Gloire au Centre de musique baroque de Versailles qui nous a fait redécouvrir Henry Desmarest, l'un des plus étonnants compositeurs du règne de Louis XIV. À vingt ans à peine, il osa braver Lully sur son propre terrain, en montant un opéra et un divertissement à la cour du Roi-Soleil. Plus tard, avec son aîné Marc-Antoine Charpentier, il fut l'un des principaux acteurs du renouveau d'un opéra français en manque de vrais succès depuis la mort de Quinault et Lully. On croyait indûment tout savoir de ce maître de musique. C'était compter sans le talent de défricheur du label français K.617, qui a trouvé en Nouvelle-Orléans les traces d'un baroque français "exporté", estampillé du nom de Desmarest, entre autres.

Czech-born Jan Dismas Zelenka was by all accounts one of Baroque music’s trickier customers—fervently religious but completely lacking in courtly graces. Combine this with a tendency to throw out the rulebook when it came to harmonic convention and it’s hardly surprising that he was underappreciated in his lifetime. Yet here is some of the most pungently exciting writing of the Baroque, as individual as that of his near-contemporary, Johann Sebastian Bach. The very opening of Zelenka’s Litaniae sets out his stall and Robert King and his eponymous Consort make the most of its startling qualities. But he is a composer to tug at the heartstrings too, nowhere more so than in the Salve regina, ravishingly sung by a young Carolyn Sampson.

Island's 5 Classic Albums box set focuses on the latter half of iconic reggae singer Bob Marley's recording career, featuring his final studio albums: Rastaman Vibration (1976), Exodus (1977), Kaya (1978), Survival (1979), and Uprising (1980). Following his landmark Natty Dread album in 1974 and his hugely successful concert album Live! the following year, Bob Marley and his band the Wailers continued to produce vibrant, meaningful albums throughout the rest of the '70s, right up until the singer's untimely death in 1981…

A cluster of choral miniatures culminating in one of Finzi’s most intense, visionary masterpieces: this is some of the most exquisite English choral writing of the last century.

Pell Mell was a symphonic prog band from Marburg, Germany. The band was formed in 1971 by keyboard player Otto Pusch, bass player Jorg Gotzfried, Rudolf Schon on vocals, recorder, and guitar, drummer Mitch Kniesmeijer, and Thomas Schmitt on violin, guitar, and vocals.
With their 3rd studio album, "Rhapsody" (1975), Pell Mell continued to pay homage to the classics, and followed the trend established by "From the New World" (1973) in which simple homage to composers turned into all out rocking affairs with plenty of jamming. Here there is a marked improvement in the sense that the group has smoothed out some of the painful edges from that predecessor…

The most successful Hungarian rock band in history, Omega is one of the rare bands to have been known outside in his country. The legend has it that as albums were released in other countries it became necessary to brake the language barrier. Their music is a combination of Eastern European prog with a bit of symphonic and a bit of psyche prog. The result is a dark orchestrated sound combined with extended improvisation. Their discography actually starts in the early 60's, and goes in till today in a more modern register.
2012 re-recording of Omega hits with symphonic sounding, including a live bonus recording of Symphony. CD 1 features an instrumental medley titled Szimfónia, CD 2 features Hungarian language versions of the Omega Rhapsody CD tracks.

Prodigiously gifted, Camille Saint-Saëns entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1848, at the age of 13. There he discovered the symphonies of the great German and Austrian composers and soon began to try his own hand at the genre. The Symphony in A major stems from this period and although it was most likely never performed in his lifetime it demonstrates his exceptional talent to the full. Only a couple of years later, in 1853, Saint-Saëns submitted his second attempt at writing a symphony to one of the capital’s concert societies.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that what holds the compositions presented on this album together is the fascination with movement. However, the sources of that interest must always besought in the way the creators perceive the world and in the place where they see music. Moreover, each of the authors of the compositions pays great attention to unique sound, timbre and harmony. Chronologically speaking, the oldest composition is Le Merle noir/The Blackbird by Olivier Messiaen.

Hideko Udagawa’s latest album for Russian label Northern Flowers celebrates rich legacy of Russian music with world premieres and rare works for violin and piano. Recording includes first recordings of new transcriptions of Rachmaninov’s Elégie and Tchaikovsky’s Romance.

Internationally respected musicians Daniel Palmizio (viola) and Nicolas van Poucke (piano) join forces in a double-album featuring Bach's complete gamba sonatas and Brahms two clarinet sonatas. Palmizio (recently described as a player of 'instrumental mastery' characterized by 'unselfconscious refinement') and Van Poucke ('a truly poetic musician') met at a festival in Zeeland, The Netherlands and have since worked together for several years. This album is the fruit of a deep friendship and shared love for music. Their approach to the music of both Bach and Brahms is equally steeped in tradition of the virtuosos of the golden era as it is forward looking and original. On a 17th century Testore (equipped with open gut strings) and a modern Steinway, Palmizio and Van Poucke, uncompromising in expressive intensity and counter-punctual clarity, shine a new bright light on sonatas by Bach and Brahms.

Fletcher Henderson's five Decca sessions are reissued in full on this fine CD. The 1931 and 1934 big bands are showcased. While the former group (heard on eight numbers) features such soloists as trumpeters Bobby Stark and Rex Stewart, trombonist Benny Morton, and Coleman Hawkins on tenor, the later group showcases trumpeter Red Allen, trombonist Claude Jones, clarinetist Buster Bailey, and tenor Ben Webster; altoist Benny Carter has a guest appearance on "Liza." Highlights of these early swing performances include "Sugar Foot Stomp," "Singin' the Blues" (which has Rex Stewart paying tribute to Bix Beiderbecke), the atmospheric "Radio Rhythm," "Big John's Special," "Down South Camp Meetin'," and "Rug Cutter's Swing." Excellent music that proves that swing did not begin with Benny Goodman in 1935.

This dreamy music will calm and relax the listener, stimulate the senses, and encourage deep meditation. Each track is heavily influenced by Indian music. Consequently, it is very trance-like. Each of these four tracks is based on a drone, together with sparse melodies and ethereal sound effects. The result is a mystical experience that is intended to put one in touch not only with the inner self, but also with the external wonders of the cosmos. Indeed, these ambient compositions are powerful musical tapestries that encourage contemplation and even enlightenment. Of the four tracks, Manose Singh's haunting bamboo flute playing on "Khumjung" really stands out. The Spirit of Yoga is the perfect background for any kind of yoga practice - from vigorous to meditative.

When Tropical Breeze was recorded in New Orleans in 1980, Cassandra Wilson had yet to record as a solo artist or become a major name in jazz. But those who were hip to the singer back then knew that she had a lot of potential, and that included the other members of the Brazilian-oriented jazz-pop band Jasmine. In a perfect world, Wilson's brief stint as Jasmine's lead singer would have brought her commercial success. But Jasmine was obscure, and it wasn't until the '90s that Wilson finally received the type of attention that she deserved. It's safe to say that many of the singer's fans have never heard of Jasmine or Tropical Breeze, which was originally released on LP by Inner City and finally made its debut on CD when Japan's P-Vine label reissued it in 2002. But the album's obscurity doesn't make it any less enjoyable.

A new concert film and album documenting the May 2016 tribute show honouring the late Keith Emerson…