Frank Hooker and Positive People were an R&B group from the late ’70s\early ’80s. The group consisted of Frank Hooker (born Frank Ruppert Hooker in 1946), Al Williams, Calvin Charity, Gladys Matthews, Randy Choice, Warren Smith & Willie Vazquez.

After a stint in prison, David Crosby (guitar/vocals) emerged from his year-long incarceration a completely clean and sober (gasp!) man. His revitalization was marked by a period of unbridled creativity, yielding his second solo effort Oh Yes I Can (1989). Crosby was supporting the album during the spring 1989 tour that produced the material on this disc. The set was recorded live at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia and backed by a powerhouse combo that included longtime CSN bandmate Michael Finnigan (keyboards), Dan Dugmore (guitar), Jody Cortez (drums), and Davey Farragher (bass/vocals). Indeed, abstemiousness suits Crosby as his powerful, emotive vocals, and strident fretwork have rarely been as well defined or as energetic as they are here.

Hot on the heels of the band's 1986 debut album, this live radio broadcast recording from the Georgia Satellites captures the band's blend of Southern rock, blues and country. From the up close and personal Ritz and featuring their hit track "Keep Your Hands To Yourself", this is a great snapshot of what brought this band to the forefront of the southern rock revival. Homespun takes you on a trip to witness the rising band bringing their energetic, country-tinged rock 'n' roll to the Big Apple.

Resonance Records proudly presents the first release in 33 years from the unsung jazz guitar great who tragically died on May 4, 1990 at the age of 32. Culled from a previously unreleased collection of performances that were broadcast on KNPR Las Vegas in 1984 and 1988 as part of Alan Grant’s weekly radio program, “4 Queens Jazz Night from Las Vegas,” Cookin’ at the Queens captures Remler in quartet performances with pianist Cocho Arbe, bassist Carson Smith and drummer Tom Montgomery (1984) and trio performances with bassist Carson Smith and drummer John Pisci (1988).

Two CD set. 14 tracks new to CD. Fascinating insight into Lee Perry's musical development. Lee Perry had reached the top of the Jamaican music business as the 1970s dawned. His international chartbuster, 'Return Of Django' had not just confirmed his standing as one of reggae music's leading music makers, it also provided the funds that facilitated a significant increase in studio time, so providing the luxury of further experimentations with sound. This is clearly evident in his output throughout 1970, during which time the proto-dub recordings of his regular session band The Hippy Boys provided the primary focus of his releases. The extent to which the quartet dominated Perry's output during the first half of the year is demonstrated on this, the third volume of his Jamaican singles, with 75% of the collection comprising instrumental works. Featuring 14 of the tracks new to CD and many others unavailable on any format since the 1990s, 'Land of Kinks' not only provides a fascinating insight into the evolution of Lee Perry as a producer, it is also offers the opportunity to discover some of the most ambitious and remarkable reggae recordings of the early 70s.

This album offers a great program of works for piano trio from the 20th and 21st centuries.

As with Bach’s The Art of Fugue performed by the Berlin Saxophone Quartet (9990582), this is an alternate interpretation of some early music, this time it’s the music of the Renaissance. Music by composers such as Palestrina, Dowland, Gabrielli, Frescobaldi, Desprez and many more have been arranged for four saxophones.

Each new Handel release by The English Concert and Harry Bicket is a milestone in the composer’s discography, and the latest, Serse – ‘a spectacular treat for Handel lovers’ (The Times) – is no different. Created to astonish London audiences in 1728, Handel’s romantic and at times comic opera Serse is a spectacular drama of love, war, power and civil engineering set in ancient Persia, whose opening aria ‘Ombra mai fu’ remains an enduring favourite. Serse rules a vast empire, but the human heart is more difficult to command, and sometimes the beauty of a plane tree is the only constant in a dangerous world. The work is complemented by a world-class cast including the ‘barnstorming’ (The Daily Telegraph) Emily D’Angelo as the lovestruck king and Lucy Crowe as Romilda.

The Blue successfully expands on the sound experiment of Materia, the previous Novembre album, but also brings in elements from their earlier works. On some songs, it is easy to notice the mix of powerful death metal elements and the more mellow yet progressive side of Materia.
Contrary to their previous disc, The Blue exudes greater use of death metal-styled vocals and screams from Carmelo Orlando, but he hasn't abandoned his sombre clean tone completely. Actually, most of the tunes on The Blue boast his unmistakable clean singing a la Materia, such as "Cobalt of March" with its Ulverian intro and excellent guitar cascades; "Bluecracy" with its penchant for melodic guitar lines and groove-oriented rhythmic facade; or "Architeme" with its detailed Radiohead-like arrangement, something which has been carried over from Materia as well…

“Santtu conducts Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10” is the fifth album from Philharmonia Records. Largely interpreted as depicting Stalin’s regime in Russia, the orchestra delivers tragedy, violence and gloom before the brief but triumphant finale. Conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, this performance was recorded at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in April 2024.

The Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo continues to present early works by Donizetti that have been unjustly neglected for decades. Alfredo il Grande, a love story that explores the defeat of the invading Danish army by the victorious Britons, was first performed in 1823 and was revived in this production two centuries later. Skilfully orchestrated, it features memorable arias for the hero Alfredo, and includes a superb concluding rondo for the heroine Amalia, as well as a radiant quintet. The opera is heard here in Edoardo Cavalli’s 2021 critical edition. Gramophone called it ‘a vocally accomplished performance’ and ‘a fine revival’.

Winter's debut album for Columbia was also arguably his bluesiest and best. Straight out of Texas with a hot trio, Winter made blues-rock music for the angels, tearing up a cheap Fender guitar with total abandon on tracks like "I'm Yours and I'm Hers," "Leland Mississippi Blues," and perhaps the slow blues moment to die for on this set, B.B. King's "Be Careful with a Fool." Winter's playing and vocals have yet to become mannered or clichéd on this session, and if you've ever wondered what the fuss is all about, here's the best place to check out his true legacy.

This seventh instalment of Masaaki Suzuki's critically acclaimed series of the complete organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach includes eleven pieces from a manuscript known as the Leipzig Chorales. Conceived around 1739, this collection contains no new compositions, but rather 'reworkings' of organ chorales dating from the years 1708-17, when Bach was in Weimar.The chorale arrangements are based on established Lutheran melodies that particularly appealed to Bach.

Guitarist Emily Remler's fourth and Concord recording makes one regret even more her premature death at age 32. While her earlier dates were very much in the bop mainstream, this one (in a quartet with trumpeter John D'Earth, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Bob Moses) finds her looking ahead and partly finding her own voice on her seven diverse originals. Although she never became an innovator, Remler certainly had a lot to offer the jazz world and this fairly adventurous effort was one of the finest recordings of her short career.

For this all-Mozart twofer from Sony, piano virtuoso Lang Lang, conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and the Vienna Philharmonic present a program of piano concertos, piano sonatas, and several short solo pieces that give a good sampling of the composer's keyboard output. The roster may provoke some cognitive dissonance, though, because Harnoncourt is best known for historically informed period interpretations of Mozart, while Lang Lang and the Vienna Philharmonic are more associated with a conventional, mainstream performance style. One might expect some compromise between the two camps, yet while the orchestra incorporates some aspects of Classical sound into its playing, it remains a modern orchestra of full size, and Harnoncourt doesn't ask for the tone colors and techniques he would demand of his own Concentus Musicus Wien. For the soloist's part, Lang Lang is rather restrained and sensitive to the character of the music, and apart from some showiness in his cadenzas, he shows less of the ebullience and bravura playing he otherwise shows in Liszt or Rachmaninov.