Grammy award winner, multi-instrumentalist and lead singer of the former Frank Zappa band Napoleon Murphy Brock and the Ensemble Musikfabrik are releasing an impressive concert recording of the Zappanale 2019 with "Bad Doberan & Elsewhere".

The Gewandhaus Quartet (German: Gewandhaus-Quartett) is a string quartet based in Leipzig. It was founded in 1808 by members of the Gewandhaus Orchester, as one of the first professional quartets in the world. In its more than 200-year history, they played many world premieres. On this recording the Leipzig Gewandhaus-Quartett is dedicated to the famous string quartets by Joseph Haydn. Haydn, who is considered the "father" of the string quartets, is also the composer of the melody of the German national anthem which can be heard as part of the "Kaiserquartett" on this release. In addition to this it includes also the compositions "Quintenquartett" and "Der Sonnenaufgang".

The Gewandhaus Quartet (German: Gewandhaus-Quartett) is a string quartet based in Leipzig. It was founded in 1808 by members of the Gewandhaus Orchester, as one of the first professional quartets in the world. In its more than 200-year history, they played many world premieres. With this release the quartet presents the second volume of recordings of string quartets by Mendelssohn and Schumann: Mendelssohn's String Quartet in E-flat major op. 44 Nr. 3 (1838) and Schumann's String Quartet in A major op. 41 Nr. 3 (1842).

The Room is a collection of folkloric pieces from various regions around South America, as interpreted by Fabiano do Nascimento and Sam Gendel, on 7-string nylon guitar and soprano saxophone, respectively. Presented with purity and focus, soaring and lamenting, this album presents a unique journey through lesser-known musical landscapes and traditions stretching from Argentina to the Amazon.

Initially envisioned as a theme for a TV series, Yves Levêque metamorphoses Ariana, Concerto in C minor into a three-movement magnum opus, amalgamating potent piano artistry with symphonic orchestration in a tapestry of emotion and virtuosity. In parallel, César Franck’s Prelude, Choral, and Fugue, FWV21, offers a pianistic fresco of classical rigor, imbued with influences ranging from Bach to Liszt, where lyrical resonance marries intricate polyphony. Two compositions, one ambition: to touch the soul through musical grandeur.

"Orange Mountain Music presents ""Philip Glass Solo” a collection of Glass performing some of his most enduring and beloved piano works. Philip Glass Solo was recorded at a time when the world was undergoing a major shift—for Glass, that shift manifested in going from a busy tour and premiere schedule to time spent at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The storied musician dedicated this time to revisiting some of his older piano music, occasionally reacquainting himself with these old friends, playing them for an audience of one in his home studio in New York.

“And the violin dances Furiant, carried away by an irresistible ardour”. Beyond the intrinsic character of gypsy music, which constantly moves back and forth between melancholy and joy, dance is the obvious thread running through this album. It creates a bond through its intensity and infinite rhythmic contrasts, revealing a wide range of emotions. One dance can contain an entire life, with its laughter, its tears, its perpetual movement, its ruptures, its unpredictability in the passage from one emotional state to another…

A 1976 offering on the Blue Note label by Merlena Shaw. This album features such great cuts as "Love Has Gone Away", "This Time I'll Be Sweeter", and the lilting "You and Me".

Marlena Shaw's 1975 release, her best-selling Blue note album, is a soul-jazz hybrid incorporating elements of funk along with topical lyrics dealing with social issues of the day. Shaw came up with the title herself, a tongue-in-cheek reaction to her relative obscurity in the United States.

It was around 1825 that Louise Bertin, pupil of Reicha and friend of Berlioz, tackled the subject of Faust with all the energy and confidence of a young woman of twenty. She entirely exceeded the public's expectations and won over the critics with her daring. Colourful orchestration, charming cantabiles, vigorous choruses - everything seemed to promise the work would enter the repertory. But the closure of the Theatre-Italien after just three performances in 1831 decided otherwise, and the score languished in the vaults of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France for 190 years.

With her latest recording, Origami, pianist Louise Bessette unveils a few pages from the musical journal of Montréal composer Anthony Rozankovic. His “origami music” or “score sculptures” are alternately dissonant, syncopated, consonant, lyrical, or chaotic, according to film producer Carl Leblanc, author of the album’s liner notes.

Since its creation in 1791, Mozart’s Requiem has become one of the truly iconic works in the history of music. For this recording of the work, Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan commissioned a new performing edition. Masato Suzuki, himself a member of the BCJ and the son of Masaaki, has based his completion on Eybler’s and Süßmayr’s work, explaining his procedure in the liner notes to the disc. The recording was made at the Shoin Chapel in Kobe, where the team has previously recorded their complete cycle of Bach’s church cantatas. A stellar cast of soloists is headed by soprano Carolyn Sampson, who also shines in the famous soprano aria Laudate Dominum - one of the highlights of Vesperae solennes de confessore which conclude the disc.

Go West’s 1987 album Dancing On The Couch will be reissued in January. This follow-up to their platinum self-titled debut saw Peter Cox and Richard Drummie continuing to explore their signature pop-soul sound, and includes the singles ‘True Colours’, ‘I Want To Hear It From You’, ‘From Baltimore To Paris’, and ‘The King Is Dead’ (with guest backing vocals from a certain Kate Bush).

This 1959 release from Oscar Peterson is dedicated to Harry Warren and Vincent Youmans, one of several Song Book albums the pianist recorded in the 1950s. While not exactly household names, both Warren and Youmans are credited for writing many familiar songs and standards, as demonstrated here by Peterson and his trio of bassist Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen on drums.

This 1959 release from Oscar Peterson is one of several albums he recorded in the 1950s dedicated to specific composers. On this collection Peterson revisits several of the Harold Arlen songs he included on a previous album years earlier, in a trio configuration here backed by bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen.