The third Choir disc on our 'St John's Cambridge' label in collaboration with Signum Records​ features Francis Poulenc's Mass in G, Zoltán Kodály's Missa Brevis and Leoš Janáček's Otčenáš.

From Australia comes progressive metal act Voyager, and their latest release for Sensory Records is titled The Meaning of I. This is actually their fourth album overall, and you can certainly tell that the band have their stuff together here, as The Meaning of I is a classy, powerful collection of prog-metal songs long on expert musicianship, memorable songs, and soaring melodies.

People's Choice, despite high acclaim within Philly Soul, R&B, Funk and Disco circles are among the most underrated of the soul groups that found their home at P.I.R. Unlike many of the acts championed by Gamble & Leon Huff People's Choice were a self-contained outfit performing on the Philly scene since the 60s. Led by Frankie Brunson the group was formed out of R&B act The Fashions. ANY WAY YOU WANNA… THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE ANTHOLOGY (1971-1981) covers the group's greatest successes.

2017 release. Wolves in the Throne Room re-imagined black metal as an ode to rain storms, wood smoke and the wild energies of the Pacific Northwest. Their first studio album, Diadem Of 12 Stars (2006), was a genre-dissolving classic that created a melancholy and psychedelic Cascadian atmosphere. Since that time they have become one of the most potent and highly regarded bands in extreme music.

Lead guitarist Esa Holopainen and drummer Jan Rechberger formed the band Amorphis in Finland in 1990. To complete their lineup they recruited vocalist/guitarist Tomi Koivusaari and bassist Olli-Pekka Laine. They released a demo in 1991 called Disment of Soul. The demo was so successful in getting attention for the group that they acquired a record deal and released an EP the same year…

Elton John was the biggest pop star of the '70s, grabbing headlines and generating hits throughout the world. As it turned out, this was merely the first act in a remarkable career that kept him at the top of the charts for over 25 years. He charted a Top 40 hit single every year between 1970 and 1996, a sign that he knew how to both change with the times and mold the times to fit him. Initially marketed as a singer/songwriter, John soon revealed he could craft Beatlesque pop and pound out rockers with equal aplomb. He could dip into soul, disco, and country, as well as classic pop balladry and even progressive rock. His versatility, combined with his effortless melodic skills, dynamic charisma, and flamboyant stage shows, became his calling cards and many of his songs became contemporary pop standards.

Not only is Sarah dynamic and simply adorable on stage; Sarah is a singer- songwriter to love. And just when you think you know her, she magically transforms… revealing colorfully, captivating insight that compels the listener and viewer with the desire for more. Childhood drama and psychological trauma; there was none. Unless you consider the fact that my childhood was molded by fairy tales, show tunes and a warped version of the catechism; which only served to engage my highly spirited and overly zealous imagination! Go figure…

In the mid 1980s Mercer Ellington, the son of legendary American Composer/Bandleader Duke Ellington made several attempts to get his father’s posthumous big band in the studio to record albums in order to stay relevant. While recording in L.A., he employed both East Coast and West Coast nuclei, which were utilized for Mercer’s touring band. On Harlem Throwbacks, the focus was to do modern recreations of records made in the Cotton Club days of the late 1920s up to the early 1940s. Several Duke Ellington alumni were present for this outing, such as Harold Minerve, Art Baron, Rocky White, Anita Moore, Barrie Lee Hall, and Chuck Connors. It is quite interesting to hear these classic arrangements re-recorded in digital stereo in 1984.

The mambo has become fashionable again lately, but for Tito Puente it has never gone out of fashion. In 1957 he cut two stellar albums for RCA, but just how good they were didn't become obvious until the advent of the CD. The full, rich sound on these LPs is nothing short of astonishing. This is mambo at its most ecstatic: blasting brass, sensual saxes, and that irresistible Afro-Cuban rhythm section led by Tito, Ray Baretto and Mongo Santamaria. This set contains 23 titles, including 3-D Mambo, Mambo Gozon, Conga Alegre, Hot Timbales…. etc.. Ay! Ay! Ay!

At the age of three Urs started playing little melodies on the piano. Later he developed a great passion for playing drums. With his teacher Pierre Favre he began to target a career as a jazz drummer. At the young age of 12 he was already touring with the Big Band of Fernsehen DRS, the national TV station, and was soon regarded as one of the greatest young talents of the Swiss music scene. What followed were several years of gigs in the best reputated jazz clubs in Switzerland where he played with his older brother, the jazz pianist Chris Wiesendanger.

Vivian Buczek was born in Malmoe, Sweden with Polish roots. She studied at Malmoe Academy of Music where she graduated in 2003. She already started performing and recording during her studies and has developed into one of Sweden’s foremost jazz singers today. She has a remarkable range and feeling for the jazz idiom and has made a number of appearances with both international and Swedish celebrities.

2017 release. Tanzania's Msafiri Zawose has been one of the biggest slept-on musical forces from the region. That's about to change with the imminent arrival of an album that will redefine the boundaries of gogo music. The Wagogo people are Msafiri's traditionally nomadic tribe from the center of the Tanzania, known for their musicality and made famous by Hukwe Zawose - Msafiri's father, who toured the world as a part of Peter Gabriel's Real World roster in the 80s and 90s. The album has been produced in collaboration with Sam Jones from SoundThread, whose recent works with Orlando Julius and remixes for Mugwisa International and Sarabi have been rapturously received. The tracks remain profoundly 'gogo' with traditional instruments and singing, but are infused with an organic electronic aesthetic. This is an afro-futurist journey that takes in dub, balearic, ambient and electronic vibrations alongside Zawose's hypnotic playing and emotive, plaintive vocals.

Hey, Rosemary Clooney fans what say you to 24 completely unreleased radio performances from the ‘50s?! Courtesy of the Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby estates, these songs hail from The Bing Crosby Show for General Electric, The Ford Road Show, and The Rosemary Clooney Show, and have never been released in any format, not even on that humongous box set of radio transcriptions issued by Mosaic a few years ago. Rosie was in her element singing on the radio; freed from Mitch Miller’s iron hand (and seemingly inexhaustible supply of novelty songs) at Columbia, she was able to tackle material that was a more suitable match for her effortless, floating voice. This collection of rarities includes selections pre-recorded for radio broadcast on tape for outstanding studio quality and features Rosie in both small group and big band settings. Liner notes by Clooney expert Tom Pickles, rare photos and warm remastering by Mike Milchner at SonicVision designed to capture every lilting note make this a keeper for Clooney aficionados.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to issue the first ever OFFICIAL UK CD edition of the self titled album by FIELDS. When the first line-up of RARE BIRD folded in early 1971, keyboard player GRAHAM FIELD formed this outfit with bass player, vocalist and guitarist ALAN BARRY and KING CRIMSON drummer ANDY McCULLOCH. Although the band failed to emulate the commercial success of FIELD’s previous group, the sole album they recorded was a magnificent example of British Progressive Rock. Much sought after for many years, this official ESOTERIC CD edition has been re-mastered from the original master tapes and features an essay by Sid Smith and interview with Graham Field.

Rare Bird are perhaps best remembered for having the distinction of being the first act to be released on Tony Stratton Smith's gloriously eclectic label Charisma records (also the home of GENESIS, THE NICE and VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR to name but a few) and for their excellent 1970 hit single 'Sympathy'. Like fellow future Charisma stable mates Van Der Graaf Generator, Rare Bird was formed around the principle of keyboard dominated progressive rock which eschewed the use of guitars. Following the success of their debut album and single ('Sympathy'), the band recorded this classic album in the Summer of 1970. 'As Your Mind Flies By' featured the epic 'Flight', a legendary piece which dominated the albums second side. An excellent work, the album met with much success, with Billboard magazine in America declaring Rare Bird to be in the top ten best new acts of the year.