A lovingly crafted and deeply felt performance. Bernstein succeeded superbly in conveying his own intellectually ferocious vision of what the piece truly signifies.

Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative song writing skills. One listen to Sonny Boy and you’ll know no one else was quite the same.

Start spreading the news - New York's hottest punk-blues collective are back in business. If you didn't catch them first time round, then it's high time you got to know Jane Lee Hooker better. Individually, the five members have pedigree to burn, turning heads and tearing up stages in seminal bands from Nashville Pussy to Bad Wizard. But when Dana ‘Danger’ Athens (vocals), Melissa ‘Cool Whip’ Houston (drums), High Top (guitar), Tina ‘T Bone’ Gorin (guitar) and Hail Mary Z (bass) hooked up in 2012, they swore a blood pact to take Jane Lee Hooker all the way.

Talk about a tough act to follow. Back in 2014, Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado released Too Many Roads: the award-winning ninth album that saw the golden-voiced frontman and his seven-piece lineup showered with global acclaim. For the fans who had followed the Copenhagen band since their formation in 2003, it felt like a career-best release.

Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins career was both long and fruitful. He performed live for six decades and recorded for over 30 years amassing a catalogue that was larger than almost any of his contemporaries. Not only was he prolific but he was also a great raconteur and a very good live performer with an ‘act’ honed to perfection at pre-war dances and parties. His guitar playing was unconventional, some have even called it ragged, but it is not as a guitarist that he will be remembered. Somehow the way he set his songs seemed totally apposite and it gave everything he did an authenticity that few others were ever able to match.

"The tale of Jan James reads as though it comes right out of the inner soul of American music. Her powerful sound and message resonate globally. She has an arresting, soulful voice which, as her reputation as an artist grew, earned her the recognition of Best Female Vocalist by the Detroit Metro Times. Her powerful vocals were first discovered singing in a church choir.

Arthur Adams is perhaps one of the best jazz/blues guitarists no-one has heard of . Adams recorded the first of his seven solo albums It's Private Tonight in 1972.

Arthur Adams' second album Home Brew may boast a production that's a little too slick, but there's no disguising the fact that the record is an appealing collection of driving blues, distinguished by some unpredictable jazzy flourishes that keep things interesting, even when the songwriting is uneven.

The end of a brief but blissful escape from the everyday can be bittersweet, but Dead & Company made sure that the emphasis remained on the “sweet” end of the spectrum for the finale of Playing In The Sand. In keeping with the custom of giving the congregation a little of that old-time religion on a Sunday, Bob Weir starts things off with his take on “Samson & Delilah” the gospel chestnut he learned from the guitarist-singer Rev. Gary Davis. From there the band is off and running with a show featuring some of the most-loved tunes in the Grateful Dead songbook.

With their second album on Chandos, the highly lauded team of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and its Chief Conductor, Kirill Karabits, presents another volume in their surround-sound series ‘Voices from the East’. This is music very close to the heart of the native Ukrainian Karabits: Boris Lyatoshynsky taught orchestration to his father, Ivan Karabits.

‘This music is absolutely ideally placed to Jurowski’s strengths: his precision and ability to inspire playing of the greatest delicacy, pointing, accuracy and warmth is exactly what’s called for in this score’ Bachtrack.com, September 2012. This release marks the 29th on the LPO label conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, and is the first Jurowski-conducted Richard Strauss release to date. The performances of the three works on this release were also critically well received, with the soloists within the Orchestra noted for their ‘poise’ and ‘exquisite handling’ of Die Frau ohne Schatten and Jurowski’s ‘perfect blending of rich textures’ in Eine Alpensinfonie (The Arts Desk).

Following a 40 year career as a highly regarded sideman, Steve Baker’s first solo album represents a major departure from his previous releases. On “Perfect Getaway” he successfully reinvents himself as a vocalist and songwriter with a captivating collection of self-penned tunes, which also happen to feature some great harmonica. Supported by an excellent band with Kai Strauss (guitar), Gaz (bass, guitar & backing vocals), Alex Lex (drums & percussion) and Chris Rannenberg (piano), as well as Moritz Fuhrhop (organ), Opportunity (choir) and Gina Baker (backing vocals), Steve delivers an exciting and stylistically varied set of 14 original songs ranging from singer/songwriter, blues, country, gospel and Rock’n’Roll to crunching rock.

The Caritas Consort is a choir based in Cardiff and making its recording debut for Priory. Formed of current cathedral choir members, it has the fine pedigree and quality to turn heads and produce some wonderful results. This mainly popular programme is a good representation of its style and quality.

To celebrate the new organ by Kenneth Tickell in Worcester Cathedral, Priory presents a lollipops CD to demonstrate its versatility. Christopher Allsop, then Assistant Director of Music at the cathedral ( and now of the Choir School) puts the organ through its paces. To obtain the best seat in the house Priory put its microphones high to the east of the two cases to obtain what we consider the best place from which to hear this instrument. This organ will be enlarged in the coming years.

Lawrence's new leader record Color Theory showcases his original compositions and is meant to be reflections of the entire color spectrum. The musical program covers several hues and shades with an exciting and evocative presentation of Lawrence's amazing new original compositions. The album features saxophonist Caleb Curtis, pianists Orrin Evans & Adam Faulk, bassist Madison Rast, and drummer Anwar Marshall.