The term ‘toccata’ is associated with virtuoso music demanding the utmost dexterity of its performer. Elisa Netzer, winner of the 2015 ‘Suoni d’arpa’ International Harp Competition in Italy, presents a wide-ranging programme which includes her own arrangement of one of Alessandro Scarlatti’s harpsichord toccatas, popular pieces such as Khachaturian’s Oriental Dance and Toccata, original works for harp such as Nino Rota’s attractively neo-Classical Sarabanda e Toccata and the premiere of the brand new Toccare composed for her by Swiss composer Stephan Hodel.

As a pianist and cellist Georges Onslow had a particular affinity with chamber music, and his String Quintets are given an almost orchestral quality with their addition of the rich sonorities of a double bass. String Quintet No. 28, with an especially beautiful Adagio with more than a trace of the influence of Mendelssohn, combines Baroque poise with expressive Romantic writing, while String Quintet No. 29 is light-hearted and good-natured, with hints of Schubert in its melancholy lyricism and unexpected key changes. In praising the Elan Quintet’s first volume (8.573600) a MusicWeb International reviewer declared, ‘I cannot fault their playing: their tonal quality is ravishing, their ensemble perfect.’

The new decacorde model can be heard in three of the pieces can be heard on thei Alba release. Jukka Tiensuu wrote Kymmari especially for it, and the same to some extent applies to Pekka Jalkanen’s Nocturne for Insomnia and The Bog Gypsies. The four lowest strings have no frets in this ten-stringed guitar.The guitar was developed in partnership with guitar maker Kauko Liikanen in 2015.

Culled from the four-night Roxy residency on the Born to Run tour, the October 18 early show captures Bruce and the E Street Band on a mission to conquer Los Angeles. Newly mixed from restored multi-track tapes, the previously unreleased complete concert (one day after the oft-bootlegged radio b-cast) spotlights six tracks from Born to Run along with magical covers of Jackie DeShannon’s “When You Walk in the Room,” Chuck Berry’s “Carol” and a stunning rendition of Carole King’s “Goin’ Back,” only performed at the ’75 Roxy stand.

It is too easy to see a man sitting at a piano and conjure images of pop superstars and legendary frontmen of bygone eras. But with his recent release, Jubilee Road, Tom Odell adds his unique musical dexterity to the proverbial mix. Odell's defined style combines songwriting that is occasionally revelatory with effusive piano playing. Granting he is considered a contemporary impresario by many, Odell's album, at times, is lost to the capriciousness of overly slick piano and mediocre songwriting. Yet Jubilee Road bares an intimate and expressive vulnerability rendering Odell as a viable factor in contemporary pop music.

This year, Footprint Records celebrates 15 years. Per Sjösten, who started the company together with his friend Bo Ejeby in 2003, presents the record company and explains why, despite the Göteborg Post's description of the record company as "narrower than narrow", it seems that the catalog is actually quite wide. That the record company's website has the subtitle Sustainable music ("sustainable music") is no coincidence …

Sophie Agnel is unrivalled when it comes to transcending the piano: she exploits its potential to the full. Together with her two accomplices John Edwards and Steve Noble, - cornerstones of the U.K.’s free scene as individuals and an exceptional rhythm section - since 2011 the ONJ-National Jazz Orchestra’s pianist Sophie Agnel has been exploring the traditional jazz trio format in a way that is immensely inventive and constantly virtuoso.

The band stormed the stage ahead of the forthcoming release of their comeback album, 'Through Worlds of Stardust', which is represented with the inclusion of “My Dirty Girl”, while the rest of the setlist includes Steelheart classics. With tracks culled from the self-titled debut album and from the “Rockstar” movie soundtrack, singer Miljenko Matijevic was in fine form and delivered an amazing performance to the wowed crowd.

MAGIC DANCE was born in 2012 on Long Island, NY as a solo project for singer/songwriter Jon Siejka. A self-taught musician and producer, his debut EP, "Another World" was released in May 2013. "The Mirror of Dreams" and "Kiss Scene" EPs followed, all heavily influenced by the iconic synth-pop and film soundtrack music of the '80s.2015 release the "Haunting Me" EP marked an evolution in his sound, featuring guitar-heavy cuts like "Still Haunting Me" and "I Wanna Know". His debut full length album, "Vanishings" is an even larger statement of that evolution, combining '80s influenced AOR, pop rock, and synth-pop to create a sound uniquely his own.In late 2017, Jon and Magic Dance were signed by Frontiers.

Gioeli will released his very first solo effort, entitled “One Voice”, via Frontiers Music Srl on December 7th. The title “One Voice” is a tribute to the fans who have supported Gioeli’s career for decades. Musically, of the album, Johnny says, “I love guitar driven rock. I love songs that have a direct impact, gets you thinking and puts you in a positive frame of mind."

2018 live album from the Swiss hard rockers. Defrosted released in 1997 - was Gotthard's very first live album. Still to this day, it's seen as a cult-milestone within the bands career that helped establish their reputation as the most successful band from Switzerland. And now, 21 years after the first edition, the circle is completed as Gotthard return to Sony Switzerland and Nuclear Blast with Defrosted 2, an ultimate unplugged-compilation of Gotthard's greatest hits, recorded on the Defrosted Tour in March. Even though the concept was the same as it was over 20 years ago - to capture the unique chemistry between the band and the fans - the circumstances that the band find themselves in are different.

As part of the Graham Bonnet Band's 2017 "The Book" tour in Japan, a three night special engagement and reunion of Alcatrazz was presented much to the the light of the Japanese hard rock faithful.Founding Alcatrazz members, Graham Bonnet (vocals), Jimmy Waldo (keyboards) and Gary Shea (bass), reunited after 33 years for a unique series of shows in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo, Japan in March 2017. For the special occasion, the band wasrounded out by Mark Benquechea (drums) and Conrado Pesinato (guitars), both from the Graham Bonnet Band.