The Choir of New College Oxford, one of the most acclaimed British choral ensembles, makes its Linn debut with a recording of works by the English Renaissance composer John Sheppard. New College Choir was already 150 years old when Sheppard arrived in Oxford intent on contributing to the wealth of choral polyphony that defined the era.

Nine soul-jazz cuts from the Blue Note vaults from between 1967 and 1970, all previously unreleased, alternate takes, or (in one case) only released on a single, by major figures such as Grant Green, Lou Donaldson, John Patton, Lonnie Smith, and John Patton. This doesn't really rate with the cream of the genre - all of the aforementioned artists have better work in the style available on their own full-length albums, and some of the cuts are fairly unremarkable adaptations of late-'60s soul and pop hits. It's a good deal for the collector, though, offering over 70 minutes of material unavailable elsewhere.

Spettri a five-piece band from Florence, formed by brothers Ugo and Raffaele Ponticiello in 1964. Between 1970-71 the band had also written enough original material for a full-length album that was later recorded in a single session on 13 October 1972. However, the album never saw the light of day until 2011 when Black Widow Records released a re-mastered version of the self-titled work almost on the eve of its 40th anniversary. It's a concept album that portrays one man's search for his inner self by means of a séance, although it's also an allegory on the selfishness and hypocrisy of modern society and the erosion of humanity. The protagonist's journey to the abyss is aptly accompanied by a dark atmosphere of heavy guitar riffs and Hammond organ that together sounds like a collision of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple.

Best Ballads is a 1995 compilation album by Toto. It features many of the band's well known ballads.

Two killers from Cedar Walton – back to back on a single CD!

With its debut recording, the Bernardini Quartet takes us on a journey into the golden age of its formation, consisting of oboe, violin, viola and cello. The programme consists of a selection of exemplary pieces written between 1780 and 1818 by composers of different nationalities who are united by their diversity. Alongside Alfredo and Cecilia Bernardini, father and daughter, respectively oboist/director and first violin of the Ensemble Zefiro, the members are the German violist Simone Jandl and the Dutch cellist Marcus van den Munckhof.

It is unbelievable that such a popular work in the current repertoire as Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto Op. 61 only conquered the concert hall around three to four decades after its composition. The work ultimately gained its popularity through two revised printed versions published in Vienna and in London, which both reveal substantial revisions in the solo parts. The quest for Beethoven’s “original version” proves to be extremely complicated, as Beethoven himself offered up to four alternatives to the soloists in some spots of the manuscript. A study of the different inks and quills used in that autograph has allowed the violinist Anton Steck to propose the new und unusual version recorded here, which thanks also to the use of historical instruments results in a tangible and transparent rendering of a very well-known piece.

Born in Tokyo, award-winning pianist Yuko Mifune moved with her family to New York City when she was six years old. In New York, her early studies were with Mitsuko Ichimura, Jerome and Ronit Lowenthal, and at the age of twelve she returned to Japan and continued her studies with virtuoso pianists Akiko Iguchi, Yoko Okumura, and Kazuko Yasukawa.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer's most successful and well-realized album (after their first), and their most ambitious as a group, as well as their loudest, Brain Salad Surgery was also the most steeped in electronic sounds of any of their records. The main focus, thanks to the three-part "Karn Evil 9," is sci-fi rock, approached with a volume and vengeance that stretched the art rock audience's tolerance to its outer limit, but also managed to appeal to the metal audience in ways that little of Trilogy did…

This is the work of fabulous creativity. Airto largely leaves behind the fusion stuff. The musical stew is familiar yet mysterious and seductive. Twists and turns kept me riveted to my chair and I was transported to another world. A world with Brazilian feeling but with other worldly influences that can't be pinned down. Identity is good name for this album because it so clearly is a manifestation of an artist with clear and beautiful roots from Brazil but mixes with a magic that transcends time and place. Highly recommended, and for hifi nuts the production delivers!

Jorge Federico Osorio, “an imaginative interpreter with a powerful technique (The New York Times), deftly pairs Brahms’s final solo piano works with those by Schubert for an inventive program of richly satisfying works that capture the essence of each composer’s towering individuality.