“Levine's version of Luisa Miller consistently demonstrates his Verdian mastery, and not just in the best-known masterpieces…Not only in Levine's conducting but also in the sets and costumes of Nathanial Merrill's production the attractive rustic element of the piece is effectively brought out.” (Penguin Guide)

It’s simple: [Järvi] takes the lunacy [in the Ibert] to an inspired new level, from the very first ear-splitting trombone raspberry. The Tapiola Sinfonietta…plays with guts, virtuosity, and madcap inspiration.

Rafael Riqueni surprises again with his harmonic work and the enormous sensitivity offered by his compositions, in an album that offers both flamenco styles and free creations and that, from the constant commitment to his music, reveals some of his best titles such as «Calle Fabié »,« Benamargosa »or the taranta that gives the album its name.

The first collaboration between guitarist Cory Wong and alto saxophonist Dave Koz, 2021's ebullient and funky Golden Hour maximizes the best aspects of each performer. An established crossover jazz star, Koz has a style that brings together pop lyricism with a rhythmically infectious brand of R&B. Wong, a prolific artist in his own right, has worked on a variety of genre-bending projects, including albums with funk collective Vulfpeck and keyboardist Jon Batiste, with whom he recorded the Grammy-nominated 2020 new age album Meditations. Produced by Wong, Golden Hour finds the duo bringing all of their previous experience to bear on a set of original, primarily instrumental songs. Backed by a full rhythm section and horns, Koz and Wong's music evokes a classic, late-'70s and early-'80s soul vibe, but with a sleek, contemporary energy.

In June and September of 1952, Joe Sullivan recorded eight versions of songs composed but never recorded by Thomas "Fats" Waller. Issued on a 10" LP entitled Fats Waller First Editions, this music soon drifted into obscurity. It resurfaced years later on Mosaic's The Columbia Jazz Piano Moods Sessions, a limited-edition box set of seven CDs. In January of 2004, the Classics Chronological series quietly released all eight of these magnificent trio renderings as part of the continuing saga of Joe Sullivan. Hardly anybody seems to have noticed this important historical development. Yet Fats Waller devotees everywhere should be notified, as they now have ready access to Waller melodies with titles like "What's Your Name," "Solid Eclipse," "Never Heard of Such Stuff," and "If You Can't Be Good, Be Careful." Classics 1353 also includes a powerful quartet session from December of 1945 with George Wettling…

After two gold records and two nominations for the Victoires de la musique, Feu! Chatterton is back with his new album: Clay Palace, a grandiose cyberpunk mural for confined times. It's a space opera, a choral film; a gallery of mysterious characters who appear and disappear in the limbo of the narrative. Here a failed musician (Companions), there an androgynous cyborg (Before there was the world), elsewhere an enigmatic beast (Panther). We appeal to the elements, to Water (The Sea), to Fire (The Coming Man), to God himself (Canticle). The album was entirely produced by Arnaud Rebotini, a big name in the French electronic scene and producer with the Cesar Award for the soundtrack of the film 120 beats per minute.

Josef Lhevinne studied at the Moscow Conservatory under Vasily Safonov, made his public debut at fourteen in a performance conducted by Anton Rubinstein, and graduated top of a class that included both Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin. Lhevinne is often included as one of the greatest golden-era pianists, and yet, his recorded legacy is approximately fifty minutes of repertoire for Pathé and Victor, albeit treasured and admired. And not unlike a star whose light went out too soon, the public created a mythos based on a small output and clamors for more examples of his playing to further justify his reputation. The wait is now over.

Following on from their legendary and award winning (MOJO magazine compilation of the year) "A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Exploding In Your Mind)" DJ series, The Amorphous Androgynous have started a parallel series called Monstrou Bubble Soundtracks which aims to explore groovy sub genres of the MPB concept, but rather than DJ/compile, they write and produce all the material themselves in a classic soundtrack vein. The first one is The Cartel which is a study of psychsploitation (where psychedelia meets blaxploitation) and traces the lineage from Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, Curtis Mayfield, John Barry, Ennio Morricone through to Oceans 12.
Aided and abetted by a stellar cast including Noel Gallagher himself on bass and guitar plus Raven Bush (of fast upcoming Canterbury folk psych band Syd Arthur) on violin plus the Amorphous Androgynous themselves…