Altan is arguably the most iconic band working in traditional Irish music today. For the past 35 years, they have been bringing the music of their native County Donegal to the world stage. Irish-language songs and dynamic twin-fiddling, the hallmarks of Altan's sound, framework the band's newest album, aptly titled 'DONEGAL'. The album's 10 tracks pay homage to Donegal's rich musical heritage, breathtaking landscapes, and vibrant culture. The authenticity and allure of the music transports listeners to a bygone time in rural Ireland while simultaneously forging a connection between the past and modern times.

This album brings together three works for cello and piano. The first of them, Gabriel Faure's Cello Sonata No. 1, is a cornerstone of the repertoire for this medium. It was composed in 1917 and premiered by cellist Gerard Hekking and pianist Alfred Cortot.

The music on this album is the result of decades of research and many lecture-recitals performed across the US, with publication of a book of scores bearing the same title. We do not pretend to know whether Shakespeare the playwright played the lute — or whether the historical figure of Shakespeare the playwright existed at all. But we know that the plays were a collaborative effort written and produced in concert with several of the best literary and musical figures of the Elizabethan/Jacobean age, and indication for music in Shakespeare plays was as ubiquitous as any other stage direction. Much of the music appearing in the plays is of a lighter character, suitable for capering and jollification in an outdoor theater. But the historical music Mignarda chooses is typically of a more complex nature, and was likely performed in an indoor theater where subtlety and nuance, an essential characteristic of music for voice and lute, might actually be heard. Our approach is to convey the texts with understanding, choosing historical musical settings when they survive, but employing informed choices of historical style and convention when the original setting is lost to history.

"Get yourself a trio, Erlend." These were the words spoken by the legendary Svein Finnerud to a young Erlend Skomsvoll in 1991. Since then, Erlend Skomsvoll has established himself as an exceptional interpreter of others' music, as an arranger and orchestra leader, collaborating with luminaries such as Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Kaizers Orchestra, Mathias Eick, Marius Neset, Arve Tellefsen, The Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Ensemble Allegria, and many more.

Four years out of the Bonzo Dog Band, Viv Stanshall's debut album arrived more than two years after he first started work on it, a long gestation that even he acknowledged was punctuated by some dark droughts of inspiration. "It's all about frustration," he continued, "It's one long squawk." The scars did not, however, show. From the moment the single, the Afro-centric "Lakonga," hit the airwaves, it was clear that Stanshall's characteristic eye for both intriguing melody and infuriating experimentation had not been diminished. The key to the album was the opening "Afoju Ti Ole Riran (Dead Eyes)," a painfully personal tirade directed against the music business. Despite his fame and reputation, Stanshall continued to be marginalized by the industry at large, at the same time as he himself hated the demands that it made upon him…

Buddy Guy's music has changed a great deal since this album was recorded in Chicago in 1981. It is possible that Guy has never sounded better than this, tearing into some deep indigo blues, letting his guitar wail loud on every cut, and playing with inspiration, especially on the title cut and "Dedication to the Late T-Bone Walker," a track that seems to spring from some place deep within himself. Nor was he the only one on fire at the sessions. Brother Phil Guy shares the guitar work and contributes vocals to both "Garbage Man Blues" and "Mellow Down." The recording makes no attempt to capture a wide audience. This is Buddy Guy playing and feeling the blues, pure and simple, without any sense of compromise - and it's all the better for it, putting much of the rest of his catalog into perspective. Rarely is the blues this heartfelt - and rarer still is it so well played. If this were his only recorded legacy, he'd still warrant the stature he's achieved.

This unusual set was one of the most successful uses of a gospel choir in a jazz context. Trumpeter Donald Byrd and a septet that includes tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, guitarist Kenny Burrell, and pianist Herbie Hancock are joined by an eight-voice choir directed by Coleridge Perkinson. The arrangements by Duke Pearson are masterful and one song, "Cristo Redentor," became a bit of a hit. This is a memorable effort that is innovative in its own way, a milestone in Donald Byrd's career.

The Concilium musicum Vienna, which plays on authentic period instruments, was founded by Paul and Christoph Angerer in 1982 and has since elaborated an extensive musical spectrum from the music of the Baroque period to the dance music of the 19th century.

This recording of Beethoven's 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli in C major, Op. 120, by British pianist Imogen Cooper was a strong seller when it appeared in March 2019, and there appear to be several reasons why. One is the introduction of the program with the Bagatelles, Op. 119, which are not so often heard and make a fine lead-in. Cooper almost runs the bagatelles together, which one might question: each one is a distinct entity, and playing them as Cooper does loses the strangeness of, say, the 15-second Allegramente bagatelle. But Cooper seems to be asserting the unity of the set, which is reasonable even though Beethoven wrote the works at different times; some are early works, and some were newly composed for publication in 1822.

What is it that makes this 1992 recording of François Couperin's Les Nations by the Kuijken Ensemble so special? In a word, brotherhood. You see, the Kuijken Ensemble has the brothers Barthold, Sigiswald, and Wieland on transverse flute, violin, and viola da gamba and they play together with a combination of affection, aggression, appreciation, and wholehearted love that makes the ensemble like no other. Each brother a master of his instrument, and they understand Baroque music with a combination of intellect, emotion, and musicality that few other period instrument players can match.

Ascension of Shadows is a large-scale tribal groove atmosphere from Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana (Dirk Serries). This three-disc set runs the gamut of long-form composition. This chapter in the collaborative work between Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana is sure to delight those who appreciate the more serene, atmospheric side of their work together. On Ascension, the artists return to a more minimal core of sounds and approaches to reveal an atmosphere that flows for over three hours. As the acceleration toward the new century builds, this music offers a space for repose so needed these days.