Paramount after 100 plus years of blues music is the indefinable spirit of deep expression beyond words and notes. Anthony Gomes, the Canadian blues guitar hero and scholar with impeccable taste, personifies that spirit. The glorious result is stunningly emotional, timeless music, including the 12 original compositions on his 13th album. Band mates Mike Brignardello (bass), Greg Morrow (drums, percussion), David Smith (keyboards) and Chris Leuzinger (acoustic guitar) kick hard while never leaving the pocket. Gomes bares heart and soul on “Come Down,” a modern work song with the startling plea “Come down from heaven B.B. King, cause this kingdom has no king.”

The »Iguazú« stands for »Big Water« in the native language and flows through southern Brazil before it flows into the Paraná at the border with Argentina. Shortly before the mouth it "says goodbye" with one of the largest waterfalls on earth, in the center of which the Garganta de Diabolo (Devil's Throat) opens up. The Argentinian guitarist (and lutenist) Eduardo Egüez and his international ensemble La Chimera take the diversity of the landscape along the 1,300 km of this river as a model and present South American "classics" from folk to classical, tango, jazz and bossa nova.

This album explores music by three father-and-son generations of the Tcherepnin family of composers: Nikolai, Alexander and Ivan. Although each wrote a wide range of scores, from solo pieces to operas and ballets, this recording focuses on their chamber music, presenting pieces spanning 95 years. Nikolai’s works for violin and piano reveal a late-Romantic, post-Tchaikovskian sensibility, whereas those of Alexander have a more modern, twentieth-century touch, closer to the style of his friend Sergei Prokofiev (a student of Nikolai Tcherepnin). Ivan is represented by two works — early and late – for flute, clarinet and piano, which have an improvisatory and playful quality.

In Voyages, prolific American composer James Lee III takes the listener on a colourful journey through his endlessly creative orchestral music with ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop.

Argentina is a land of myth as much as a land of history. It was here that Maria Callas and Enrico Caruso sailed for such memorable performances at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires during their summer vacations. European musicians flocked to Argentina during the Second World War as a safe haven and because they felt at home with the elegance of the European-styled theaters, audiences, and ambiance. Additionally the vastness of the landscape and the huge Argentine ranches gave the country a cultural aspect reminiscent of the famed “American West” of the 1890s. But the open ranges still exist in Argentina today.

Human Remains follows Creatures of the Deep and Black Sarabande as the final installment of a trilogy of piano based recordings by Robert Haigh for Unseen Worlds. The trilogy marks the end of the late era of solo albums by Haigh before he steps away from music production. The title, Human Remains, was initially based on a painting of the same name by Haigh that is suggestive of an ancient structure resolute in the wake of overwhelming forces. As a metaphor for our current times, it could be interpreted as human frailty in the face of nature’s unyielding dominion. Conversely, it could represent the persistence of human spirit and resourcefulness in the midst of catastrophe and upheaval. The album opens with 'Beginner’s Mind' – a semi-improvised motif develops into an impressionistic refrain. This is followed by "Twilight Flowers" and "Waltz On Treated Wire" – intimate, monochrome piano portraits. Later tracks such as "Lost Albion" and "Signs Of Life" build on skeletal piano motifs with subtle electronic washes, textures and field sounds. The album ends with the elegiac "On Terminus Hill" where a stately piano refrain explores a series of sparse harmonic variations evoking a sense of closure.

Mathieu Gaudet presents here the sixth volume in his wonderful collection of the complete sonatas and major works for piano of the great German composer Franz Schubert. This album features Schubert’s Sonata No. 14 in C major, D. 840 that bears the epithet "Reliquie". Shrouded in a mystery never entirely dispelled, the nickname suggests great depth of expression, a certain strangeness, and a touch of exoticism. The sonata’s unfinished status has, in some ways, guarded it from the interpretive overexposure to which Schubert’s most popular works have been subjected. We find here also the so beautiful Sonata in A Major, D. 664, played with a real tenderness by Mathieu Gaudet.

Acadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc chose traditional songs that range from the serious to the comical and arranged them in collaboration with Bergeron, Lauzer, and Nadeau-Tremblay. “My interest in traditional Acadian songs began some twenty years ago, and I have since recorded three albums of this repertoire with ATMA Classique”, says LeBlanc. “The majority of these songs come from France. But songs, just like peoples, are nomadic: they have no borders!” “The common airs de cour may have crossed the Atlantic stowed in the baggage of musicians and noblemen” says LeBlanc. “The French nobility who settled in Quebec in the 17th century wanted to reproduce the glories of Versailles, and some of these airs could have reached the shores of Shippagan”.

Beginnings is the debut album by the British rock band Ambrose Slade, who later achieved fame as Slade. It was released on 9 May 1969, but failed to enter the charts. In the US, it was released under the title Ballzy. Later in 1975, the album was briefly re-released by Contour as Beginnings of Slade but was quickly withdrawn from sale due to copyright issues. Beginnings is a mixture of self-penned songs and cover versions including two tracks by Steppenwolf. As to confirm the diversity of the group's influences, they also cut Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes' "Journey to the Centre of Your Mind", "Ain't Got No Heart" by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention, The Moody Blues' "Fly Me High", Lennon and McCartney's "Martha My Dear" and "If This World Were Mine" by Marvin Gaye.

Reading the promo sheet after three plays of On a Trip to L.A. gives you a sinking feeling. Since the album is a concept album, you first place yourself in the tradition of Pink Floyd, Yes, ELP and Genesis. A few lines later, mastermind Holggy Begg outed himself as part of the 1968 generation who “experienced the international cultural-political change themselves”. Therefore he wants to "preserve the feeling of the late 60s and early 70s". It is logical that in his masterpiece he sees a cocktail of the traditions of Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Moody Blues, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Jefferson Airplane.

Deborah Allen Is One Of Those Rare Artists Who Forged Their Own Path To Success And Ended Up Building A World-Class Career In The Process. An Extraordinarily Talented Singer, Songwriter, Producer And Performer, Deborah's Unique Abilities As An Artist May Be Matched Only By Her Enthusiasm And Creativity As An Individual. It Is That Formidable Combination Of Spirit And Talent That Keeps The Grammy-Nominated Entertainer In Demand. With Her Latest Release, 'The Art Of Dreaming,' Deborah Allen's Music Remains As Smart, Witty And Sexy As Ever. Ironically, Songwriting Has Often Been The Most Overlooked Aspect Of Deborah's Career, Yet Literally Hundreds Of Artists Have Benefited From Her Abundant Catalog Of Material. With More Than 1,600 Compositions Published, Deborah's Songs Have Been Recorded By A Laundry List Of Acts, Including LeAnn Rimes, Brooks & Dunn, Patty Loveless, Conway Twitty, Tanya Tucker, Janie Fricke, John Conlee, Isaac Hayes, Diana Ross, Sheena Easton, Fleetwood Mac And More. In Addition, Her Songs Have Been Featured On Several Major Motion Picture Soundtracks, Such As Coyote Ugly, River Rat, Clinton And Nadine, As Well As In River Phoenix's Final Film, The Thing Called Love. 'The Art Of Dreaming' Brings Together Fresh, Newly Recorded Songs, Coupled With Classics From Deborah’s Vast Catalog.

Pour son troisième album Artalinna, après Haydn, Schumann et Sterndale Bennett, le Japonais Hiroaki Takenouchi nous invite à redécouvrir trois cycles méconnus de variations, dont la somptueuse et très ambitieuse Ballade de Grieg, composée dans les années 1875-1876 et inspirée d’un chant populaire populaire norvégien de la région de Valdres qui se situe à mi-chemin entre Bergen et Oslo.

The Wallflowers' long-awaited third album, Breach, was a strong, confident record that demonstrated clear growth from Jakob Dylan as a songwriter and The Wallflowers as a band. Thing is, everybody ignored it. Critics wrote it off and the large audience Bringing Down the Horse attracted shunned it, leaving the band in an awkward position of having to prove themselves yet again with their fourth album, Red Letter Days. The first striking thing about the album is that its production is a clear reaction to the failure of Breach. Glistening where its predecessor had a semblance of grit, this is a polished mainstream rock record, designed to win back listeners who loved the band by hearing "One Headlight" on the radio repeatedly. Dylan has adjusted his songwriting slightly, too, playing up the hooks and the melodies, which is hardly selling out. Even so, it's hard not to wish that the album had a bit more of the quirks and muscle that gave Breach its backbone.

Daniil Trifonov returns with an album dedicated to J.S. Bach. He explores the scientific, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of Bach's cosmos, his faith, family, and world. Centered around Bach's mystical masterpiece, The Art of the Fugue, Trifonov's project investigates the man behind the myth - a genius of humility and humor, whose loves, losses, and devotion inspired what Trifonov calls "some of humanity's most emotionally rich and fascinatingly sophisticated expressions in music."

The ensemble focuses on the repertoires of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and is distinguished by its in-depth knowledge of the art of diminution, historical instrumentation, and a desire to expand the idiomatic limits of its instruments. This last aspect is illustrated in this very virtuosic programme, put together in 2020 and entitled “Stadtpfeifer, Piffari, musique à cinq souffleurs”.