Portraits Drawn Without You is a set of original compositions that I wrote for piano and voice during the past year. It draws from a diverse range of idioms, perhaps as much from Joni Mitchell and John Cage as from Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. Even larger is the number of people who inspired moments in each work. It seems oddly apt to honor them with my first solo project. People I have known at various points in my life float in and out of the compositions freely. Each piece is a sort of musical portrait, an act of representation in which the true subject is conspicuously absent. The end effect, I hope, is like that of walking through the halls of a portrait gallery: You know that the figures on the walls know each other, but it is up to you to figure out the story of how.

This disc is part of a Mozart concerto cycle being issued by German pianist Christian Zacharias, conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne. Several of the discs have been exceptional, and the musicianship here maintains the high level of the earlier releases in the series. The interpretations, however, are a bit unorthodox, so sample well and consider. The audiophile sound from the MDG label continues to be an attraction in itself; the sonics of Lausanne's moderate-sized and heavily acoustically tweaked Salle Métropole concert hall have awesome clarity and depth.

This version of Holst’s endearing masterpiece, “The Planets”, sounds very good in Naxos’ super audio 5.1 technology. I do not have the point one (subwoofer) hooked up in my house and assume, by listening to the recording in 5.0, that the timpani — which are already very powerful and forward placed — would be explosive if you listened in 5.1. The sound is very good otherwise, with wide ranging and natural orchestral body and timbre. It is not the best super audio sound I’ve heard but it is good and a big improvement over the stereo sound on the last version of “The Planets” I purchased, the one Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle released last year.

Will listeners raised on virtuoso performances of Mozart’s piano concertos be able to make room in the hearts for Christian Zacharias’ recordings with the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne? It depends on how willing they are to forego the pleasures of virtuosity for the pleasures music-making. This is not to say that Zacharias isn’t a virtuoso pianist. As his 20 years of recordings make very clear, he has talents & abilities far beyond those of most mortal pianists.

Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane's album Settin' The Pacewas originally released in 1961. Coltrane had recorded some unissued recordings while under the label Prestige, after his fame grew and he was no longer with the label they used these recordings and released albums without Coltrane's approval. This was one such album. The decision to release this album now is to a certain extent determined by economic considerations, but it also happens to throw light on certain aspects of the jazz business which warrant discussion. Had the album been released at the time it was recorded it would have reached the small nucleus of Coltrane followers then active, and of the rest been largely ignored…

Gould as an “incorrigible romantic.” Instead of Schumann, Chopin, or Liszt he selected two unimaginably obscure rarities, referring to Grieg as a personal ancestor (“the composer was a cousin of my maternal great-grandfather”) and to Bizet’s Variations chromatiques as “one of the very few masterpieces for solo piano to emerge from the third quarter of the nineteenth century.”

Her fourth album, Paix, is one of Catherine Ribeiro's more intense recordings. The band is less folkish on this outing and veering more into space rock, with a sound that is even more cosmic, especially on the 15-minute title track as well as the 24-minute "'Un Jour la Mort" that fills side two.

Skye Edwards and Ross Godfrey, founder members of Morcheeba have produced a new album as SKYE | ROSS It will have the signature mix of influences from trip hop, blues and downtempo soul that Morcheeba's fans love so much. Skye has one of the most recognisable voices on the planet, hearing her smooth, effortless tone teamed with Ross' psychedelic guitar is an unforgettable, spellbinding experience!

Blending equal amounts of Sade's cocktail-lounge take on world music, Jill Scott's dignified neo-soul and Corinne Bailey Rae's sunny AAA pop, the debut album by German singer/songwriter Ayo sounds like it will be a mainstay in middle-of-the-road coffee houses for years to come.

Lean is a New York City-based trio consisting of saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh, bassist Simon Jermyn and drummer Allison Miller. To appreciate what this forward-driving jazz threesome can do, follow the dictates of the trio’s self-titled debut…and lean in. Listen closely. Pay attention. This hour-long album is rich with compositional creation, improvisational imagination and masterful musicianship. Sabbagh is from France but has called NYC home since the early ‘70s. He’s played with Victor Lewis, Bill Stewart, Billy Drummond, and others; and has led or co-led several groups over the years. Jermyn was raised in Ireland and since moving to New York City has been on stage with John Hollenbeck, Tony Malaby, Dan Tepfer, and many more; issued solo records; and is associated with other NYC-area bands.

Raised in the Danish countryside as the son of a poor folk musician, Carl Nielsen possessed indomitable courage and infinite curiosity: qualities that helped him develop into one of the greatest symphonists of the 20th century and eventually Denmark’s national composer. This box set collects the acclaimed live recording series of Nielsen’s complete symphonies and concertos by the New York Philhamonic, Music Director Alan Gilbert, and soloists Nikolaj Znaider, Robert Langevin, and Anthony McGill.

Not just because this disk is the only 1 in the series without a review on this site, but also because it concerns a re-issue in SACD format, I thought it might be useful to share my views with the Super Audio community. To start with the end: My verdict is a wholehearted positive 1 in both artistic & technical sense.

Having written emotional tunes for artists like Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, and Darius Rucker (not to mention fronting the GRAMMY®-nominated bluegrass band the SteelDrivers), Chris Stapleton steps into his own. Despite its dusky presentation and Stapleton’s formidable beard, Traveller isn’t just an outlaw record, but a master class in country bittersweetness— from the waltz-time nostalgia of “More of You” to the blistering “Might as Well Get Stoned,” which sounds as though it took its own advice. As for Stapleton’s earthy, unvarnished voice, well, he might be a writer, but he certainly doesn’t sing like one.

It's hard to believe after hearing the eloquence of "Then I'll Be Tired of You" or the title track, but John Coltrane's ballad mastery was the last of his skills to receive wide appreciation. The notion that Coltrane the balladeer was as commanding as Coltrane the uptempo wizard or Coltrane the blues player finally gained acceptance in the early 60s, when this album first appeared and quickly became an important exhibit in the reconsideration. The extended performances boast additional delights, including Paul Chambers's arco bass on "Stardust," Red Garland's well-paced choruses on "Time After Time," some of Wilbur Harden's best trumpet work on "Love Thy Neighbor," and Freddie Hubbard's earliest on "Then I'll Be Tired of You"…

Poulenc was a skilled pianist, cultivating a style of playing characterised by colorfulness and clarity, possessing an ear for melody that distinguished him as France s finest song composer since Fauré. Canadian pianist Lucille Chung acclaimed for her 'stylish and refined performances' by Gramophone magazine, 'combining vigor and suppleness with natural eloquence and elegance' appears as a soloist on this new recording, performing Poulenc s Improvisations and Novelettes before being joined by her duo partner (and husband) Alessio Bax for L embarquement pour Cythère, the Sonata for Four Hands and Concerto for Two Pianos.