Frédéric Chopin was the most famous composer of Polish origin in the history of Western concert music. He was a progressive who revolutionized the harmonic content, the texture, and the emotional quality of the small piano piece, turning light dance forms, nocturnes, and study genres into profound works that were both daring and deeply inward. Born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin to a French father and a Polish mother, probably on March 1, 1810, he was a native of Zelazowa Wola village west of Warsaw.

A prolific electronic producer and keyboardist from London, Paul Hardcastle has enjoyed over three decades of popularity with his varied dance-, R&B-, and jazz-influenced albums. Although often associated with the smooth jazz genre, Hardcastle's synth-based style is more akin to instrumental dance music and electro-R&B with the occasional vocal and saxophone flourishes. Initially emerging with his breakthrough single "19" off 1985's Hardcastle, he gained wider success with the launch of his crossover Jazzmasters album in 1993, which hit number one on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart. Over the years, he has continued to diversify his offerings, issuing regular volumes across several series including Top 20-charting albums like 2002's Hardcastle 3, 2013's The Chill Lounge, Vol. 2, and 2014's Movin & Groovin. He reached the contemporary jazz Top Ten with 2018's Hardcastle 8 and 2020's Hardcastle 9 before releasing 2022's Hardcastle 10. Hardcastle 10 arrived in February 2022.

This bootleg is also known as "The Eagles on the Don Kirshner Rock Concert" and "Vanishing Away." Parts of it apppear on the "Early Years / Live at the Paris Theater" bootleg as well as "Motel 6." It features guest appearances by Linda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne.

Hailed by The Times for its ‘exhilarating performances’, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective was dreamed up in 2017 by Tom Poster and Elena Urioste, who met through the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme. The Collective operates with a flexible roster which features many of today’s most inspirational musicians, both instrumentalists and singers, and its creative programming is marked by an ardent commitment to celebrating diversity of all forms and a desire to unearth lesser\-known gems of the repertoire. This ethos is clear in their repertoire selection for this their début recording. The Piano Quintet is one of Amy Beach’s better\-known works, which the KCC collectively fell in love with during a residency at the Cheltenham festival. Composed in 1907, the work reflects the strong influence of the music of Brahms.

Oksana Dyka’s dramatic and dazzling voice sparkles in this collection of favorites from treasured operas by Puccini and Verdi, led by “the singer’s dream collaborator” Constantine Orbelian.
Born in Ukraine, Oksana Dyka graduated at Kiev Conservatory in 2004, and from 2003 to 2007 she was the main soloist at Ukraine National Opera of Kiev. In 2003 she won third prize of the Marseilles International Opera competition, which landed her the part of Tosca at National Opera of Montpellier in March 2005. Also in 2005, Oksana was highly acclaimed as Tosca at Estonian National Opera in Tallinn and at Dalhalla Opera Festival in Sweden (same production), and she made her debut as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello at Estonian National Opera. © Delos

Maywood was a Dutch pop group in the 1970s and 1980s. Their biggest hit single was in 1980 with "Late At Night". They represented the Netherlands in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest (Zagreb) with the song "Ik wil alles met je delen" (I Want to Share Everything With You), which finished in fifteenth place. The group split up in 1995, but re-formed for a series of concerts in October 2013. In 2000, female duo Maywood released "Late At Night/Different Worlds", which contained two albums - 1980's "Late at Night," and 1981's "Different Worlds" on two compact discs.

"Both Zimerman and Bernstein are involved and involving here … a rapt intensity [in the slow movement]" (Gramophone on No.1). "Bernstein and Zimerman have established a masterly understanding of the work, and their artistic symbiosis is inpressive" (Gramophone on No.2).

NYCNYUSA is an improvement over 1976's lackluster Night Fever, but not by much. It suffers from the same problem that plagues many of the albums in the Fatback catalog: While the group has no problem generating solid grooves, they often have trouble translating them into enough solid songs to sustain an album. Inconsistent material continues to be a problem on NYCNYUSA: "Spank the Baby" layers a chant that is inane even by disco standards over a repetitive jam while "Duke Walk" sinks the pleasant quality of its pop-reggae feel with a dull arrangement that lacks any interesting twists and turns. Another problem track is "Cosmic Woman," which fails to make to good on the promise of its interesting title due to uninspired lyrics and a humdrum groove.

Strap yourself in for another dire journey with Camel. This time it's the Irish immigration to America, a fitting travel companion for Dust and Dreams or Nude. The Celtic overtones are largely dispensed with by the second track, and what emerges is a finely conceived concept album filled with rich, saturated arrangements and guitar leads that cut through the surrounding music like a beacon. More so than Dust and Dreams, Harbour of Tears feels like it was intended for the stage…

From the wreckage of Free came Bad Company, a group fronted by singer Paul Rodgers and featuring his drummer bandmate Simon Kirke, Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs, and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. The latter is something of a ringer, suggesting an undercurrent of adventure in the band, but as the group's eponymous 1974 debut decidedly proves, the band is proudly not progressive…

Alco Frisbass new release joins the other two as another in a line of incredible musics. These Frenchmen incorporate jazz, zeuhl and Canterbury into an ever evolving amalgamation of pure delight.

One of the few live albums that really conveys the flavor of the group without sacrificing performance quality. The Four Tops' stage shows have always been among the most participatory and enjoyable of any R&B or soul group, and that was clearly the case on this release.

In Italy, the sixteenth century coincides with both the highest splendour and the gradual fading of the Rinascimento, the unique Italian version of the Renaissance. It included an unparalleled flourishing of the visual arts – from painting to sculpture to architecture, but not limited to these –, the ripening of the humanist movement with its rediscovery of the Classical past and its literary fruits, and an exquisite blossoming of musical genres and works. It was also a deeply contradictory time. Striking inequalities characterized the socioeconomical status of the inhabitants of the peninsula. The extraordinary legacy of the Renaissance in terms of artworks was the paradoxical result of strong rivalries among the cities and states of what is today’s Italy. More significantly, it was a time of saints and sinners, and both in the highest degree: lasciviousness and immorality characterized the lives of many aristocrats and clergy, but, at the same time, great saints such as Carlo Borromeo or Philip Neri were offering new models of holiness, proposing a Catholic response to the abuses denounced by the Protestants, and embodying the spiritual elan of the Council of Trent.

An unique and very interesting musical project, probably the first musical encounter between flamenco and rock music! In those days Joe Beck was a respected composer and rock guitarist, he had played in symphonic orchestras and performed with the top names in rock and jazz (from Tim Hardin to Steve Gadd). After making the album Middle Eastern Rock with Oud player John Berberian, Joe's producer Harvey Cowen suggested Joe to do the same with flamenco and rock. He succeeded to recruit flamenco guitar legend Sabicas (1912-1990), thanks to Sabicas' brother Diego because he wanted Sabicas to scout the musical boundaries. Now Joe decided to assemble the best New York musicians: drummer Donald McDonald (in The Satyrs he had jammed with Frank Zappa, Ritchie Havens and Jimi Hendrix), 20 year old bass player Tony Levin…

Marva Wright's albums might be filed more often under the blues section than any other, but in truth she's a versatile singer of all forms of New Orleans R&B, venturing into gospel and soul as well. There's no faulting her vocal performances on Born with the Blues; their powerful gutsiness marks her as one of the best blues/R&B singers to emerge in the final decades of the 20th century. It's the material that makes this an uneven record, though a worthwhile one on the whole. Some of the songs are quite good, the title track being a particular highlight for both its minor-keyed melody and vocals with a lived-in intensity that was a rare commodity indeed in '90s blues records. "Pray" is another peak, both for its moody gospel melody and stellar backup by Sonny Landreth on slithering slide guitar…