"NYC Ghosts & Flowers" is Sonic Youth's thirteenth album, and yet manages to sound fresh and familiar at the same time – probably largely due to the theft of an extensive amount of their gear directly prior to the album's composition. It's also their shortest record in years, a fact that shouldn't be interpreted as lack of new ideas – instead, Sonic Youth offer a fury of chaotic, melodic, and psychotic soundwaves that leave you wanting more, more, more…..!

The much anticipated second volume of Peter Donohoe’s complete survey of Mozart’s Piano Sonatas for SOMM Recordings focuses on three sonatas produced during the composer’s ill-fated journey to Paris in 1777.

All of Vagn Holmboe's (1909-1996) works for violin and piano are on this CD, which contains the three violin sonatas and a handful of other small pieces for the same instruments and for solo violin. This music is from the chronological extremes of his long career, which lasted from the 1920s until the 1990s. The violin was Holmboe's own instrument and his violin works show a decidedly extroverted love of music-making. Much of the music is inspired by the folk music that Holmboe encountered and studied at the beginning of the 1930s in the Balkans and Transylvania, but also by the relatively neglected Danish fiddling tradition.

Brilliant performances by THE DALLAS WINDS have been captured in superb audiophile sound by Reference Recordings’ award-winning engineering team: Keith O. Johnson and Sean Martin. ASPHALT COCKTAIL was crowd-funded by fans of Mackey and of the Dallas Winds. Their support made this unique, all-John- Mackey release possible. The recording was made in Dallas Texas, in the Morton H. Meyerson Concert Center, one of the world’s greatest concert halls.

(Re)inventions Vol. 2 is the much-anticipated continuation of ensemble paladino’s successful collaborative adaptation project of musical examples from Bach’s keyboard works, this time for flute, viola and cello. The entry point of this exploration are Bach’s fifteen Sinfonias, BWV 787 to 801, followed by a carefully selected collection of three-part fugues and preludes. The Sinfonias are a natural pedagogical extension of the two-part inventions and were considered by Bach to be musical exercises “… to achieve a cantabile style in playing and at the same time acquire a strong foretaste of composition.” Going outward from the fifteen Sinfonias and deeper into Bach’s catalogue of keyboard works one finds many lovely examples of three-voice counterpoint. Alongside the Sinfonias, the ensemble has chosen various Preludes and Fugues.

Robert DiLutis and the Mellifera Quartet give sparkling performances of beloved classics such as Weber’s Clarinet Quintet along with delightful but lesser-known works such as Erland von Koch’s Monolog 3 for Solo Clarinet and Heinrich Joseph Baermann’s Adagio for Clarinet and Strings (known for decades as “Wagner’s Adagio”).

It was some years after founding the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century in 1981 that Frans Brüggen first turned his attention to the music of Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies and endeavoured to perceive that special orchestral landscape, in order to transform it into musical sound, with the use of period instruments rediscovering historical tonal colours. Now, his quest undimmed, Brüggen has submerged himself once more into the glories of Beethoven’s orchestral music for a new cycle being issued in a sumptuous new hybrid SACD box set by Glossa. Likewise undimmed is the rapport he shares with his orchestra for one of classical music’s greatest challenges of realizing the intimate and the familiar in these symphonies, a challenge achieved here on record by way of concert performances.

Saxophonist and composer Logan Strosahl has increasingly been involved in the myriad worlds of formal composition. His study of pre-1700’s and contemporary composition has led his music far from his musical roots in jazz music. That isn’t to say that jazz had been usurped; on the contrary, Strosahl’s new recording, Sure, by his new ensemble, Spec Ops, is a vital reflection of his continued engagement with the tradition and future of that music.

Creating a distinctive voice and approach on a musical instrument is as difficult as it is rare. Guitarist Ben Monder has long been admired for his personal sound, remarkable command of the guitar, and stylistic versatility. His new recording, Day After Day (a two disc set), provides a look at two distinct sides of his artistic nature, the highly analytical, structural side and the more freely improvisational side, through a series of interpretations of cover material.

The cumulative brilliance shaped by three decades of composing and performing has made appearances by Greg Reitan special occurrences. The Los Angeles based pianist has been providing the jazz, classical and film worlds with exceptional compositional work and listeners have paid special attention to his trio’s well-honed live performances.

The beauty of long musical relationships can be the culmination of many things. The familial bond that is created from sharing and living together, the influence of bandmates on one another and welcome surprises can keep these bonds fresh and enervating. Pianist Anat Fort and her trio mates have been making music together for twenty years and continue to grow and share in new ways, as is evinced on their new recording, Colour.

After 5 years of existence and more than 250 concerts in 27 countries, the Remi Panossian trio finally released his third album: RP3. Their collaboration with Eric Legnini as artistic director was a bet, that of sealing definitively into their music their trademark: pesty grooves, pop and singing melodies, madness and energy improvised moments … Successful bet since RP3 is more than never a rock band that plays jazz, a jazz band that plays rock … The complicity of these modern jazzmen pushes them to push the limits of the genre and offers him new perspectives: the freedom and inventiveness of the trio evokes THE BAD PLUS or ESBJORN SVENSSON, its groove reminds us of THE ROOTS.

Jazz orchestra, big band, or large ensemble the differential in terminology is in direct proportion to the number of members and the arrangements involved. I have heard some fine big bands here in the United States, perhaps too many. Three bands in two years have been almost flawless while the rest are simply above average.

For his album 'Berlin People', Saxophonist Tobias Meinhart wanted to bridge the musical cultures of New York City and Germany by recording with a band of his German peers and an American jazz guitarist who has made Berlin his home, the great Kurt Rosenwinkel.