As a young boy he was trained by his mother to play piano but later decided to exchange the instrument for the violin. In 1928, convinced by Bronisław Huberman (a friend of the family), Szeryng went to Berlin to study under Karl Flesch. His debut concert took place in Warsaw in 1933 when he performed Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major with Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Bruno Walter. In the same year he played in Bucharest, Vienna, and Paris, achieving acclaim both from the audience and the critics. In the years 1933-1939 the artist continued to learn violin under Jacques Thibaud and Gabriel Bouillon and studied composition under Nadia Boulanger.

Violinist Henryk Szeryng is accompanied by pianist Charles Reiner for this audiophile recording of compositional works by Bartok, Debussy, Novacek, Brahms, Marroquin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Leclair, Gluck, Vitali, and Locatelli.

Nearly all acoustic, Several Shades of Why was created with the help of a few friends. Notable amongst them are Kurt Vile, Sophie Trudeau (A Silver Mount Zion), Kurt Fedora (long-time collusionist), Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses), Pall Jenkins (Black Heart Procession), Matt Valentine (The Golden Road), and Suzanne Thorpe (Wounded Knees). Together in small mutable groupings, they conjure up classic sounds ranging from English-tinged folk to drifty, West Coast-style singer/songwriterism. But every track, every note even, bears that distinct Mascis watermark, both in the shape of the tunes and the glorious rasp of the vocals. Ten brilliant tunes that quietly grow and expand until they fill your brain with the purest pleasure.

Recording the narrations for Peter & the Wolf and the Snowman was the last project Sir Ken Dodd undertook. One of the UK’s most famous and best loved comedians and entertainers, he passed away at age 90 in March 2018. This famous son of Liverpool was a keen supported of the Whitechapel centre, the Liverpool-based charity that is leading the homeless and housing charity in the region, working with people who are sleeping rough, living in hostels or struggling to manage their accommodation. Rubicon will support the work of the Whitechapel Centre by contributing a percentage of the royalties from sales of the album to the charity that Sir Ken supported.

Sticking to totally musical criteria, the best tracks on this collection are so good that dismissing the gunky ones is easy. There are other criteria for rating a Waylon Jennings album but, however one looks at it, Hangin' On is one of this country artist's very special productions. Some might see distinction in the fact that the brief liner notes are written by none other than the wonderful singer Skeeter Davis. Others may treasure this particular album because it really looks like ol' Waylon is lighting up a joint on the front cover.

Born and raised in Bossier City, Louisiana, country singer David Houston – whose lineage included Sam Houston and General Robert E. Lee became a regular on The Louisiana Hayride as a teenager. Apparently his soaring tenor voice wasn't totally appreciated; he found trouble getting work in the music business, and ended up as an insurance underwriter. But record producer Billy Sherrill brought Houston into the fold when Epic Records was still a young label (the early '60s), and Houston brought the company its first real hit with "Mountain of Love." In 1966 he broke through to major status with "Almost Persuaded," which netted a pair of Grammy Awards and brought pop recognition as well.

Lily & Maria's sole, mighty rare album is a strange oddity, all the more so for its appearance on a major label. As singers, Lily & Maria sound very much like the sort of high-voiced, virginal female vocalists common in the early-'60s folk revival, like the only somewhat less slightly obscure duo Kathy & Carol (who recorded traditional folk music for Elektra). But the material and production on Lily & Maria show a decidedly psychedelic, late-'60s influence, if only a mild acid folk one. It creates the impression of a couple of choirgirls singing tunes that are a cross between what you'd hear from a choir and a coffeehouse duo.

This is a very unusual date as it features Willie Ruff in a relatively rare date as a leader, instead of with his long time musical partner, pianist Dwike Mitchell. This date for Columbia is like many 1960s releases which are quite good but were lost in the shuffle due to the focus on rock, so it is doubtful that it remained in print for long. The opener "Sheffield Blues," is a small group session with Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen, Howard Roberts, and Emil Richards joining the leader, who only makes a rather understated appearance on French horn.

Like so many other artists, singer Ed Bruce got his start as a rockabilly act for Memphis' famed Sun Records; however, he was probably best known for his songwriting acumen. Born William Edwin Bruce Jr. in Arkansas in 1939, he cut his first sides for Sun at the age of 17. His career as a frenetic rockabilly performer was largely unsuccessful, however, and by 1964 Bruce had moved to Nashville to become a member of the Marijohn Wilkins Singers. He also entered into a lucrative career singing advertising jingles; his best-known campaign cast him as a character called the Tennessean.

In their first album, the Ensemble Ouranos celebrate the wind quintet, bringing a breath of fresh air to the form with a hint of nostalgia. Indeed, the common thread in the works of Ligeti, Nielsen and Dvorak is a strong influence from the folk material of each composer’s native country. Winners of the Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon, Ensemble Ouranos brilliantly represent the French school of wind instruments.

Brahms showed an early interest in Hungarian gypsy music, to which he had been introduced by his early acquaintance with Remenyi and his continuing friendship with Joseph Joachim, whose background was similar. In the 1850 she played gypsy melodies on the piano, some of which were never written down. The group of ten Hungarian Dances for solo piano was published in 1872, after earlier rejection of a smaller group of dances by a less acute publisher than Simrock, who issued the first set of dances in a piano duet version in 1869.

On "The Family Songbook" Tamar Halperin and Andreas Scholl combine the sounds of the Middle East with classic children's songs from the West, harpsichord with country-music sounds and sing-along songs with lullabies. This is a family album for the entire family.

Robert Lockwood Jr. is a blues treasure. Blues credibility doesn’t get any deeper or more real than Robert Lockwood Jr. On Delta Crossroads, the 85-year-old Delta bluesman lays out a heartfelt homage to the immortal Robert Johnson, his guitar teacher, close friend, role model and possibly step-father.

"Other than Junior Brown's label affiliation, little else has changed on the singer/guitarist's sixth album and first in four years. Honky tonk, rockabilly, and the rich sound of Bakersfield country are leavened with a healthy sense of humor ("Two Rons Don't Make It Right," "Where Has All the Money Gone?"), played with Brown's custom-made 12-string "guit-steel," and sung in his distinctive baritone.