The fourth album by Procol Harum was released as the band was in the midst of a significant shift. With the departure of organist Matthew Fisher, guitarist Robin Trower stepped more to the fore. The two-keyboard approach was still being utilized, with singer Gary Brooker's piano being joined on some selections by the organ playing of multi-instrumentalist Chris Copping. However, the stately grandeur that had been previously applied with grace and subtlety gave way to a band that rocked much harder…

​In this album Clara Andrada, solo flutist of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, performs three 20th century flute concertos together with the orchestra conducted by Jaime Martín. Malcolm Arnolds delightful Flute Concerto No. 1 makes a pleasant addition alongside Nielsens and Iberts flute concertos. Jaime Martín, himself an excellent flutist, is a perfect companion to these works. This is the orchestras second album for Ondine, and continues the fruitful collaboration between Jaime Martín and Ondine that has already produced three albums previously.

Christmas at the Movies is a dazzling new album of movie music which beautifully captures the holiday spirit. The collection spans almost 80 years offering something special for all the family, from timeless classics The Wizard of Oz, White Christmas and Home Alone through to contemporary Christmas blockbusters Frozen and Elf. Newly recorded arrangements with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra provide the perfect festive sound-track for essential holiday preparations - decorating the tree, baking mince pies, wrapping the presents and more! Plus one track with multi-million streaming artist and YouTube sensation - The Piano Guys! Relive treasured memories of Christmas movies around the fire, or treat someone special with this perfect present - Christmas at the Movies – it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

The legendary electronic duo Yello celebrate their 40th anniversary with a comprehensive retrospective. Yell40 Years by Dieter Meier and Boris Blank is not a common best of with the typical songs like “The Race”, “Oh Yeah” or the groundbreaking “Bostich”, but more a place for all the pearls of their discography that have always stood for the Yello sound cosmos, but never really received the spotlight that they deserve. Songs like the everlasting fan favourite “I Love You”, the eccentric “Rubberbandman” or the Mellow YELLO classic “Desire” – the stylistic range of the Zurich originals have always known no limits. With detailed liner notes and visual impressions of the last four decades, 40 Years is a must-have for all lovers of the special electronic sounds made in Switzerland.

Composed in 1911, Bluebeard’s Castle is Béla Bartók’s only opera – a radical masterpiece which has secured a place alongside the other innovative music dramas of the same period, from Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande to Berg’s Wozzeck. Planning to write a one-act opera, Bartók settled on a libretto by Béla Balázs with the kind of surreal and/or macabre themes that would soon feature in his two ballets, The Wooden Prince and The Miraculous Mandarin. The main source for the libretto text was a play by Maeterlinck, a retelling of Perrault’s gruesome tale of Barbe-Bleue, the sinister yet strangely seductive wife-killer.

Stop at Nothing is the fourth album by the Maryland technical death metal band Dying Fetus. The album, like its predecessor, Destroy the Opposition, was produced by the band and Steve Carr. Shortly after the release of Destroy the Opposition, all of the band except for John Gallagher quit. Gallagher brought in new vocalist Vince Matthews, guitarist Mike Kimball, bass guitarist Sean Beasley and drummer Eric Seyanga. The black and white part of the cover of the album is part of a photograph taken by Lewis Wickes Hine, the American sociologist and photographer, called "Power house mechanic working on steam pump".The steam pump has been shown in color while the original photo was completely black and white.

What a good idea to couple Tchaikovsky's three fantasy overtures inspired by Shakespeare. José Serebrier writes an illuminating note on the genesis of each of the three, together with an analysis of their structure. He notes that once Tchaikovsky had established his concept of the fantasy overture in the first version of Romeo andJuliet in 1869 – slow introduction leading to alternating fast and slow sections, with slow coda – he used it again both in the 1812 Overture and Hamlet. The Tempest (1873) has similarly contrasting sections, but begins and ends with a gently evocative seascape, with shimmering arpeggios from strings divided in 13 parts. It's typical of Serebrier's performance that he makes that effect sound so fresh and original. In many ways, early as it is, this is stylistically the most radical of the three overtures here, with sharp echoes of Berlioz in some of the woodwind effects. The clarity of Serebrier's performance, both in texture and in structure, helps to bring that out, as does a warm and analytical BIS recording. Hamlet, dating from much later, is treated to a similarly fresh and dramatic reading, with Serebrier bringing out the yearningly Russian flavour of the lovely oboe theme representing Ophelia.

Forming in Sweden in 2003 by Mats and Ragnar of the doom metal metal band Isole, Ereb Altor have picked up the fallen torch from Quorthon (of legends Bathory) continuing the legacy and paying homage to the sounds and styles pioneered by Bathory in the latter half of their career whilst also forging their own path with a sound that incorporates elements of black metal, doom metal and folk metal. Eldens Boning is the latest release from the band and is a four song E.P. titled Eldens Boning. The four songs showcase the versatility of the band and sees them in typically rousing and epic form. The Twilight Ship opens the E.P. in colossal style being a mid-paced song with huge vocal lines and massive melodies and is a proper rousing piece of Viking metal. Following is the song that had my arm hairs standing on end and that is Fenrisulven which is an acoustic folk song. This song is absolutely gorgeous containing truly beautiful melodies and a spellbinding mix of violin and acoustic guitars. The title track follows and it is in a far more black metal style with dirty riffs throwing back to early Bathory and Celtic Frost with layers of epic synths and a mix of clean and harsh vocals. Another absolute blinder of a song which is guaranteed to get heads banging. Finishing off the E.P. is Sacrifice 2.0 which is catchy as hell with a great headbangable rhythm to it. Carries on the momentum of sounding massive and hugely epic.

Mongo Santamaria - Olé Ola (1989) {Concord Jazz Picante CCD-4387}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 242 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 107 Mb
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© 1989 Concord Jazz Picante | CCD-4387
Jazz / Latin / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Congas

I've been a big fan of Mongo Santamaria's for many years and have a number of his sides on vinyl, tape and CD. I bought Ole Ola in vinyl and have since replaced it with the CD and it's always been part of my steady playlist. The whole album is very, very good, but my favorite tune is a composition by Ray Vega called "Now is Forever," which features a sublime Flugelhorn solo by Mr. Vega, intro'd by another very fine piano solo by Bob Quaranta. Quaranta's left hand chording adds a spacey, dreamy quality to his part as he works the melody. And make sure to listen closely to Bernie Minoso's heartbeat bass on this one, too. It adds a huge amount of soul to this somewhat minimalist, yet very beautiful and haunting number.