Wolfgang Dauner, one of the few internationally renowned German jazz musicians, was born in Stuttgart on Dec. 30, 1935. Oddly enough, having learnt to play the piano as a child, he eventually graduated from the conservatory in Stuttgart with a major in “trumpet”. Yet, it is the piano that remains his great love. He fancied contemporary jazz and, in 1963, founded his first own band: The Wolfgang Dauner Trio, with Eberhard Weber playing the bass and Fred Braceful on the drums. He would continue playing with these musicians well into the 1970ies. Dauner is extremely important with regard to modern jazz and jazz rock in Germany, and his efforts can be compared to the spade work Miles Davis did for jazz and jazz rock in the USA.

Five-time PROG magazine award winning BIG BIG TRAIN are proud to announce the release of EMPIRE! Empire is a Blu-ray/2CD digipack release with a 16-page booklet, which captures the final show of Big Big Train's autumn 2019 UK tour. Recorded at the Hackney Empire in London, the twelve song set runs to almost 115 minutes and features the full Big Big Train live band plus the five-piece brass section. The show includes material from The Underfall Yard, English Electric, Folklore, Grimspound and Grand Tour studio albums.

This edition of Dutton Vocalion's two-fer series features a pair of LPs by Engelbert Humperdinck: "We Made It Happen" and "Sweetheart", originally issued on Decca in 1970 and 1971. Highlights among the 23 tracks include cover versions of "'My Cherie Amour," "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," and "For the Good Times." Casual listeners should pick up Engelbert Humperdinck Gold on Hip-O/Deram before delving into these recordings.

Bob Mintzer, mostly on tenor but also playing a bit of bass clarinet (on "A Method to the Madness") and EWI, pays tribute to the late, great electric bassist Jaco Pastorius on this CD. Mintzer had worked with Pastorius in his "Word of Mouth" Orchestra. Surprisingly, Mintzer only plays one Pastorius tune ("Three Views of a Secret") and instead performs seven originals inspired by feelings he had about his experiences with the bassist. With either Jeff Andrews and/or Michael Formanek on bass, former Pastorius associate Peter Erskine on drums and keyboardist Joey Calderazzo, the music is never less than excellent, and Jaco would have enjoyed it.

Birth of a great new band, captured live at New York’s celebrated Village Vanguard, with repertoire emphasizing Paul Motian’s wonderful ballad writing. New Motian tunes are juxtaposed with “Bird Song” (from “Tati”) and “Drum Music” and “Abacus” (first heard on Paul’s now legendary album “Le Voyage”). A free exploration of Irving Berlin’s “Be Careful It’s My Heart” completes a programme distinguished by gloriously supple playing from all three participants who are in tune at a high level. Or, as the New York Times noted, reviewing the concerts from which this album was drawn: “The accumulated wisdom within the band was clear.”

Expansive 13 disc (12 CDs + NTSC/Region 0 DVD) collection of solo material by Queen drummer Roger Taylor including albums from his side project The Cross. This box set celebrates his 35 years of activity outside of his `day job' in Queen…

Allegri’s Miserere, its heartbreaking harmonies, its verses alternately chanted and ornamented, its seraphic voices: sheer Baroque magic. Since its composition in Rome in 1630, the work has constantly been transformed. Le Poème Harmonique approaches the score through the prism of its metamorphoses, the ornaments and transpositions added since the time when Mozart himself transcribed the piece, then jealously guarded by the Vatican, which punished publication of it with anathema.

Up & Coming Jazz Talents is a project where Bohuslän Big Band meets young, sharp jazz musicians. Together we play music that the talents choose. The project was started in 2013 and returns every year. The meeting between the band and the young musicians creates new musical exchanges and also opportunities for future collaboration. Several of the young musicians we played with earlier in the project have either returned as guest artists or substitutes in the Bohuslän Big Band. This album resulted in the 2020 edition of Up & Coming Jazz Talents in fantastic concerts at Vara Konserthus and Nefertiti where the audience got to hear tomorrow's jazz stars. His interest - late in life - in popular song and his high TV profile in much loved opera and stage show numbers. He retained his inimitable vocal timbre with it's positively sensual beauty of sound throughout his long singing career. This "gold standard" was attained at best by Fritz Wunderlich in the German-speaking world. Schock's personality and his stage presence assured him a loyal following; later generations can form their own picture with the aid of the present recordings.

The Pixies are associated with the 1990s alternative rock boom, and draw on elements including punk rock and surf rock. Their music is known for its dynamic "loud-quiet" shifts and song structures. Francis is the Pixies' primary songwriter; his often surreal lyrics cover offbeat subjects such as extraterrestrials, incest, and biblical violence. They achieved modest popularity in the US, but were more successful in Europe. Their jarring pop sound influenced acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. Their popularity grew in the years after their break-up, leading to sold-out world tours following their reunion in 2004.

Founded by childhood friends Evan Stephens Hall and Zack Levine, Pinegrove have already crafted three fantastic albums - Everything So Far (2015), Cardinal (2016), and Skylight (2018) – and achieved massive critical acclaim and a widespread and devoted listenership. The band’s latest album (and first for Rough Trade) Marigold, arrived in January of 2020, and its themes of reflection and resilience have resonated through an especially tumultuous year. Now with tours cancelled and time on their hands, the band have decided to put together something special for their fans.

We announce the SIGNUM saxophone quartet release “Echoes”, a new digital album on Deutsche Grammophon. The four musician’s recording showcases the full potential of the saxophone – a modern instrument but one more than capable of capturing the echoes of the past. Two of its tracks, arrangements of works by the hugely successful contemporary composers Joep Beving and Max Richter, will be pre-released as digital singles, complete with e-videos. Watch and listen to Ab Ovo (arr. Knoth), from Beving’s album Prehension, released on 1 December 2020.

One of the first tuba players to lead his own recording session in a bebop setting, Ray Draper was only 16 when he recorded the music on this CD reissue, his debut. Teamed in a sextet with trumpeter Webster Young (also making his recording debut), altoist Jackie McLean, pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Spanky DeBrest, and drummer Ben Dixon, Draper fits in pretty well.

Finnish percussionist Markku Ounaskari made a strong impression on producer Manfred Eicher during the recording of Sinikka Langeland’s “Starflowers” album and was invited to present his own project. The inspirational genesis for Kuara would be Russian psalms and Finno-Ugrian folk songs from Finnish tribes living in Russian territories. Similar to western jazz musicians drawing inspiration from their cultural surroundings this effort embraces the simple melancholy that is their cultural starting point for improvised melody.

Joshua Redman's sophomore effort found him leading a piano-less quartet that also included guitar great Pat Metheny and half of Ornette Coleman's trailblazing late-'50s/early-'60s quartet: acoustic bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins. With such company, Redman could have delivered a strong avant-garde or free jazz album; Haden and Higgins had played an important role in jazz's avant-garde because of their association with Coleman, and Metheny had himself joined forces with Coleman on their thrilling Song X session of 1985. But Wish isn't avant-garde; instead, it's a mostly inside post-bop date that emphasizes the lyrical and the introspective…