Multi-instrumentalist and composer Gerry Gibbs returns with his 12th album as a leader, Our People. Unlike anything the visionary musician has ever produced before, this epic, 19-part suite is a sonic masterpiece that pays tribute to the many different cultures that make up our world

For more than two decades Liam Noble has been a key figure on the vibrant British Jazz scene, both as a sideman and leader. But The Long Game finds him in exciting new territory, with a new band and new label. The Long Game is the album Liam’s fans have been waiting for, an album that draws out the concept of waiting, not rushing the process but waiting for the right moment to come along. With this new album, that moment has arrived. Liam is playing the long game, but his patience has paid off in bucket loads.

An important centre for iron production in 17th-century Sweden, Leufsta Bruk came into the hands of the De Geers, a Dutch family, in the 1640s. In 1730 the young Charles De Geer inherited the estate and the ironworks, and it was here that he kept his extensive collection of sheet music, including many volumes imported from Amsterdam but also works by composers based in or visiting Sweden, such as Hinrich Philip Johnsen and Conrad Friedrich Hurlebusch. Charles played the cello and the harpsichord, and it is probable that much of the music in the Leufsta collection will have been performed by members of the De Geer family themselves.

The music of Jón Leifs is often inspired by Iceland’s powerful nature and literary heritage. From early on he was profoundly influenced by the medieval tradition of Icelandic literature, preserved in a handful of manuscripts, including the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. Leifs’ magnum opus is the Edda oratorio, a massive (although incomplete) work in three large parts which occupied him on and off for most of his composing career – from around 1930 to his death in 1968.

The choice of works on this amply filled album, as well as the performances are the result of Lorenda Ramou’s research into the artistic environment of Nikos Skalkottas, in Berlin (1921–33) and in Athens (1933–49). The programme is organized as a triptych, focusing on three distinctive compositional styles. First, all surviving Berlin works for piano solo are presented in chronological order, showing how the young composer was reacting to the new and exciting jazz/dance music, but also to the people around him and to events in the musical world of Berlin in the 1920s.

Norwegian violinist Mari Samuelsen’s debut for the Yellow Label is entitled simply MARI and is set for international release on May 31 via Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company. Recorded with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and conductor Jonathan Stockhammer, the album explores the contradictions of contemporary life – the fact that, despite the excitement of city life and the convenience of instant communication and express travel, many of us still feel a need to ground ourselves in the peace and quiet of the natural world. Mari herself was born in rural Norway and goes back to the family farm as often as her schedule allows. She was keen, therefore, to choose a selection of music echoing the conflicting pulls on our time and energy.

Following his successful Deutsche Grammophon debut “Bach”, Avi Avital has continued to immerse himself in the music of J.S. Bach. For his upcoming tour in the Spring of 2019, the Grammy-nominated mandolin virtuoso from Israel has arranged two of Bach’s best known works, the Solo Partita No. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 and the famous Prélude from Cellosuite No. 1. The Extended Edition of his 2012 album includes around 33 minutes of newly recorded Bach as arranged by Avital.

One of the great mystics of the early 20th century, George lvanovich Gurdjieff was born in Alexandropol on the border of Russian Armenia and Turkey. As a young man, he began to travel east as far as Tibet, Afghanistan and Central Asia, in search of spiritual enlightenment. Visiting ancient temples, Gurdjieff learned from spiritual teachers and absorbed music from all the places he visited. On his return to the West, he gathered a group of followers who were drawn to his charismatic personality.

Electrifying Piano Trio Performances in the great Russian musical tradition!

The universal appeal of the music of Johannes Sebastian Bach is such that most musicians, regardless of their instrument, long to play it. As a consequence, his works are constantly being arranged for other instruments – following a practice that Bach himself excelled at, repeatedly reworking his own music as well as that of others. A case in point are the four so-called lute suites, all of which now belong to the standard repertoire of most concert guitarists. To what extent they were originally composed for a plucked instrument has always been a matter of contention and has given rise to many hypotheses.

On Collaborations: Volume One, writers Steve Pretty, Olly Blackman and Luke Christie have between them penned the outfit's most dynamic material to date. Mm Mm (feat. Angélique Kidjo and Roundhouse Choir) merges Beninese grooves with wah pedal trumpet textures, and the rousing call-and-response betweenKidjo’s soaring vocal and the exhilarating choir adds a richness and depth to the composition. On Snowfire, innovative Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft brings a euro/nu-jazz feel to the album, while Dennis 'Funkybone' Rollins adds his trademark virtuoso trombone to the carnival-flavoured Ricochet.

Releasing his debut album, Face To Face, in 1961, this son of a preacher rode in on the wave of aspiring jazz organists that proliferated in the wake of Jimmy Smith's breakthrough in the late 50s. Grant Green was happy to be a sideman on Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette's maiden session and he was joined by drummer Ben Dixon. To give the studio date a different flavor from Grant's First Stand, saxophonist Fred Jackson, noted for his raspy tone, was added to expand the group to a quartet.

Silversun Pickups return with Widow’s Weeds, their 5th studio album, out June 7th via their own New Machine Recordings label. The band enlisted Butch Vig(Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth) to produce their latest, an extroverted and open album about rebirth and renewal.

The two orchestral works on this new CD from BR-KLASSIK reflect early experiments with the symphonic genre by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, who would both later become such important Romantic composers. In his Third Symphony in D major, D. 200, written in the early summer of 1815 and probably first performed at a private concert, the eighteen-year-old Schubert emancipated himself from the style copies of his First and Second Symphonies and finally found his own musical expression.

Liam Gallagher has shared a brand new song. It’s called “Shockwave,” and you can hear it below.