The Poppies were a 1960s girl group formed and headed by Dorothy Moore and Fern Kinney. In early 1966, 'Lullaby of Love' by the Poppies peaked at #56 pop in the United States, and was a Top 30 single in Canada. An LP of the same title was released on Epic records. Later that year the group had another, but smaller, hit with 'He's Ready' which reached #106 pop. Two more singles were released but they did nothing. The last of their four Epic singles was 'There's A Pain in My Heart' which became a Northern soul classic and is heavily played in UK/Australian clubs.

This debut remains a stunning representation of the band's musical heart. „Concrete Blonde“ has two very distinct approaches that find a way to coexist. One is a straight-ahead punkish abandon with dry-sounding drums ("Your Haunted Head" and "Still In Hollywood") while the other features more involved production; drums wet with effects and layers of harmony vocals ("True" and "Song For Kim").

After recording the great Romantics and the Classical splendors of Brahms and Haydn, and opening the gates of the twentieth century with Ravel and Debussy, the Modigliani Quartet now traces the connections between the Danube, the Vltava and the Mississippi. From old Europe to explorations of the New World, this program features the luminous string quartets of Dohnányi and Dvo ák alongside Bartók's darker String Quartet No.2.

From his very first surviving work, a fantasy, to the masterpieces composed in the year of his death in 1828, Schubert left more than thirty-five scores for piano four hands. He imposed drama, grandeur and virtuosity on the genre, suspending time to follow the rhythm of his eternal traveller’s footsteps. For more than twenty years now, in intense symbiosis, Claire Désert and Emmanuel Strosser have been exploring together the unique world of Schubert’s piano duets.

Three musician friends meet here for a programme devoted to Brahms’s musical testaments. The 20-year-old clarinetist Raphaël Sévère, blessed with a magnificent sonority, and Adam Laloum, whose first disc was dedicated to Brahmsian twilights, together demonstrate that, in the burnished autumnal colours of these sonatas, the composer chose the clarinet to bid a melancholy farewell to the world. Victor Julien-Laferrière joins them for the elegiac Trio Op.114.

Only 30 years separate the clarinet quintets of Brahms and Hindemith; yet these are not just two artists' temperaments, not two different concepts, not two distinct aesthetics. What separates them is the world of harmony and that of established disorder.

Veteran pianist Fred Hersch casts a wide net on this engrossing solo album. He harks back to his roots in hard-swinging post-bop with Benny Golson’s classic “Whisper Not.” He pays homage to Thelonious Monk with “Eronel.” He picks a Jobim song, two originals, and the closing Billy Joel ode “And So It Goes.” But the centerpiece, a nearly 20-minute free improvisation titled “Through the Forest,” seems to yoke it all together: it’s Hersch at his most fearless and unfiltered, building dynamic arcs with dazzling technical control.

Between traditional jazz and trance music The Queens Of Nothing is a collection of rogue jazz musicians that have been improvising together for over a decade. Late night dive bars and all night parties is where they can usually be heard at their best. There is no leader in the band and everyone is free to do whatever they feel in the moment.

Due to Michael League's prolific body of work with his record label, GroundUp Music, he has his fingers in many pies, the latest of which is a new band, started by the Snarky Puppy guitarist/bassist/producer, called Bokanté. The word means "exchange" in Creole, the language of the band's vocalist Malika Tirolien, and the music is meant to represent this idea of a cultural exchange between the melting pot of musicians involved. For the most part, Strange Circles delivers; a vibrant album that makes clear the individual influences from each band member, but League's somewhat predictable arrangements give the session a somewhat sterile feel.

The Antwerp, Belgium based trio (Ruben Block, vocals & guitar; Paul Van Bruystegem, bass; Mario Goossens, drums) have built a solid reputation across Europe, the US and Canada as one of the hardest-driving and sharpest dressing bands around. After four studio albums and the massive touring that came with it, it was time for a change. While writing Colossus, Triggerfinger wanted to add a few new flavors to the mix. "Acoustic instruments, samples, keyboards, percussion, two bass guitars: as long as they served the song, we were happy.", states vocalist Ruben Block.

Joining forces with Israel Nash who produced the album and also appears on it alongside musicians from the ranks of Midlake, John Grant and Trampled By Turtles, the latest offering from the Spanish singer-songwriter Joana Serrat takes its title ‘Dripping Springs‘ from the Texan town near to which it was recorded. Her fourth in five years, dealing with themes of farewell, the mood is set with the whisperingly moody dry deserts album opener, Western Cold Wind, swirls of keys and guitars gathering midway, before Lost Battles offers a warmer musical climate with its lap steel and brushed drums and Serrat’s hushed, accented vocals conjuring 60s European movie soundtracks.

Every Woman, Every Man, Join the CARAVAN OF LOVE…. and Buy The Essential Chris Jasper … A 2-CD 29-track compilation of hit songs written and performed by former Isley Brother, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee … CHRIS JASPER.