This music knows its roots, but it burns brightly in the present. From today's perspective, traditional jazz is set back about 60 years: swing and bebop have been absorbed, the free approach to the material has reached its first high points, the radicalism of free jazz has only just begun. Reflecting this aesthetic, the Maurice Storrer Quartet plays entirely in the here and now.

Flautist Lina Andonovska and pianist Alex Raineri’s PARALLEL PLAY presents works by living composers — Sarah Kirkland Snider, Judith Ring, Marc Mellits, and Paul Dean — alongside Andonovska’s own adaptation (from an existing arrangement by Emmanuel Pahud) of Richard Strauss’s Sonata in E-flat, Op. 18. Made possible in part by Creative Australia, this album of chamber music explores the timbral and lyrical possibilities of the flute-piano duo as a uniquely expressive partnership. From the restive intimacy of Parallel Play to the euphoric turbulence of All You Can Do Is Hang On For Dear Life, Andonovska and Raineri’s performances weave together emotional extremes with clarity, virtuosity, and control.

Poul Schierbeck (1888-1949) stands tall among Denmark's foremost composers of the early 20th century. His legacy, marked by a prolific career, shines particularly bright in his masterful orchestral compositions, the operatic gem "Fête Galante," and his melodic prowess showcased in songs such as the enchanting 'Du kære, blide danske bæk' ('You dear, gentle Danish stream').

O muse, comt nv voort: Dutch Songs of Love and Freedom from Aliud Records is an anthology of the Dutch contrafact and contains poetry set to music. The songs are performed by Duo Seraphim featuring Margot Kalse (Mezzo Soprano) and Elly Van Munster (Lute).

With Meditatio I released in 2016, the Schola Cantorum Reykjavicensis and Hörður Áskelsson presented music commemorating the departed. Recorded some six years later, Meditatio II similarly contains compositions that interpret man’s thoughts and feelings about death, and celebrate the immobility and beauty found in age-old church texts such as Ave verum corpus, In paradisum, Lux æterna and Agnus Dei. With one exception, the fifteen works for mixed a cappella choir – none longer than 6 minutes – were written in the 21st century, and they originate in America and Europe. Seven Icelandic composers are represented, five of them from current or former members of the Schola Cantorum.

In June 2022, The RAH Band performed their first ever live show at The Jazz Cafe in London. Touchdown: Live at The Jazz Cafe is essential listening for anyone wishing to relive this historic event. The vinyl album includes tracks 1-10 and comes with a signed postcard from Richard Hewson himself, and the digital album contains 7 bonus tracks. Join us at Omeara in London on 25th November 2023 for The RAH Band's second ever live show!

A real star in Morocco, Oum has made a name for herself in Europe thanks to her songs that mix traditional North African styles with soul, jazz and electronic music. In March 2020, the tour of her third album Daba had to be suspended due to the outbreak of the global pandemic. To transcend this trying time, Oum has developed an alternative project with Cuban saxophonist M-Carlos.

n the realm of classical music, Rued Langgaard (1893–1952) is a composer who continues to surprise. Each encounter with his arch-Romantic oeuvre promises a departure into uncharted territory, a testament to his ever-evolving creative spirit. This holds particularly true of his songs to Danish texts, many of which are recorded here for the first time, performed by Louise McClelland Jacobsen and Kristian Riisager. In these songs, from his early days as a hyper-talented teenager through to his first works as a young visionary in his early twenties, we draw near to the essence of Langgaard, not only as a musical genius but as a human being.

Esteemed Spotted Peccary artists Deborah Martin and Erik Wøllo reunite with their daring and vibrant release Kinishba, the follow-up to their dynamic 2009 album Between Worlds, which initiated listeners to another time and place, honoring the Apache people and the sacred nature of Native American culture.

Celebrated Baroque violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk gives a seemingly effortless performance of one of the most technically and intellectually challenging works in the solo violin repertory. Drawing on his wealth of knowledge and virtuosic prowess, Beznosiuk gives an intimate and thoughtful reading full of passion and vitality that is highly attuned to J. S. Bach's intentions.

Daba means ‘Now’ in Moroccan. Giving this title to her third album is, for Oum, all about linking yesterday’s experience to the one determined by the present moment. In this ‘now’, the singer, having achieved a certain artistic maturity, is able to mix traditional Arab and Sahraoui elements with discreet borrowings from more contemporary aesthetics – soul, jazz and electronic trance.

ABC Classic is thrilled to present the world premiere recordings of two concertos by Elena Kats-Chernin: Ancient Letters, inspired by 1700-year-old letters from the Silk Road, and her third piano concerto, Lebewohl, written expressly for acclaimed Australian pianist Tamara-Anna Cislowska, who brings these passionate and profoundly moving works to life with her unique combination of dazzling virtuosity and poetic sensitivity.

They’ve always sounded of their own time and place, but on their long-awaited fourth album, BASK take Heavy Americana to a whole new dimension.

I’ve always wanted to express the things I love most about music: the memorable themes of cinema, the freedom of jazz, the steady pulse of rock.

What do you get when a Puerto Rican-American oboist falls in love with the music of a French oboist-composer?