The fifth solo release by Norwegian vocalist Solveig Slettahjell finds her in a domestic environment. This intimate album was indeed recorded at Slettahjell's home, and most of the songs feature Slettahjell's vocals with the beautiful sounding new Steinway piano that she recently purchased after winning the Norwegian Kongsberg Jazzfestival's Vital-Pris, with some spare ensemble arrangements. As such the focus is on Slettahjell's arresting warm vocal, that can stretch to a surprising range, and her wise and restrained slow motion phrasing, that charges every line with subtle, poetic nuance.

A very unusual session for Carmen – a live recording that features only her vocals and piano, on spare readings of a number of sophisticated songs that ably demonstrate the class and care she was bringing to her work at the time. Carmen's credited as playing the piano on the session – and titles include "The Last Time For Love", "More Than You Know", "I Can't Escape From You", "I Could Have Told You", "Please Be Kind", and "Supper Time".

Azhar Kamal was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1966. He started talking classical guitar lessons at the age of 9 years. From 1984 – 86 he studied guitar and composition at the Musikhochschule Freiburg, in 1988 he moved to London where he performed and recorded with a.o. Bobby Womack, Keziah Jones, Courney Pine, Steve Williamson, carmen (produced by Tony Visconti) etc. 1991 he reteurned to Germany where he worked as studio musician with f.e. Milva, Gite Haening, Julio Iglesias, acoustic world project; from 1995 to 1997 he teached at the Munich guitar Institute; since 1997 he works as composer and producer for TV and film music; since 1999 he has his own production company (with warner brothers ) working with pop acts like readymade, miles, star, willy astor etc. For his first solo album he invited some of europes best jazz musicians (Roberto DiGioia on piano and johannes Enders saxophon) to play with him; his friend Klaus Voorman did the cover painting.

"Havana" This album not only featured vibrant Cuban dance rhythms such as the mambo and the cha cha cha, but it was actually recorded in Havana in the famous state-owned EGREM studios. Working with a group of talented musicians and a huge brass section, Dany Brillant captured the torrid ambiance of the Cuban capital in his new songs which were recorded "live" in the studio then remixed in Paris. The result - a perfect fusion of Dany's crooning style and the wildly frenetic dance rhythms of Cuba - bridged the generation gap and appealed to younger music fans too. In fact, "Havana" proved to be a massive hit with music fans, and even went on to earn Brillant a platinum disc after sales topped the 300,000 mark

2004 Album from the Italian Jazz/Bossa DJ Whose Notoriety in the Jazz Community Extends as Far as the Acid Jazzers who have Wholeheartedly Embraced his Work. For this Outing, None of the Instruments Are Sampled, all Are Played and Conte Functions More as a Conductor. An Ambitious Move on his Part and Further Extending his Artistry.

"A consistently brilliant player over the past 25 years, Wakenius stands to gain considerably more attention on the strength of this beautifully conceived and eminently accessible album." – Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
"Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius' style has clearly been filtered through Keith Jarrett and Pat Metheny, but that's not to imply he lacks his own voice … By approaching not only some of Jarrett's more well-known songs, but also material from his solo piano improvisations, Wakenius proves Jarrett's statement that the real time compositional nature of improvisation is more than self-justification for abandoning conventional writing." – All About Jazz

Music for yoga is such a cliché that you could slap that moniker on a Barry Manilow CD and have it sold as a soundtrack for Downward Facing Dog pose. Yoga music has become a made-to-order commodity, and rarely attains the level of art. The title Music for Yoga and Other Joys doesn't bode well, but then, it has Jai Uttal, a veteran of world fusion going back 15 years and a devotee of kirtan singing teaming up with multi-instrumentalist Ben Leinbach for a series of extended improvisations. Leinbach creates a shifting back drop of chilled, Indian-derived grooves and textures like liquid mercury dipped in a fractal swirl. It's a perfect modal backdrop for Uttal, who improvises freely on an Indian stringed instrument called the dotar, electric guitar, and even banjo. Pieces like the 26-minute "Govinda" extend in a free fall until a rhythm loop drops in. Uttal swaps to a fuzzed out electric guitar solo that eventually merges into an improvised kirtan, his voice coiling in note-bending spirals like soul singing from the east. This may be music for yoga, but it's the other joys that will keep you coming back.

"Sometimes in life, we meet someone with whom we feel an instant connection. This was the case with Benito and me. We both have running through our veins a love and passion for the spirit and music so particular with the region of southern Italy where we both spent the early years of our childhood. We were immediately aware of the compatibility of his voice and my guitar and were delighted to have the opportunity to share our music on this recording."