He wasn't an innovator, star or major figure, but pianist Charles Bell made some solid records in the early and mid-'60s. Influenced by the then emerging soul-jazz and funky schools, Bell's playing was vibrant, often exciting and full of blues licks, gospel phrases and inflections, plus some bop tinges. He called his first combo a contemporary jazz quartet, and their menu included vamp numbers, standards and originals. His trio albums were more dense, and emphasized his harmonic abilities.

Break Stuff features Vijay Iyer’s long-running and widely-acclaimed trio with bassist Stephan Crump and drummer Marcus Gilmore, a band in existence for eleven years now. “We keep learning from each other and from experiences and try to set challenges for ourselves so that growth is part of the equation.” It’s a group whose musical language is informed by more than the jazz piano trio tradition. While Iyer acknowledges the influence of, for instance, Ahmad Jamal, Andrew Hill and Duke Ellington’s Money Jungle album (with Charles Mingus and Max Roach) upon his own trio aesthetics, he points out that his group has also been inspired by “James Brown’s rhythm section, Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys, Miles Davis’s rhythm section, Charlie Parker’s rhythm section, soul music from the 1970s, electronic music and hip-hop from very recent times…” The list goes on.

A great lost chapter in the career of organist Lonnie Smith — a session recorded in the 80s, but done with the simple straightforward soul jazz groove of earlier sides on Muse and Prestige ! Lonnie's working here in a loose and free trio format — with Melvin Sparks on guitar and the great Alvin Queen on drums — rolling out over longish tracks in an open-ended style that almost recalls more of the feel of Don Patterson's great organ trio sides than it does the heavier funk of Smith's early years. The recording quality is great — very faithful to the best tones of the Hammond.

British harpist Emily Hoile was born in 1992. She received her first harp lessons at the age of five. Emily Hoile completed her studies at the Juilliard School in New York and at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, among others. After graduation, she joined the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. Today she plays in the WDR Symphony Orchestra, after two years as principal harpist of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Cappella Records is proud to present the release of Hymns of Kassianí performed by Cappella Romana, Alexander Lingas, music director.

Ce disque est plein de charme. La rencontre de ces deux artistes met en évidence leur richesse personnelle… Sans être absolu, ce CD est très agréable à écouter, pour celui qui aime la musique. Pour exemple, je choisirai la deuxième partie de "Blues sur seine"; de l'accordéon et de la contrabasse au sommet.
Un plaisir…

One is inclined to speak of “soulmates” after hearing Simon Höfele and Elisabeth Brauss play as a duo and after getting to know them both personally. It is like two people connecting with one another in music and in conversation when they either know each other very well or have forged a special bond for some other reason. The latter is sure to be true – this album is their first joint recording venture, and they have not been working together for very long either.

Sophie Dervaux’s debut album on Berlin Classics is very much in the French tradition. Together with her French colleague, pianist Sélim Mazari, the bassoonist presents works on this concept album Impressions that are by composers of various eras, including Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, Fauré and Koechlin. The bassoon – unusually – takes the stage as a soloist and so fulfils the purpose that the Vienna Phil bassoonist had in mind: to present the unique singing sound of the instrument and enrich the world of the bassoon in the process.

This largely successful Savoy reissue CD brings back an obscure session led by Charles Moffett who here mostly plays vibes and a bit of trumpet in addition to drums. He is teamed up with the underrated (and largely forgotten) tenor-saxophonist Paul Jeffrey, bassist Wilbur Ware and drummers Dennis O'Toole and seven-year old Codaryl Moffett. On some selections both O'Toole and Codaryl play drums and the latter proves to be able to hold his own even at such a young age; in fact Codaryl contributed two of the five originals. The songtitle "Avant Garde Got Soul Too" pretty well sums up this adventurous but often surprisingly melodic set.

First time on CD. Composed & Conduted by the legendary Legrand including his "Picasso Suite". This nostalgic coming-into-manhood fantasy features a gorgeous Oscar-winning score by Michel Legrand ("Yentl", "The Thomas Crown Affair"). Director Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird) evokes the period with double-dip ice cream cones, paddleball, saddle shoes, packages of Fels Naptha and the mist of memory in which the hero's thoughts are enwrapped. Herman Raucher's screenplay is a discerning and appreciative translation of one boy's trip along a trajectory of psychological and sexual change.

For a long time it has been a dream for me to compose a piano concerto, so I am grateful for this opportunity given by the Japan Philharmonic Commission Series. ( “Japan Phil Series”) In composing this work, I tried to explore what the piano concerto can mean in this day and age, and the diverse colours I can bring out of the piano. In terms of the relationship between the piano and orchestra, I aimed to create a variety of dynamics: sometimes in harmony, sometimes in dialogue, and at times against each other. The work consists of three movements. Most of the main elements that form this concerto appear in the first movement and are developed. The second movement begins with a dialogue between the clarinet and piano, and a brief cadenza is placed in the second half. The third movement is a toccata-like finale in fast quintuple time. Just before the final section, the second movement cadenza reappears, leading into the coda.

Large industrial complexes, built of solid brick tell the story of industrialization of 19th century Leipzig. Where spinning wheels once rattled, chimneys smoked and thousands of workers carried out their daily work, new life has moved in over the past few years. Today, former factories are home to artists' studios, galleries and manufactories.

Pianist Antonio Oyarzabal takes us on a journey through the work of thirteen different female composers, most of them pianists. Their pieces have been a real source of motivation and inspiration for him. Here he pays tribute to the names and work of these women, unfairly and sadly neglected, in the shadow of compositions written by men. It is a musical journey that takes us on different paths: from Jacquet de la Guerre's French Baroque style to the avant garde proposals of Ruth Crawford Seeger in the beginning of the XXth century; from Lili Boulanger's languor to Germaine Tailleferre's constant joviality; or from the more popular Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn to the almost completely unknown Mana Zucca or Lūcija Garūta. All of this is expressed by the extraordinary sensitivity of a performer who, through long and intense research, has dived deep into the life and historical context of these thirteen unique artistic voices, in order to provide them with the relevance they deserve.

Curtis K. Hughes' "Tulpa" is a collection of his rhythmically incisive music heard in solo, duo, and ensemble settings, culminating in the title work for ten players and guest soprano, which is inspired by the TV series Twin Peaks and the writings of Marcel Proust. The Boston-based Hughes writes from a deep collaborative connection with his performers, crafting pieces that balance harmonic adventure with stylistic diversity, and political subtext with sardonic humor.

This is the extraordinary recording debut of jazz phenomenon Anaïs Reno, who made it in 2020 at the age of 16. Reno has already won accolades for her dedication to the Great American Songbook. She recently received the Julie Wilson Award, and in 2019 won the Mabel Mercer Foundation competition for high school students. For this album she has chosen 12 tunes by two master writers: Duke Ellington (1899-1974) and Billy Strayhorn 1915-67), creators of some of the most challenging and sophisticated material in the Great American Songbook. Reno combines beloved hits such as Mood Indigo, Take the A Train, Lush Life and Caravan with lesser-known but equally memorable tunes like A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing and Its Kind of Lonesome Out Tonight, all backed by a stellar group of jazz musicians led by pianist Emmet Cohen, who also did the arrangements with Reno. I have a very personal relationship with these songs, says Reno. Somehow I believe that the music of Ellington & Strayhorn understands me. This is why I want to honor it.