The Last Set at Newport is a 1971 live album by Dave Brubeck and his quartet recorded at the 1971 Newport Jazz Festival, shortly before a riot ensued. The album peaked at 16 on the Billboard Top Jazz Charts. The album was reviewed by Scott Yanow at Allmusic who wrote that "The Dave Brubeck-Gerry Mulligan quartet is heard in a very inspired performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, just a short time before a riot by the audience closed the festival. These versions of "Take Five" and "Open the Gates" are memorable, but it is the extended "Blues for Newport" that is truly classic." Yanow wrote that the musicians "…constantly challenge each other during this exciting performance, making this set well-worth searching for."

The art of Shakespeare was a recurring fascination for Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. In addition to two operas and numerous settings of songs and sonnets, he wrote 11 Shakespeare Overtures which here receive their first ever complete recording. Deploying all the resources of the symphony orchestra, these are some of the twentieth century's most dramatic and tuneful orchestral works, spectacular evocations of Shakespeare's greatest plays.

Helen Schneider has spread herself out during her career, studying classical piano in her youth; singing blues, rock, and pop; performing in various musicals; and finally turning to standards a few years prior to the making of this CD. There's little doubt that she is a trained singer, as she always hits her notes and enunciates clearly, yet this album leaves little lasting impression, compared to many singers who have covered these well-known works.

Because it is a 1995 release, this "Best of" CD should not be confused with something of broader scope. Its 12 songs are culled from a mere two CDs, "Illusions" (1986) and "Cross Currents" (1987), released on the Denon label. There is no material from the six CDs Eliane put out on Blue Note subsequent to "Cross Currents" and before this CD. She has, of course, released a tremendous amount of material since 1995.

Blockflötenkonzerte von Telemann, Graupner und Schultze Die Blockflötistin Dorothee Oberlinger gilt mittlerweile als "Star im Bereich der Alten Musik" (rbb). Für ihre erste CD bei dhm – "Italian Sonatas" – wurde sie mit dem Echo Klassik 2008 als "Instrumentalistin des Jahres" ausgezeichnet. Nach der letztjährigen hochgelobten Produktion mit Werken von Telemann erscheint nun ihre neue CD mit deutschen Blockflötenkonzerten des Barock.

These two CDs were originally recorded and released by naïve in the mid 1990s; recorded out of numerical order, sonatas 5, 6 and 2 are on the first disk, while 1, 3 (in which a violin replaces one of the oboes) and 4 are on the other. Both sets involve a theorbo and deep string bass (contrabbasso on CD1 and violone on CD2), all played by different players. The wind soloists are constant (and what a stellar line-up – Paolo Grazzi and Alfredo Bernardini on oboe and Alberto Grazzi on bassoon); Manfredo Kraemer is the violinist.

The Lao Tizer Band returns with AMPLIFY, their explosive new album! The project was recorded and filmed LIVE at Hollywood's legendary EastWest Studios, with an all-star cast led by keyboardist, composer and producer Lao Tizer. The record includes 5 sizzling vocal tracks featuring platinum-selling American Idol star Elliott Yamin, plus 4 adventurous instrumentals penned by Tizer. Also appearing are GRAMMY-winning saxophonist Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea), guitarist Chieli Minucci (Special EFX), drummer Gene Coye (Hiromi, Santana), famed percussionist Munyungo Jackson (Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder) and many others. This release marks a major evolution for the group with elements of jazz, funk, R&B, soul and jam-band influences, accentuated by a super-tight horn section. Videos were produced for all tracks by Andy LaViolette, best-known for his work with Snarky Puppy.

James Bowman must surely be the finest vocal interpreter of Purcell today. His grasp of sentiment, his sense of timing, and his enunciation, are unsurpassed…

The Portuguese school of Renaissance composers is only just beginning to be explored. It came to maturity relatively slowly, and when it finally did, in the first half of the seventeenth century, much of the rest of Europe had moved on to a new musical world. Only countries on the edge of the continent – especially England, Poland and Portugal – continued as late as 1650 to give employment to composers who found creative possibilities in unaccompanied choral music. Even so, very few of these composers remained completely untouched by the experiments of Monteverdi and the new Italian Baroque school, so that their music became a fascinating hybrid, looking forward and back, often unexpectedly introducing twists and turns to what otherwise might be taken for pure ‘Palestrina’.