For Ferruccio Busoni, Bach’s music was the root and the foundation of piano playing. His many transcriptions confirm this point of view, whilst his monumental Fantasia Contrappuntistica attempts to provide a conclusion to Bach’s unfinished Kunst der Fuge. Busoni received a great deal of criticism for this, to which he replied “the musical art-work exists both within and outside of Time… there is no Old or New. There is only Known or Unknown”. Today — one century and many fashions of “authentic” ways of performing Bach later — is possibly the time to rediscover the true voice of this great musician; for Bach, music was like “a divine child who did not touch the earth with his feet but floated on air”. Jan Michiels takes you into this divine air with an ‘old’ Bechstein from 1860 as well as with a brand new Straight Strung Grand Piano by Chris Maene.

Melodiya presents the string duet of brothers Ivan and Mikhail Pochekin. This is another Melodiya present for music lovers that acquaint us with representatives of musical performing art of the new generation. The young soloists continue a renowned musical dynasty their father is a famous violin maker, and their mother is a violin teacher. Prize-winners of prestigious international competitions, Ivan and Mikhail Pochekin have appeared at some of the leading venues of Russia, Europe and the world, and been active as both solo and ensemble performers for a decade. An unusual composition of this album is noteworthy it is a sort of two-part concert where the first part is dedicated to musical classicism and the other to Russian music of the 20th century.

With the arrival of Delta Lady: The Rita Coolidge Anthology, one can only remark: what took so long? No other singer – not Maria Muldaur, Bette Midler, Bonnie Bramlett, Carly Simon, or Linda Ronstadt – more perfectly embodied the wide range of changes that popular music underwent from the late '60s through the mid-'80s, and continues to seek new means of expression today. This two-disc anthology on Hip-O offers the first complete portrait of this complex and multivalent talent on CD (though a box set would have been nice). Rita Coolidge scored her first chart hit with friend Donna Weiss' "Turn Around and Love You" in 1969. That song earned her a studio spot where she fell in with Delaney & Bonnie, Leon Russell, and a huge cast of musicians. Being a background vocalist on Delaney & Bonnie's classic Accept No Substitute earned her a place on Russell and Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen revue and the rest is history, including a handful of chart hits and guest appearances that stagger the mind.

This disc, which has Dr. John at the controls as a producer, brings together a mix that brings out the best for all those concerned and involved with this project. There is no weakness here, it is a straight-ahead use of all the strengths of Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Johnny Copeland. The songs were well selected to effectively show off all her potency as a vocalist. There are some many good writers that are also players on this disc that the tunes fit like gloves. There are strong contributions by John "Fingers" Hahn, Mac Rebennack, and Shemekia Copeland herself. The tunes, varied in style, are all based in the deep blues, and were selected for their capability to push her vocal talents to constant new personal pinnacles. She keeps it interesting by varying the pace and on "The Push I Need," she sounds right at home singing this funky tune as a duet with Dr. John. She stays with the good Dr. through the tune as if she were doing this everyday. Then she turns around and seems just as comfortable singing "Happy Valentine's Day," as a slow bluesy torch-burner, with minimal accompaniment.

One of the group's better albums, despite coming so late in their history that it was ignored by almost everyone. "Hope," "Fire Brothers," and "Don't Cry for My Lady Love" are among the best songs the group ever cut, and "I Found Love" is one of the prettiest, most upbeat songs ever to come from any classic San Francisco band. Some of the rest is self-indulgent, but that's what this era of music was about - the guitar pyrotechnics of "Song for Frisco" and "Play My Guitar" make them both more entertaining than their somewhat bland melodies; the latter song, in particular, sounds like a Marty Balin/Jefferson Airplane outtake that would have been right on target about four years before the release date of this album. The whole record feels that way, a throwback to the psychedelic era circa late 1967. It's also very much a folk-rock record, with a rich acoustic guitar texture on many of the songs…

Sessions like this are proof that Jimmy was one of the most fantastic organ players ever - as his work with large arrangements (supplied here by Claus Ogerman) always seems to groove better than his work with small combos. His sound is impeccable, and he soars ahead of the rest of the orchestra with hard biting soulful solos that are just amazing.

Another fairly unknown band heading from Italy, Gruppo D'alternativa was formed in Milano in the early 70's and managed to release one album (named "Ipotesi") before they splitted and drowned into further obscurity. Some could consider them as a 'proto-RIO' band due to their activity long before the first RIO movement in the late 70's, and their alternative and experimental prog-rock sound confirms this well although they also reveal some notable Jazz-Rock/Canterbury influences in their sound. "Ipotesi" was based on the death of a friend of the band who was killed in a road accident some time before the album was written, but whenever this explains the bands musical approach is unknown. After a request for a more commercial second album from the record company, the band decided to disband. They are a very unpredictable and playful band musically, but at the same time quite challenging, especially for more unexperienced listeners.

Organ Harvest was launched at the band's most prestigious performance to date, the Klemdag festival in Holland, confir.m,i.ng R.M.I.'s rise to prominence in the field of modern electronic music. The album is a 62 minute epic consisting of six segued pieces all chosen to create a satisfying whole. For the first time there are thematic structures, on both the title track and the Floydian finale 'A Minute of Silence'. Elsewhere the spirit of improvisation still dominates; 'Geiger' and 'Rainy Day Song' are sequencer led explorations that demonstrate growing confidence in the principle "less is more". The surrounding textural sections show that R.M.I. are unique in their ability to create blissful soundworlds of depth and beauty which melt into your environment.

In 1919, the cellist Marix Loevensohn ordered a duo sonata from Henriëtte Bosmans, which he wanted to perform in one of his recitals. He received what he had requested and thus opened the "cellistic" section of the young composer's oeuvre, which was soon followed by two concertos and a Poème with orchestra (jpc 11794494) as well as various piano-accompanied pieces. Partly inspired by Loevensohn, partly by her friend Frieda Belifante, the result was a collection that bears witness to a talent that was as self-confident as it was sensitive: The massive cornerstones of the Sonata enclose lovely songfulness à la Brahms and Debussystian splashes of color, the three Impressions flirt with different eras and landscapes, the Nocturne for cello and harp can't get enough in dreamy indulgences - and the sensitive spirit willingly melts away.