Patrocinato dall’Istituto per la Musica della Fondazione Giorgio Cini, il cd è una testimonianza del concerto tenuto il 10 dicembre 2003 a Venezia, organizzato dalla Fondazione Ugo e Olga Levi nel quadro delle manifestazioni dedicate alla riapertura del Teatro La Fenice.

These are two very fine performances. Ormandy proves himself to be surprisingly exciting in Nevsky, particularly in the first half of The Battle on the Ice. Betty Allen’s voice doesn’t ever seem to have been beautiful, and her registers are uneven, but that small deficit aside, most listeners will find little to complain about. The last movement, with percussion well to the fore, is more cinematic than the actual film, though no one can pretend that these balances are in any way natural.

John Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic continue their survey of Shostakovichis late symphonies with this recoding of the 14th, with Elizabeth Atherton and Peter Rose as soloists. Completed in the spring of 1969, and premiered later that year, the symphony is written for soprano, bass and small string orchestra with percussion, setting eleven linked setting of poems by four authors.

Nobody really expected the Berlin Wall to come down in 1989, and so suddenly. Roger Waters especially, because he had once made a promise never to perform The Wall again after the 1980 tour until the bricks fell in Berlin. But they did, and Waters had no intention to renege on his promise. The Wall became a star-studded megaconcert to benefit the Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief, with larger bricks, bigger inflatable puppets, and a larger audience than any of the original Pink Floyd shows.

Anybody who was initially confused by singer/songwriter John Mayer's foray into blues with 2005's Try! John Mayer Trio Live in Concert could only have been further confounded upon listening to the album and coming to the realization that it was actually good. And not just kinda good, especially for guy who had been largely labeled as a Dave Matthews clone, but really, truthfully, organically good as a blues album in its own right. However, for longtime fans who had been keeping tabs on Mayer, the turn might not have been so unexpected.

Set sail with NOW That's What I Call Yacht Rock 2! Featuring tons of your favorite summertime yacht rock classics, making it's CD/vinyl debut on the Now Numbered Series! Yacht Rock was a term coined for smooth soft rock usually from the 1970s and early '80s. 'NOW That's What I Call Yacht Rock Volume 2' presents an ideal 18-track lineup of songs to float to this summer, including Kenny Loggins featuring Stevie Nicks, Michael McDonald, Gerry Rafferty, Chicago, REO Speedwagon, Air Supply, Eric Carmen, Paul Davis, Toto, Little River Band, Seals & Crofts, Gordon Lightfoot, Elvin Bishop, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Walter Egan, Exile, Captain & Tennille, Santana, and many more.

The legendary SUNS OF ARQA release their 40th album 'The Wolf of Badenoch', an epic masterpiece based on the life of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan who was the third surviving son of King Robert II of Scotland, making him the great-grandson of Robert the Bruce. This album takes you on a deep hypnotic journey through the life of one of Scotland's most notorious historical figures.

On Grace, lauded American singer Lizz Wright summons her Southern heritage and the spirit of the earth to usher us into a nurturing space. Produced by acclaimed singer and songwriter Joe Henry, Grace is a stark reflection of Wright's sense of place and belonging that's deeply woven into the cultural fabric of America. Lizz offers one original, written for this record, plus inspiring interpretations of songs from Ray Charles, Bob Dylan & more.

Doug Raney was an American jazz guitarist. He was the son of Jimmy Raney. Raney began his career in his father's band, with Al Haig, at the age of 18. He later played in a duo with his father. He recorded as a leader for SteepleChase extensively in the 1970s and 1980s, and worked with Kenny Barron, Joey DeFrancesco, Billy Hart, Duke Jordan, Jesper Lundgaard, Horace Parlan, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Tomas Franck, Bernt Rosengren, and Chet Baker among others. Doug Raney moved to Denmark in 1977.

2CD set with 40 restored and remastered tracks. Rare BBC archive recordings. Authoritative liner notes and new quotes. The most comprehensive collection of The Yardbirds BBC 'live' recordings, assembled with the assistance of the BBC, with several tracks now all together the first time on this newly restored and remastered 2CD set. Several tracks have been expertly repaired from rare, hard-to-find recordings and feature for the first time on this set.
Detailed data in the booklet, which also includes authoritative liner notes by Richard Morton Jack, editor of 'Flashback' magazine, and contains new quotes from Yardbirds' Jim McCarty and Paul Samwell-Smith. Jim McCarty also adds an introduction exclusively for this the set, looking back at the BBC years…

The pirate armada of Visions Of Atlantis is ready to start a new battle on July 5, 2024 via Napalm Records. With their new opus, Pirates II - Armada, a new symphonic, cinematic, dramatic, and heavier-than-ever adventure is about to begin. Emotions, depth, richness of sound. Not only a record, but a true hurricane of feelings is what Visions Of Atlantis delivers with the second chapter of the Pirates-saga, finally proving that the band has matured and are ready to claim the crown of symphonic metal. The magnificent chants of pirate queen Clèmentine Delauney and brave captain Michele Guaitoli tell tales of strength, resistance, and resilience. Their previous album Pirates - the band’s all-time highest charting album in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, UK, USA, and Canada, and which yielded various other charting positions in Europe - set the bar as high as the waves cresting the Jolly Roger…

The music on Wizard of the Vibes features Milt Jackson with the Thelonious Monk Quartet in a 1948 session combined with a 1952 date with his bandmates from the Modern Jazz Quartet (at that time including John Lewis, Percy Heath, and Kenny Clarke) along with alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, who was oddly credited as the leader of the date on the original release, though it clearly seems to be Jackson in charge. The chemistry between Jackson and Monk on classics like "Misterioso," "Evidence," "I Mean You," and "Epistrophy" is immediately apparent, although Kenny "Pancho" Hagood's vocals on the standards "All the Things You Are" and "I Should Care" remain an acquired taste. Jackson introduces three originals on the latter session, including the debut of his highly acclaimed "Bag's Groove," which has long since become one of the most celebrated and popular jazz compositions…

Esoteric Recordings is proud to announce the release of a new re-mastered limited edition deluxe expanded boxed set of the classic album Ammonia Avenue by The Alan Parsons Project.
First released in February 1984, Ammonia Avenue was the seventh album by The The Alan Parsons Project, the brainchild of composer, musician and manger Eric Woolfson and celebrated producer and engineer Alan Parsons. The inspiration for the album title came from a visit Woolfson had made to the ICI Chemical plant in Billingham, England after meeting ICI chairman Sir John Harvey-Jones on a flight from New York. Upon visiting the plant, Eric Woolfson noticed a long street called Ammonia Avenue, devoid of people and trees and dominated by miles of pipes…