by Byrd, his bassist Keter Betts, and drummer Buddy Deppenschmidt. "Polonaise Pour Pietro" is a very blues workout. "Ballade in B Minor" is Chopin-esque in melodic influence only, including the brush-stroked improvisation segment, and "Scherzo for an Old Shoe" sets up as a Latin-tinged number, then stays on one chord with an Andalusian strain…

Over the last half-decade, The Pineapple Thief - led by musical polymath Bruce Soord and bolstered by the involvement of master drummer Gavin Harrison - has rapidly ascended to the upper echelons of Europe’s Alternative Rock scene.

Seasick Steve releases his new album, Love and Peace, via Contagious Records. The album sees Steve mixing up all of his much-loved ingredients to deliver a fresh new record that offers the perfect antidote for the troubled times in which we live. Full of hope for the future, it’s a great mix of boogie, blues, rock, Americana and folk – all delivered in Seasick Steve’s unique style. It’s a sizzler of an album.

Birth Control's second album, Operation, stands as one of the band's finest recordings, getting the vote as the second best album of 1971 by one of Germany's leading music magazines. Operation has Birth Control employing a nine-piece string section as well as a smaller brass entourage in order to produce a larger sound, and while their progressive air is just beginning to flourish, a rather large difference in musical strength and instrumental craft is noted right away. Not fully abstract or left-of-center just yet, the powerful crunch of Bruno Frenzel's guitar surely leads the way, dominating the rhythms of every track while complimenting the aeronautics of the keyboard passages. With the tempos quicker because of the stern synthesizer work, the entire album moves along at a brisk pace…

Known best as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, American jazz trombonist Curtis Fuller also contributed to many classic jazz recordings, but, crucially, was a fine bandleader in his own right whose late 1950s and early 1960s output remains his best work. This four CD set features music from the era during which Curtis Fuller was at his musical prime, and when he released the strongest records of his career as leader or co-leader. Featuring eight such records in perfect re-mastered sound, this collection is an ideal starting place for newcomers to the great man's music and a fine reminder of his talent and creativity for everyone else.

A new 4CD clamshell box set by the acclaimed British ‘retro rockers’ Cats in Space. This special collection features the band’s first four albums with original singer Paul Manzi, Too Many Gods, Scarecrow, Cats Alive! (Recorded At The Motorpoint Arena In Cardiff) and Daytrip To Narnia.

This 4 CD set brings together eight original albums from Ben Webster, on which he collaborates with a host of other Jazz Greats. Ideal as both a starting point for those new to Webster's work, and as a compilation more diverse in it's content than the more traditional anthology, this selection is certain to delight fans new and old of one of the greatest sax-players to have ever blown a note.

Esoteric Recordings is pleased to announce the release of a newly re-mastered, re-mixed and expanded 3 disc clamshell box edition of the classic album, “Barclay James Harvest and Other Short Stories”. Recorded and released in 1971, the album was the third by BJH and was recorded at Abbey Road studios and was co-produced by the band and ex-Pretty Things member Wally Allen. Widely regarded (along with “Once Again”) as one of the band’s early masterpieces, “…Other Short Stories” featured such classic tracks as ‘Medicine Man’, ‘Ursula (The Swansea Song)’, ‘The Poet’ and the epic ‘After the Day’. The album was critically acclaimed upon its release by Harvest Records and was also issued by Sire Records in the United States with some remixed versions of tracks. The album also featured the Barclay James Harvest symphony orchestra conducted by Martyn Ford and arrangements by Toni Cooke and Martyn Ford.

Alex G's Headlights is his tenth full-length album and his first with RCA Records. The album was written by Giannascoli and recorded across various locations in Philadelphia and New York. It was co-produced alongside his longtime collaborator Jacob Portrait. Headlights is a gorgeous collection of surreal storytelling over twelve new songs. Giannascoli delves further into the reality-bending terrain that has made him one of the twenty-first century's most celebrated and influential musical architects.

Inspired to enter the field of electronic music by Britain's acid house explosion of the late '80s, Toby Marks took quite a different spin on electronica with his recordings as Banco de Gaia, introducing elements of Eastern and Arabic music, sampling similarly exotic sources, and tying the whole to ambient-dub rhythms. Marks began releasing cassette-only albums in the early '90s, distributed through a network of clubs and artists known as Planet Dog. When Planet Dog became a record label as well (later the home of Eat Static and Timeshard), Banco de Gaia debuted on disc with the Desert Wind EP, released in November 1993. Early the following year, Marks released his first album, Maya.
Maya offers the strongest recollection of acid house of anything in his discography, with light, airy breakbeats and endlessly pleasant pianos rippling against a large backdrop of Asian influences…