This early ECM New Series offering chronicles the music of Walter Frye, a 15th-century English composer whose biographical details are as elusive as his music is captivating. He is survived by a significant handful of vocal works, of which the Hilliard Ensemble gives us a thoughtful cross section. Of these, the Ave regina is the most well known, though the Missa Flos regalis forms the backbone of this altogether revelatory album. The mass itself - which, in true Hilliard fashion is divided among a selection of motets - is a brooding flow of delicate harmonies, seamless “hand-offs,” and intimate exchanges. Its inward-looking tone invites the listener into a prayerful space in which worldly cares are both the source of one’s burdens and the key to absolving them. Frye’s motets are also indicative of a great craftsman at work…

David Fischer Days of the Lost still stands as one majestic piece of modern melodic death metal and one of the best Gothenburg-style records in semi-recent memory, so I am very excited for March of the Unheard! I skipped (read: 'missed') most of the singles in between, but Detonate already sounds promising. Maybe THE will change things up a bit, and maybe they won't - either way, we're most likely in for a treat! More thoughts following after release!

"Okinawa" was the first LP recorded by the Baltimore group OHO. It was a private release in 1974. OHO started in late 1973 in Baltimore on the ashes of the band Little Hans. They played experimental progressive rock influenced by Frank Zappa, as well as British prog bands of the first echelon, such as King Crimson and Yes. "Okinawa" is astonishingly full of weirdness that falls somewhere in Syd Barret-era Floydland: some psychedelia, some art noise, some bizarre theatrics - but all around inventive and well-crafted.
The band name was an acronym of its core members' surnames (O'Sullivan, Heck and O'Connor). After two proper albums, Okinawa and Vitamin Oho, the band disbanded, with Jay Graboski and Mark O'Connor moving on to form the more new-wave influenced Food for Worms…

Thomas Zehetmair has fashioned a highly successful and broadly eclectic career. He is a virtuoso violinist of international repute, a chamber player who has founded a critically acclaimed quartet, a conductor of front-rank status, and a musician whose repertory in any role reaches from Baroque-era fare to the contemporary. As of the mid-2020s, Zehetmair held the conductorships of the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre National d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and the Irish Chamber Orchestra. He also holds the title of conductor laureate of the Royal Northern Sinfonia. Zehetmair was born in Salzburg, Austria, on November 23, 1961. He began violin lessons at five with his parents, both talented violinists. His advanced studies were at the Salzburg Mozarteum under his father, Helmut. He took further instruction on the violin from Nathan Milstein and Max Rostal.

Jimmie Lawrence Vaughan is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the late, Texas blues guitar legend, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Collection includes: 'Strange Pleasure' (1994); 'Out There' (1998); 'Do You Get The Blues?' (2001); Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan - 'On The Jimmy Reed Highway' (2007); 'Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites' (2010); 'Plays More Blues, Ballads & Favorites' (2011); Baby, Please Come Home (2019).

Michael’s brand new greatest hits album, ‘The Best of Bublé’, is out NOW on all streaming platforms. The compilation includes 21 essential tracks as well as two previously unreleased songs, “Quizas, Quizas, Quizas” and “Don’t Blame It On Me”.

On Keith Jarrett's first recording with his "European" quartet - Jan Garbarek (sax), Palle Danielsson (bass), Jon Christensen (drums) - he stakes out somewhat less abrasive territory than that which his "American" foursome was exploring at this time. Garbarek sports a neutral, vibratoless tone that occasionally reaches an emotional climax; the rhythm section is supportive and just loose enough. The record operates at its strongest level when Jarrett locks the quartet into his winning gospel mode on "'Long as You Know You're Living Yours" and the tense drive of "Spiral Dance"; the reflective numbers are less compelling. Still, this album successfully bucked the powerful electric trends of its time and holds up well today.

Maria João Pires Acclaimed as one of the greatest interpreters of Mozart, Portuguese pianist Maria-João Pires is an artist who combines exquisite stylistic refinement with a serious effort to plumb the intellectual complexities and spiritual depths of music. Refusing to conform to the traditional image of a concert virtuoso, Pires emphasizes the spiritual dimensions of music, always searching for hidden meanings which may elude the analytical performer. This remarkable reverence toward works of music, clearly manifested in her performances of Mozart, was made explicit by her remark that, as a performer, she acts as a channel for the composer's ideas. Interestingly, Pires views both the composer and the performer as conduits for a transcendent force. However, while approaching the work of music with immense awe, Pires is acutely aware of its formal structure, finding a certain transparency in the most intricate formal constructions. In her performances of Romantic masters, particularly Chopin and Schumann, Pires masterfully reconciles her passionate experience of the music with an admirable appreciation for the inner logic of the work she is interpreting. Reflecting her vast emotional range, her tone, as critics have observed, encompasses a dizzying variety of intensities, from an almost imperceptible lightness to an imposing monumentality, with a rich scale of intervening nuances.

Armed with purifying fire, blessed swords, and Holy Rage, Ecclesia's lyrical themes deal with the 12th Century dark medieval age of Holy Inquisition. On Ecclesia Militans, one will find a perfect syncretism between traditional heavy metal and epic doom, recalling the likes of Candlemass, the UK's Solstice, and especially Tony Martin-era Black Sabbath. Ecclesia's proselytism will convert fans of those as well as anyone who can feel the righteous fervor of medieval brimstone - now confess your sins!

Flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal was a musical giant, doing much to popularize the flute and to broaden the acceptance of Baroque music; he was the first player to establish the flute as a presence in the international concert world. His recording career extended from the era of 78 rpm recording to that of compact discs, and he was among the most frequently recorded artists of all time. Rampal was born in Marseille on January 7, 1922. His father, Joseph Rampal, was a flute teacher and the first flutist of the Marseille Symphony Orchestra, and he gave Jean-Pierre his first lessons beginning at the age of 12. Joseph Rampal tried to steer his son away from a musical career, and Jean-Pierre began to study medicine. In 1943, however, German occupation forces conscripted him, and he discovered that he was going to be sent to Germany as a forced laborer. Rampal went absent without leave, joined the French Resistance, and made his way to Paris under a new identity. There, he enrolled at the Conservatoire de Paris as a flute student, and five months later, he earned a degree with the school's top prize. Shortly thereafter, Paris was liberated, and conductor Henri Tomasi heard Rampal and invited him to perform Jacques Ibert's flute concerto on national radio in France.

'60s British pop trio the Ivy League consisted of members John Carter, Ken Lewis (previous members of Carter-Lewis and the Southerners), and Perry Ford. All three members were session singers who possessed high-pitched singing voices, forming the group in 1964. Although an initial single quickly disappeared from sight, their second single, "Funny How Love Can Be," turned out to be a surprise U.K. Top Ten hit. Further hits followed, including "That's Why I'm Crying" and a cover of "Tossin' And Turnin'," the latter of which hit number three on the U.K. charts. The original trio managed to only release a single full-length album, 1965's This Is the Ivy League, before both Carter and Lewis left the group a year later. With replacement members Tony Burrows and Neil Landon taking the recently departed original members' places, the Ivy League issued two more full-lengths, 1967's Sounds of the Ivy League and 1969's Tomorrow Is Another Day.

David Oistrakh is considered the premiere violinist of mid-20th century Soviet Union. His recorded legacy includes nearly the entire standard violin repertory up to and including Prokofiev and Bartók. Oistrakh's violin studies began in 1913 with famed teacher Pyotr Stolyarsky. Later he officially joined Stolyarsky's class at the Odessa Conservatory, graduating in 1926 by playing Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto. Performances of the Glazunov concerto in Odessa and Kiev in 1927, and a 1928 debut in Leningrad (Tchaikovsky concerto), gave Oistrakh the confidence to move to Moscow. He made his premiere there in early 1929, but the event went largely unnoticed. In 1934, however, after several years of patiently refining his craft, Oistrakh was invited to join the Moscow Conservatory, eventually rising to the rank of full professor in 1939. Meanwhile, Oistrakh was gaining success on the competition circuit, winning the 1930 All-Ukrainian contest, and the All-Soviet competition three years later. In 1935 he took second prize at the Wieniawski competition. In 1937 the Soviet government sent the now veteran violinist to Brussels to compete in the International Ysaÿe Competition, where he took home first prize.

Clara Schumann was one of the famous piano virtuosos of the 19th century. She was respected by contemporary composers such as Liszt and Thalberg, and was a self-made figure who was appointed as a university professor at a time when women's social participation was difficult.

Over time, the memory of the brilliant virtuoso that was Eugène Ysaÿe (Liège, 1858 - Brussels, 1931) ended up supplanting his status as a composer in the collective memory. It should be remembered, however, that Eugène Ysaÿe created, through his works, a fundamentally new and original genre, distinguished by a science of writing and harmonic richness. This album brings together concert works by Eugène Ysaÿe which, with the exception of the Saltarelle carnavalesque, have never been recorded in their orchestral version. It therefore invites us on a unique journey into the composer's sound universe, from his first to his last compositions written for soloist(s) and orchestra.

Nannette Streicher opened her piano workshop together with her husband and brother in Vienna at the end of the 18th century. They built well over a thousand instruments, of which only around 40 fortepianos have survived to this day. The piano parts on this album were recorded on Nannette Streicher's fortepiano with the serial number 1060. Ludwig van Beethoven himself was good friends with the couple and played their instruments. The three selected sonatas on this album span a period of 14 years, from 1798 (Op. 12/1 and 3) to 1812, the year of the composition of Op. 96 - two years before the piano used here was completed. Stefania Neonato is involved both in performance practice on historical instruments and the modern piano playing tradition. Christine Busch appears as a soloist and chamber musician in concerts worldwide, performing on both modern and baroque violins.