When Philippe Jaroussky - whose angelic voice seems almost timeless - sings works by Telemann and Bach, it becomes abundantly clear that the sheer emotional force and the purifying power of their music have not diminished one bit over the centuries.

Recorded from 2000 to 2001 but finally released a year later as the band's first studio effort (after three live discs), Mondo Garaj captures Garaj Mahal in its relative infancy. Keyboardist Eric Levy had recently joined, and although he's prominent on these songs, his contributions have grown considerably since. In fact, only two songs from this album appeared on any of the subsequent live discs. But with musicians of the caliber and experience of bassist Kai Eckhardt, drummer Alan Hertz, and Fareed Haque on guitars, there is nothing tentative about this recording. Sounding like a combination of Return to Forever and the Mahavishnu Orchestra in their '70s heyday, Garaj's jazz-rock fusion requires chops and innovation to stay interesting and avoid aimless noodling.

»Es wird eine Königin zum Tode verurteilt, die der Scharfrichter enthauptet, nach abgeschlagenem Haupte kommt eine kleine Prinzessin hervor, welche anfangs wider den Scharfrichter sich erzürnet, bald darauf aber in denselbigen sich verliebet und eine italienische Arie singt.« Was sich hier wie ein Ausschnitt aus einem der surrealen Schauspiele Eugène Ionescos anhört, ist 1776 in Salzburg entstanden und von einem Pater verfasst worden. Im Universitätstheater wurden nach alter Tradition im Fasching und zu Ende des Schuljahres von Schülern und Studenten lateinische Tragödien, die mit komischen Einlagestücken versehen waren, zum Besten gegeben.

Accompagné par l'orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, le pianiste français renouvelle l'approche de ces deux concertos. Bon nombre d'interprètes en avaient en effet donné une interprétation de plus en plus épaisse et romantique, ce qui est en contradiction avec l'écriture de ces oeuvres, davantage inspirées par la légèreté et le modernisme de "l'esprit français" des années 20-30. Le jazz, si présent dans le Concerto pour la main gauche, par exemple, est révélateur de la pensée de Ravel. Le piano de Duchâble est plus que brillant : il est incendiaire, volatile, merveilleusement aérien. La qualité de la tenue rythmique, le sens des contrastes, l'humour, si souvent présent chez Ravel, sont magnifiquement restitués.

As longtime fans of Gary Moore can attest, the guitarist's career – during the '80s in particular – is comprised of many peaks and valleys, which is quite apparent when listening to the 14-track collection Walkways. This is certainly not a career-encompassing retrospective of this underrated guitarist, as it only focuses on Moore's early-'80s solo material. Keeping pace with such shredders as Eddie Van Halen and Michael Schenker, Moore certainly let his fingers fly during this period, and his metal-based six-string skills are on prominent display throughout, especially on the unaccompanied solo "Dirty Fingers." But unlike most rock guitarists from this era who let an appointed lead singer deal with crowd control, Moore proved to be quite a fine rock singer himself, as evidenced by his bluesy vocals on a cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Valentin Silvestrov is not just the Ukraine’s most prominent composer but also a major voice in the music of our time: a quiet voice, to be sure, and one that some will pigeon-hole at the soft-core end of the New Spirituality. But even a first encounter should suggest the presence of deeper perspectives, and encounters with the full range of his music only serve to confirm that impression. Russian commentators have long since ranged Silvestrov alongside Schnittke, Gubaidulina and Denisov as one of the most important figures that came to maturity in the 1970s. It was then that he produced music such as the two Cantatas – the earlier one for soprano and chamber orchestra, setting words by Tyuchev and Blok, the later one for a cappella choir to verses by Ukraine’s national poet, Taras Chevchenko. Both works blend Webernian angularity with an ecstatic lyricism.

Tropea (1975). By the time guitarist John Tropea had recorded his solo debut on the tiny Marlin imprint in 1975, he had been a session guitarist for nearly a decade. His understated, decidedly non-show-off playing graced records by everyone from Laura Nyro to Deodato (including Prelude and Deodato 2), from Ashford & Simpson to Bo Diddley, from Billy Cobham to Peter Allen, from Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway to Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Luiz Bonfá, and Ray Bryant. After this he played with everyone from Alice Cooper to Lalo Schifrin and Kurtis Blow and way, way beyond. Tropea's cast of studio players is a who's who of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. The core band on this funky, squeaky clean, keyboard, horn, and guitar driven set are bassist Will Lee, keyboardist Don Grolnick, percussionist Rubens Bassini, and drummers Steve Gadd and Rick Marotta - one in each channel…

MelodicRock Classics is thrilled to partner with LITTLE AMERICA, one of the label's favourite American rock acts of the late 80s, to deliver a career spanning release simply titled 'Anthology'. Featuring all the songs from their two acclaimed studio albums, the set also includes a whole range of previously unreleased tracks - several live tracks from the band's first tour; 3 Alt-Versions of tracks from the debut and a handful of unreleased tracks from the band's second album recording sessions. The complete Little America recording sessions in one place for the first time. Little America, a four-piece group from Los Angeles, cranked out two of the best AOR albums of the eighties: The self-titled “Little America”, which had the top-ten hit “Walk On Fire”, and their second album, “Fairgrounds”, which also yielded a top-ten track “Where Were You”.

Eindringliche, außerordentlich dynamische Differenzierungskunst.​ Die beiden Chöre, die Solisten und das Orchester bilden jeweils eine glückliche Einheit.​ Ein wichtiges Vermächtnis.​ (FonoForum)

Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to present the upcoming release “Different Worlds”, the debut album from Skills, on May 13, 2022. Skills features the eye-popping line-up of vocalist Renan Zonta (Electric Mob), guitarist Brad Gillis (Night Ranger), bassist Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs, Sons Of Apollo), and drummer David Huff (GIANT). In the perfect extension of the meaning of the word, SKILLS is an amazing new band put together from the vision of Frontiers President and A&R director Serafino Perugino. Featuring vocalist Renan Zonta, guitarist Brad Gillis, bassist Billy Sheehan, and drummer David Huff, Skills brings together the worlds of old and new in hard rock for a timeless debut album.

Enigma is the third collaborative CD by Opium (Matteo Zini) and Alio Die. Here the duo present mystifying a series of eight "imaginary landscapes" where beats are totally absent and musical structure is loose and meandering. The atmospheres are frequently disquieting, haunting and full of subtle perplexity. Acoustic and organic sounds are embedded deep within hazy drone textures, the artists employing drones and loops, zither, flutes bells and field recordings with Opium focusing on programming and wave editings. It must be said thought at the sounds produced by the items listed are not necessarily those you might expect, these guys are not into dainty melodies and sweet tunes.