John Anderson was struggling with the issue that is every musician’s nightmare: in the midst of a serious illness that had forced him off the road, his hearing disappeared. Singing and playing his guitar, the way the “Seminole Wind” singer had been doing as a profession for more than 40 years, seemed like a thing of the past.

The gestation of this project lasted two years. Anna Prohaska and Julius Drake finally concentrated their research on the themes of Eve, Paradise and banishment.

Kalle Moberg (b. 1994) is best known in Norway within classical and contemporary music and for his former position as kapellmeister at the Royal Palace in Oslo.

To mark 60 years, Motown Unreleased 1969 boasts 60 tracks, all recorded in 1969 and left unheard – until now. The label’s heaviest hitters are all here, including Diana Ross and The Supremes with their rendition of the Ron Miller/Orlando Murden standard “For Once in My Life,” Gladys Knight and The Pips (“You Took Me This Far (Take Me All the Way)),” Jackson 5 (“What’s So Good About Goodbye”), and Marvin Gaye (“I’ll Take Care of Business”). Three tracks each can be heard from The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, and Jr. Walker and The All-Stars, and four each from Edwin Starr and Bobby Taylor.

ike many other participants in Chicago’s contemporary jazz scene, drummer Charles Rumback is both a sideman and a leader. Whether backing singer-songwriters such as Steve Dawson and Angela James, playing space-bound Americana with guitarist Ryley Walker, swinging behind jazz saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, or leading this trio with bassist John Tate and pianist Jim Baker, he sustains momentum and adds atmospheric accents without hogging the spotlight.

Hailing from Jamaica, Winston Reedy is renowned as one the most successful and popular UK based Reggae singers. The Cimarons was the first band to play reggae music in Biafra (known now as Nigeria), Japan and Spain. In 1970 Winston joined The Cimarons as lead vocalist. They recorded an album in Jamaica called On The Rock, from which their version of Bob Marley's 'Talking Blues' went to number 1 in Jamaica.

Acclaimed English violinist Thomas Bowes seems to have a penchant for thoroughness and completion. Known and praised for his complete recording of all J. S. Bach’s sonatas and partitas, the European virtuoso has now taken it upon himself to embark on another quest for totality. This time, it is the six sonatas by Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931), presented on Bowes' new album, EUGÈNE YSAŸE: SIX SONATAS FOR SOLO VIOLIN. As one would expect from Bowes, they are played to passionate perfection.

Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane is a 1961 album by Thelonious Monk issued on Jazzland Records, a subsidiary of Riverside Records. It consists of material recorded four years earlier when Monk worked extensively with John Coltrane, issued after Coltrane had become a leader and jazz star in his own right.

A native of Switzerland, drummer Arthur Hnatek arrived in New York a decade ago to study at the New School. Now based in Berlin, Hnatek is seemingly always on the move, touring with the likes of pianist Tigran Hamasyan and trumpeter Erik Truffaz.

Composer, conductor and pianist Thomas Ades has been described by The New York Times as among the most accomplished all-round musicians of his generation. His Concert Paraphrase on Powder Her Face reflects the glamor of the operas subject in the grand manner of Liszt or Busoni, while Still Sorrowing and Darknesse Visible explore John Dowlands haunting lute works.

Begonnen hat die Laufbahn von Martin Stadtfeld mit einem Klavier vom Räumungsverkauf. Schon mit sieben Jahren steht sein Berufswunsch fest: Konzertpianist. Früh erkundet er die Regeln und Geheimnisse von Kontrapunkt und Harmonielehre; als Jungstudent kommt er in Frankfurt in die Klasse von Lev Natochenny. Es beginnt die Zeit, in der Stadtfeld bei Wettbewerben für Furore sorgt, er gewinnt Preise in Paris, in Bozen – und in Leipzig. Den dortigen Bach-Wettbewerb kann Martin Stadtfeld im Jahr 2002 als Gewinner des ersten Preises für sich entscheiden.

Some music lovers are familiar with Ce qu’on entend sur la montagne, Liszt’s symphonic poem based on Victor Hugo. But who knows that, ten years earlier, César Franck was inspired by the same poem? This early piece is recorded here by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Mikko Franck.