Andre Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra along with 6 powerful soloists perform the most beautiful Holiday melodies in this magical two-hour spectacular recorded in and around a winter wonderland setting: Andris fabled castle in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The Modern Maestro presents 26 classics like the heartening "Silent Night," "Ave Maria" and "O Come All Ye Faithful", as well as unforgettable renditions of all-time favorites like "Jingle Bells" and "Go Tell It on the Mountain"

If Wishbone Ash can be considered a group who dabbled in the main strains of early-'70s British rock without ever settling on one (were they a prog rock outfit like Yes, a space rock unit like Pink Floyd, a heavy metal ensemble like Led Zeppelin, or just a boogie band like Ten Years After?), the confusion compounded by their relative facelessness and the generic nature of their compositions, Argus, their third album, was the one on which they looked like they finally were going to forge their own unique amalgamation of all those styles into a sound of their own.

St. Paul & The Broken Bones have already garnered much attention due to their high-energy live performances, led by charismatic front man Paul Janeway. The groups sweat-soaked, take-no prisoners style has converted many, including Paste Magazine, who named St. Paul & The Broken Bones one of their 2013 Best Of Whats Next artists, and NPR Music, who included the album in their Under The Radar Albums Preview. Half The City oozes with key elements of Memphis soul, Muscle Shoals R&B and the Motown experience, which lay solid ground for Jane- ways expressive vocals. "Within ten seconds of hearing Paul Janeways voice - secondhand on a friends cellphone - I was in. The first five was spent in disbelief. I can count on one hand the times thats happened. I admit it took a bit to hear past him. The beautiful thing was that the band was and is every bit as good. The same swagger, conviction, and - dare I say - soul. Thats saying something. What sealed the deal was the songwriting, the arrangements, the dynamics - all the things that comes with having been a unit for many more years than they have. And then I experienced them live. - John Paul White

Bing Crosby was, without doubt, the most popular and influential media star of the first half of the 20th century. The undisputed best-selling artist until well into the rock era (with over half-a-billion records in circulation), the most popular radio star of all time, and the biggest box-office draw of the 1940s, Crosby dominated the entertainment world from the Depression until the mid-'50s, and proved just as influential as he was popular. Unlike the many vocal artists before him, Crosby grew up with radio, and his intimate bedside manner was a style perfectly suited to emphasize the strengths of a medium transmitted directly into the home. He was also helped by the emerging microphone technology: scientists had perfected the electrically amplified recording process only a few months before Crosby debuted on record, and in contrast to earlier vocalists, who were forced to strain their voices into the upper register to make an impression on mechanically recorded tracks, Crosby's warm, manly baritone crooned contentedly without a thought of excess.

Warmer is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Randy VanWarmer. After moving back to the United States from Cornwall, England in 1978 and settling in Woodstock, New York, twenty-three-year-old VanWarmer signed to local label Bearsville Records. A year later Warmer was released and produced by Del Newman. It was initially released on vinyl, 8-track, and cassette, and in 1995 it was released on compact disc. "Just When I Needed You Most" was written by VanWarmer when he was eighteen and still in England, and the song has been described as "a ballad of heartbreak from a man's point of view." It reached No. 4 on Billboard in 1979.

So Much for the City is the debut album of the Irish indie/pop band The Thrills. It was released in May 2003 and quickly became the number one in the Republic of Ireland, where it spent 61 weeks in the top 75, and also won 'Album of the Year' at the national music awards. It was also very successful in UK, debuting at #3, remaining in the charts for 25 weeks, and gave them some attention in Europe, with the single "Big Sur" reaching #17 in the UK,which remains as their highest charted position in that country to date.

Pages was an American pop rock band active during the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Richard Page and Steve George had been working together for years in and around Southern California and had done sessions, backing vocals, written songs, for such as Michael Jackson, Kenny Loggins, Patti LaBelle, Rick Springfield, The Pointer Sisters, Donna Summer etc. Before the well knowed Mr. Mister, they recorded 3 albums for Epic and Capitol Records under the name Pages. The band consisted of Richard Page and Steve George on vocals and keyboards supported by various studio musicians, some of whom from time to time were considered part of the band. Although Pages was highly regarded for its well-crafted pop and jazz-fusion sound, the group did not achieve commercial success, and disbanded after recording three studio albums.

George Gershwin's folk opera has been a source of inspiration for countless jazz musicians. This 1959 recording with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen (who had replaced guitarist Herb Ellis the previous year) features some of Peterson's most impassioned and bluesy playing. With the addition of a drummer, he was liberated from rhythm duties to become the trio's dominant solo voice. Producer Norman Granz, who frequently featured Peterson in his Jazz at the Philharmonic all-star tours of the 1950s, had the musicians work out the arrangements in the studio with a minimum of rehearsal. That freshness of conception can still be sensed today.

Legendary composer Leonard Bernstein once called jazz the ultimate common denominator of the American musical style. The music made a profound impact on Bernstein s work, not only in the more explicit jazziness of his work in musical theater, but throughout his serious orchestral music as well. Jazz artists in turn felt the influence of Bernstein s innovations, with interpretations of his work recorded by such icons as Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Oscar Peterson, Wes Montgomery, Wayne Shorter and countless others. With the stunning new album Bernstein Reimagined, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra mines the composer s vast repertoire for a vibrantly diverse new set of music that delves into pieces rarely if ever performed in a jazz context. Due out January 29, 2021 via MCG Jazz, this dazzling music was originally commissioned as part of the worldwide celebration of Bernstein s centennial year in 2018.

At last! - Liquid Spirits will release their new soul album Years in 2021. After their 2015 instrumental project, Evolution of the New Spirit, Liquid Spirits’ founders and producers Wiboud Burkens and Manuel Hugas started a collaboration with singer and songwriter Ivan Peroti. And working with Ivan’s soulful voice definitely brings all musical spirits to the next level! The new album evolved from the relentless quest to create unique and authentic songs; hand crafted by real musicians. Using modern techniques, they created 8 brand-new but analogue sounding, groovy tracks which ooze the love of soul classics and underground hip-hop and jazz vibes, graced by the warm vocals of Ivan Peroti.

A griot in many West African countries is a storyteller, singer and musician; it could be roughly translated as troubadour. One of the best known active griots is the Malian Baba Sissoko. Through participation in an opera project in Paris, he got to know Madou Sidiki Diabate and Lansiné Kouyaté, players of the kora and balafon respectively - both traditional West African instruments. The three musicians quickly built a strong musical bond, playing together incessantly before and after opera rehearsals, even during breaks. Almost imperceptibly, the material that can be heard on the album Griot Jazz was created. They decided to look for a recording studio in Paris and ended up with keyboardist Jean-Philippe Rykiel. However, during the preparations in his studio, Rykiel also became involved in the project as a musician. For Western ears, his additions counterbalance the traditional African instruments and make the album very accessible. Griot Jazz was recorded in one day and therefore possesses a wonderful organic spontaneity.

Bohm conducts Bruckner's 1889 revised score which represents the composer's final thoughts on his Third Symphony. As Bruckner matured - artistically speaking - his thoughts turned towards a more Beethovenian "Classical" view of symphonic music, in the Brahms mould, and the references to Wagner's - the Third's dedicatee - music were excised, all but one, from the score of the Third Symphony. This purity of symphonic form allowed Bruckner to present his musical thoughts in such a way that the music's inner logic conveyed a more well-structured architecture, allowing Bruckner's - and not Wagner's - voice to ring-out, loud and clear.

Rediscovering musicians from the past is normal these days. In the case of the Neapolitan Andrea Falconieri, however, something strange is going on, because he was rediscovered a century or so ago. Although it was only a part of his works at the time - mostly lyrical airs as well as some instrumental dances - these successes actually deserved much more attention from musicians and music critics than they actually received. Falconieri's biography is a model for the typical Italian musician of the first half of the 17th century. He was born in Naples around 1585 and died there during the terrible plague of 1656 after traveling for thirty years and working in the most prestigious musical centers in Europe: Parma, Florence, Rome, Spain, Germany, Venice, Modena and Genoa.

Retaining the buoyant musical feel of Paul Simon, but employing a more produced sound, There Goes Rhymin' Simon found Paul Simon writing and performing with assurance and venturing into soulful and R&B-oriented music. Simon returned to the kind of vocal pyrotechnics heard on the Simon & Garfunkel records by using gospel singers. On "Love Me Like a Rock" and "Tenderness" (which sounded as though it could have been written to Art Garfunkel), the Dixie Hummingbirds sang prominent backup vocals, and on "Take Me to the Mardi Gras," Reverend Claude Jeter contributed a falsetto part that Garfunkel could have handled, though not as warmly.

Sigiswald Kuijken directed these performers, based notionally in Trondheim, for a festival concert in Sarrebourg in 2015. Like other takes on the great corpus of Bach cantatas by groups who are attempting to show us his works in a wider context, this pair is presented in the wider context of the musical expression of the final conflict between the forces of good and evil in the late 17th century. Buxtehude’s cantata Befiehl dem Engel, dass er komm (BuxWV10) and Christian Geist’s Quis hostis in cœlis provide the context for Bach’s compositions for Michaelmas in 1724 and 1726.