After La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein, and La Fille du régiment, Virgin Classics develops its DVD catalogue with yet a new stage production by renowned director Laurent Pelly (his 3rd for the label) accompanied by his assistant Agathe Mélinand who again adapted the dialogues as in the other productions. Filmed in Lyons during the performances (18th December – 1st January 2008) the production and the cast re-enacted in our moderns times the satirical portrayal of Parisian life in the Second Empire. The performances were a hit: Laurent Pelly brought to Offenbach’s operetta all the gusto and humour the subject calls for – his staging is wild and frenzied. La Vie parisienne was Offenbach's first full-length piece to portray contemporary Parisian life, unlike his earlier period pieces and mythological subjects. It became one of Offenbach's most popular operettas.

In an age of excess, 12" singles were a prime place for a band to preen, play out their pretensions, and indulge their every passing fancy. Programming the drum machine for an extra two minutes of tedium or allowing the rhythm section to carry on (and on) without the rest of a band was a popular maneuver for the creatively challenged (I mean you, Thompson Twins), with few bands actually utilizing the space in a meaningful manner…

A Minneapolis, Michel Portal a osé. Osé comme bien peu de ses confrères improvisateurs hexagonaux – et même américains ! Rendez-vous compte : pour la première fois, ce poly-souffleur virtuose doublé d’un bandéoniste attachant a confronté ses chants à la beauté tourmentée aux éclectismes en tous genres d’une joyeuse bande de créateurs non profilés : Vernon Reid (ex-Living Colour, Tony Hymas, ex-Jeff Beck, Sonny Thompson et Michael Bland, ex-compagnons de roots du NPG de Prince).

Despite a huge hit single in the mid-'70s ("The Boys Are Back in Town") and becoming a popular act with hard rock/heavy metal fans, Thin Lizzy are still, in the pantheon of '70s rock bands, underappreciated. Formed in the late '60s by Irish singer/songwriter/bassist Phil Lynott, Lizzy, though not the first band to do so, combined romanticized working-class sentiments with their ferocious, twin-lead guitar attack. As the band's creative force, Lynott was a more insightful and intelligent writer than many of his ilk, preferring slice-of-life working-class dramas of love and hate influenced by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and virtually all of the Irish literary tradition…

Irakere (faux-Yoruba for 'forest') is a Cuban band founded by pianist Chucho Valdés (son of Bebo Valdés) in 1973. They won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording in 1980 with their album Irakere. Irakere was a seminal musical laboratory, where historic innovations in both Afro-Cuban jazz and Cuban popular dance music were created. The group used a wide array of percussion instruments like batá, abakuá and arará drums, chequerés, erikundis, maracas, claves, cencerros, bongó, tumbadoras (congas), and güiro.

With her sophomore album, 2020's magical and earthy Cha Cha Palace, singer/songwriter Angelica Garcia embraces her family's Mexican and Salvadoran roots, crafting an explosive collage out of her varied influences. A Los Angeles native, Garcia grew up listening to an eclectic combination of mariachi music, Latin pop, jazz, country, and indie rock.

Bill Evans Quintet - Interplay (1962) {Riverside Japan, VDJ-1546, Early Press}
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© 1962, 1986 Riverside / Victor Japan | VDJ-1546
Jazz / Modal Music / Post Bop / Piano

A real standout in the Bill Evans catalog for Riverside – and that's saying a lot, given how important all of his Riverside albums are! The session's a rare quintet outing for Evans – one that breaks the mode of the usual trio format by adding in Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Jim Hall on guitar – alongside rhythm players Percy Heath on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums – already a unique enough match for Evans' talents. In a way, the record's one of those sessions that Riverside would sometimes do – pairing a key new voice as a leader with others in an all-star group – but in another way, it's also a return to the sound that first brought Evans' to a wider audience in the 1957 and 1958 years – when he was working in non-trio groups with more famous players – adding his unique piano stylings to their (then) better-known solo modes.

Gil Scott-Heron - Village Gate New York 1976 (2014) {Klondike Records KLCD5009}
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© 1976, 2014 Klondike Records | KLCD5009
Jazz / Funk / Spoken Word / Soul / Fusion

New York's VIIIVR-FM captured a treasured broadcast by Gil-Scott Heron. A highly-revered artist whose work has remained headily influential over many respected hip hop contemporaries. His appearance alongside Brian Jackson and the Midnight Band at the Village gate in 1976 has since garnered widespread affection and admiration amongst collectors, fans and critics alike.

Alfred Deller - The Complete Vanguard Recordings, Vol.5 - English, French and Italian Madrigals (2009) {6CD Set}
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© 2009 Vanguard Classics / Musical Concepts | MC 196
Classical / Choral / Vocal Music / Madrigals

I grew up listening these recordings in LP. I always loved these charming performances of selected English, French, and Italian madrigals. At last we have these musical treasures in six Vanguard boxes. The dean of the countertenors, Alfred Deller, didn`t have a beautiful voice, but, as Callas among the sopranos, was instead, a very great singer and performer. Everything he and the ensemble sing is witty or moving. Not all the voices singing in the Deller Ensemble were really fine, but there is an outstanding unity in every piece and in the whole thing.

Eddie Palmieri - Mambo Con Conga Is Mozambique (1965) {Tico Records SLP 1126}
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© 1965 Tico Records | SLP 112
Jazz / Afro-Cuban Jazz / Latin Jazz / Salsa / Tropical / Piano

Eddie Palmieri first hit in the '60s with his classic two-trombone sound. This is one of his finest albums; unassuming, joyous, punchy, and sharp, it has the outstanding Ismael Quintana on vocals and Manny Oquendo on timbales. All of the songs are great to listen to and very danceable. Another CLASSIC by the great EDDIE PALMIERI from the mid 1960's. I liked every track on the album, no need to skip to the next song, that is why I rate it a 5***** Classic. This is a great addition to anyone's Latin music collection especially if the like to listen to music while doing chores at home, this will get you dancing or in the mood to go out social dancing.

Anyone who knew anything about Pink Floyd knew that a dance band they were not, so this compilation, courtesy of Columbia Records, was intended ironically…

This album contains six pieces written by French composer/artist Bruno Duplant, all composed and realized by Dutch pianist/composer Reinier van Houdt. Duplant's scores 'Lettres (pour Reinier van Houdt)' (2017) are three letter-form scores personally addressed to van Houdt containing letter sequences distributed across the page. 'Trois replis d'incertitude' (2018) are also three letter-form scores but with the notion of 'repli' (meaning 'fold' in a Deleuzian postmodern baroque sense as well as 'withdrawal' of incertitude and reactionaries toward the neglect of ecology, humanism, and culture). Duplant's scores also reflect Mallarmé's notion of textual space and chance, leaving a large room for the interpreter/performer.