Simone Kopmajer, a native of Styria, has made her way and has a reputation in the jazz scene for being one of the most prominent in her field. Her fans are scattered all over the globe, her publications are also in demand in distant countries, she sings all over Europe, in the USA, in Japan, Israel and also Southeast Asia, where she enjoys the status of a star and fills the halls. With Spotlight On Jazz, Simone Kopmajer now inducts her next wave of fans.

2018 release. Take a ride along the banks of the Mississippi River, pull up a stool in any St. Louis blues joint and talk will soon turn to the musician who's giving the city it's soundtrack. Jeremiah Johnson's towering reputation has been hard-earned. In 2018, Straitjacket wears his soul on it's sleeve. Produced by Mike Zito, and tracked live by the crack-squad studio band of Frank Bauer (sax/vocals), Benet Schaeffer (drums) and Tom Maloney (bass), the tracklisting takes in plenty of playful moments, like the title track's hectic funk-blues complaint to a controlling girlfriend, or the grooving Dirty Mind, about a lover calling up for "a little company" at 2am.

Craft Recordings is excited to announce the release of For Discos Only: Indie Dance Music From Fantasy & Vanguard Records (1976-1981), a comprehensive collection of the music that lit up a thousand dance floors in the mid '70s and early '80s, inspiring a revolution in the music world.

The Lemon Twigs emerged in 2016 with their debut LP, Do Hollywood, which was praised by Rolling Stone for its toting hooky songs that stand out for their intricate arrangements and delectable melodies and NPR Music who mused, like listening to music from a time that never was, a baroque rock romp. Their second album, Go To School is their most ambitious work yet; a conceptual musical, conceived by brothers Brian and Michael D Addario, which tells a heartbreaking coming of age story of Shane, a pure of heart chimpanzee raised as a human boy as he comes to terms with the obstacles of life. Todd Rundgren and their real-life mother Susan Hall play Shane s parents. The album also features contributions from Jody Stephens (Big Star), Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood) and their father Ronnie D Addario.

Joel Lyssarides is a multi-awarded Swedish jazz-musician. Starting to take piano lessons at the age of 4, Joel claims that one of his early inspirations to jazz was from hearing Charlie Parkers "Blue Bird." Only 25 years old, Joel already has a 10 year career behind him, and has toured and collaborated with artists such as Anne Sofie Von Otter, Dirty Loops, Benny Andersson, Nils Landgren and Silvana Imam. Over the years Joel has received a number of prominent awards. At the age of 21 he won the Jan Wallander award, which gave him a Steinway grand piano and access to a studio in central Stockholm.

A talented altoist influenced by David Sanborn, Brandon Fields has the versatility to be able to play both R&B/crossover and hard bop. Fields grew up in Orange County, CA, and started playing alto when he was ten. A freelance musician since he was a teenager, Fields moved to Los Angeles in 1982 and has worked steadily ever since. He toured with George Benson in 1985, was a regular member of the Rippingtons, has long been a busy session player, and recorded CDs as a leader for Nova and Positive. This release is his Jazz tribute to Stewie Wonder.

Fascinating journey through the music that unites Debussy with Spanish composers. Places are sounds: Granada. The city was a recurring source of inspiration for Debussy, and yet the composer never visited it; his knowledge of it was gained only indirectly through literary accounts, images, and musical sources heard in Paris. All of these materials served to unleash his imagination in regard to its sound, which according to Falla represented ‘the truth without authenticity, as not a single note is borrowed from Spanish folklore and yet, even in its smallest details, it wonderfully expresses Spain’.

This recording has selected almost all of the piano-voice songs by Ángel Barja, based on ancient Galician folklore, where the melody tames a very accomplished popular style, slenderised in a subtle and coloristic piano accompaniment that scrupulously observes the conventions of popular roots voice writing. Barja preserves the syllabic nature of the melodies and insists on maintaining the accentuations against the verse. He alternates in them the strophic song, with turns and repetitions, with the simplicity of the popular tune, in many cases with medieval roots, as happens in the Cantiga “Those who know how to love” («Cuantas savedes amar») with a 13th century melody.

Alice Sara Ott presents Nightfall, where she explores the transition and harmony between day and night, light and darkness. This recording showcases a collection of deeply emotional piano pieces by Satie, Debussy and Ravel.

Katia and Marielle Labèque’s attachment to their homeland is no secret. They decide to pay tribute to their roots interpreting a repertoire gathering works by Basque composers, dating from the Renaissance to the present day.

“Exceedingly satisfied with our musical collaboration on our Brahms/Schumann recording, I suggested to Helene Mercier that we take on the complete cycles of Brahms’s 21 Hungarian Dances and 16 Waltzes, Op.39, which, unlike me, she had already played in concert.

Aaron Watson’s new album was recorded Live at the World’s Biggest Rodeo Show.

After winning the 2015 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition then performing at the Montreal International Jazz Festival the following year, 25-year-old singer and songwriter Arianna Neikrug makes her grander introduction to the music world with the August 24, 2018 release of Changes on Concord Jazz.

Transfigured Night brings together two outstanding composers associated with Vienna: Joseph Haydn and Arnold Schoenberg. The former is often seen as the oldest representative of the “First Viennese School”, whereas the latter founded the “Second Viennese School”, using the classicism of his predecessors to explore new, atonal musical paths into the twentieth century. By combining Haydn’s two cello concertos (in C-major and D-major) and Schoenberg’s symphonic poem Verklärte Nacht – in the 1943 edition for string orchestra – this album sheds a new, fascinating light on both Viennese masters.

Londoners, Treetop Flyers, return with their eponymous third album, continuing where they left off with their excellent 2016 release ‘Palamino’. The decision to make this record self-titled is more than apt, as it is the most confident that Treetop Flyers have sounded in themselves yet, largely following a formula of dreamy, mellow 60s-style melodies interspersed with dashings of psychedelia.