Hans-Jürgen Fuchs, a multi-instrumentalist and producer from Stuttgart, Germany, has been involved in many different musical projects. In 2012 he recorded "Leaving Home", a concept album containing a lot of musical styles of the seventies (Peter Gabriel), the eighties (Simple Minds, U2, Martin Ansell) and the nineties (the late Kevin Gilbert). "The Unity Of Two", the 2014 album by Fuchs, is again a progressive rock concept album, this time telling the story of Aaron and Ray. Just like the book Narziss Und Goldmund, two characters from a book by the German author Herman Hesse, this story pulls at your heartstrings. It's dealing with friendship, devotion, the many layers of the human soul and different ways of life. In musical terms Fuchs has created his second album in a definitely more open and more varied style than on his debut album "Leaving Home"…

During her long career, every once in awhile Ella Fitzgerald would attempt to "get with it" and record contemporary pop tunes. In 1968 for a live concert with a big band and the Tommy Flanagan Trio, the First Lady of the American Song did what she could with such unsuitable material as "Hey Jude," "Sunshine of Your Love," "Watch What Happens" and "A House Is Not a Home." The results (despite her sincerity) sometime borders on the embarassing; there is no way anyone can swing "Hey Jude." A few of the other numbers (particularly "Give Me the Simple Life," "Old Devil Moon" and "Love You Madly") are of a higher quality but when Ella tries to turn "Alright, Okay, You Win" into funk, it is time to switch records.

The second true album from Germany’s Rage, “Execution Guaranteed,” is their final days in the speed metal territory they started but strangely is also one of their weaker overall efforts which is somewhat below the quality the band usually delivers in…

US project TELERGY is the creative vehicle for composer and musician Robert McClung. His aim is to create and release conceptual productions under this name, utilizing guest performers for various instrument and vocal roles, in some ways comparable to the Dutch project Ayreon…

Following their second BBC Music Magazine Award (for Respighi’s Roman Trilogy) and universal praise for their first concert (at the BBC Proms in 2021), Sinfonia of London and John Wilson turn to the orchestral works of Ravel for this their sixth studio album. Not only an outstanding pianist and one of France’s greatest composers, Maurice Ravel is acclaimed as one of the greatest orchestrators of all time. His unique ability to conjure the widest possible range of colours and textures from the orchestral palette is amply demonstrated on this album. The programme opens with La Valse, conceived as a snapshot of 1850s Vienna. The continuous sequence of waltzes becomes increasingly insistent until the sound is almost utterly overwhelming. Other ballets also feature – Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) and the notorious Boléro, both recorded here for the first time in their complete original versions. Ravel’s orchestrations of his own piano works complete the programme: Valses nobles et sentimentales, Pavane pour une infante défunte, and Alborada del gracioso, which demonstrates both Ravel’s fascination with Spanish sounds and culture and the sheer virtuosity of orchestral playing of Sinfonia of London.

Editions of Domenico Scarlatti’s almost 600 keyboard sonatas were for a long time based on uncertain sources. The resulting editorial confusion gave rise to different readings at different times and in different places. A prime example is Hans von Bülow’s selection of eighteen of the sonatas (published in 1864), viewed through the prism of Romanticism. On this double album the pianist Giulio Biddau compares that version with a recent critical edition. Each sonata is played twice, thus alternating the perspectives and shedding light on two different approaches to Scarlatti’s work.

Marc Bolan and T. Rex performed many times for a variety of radio broadcasts. Across the Airwaves is a compilation of these performances, recorded and broadcast circa 1968-71. This is easily one of the best T. Rex titles out there, yet it's becoming increasingly hard to find. The disc features acoustic, electric, and electric-acoustic performances of some of Bolan's best compositions – not all well-known hits, but excellent just the same…

It’s a sign of definite quality when a band can look back at a career which started as early as 1972 (!) and are still capable of thoroughly awing their fans with every new album. Magnum deliver this kind of quality on a regular basis and are set to prove their outstanding position once again with their latest studio offering ‘The Monster Roars’. Even after difficult months marked by pandemic-related concert cancellations, contact restrictions and uncertain perspectives for the whole music industry, the English rock act have succeeded in creating a vibrant, homogeneous work that impresses its listeners from the first to the last note and includes a number of surprises…

Bardens was leader of the group Camel, and has several solo albums since the demise of the group. Further than You Know continues his journey into contemporary vocal compositions, while he remains true to his roots with three exciting instrumentals that showcase his unique, sophisticated and rhythmic blend of jazz and rock styles.