This set features two sizzling horns mingling in a decidedly frenetic dance contest. These songs hop and bounce with enduring vitality. A definite coolness exists within the searing solos of the two trumpet kings as they empty their lungs, executing mind-spinning, scale-like passages and high notes, and there's a palpable sense of competition as they take turns performing their acrobatic brass-work. They can both propel notes from their horns like nobody's business, yet their tonal and stylistic differences create two distinct elements within the music. Bassist Ray Brown's tempos provide a cool structure for the flurries of notes the trumpets cast forth. Some of the most poetic moments from these 1954 recordings are when their collaboration intertwines them within the passages, but their supercharged blowing naturally finds a subtler ground and tact when they come together in a musical braid work that's no less affecting than their solos.

The 1993 release of Wild Wood single handedly changed Weller's persona. No longer was he only 'Paul Weller of The Jam/Style Council', now he was the larger than life 'Modfather,' the patriarch of Britpop, championed by groups like Oasis and all things hip. Led by a renewed creative spark and expanded influences including Nick Drake, Traffic and even Crosby, Stills & Nash, Weller produced, according to Q Magazine, a 'pastoral coming of age masterpiece.' Wild Wood single-handedly defined Weller as a solo artist while simultaneously wrenching British rock from the grips of techno in the UK and the imposing influence of grunge from the west. This Deluxe Edition reissue includes a 32-page booklet with extensive new liner notes by Lois Wilson, including brand new interviews with Weller and others. Musically, there is an expanse of bonus material including b sides, demos, BBC session versions and unreleased tracks reinforcing the fact that Wild Wood, as Uncut Magazine put it, '…made the Modfather, and changed British rock.'

This is a good collection of piano-accompanied vocals sporting bluesmen who worked the lumber camps and oil fields of rural Texas, as well as the red-light districts of cities like Galveston and Houston. Big Boy Knox shows a strong city influence in his decorative right-hand work, as does Robert Cooper, whose playing points to the influence of Fats Waller. Joe Pullem is on board with his hit, "Black Gal," which is perhaps overstated by three takes and a variation. The vocals are good, however, and the piano playing is uniformly excellent. Stylistically, this music falls somewhere between ragtime, blues, and vaudeville.

Expanded release for the debut album by Noel Redding's band with eight bonus tracks. Recorded in 1969, Fat Mattress was the eponymous debut album by the band formed by Jimi Hendrix Experience bass guitarist Noel Redding. The album evoked the influences of the time, touching upon styles pioneered by groups such as Traffic (whose member Chris Wood guested on the record). A superb piece of psychedelic rock in it's own right, Fat Mattress failed to get the attention it deserved at the time of release (despite a tour as support act to the Hendrix Experience) but has subsequently been hailed as a classic of the era. This Esoteric reissue has eight bonus tracks comprising non-album singles, mono mixes, studio out-takes and an unreleased solo single by Fat Mattress’ Jim Leverton.

40 Great Original Hits By Original Artists: Vera Lynn, Fred Astaire, Gracie Fields, Harry Roy, Al Bowlly, Joe Loss, The Andrews Sisters, Jo Stafford, Noel Coward, Geraldo, and many more.

What a rare treat to get a second album from I'm With Her, the folky supergroup of Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan and Sara Watkins—who all have thriving, busy careers as recording and touring musicians. It's been seven years since the trio's excellent See You Around, and Wild and Clear and Blue was worth the wait. In fact, it might even top their debut. Opener "Ancient Light" gets right under your skin, with Jarosz taking the vocal lead before the others join in to harmonize and trade verses. Watkins' fiddle is pleasantly sharp, and the song's spirit evokes moody '90s-style folk—the era of Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan—but also the otherworldly vocal blending of the McGarrigle Sisters.

Peggy Lee's alluring tone, distinctive delivery, breadth of material, and ability to write many of her own songs made her one of the most captivating artists of the vocal era, from her breakthrough on the Benny Goodman hit "Why Don't You Do Right" to her many solo successes that showed her bewitching vocal power, a balance between sultry swing and impeccable musicianship. Lee started out in the early '40s as the vocalist for the Goodman band, and shortly thereafter became a star in her own right. Though she had numerous pop hits, she constantly crossed the line between pop and jazz, and was hailed by numerous critics as one of America's finest singers in either genre. In addition, Lee was involved in the film world as both an actress and a composer, most actively in the '50s (she received an Academy Award nomination for her role in Pete Kelly's Blues).

Some of their most loved songs, fan favourites and tracks they have never performed live before. From Global hits such as Cruel Summer, Venus, I Heard A Rumour, Robert de Niro’s Waiting and Look On The Floor (Hypnotic Tango) to Only Your Love and Move in My Direction, through to last year’s ultra modern dance pop tracks Feel The Love and Supernova.

Surprising as it may seem, there has never been a complete recording of Bizet’s songs. The formidable team assembled here fills this gap and offers a chance to discover a little-known side of his vocal music, with numerous rarities, early works, alternative versions and other unpublished pieces compiled by the leading specialists and accompanied by period instruments. On the 150th anniversary of his death, the creator of Carmen richly deserved this tribute!

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the long overdue release of the re-mastered edition of the classic 1975 album Bundles by the celebrated Jazz and Rock group Soft Machine. The album was the band s first for EMI's Harvest label and featured a line-up of Mike Ratledge (keyboards), Karl Jenkins (Oboe, Piano, Soprano Sax), John Marshall (Drums), Roy Babbington (Bass) and new member Allan Holdsworth (Guitar). An accessible collection, Bundles featured Holdsworth’s considerable guitar playing talents and opened a new chapter for the band, and attracted much praise upon release. Unavailable on CD for nearly 15 years, this Esoteric Recordings reissue has been re-mastered from the original tapes and fully restores the original artwork.

There could be no better introduction to the sound of the Boston Symphony, in the repertoire in which it became most famous, than this French collection with Charles Munch. Sometimes wild and unpredictable in concert performances, Munch's conducting here is both visceral yet elegant, full of mystery when called for and unbridled in its passion at other times. 1962 Recordings.

Korean violinist Bomsori releases a further pre-release track of her upcoming second solo album on DG that focuses around two masterpieces of the violin repertoire: the Bruch and Korngold violin concertos. Having played these works since childhood, Bomsori formed a wonderful collaboration with Jakub Hrůša and the Bamberger Symphoniker for her new recording. The album is rounded out with a selection of further pieces by Korngold that are arranged and transcribed for violin, both with orchestra and for violin and piano.

After an outpouring of seven acclaimed albums over a decade, accompanied by rapturously received touring all over Europe and North America, it's been nearly four years since the Hedvig Mollestad Trio released their triumphal seventh album, “Ding Dong. You're Dead”. Mollestad's pent-up delight in reconnecting with cofounders Ellen Brekken (bass) and Ivar Loe Bjornstad (drums) pervades “Bees in the Bonnet”'s thirty-seven adventurous, invigorating, beautifully baffling yet accessible minutes as they continue to blur boundaries between progressive rock and jazz and heavy psychedelia with their signature telepathic chemistry, nuanced sonority and uplifting spirit. Enjoy "Golden Griffin" while waiting for a fabulous album!

'For The Love Of It All' is more than trumpeter and composer Brandon Woody's recording debut; it is a manifesto, a ritual, a hymn to the enduring power of love. Joined by his band Upendo - Troy Long (piano, organ, Rhodes, keyboards), Quincy Phillips (drums), and Michael Saunders (bass) with special guests Imani Grace (vocals), Vittorio Stropoli (aux synth) - Woody extends an invitation into communion through six captivating original compositions.

In the kingdom of Cornouaille on the Breton coast, the war between Prince Karnac and the inhabitants of the town of Ys is finally coming to an end. The condition of the peace treaty is that Karnac will marry Princess Margared. But her love for Mylio, who is betrothed to her sister Rozenn, will provoke a terrible tidal wave fomented by her thirst for revenge. Edouard Lalo found an inspiring libretto here, which he handled with a sense of theatrical urgency rarely achieved. The characters live out their passions, supported by vehement, colourful orchestration. The role of Margared, in particular, deserves to be numbered among the most successful in French Romantic opera. First performed in Paris in 1888, the work scored a triumph that was repeated at every revival in the provinces and abroad. Though barely two hours long, it teems with dramatic situations: Breton festivals, the supernatural appearance of Saint Corentin, a wedding accompanied by the organ, a tidal wave whose tumultuous billows are rendered to great effect. Le Roi d'Ys amply merited an ambitious staging at the Paris Opera, which it was unfortunately denied in Lalo's lifetime.