Als Freiluftmusik erklang die Huldigungskantate „Der zufriedengestellte Aeolus“ 1725 zum Namenstag des bei den Leipziger Studenten sehr beliebten Universitätsprofessors, Juristen und Philosophen August Friedrich Müller. Das eigens für diesen festlichen Anlass von Johann Sebastian Bach komponierte Werk zeigt, wie sehr sich der Komponist aktiv am universitären-musikalischen Leben seiner Wirkungsstätte Leipzig beteiligte.

This album of spectacular rarities by Gioacchino Rossini from superstar tenor Lawrence Brownlee – his firstever aria collection with orchestra – is long overdue. It not only captures the most exciting bel canto tenor voice of our time in its absolute prime, but also offers a choice selection of rarely heard vocal blockbusters – drawn from several of the old master’s most rarely performed operas.

The pastoral cantata was without a doubt one of the most popular forms of musical expression in the 18th century. Mytical Arcadia was the main setting and omnipresent nature offered the authors and composers of the time, inexhaustible sources of allergorical and poetic inspiration. The beauty and sweet fragrance of flowers are recuring themes in these true miniature operas. The rose, lily, jasmine, sunflower and violet, each in turn, symbolise the most intoxicating sensuality or most chaste love, the fragility and fleetingness of feelings or even the “thorns” of amorous torment.

Joseph Louis Diorio was an American jazz guitarist. Joe had over 50 years experience playing the guitar and over 40 years experience as a performer and recording artist. He has worked with such jazz luminaries as Sonny Stitt, Eddie Harris, Ira Sullivan, Stan Getz, Horace Silver, and Freddie Hubbard.

This CD has a set of duets by guitarist Joe Diorio and Ira Sullivan, who is heard on flute, alto flute, soprano, and alto sax. The music is mostly standards (other than Diorio's "Lovely Afternoon" and Wayne Shorter's "Dance Cadaverous") and taken exclusively as lyrical ballads.

David Becker is one of the young, eloquent jazz guitarists who is at home in both traditional and modern styles. In 2004 he fulfilled his dream: cutting a duo CD with his role model and mentor Joe Diorio, one of the great masters of the jazz guitar, who is known for his intervallic lines. This summit meeting is an intimate conversation between two musicians, who inspire each other mutually and celebrate a magical musical moment with perfectly rounded interaction, full of respect for jazz history and yet with visions that go farther. This is audible in the repertoire and the choice of instruments: David Becker performs on tabla guitar, nine-stringed acoustic guitar and synthesizer.

French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat is a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." In 1963, the song was given English lyrics, renamed "I Will Follow Him," and became a number one American hit for Little Peggy March. Mauriat is best remembered for his 1968 worldwide smash "Love Is Blue."

Masayoshi Takanaka - My Favorite Songs (2015, Lagoon Records) is a jazz/bossa nova-focused cover album featuring Takanaka's personal favorite tracks. It highlights his guitar work with a relaxing, wine-and-dine vibe. The album includes a live, 12-track recording from Shibuya Public Hall (Dec 4, 2014), featuring classics like "Samba Pa Ti" and "Girl from Ipanema".

Irish hard rocker turned respected blues man Gary Moore may not be breaking new ground 15 years into his musical transformation, but he continues to churn out solid, energized albums that play to his considerable strengths. It may be his raw Peter Green-inspired guitar that draws fans in, but Moore's soulful vocals and stronger-than-necessary songwriting keeps them there. These 11 humdingers feature five originals interspersed between sharp, tough covers of Sonny Boy Williamson (two tracks), Chuck Berry, John Mayall, and even a closing, seven-minute acoustic version of Son House's "Sundown," a rare glimpse of Moore's unplugged abilities.

Considering the troubled background of this album (Eric Clapton, Ahmet Ertegun, and Tom Dowd only ended up with eight tracks at a series of 1970 sessions in Miami; two years later, the J. Geils Band was brought in to cut two additional songs to round out the long-delayed LP for 1972 release), the results were pretty impressive. Buddy Guy contributes dazzling lead axe to their revival of "T-Bone Shuffle"; Junior Wells provides a sparkling remake of Sonny Boy's "My Baby She Left Me," and Guy is entirely credible in a grinding Otis Redding mode on the Southern soul stomper "A Man of Many Words."

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) was an Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, and priest, best known for his dynamic instrumental concertos and innovative orchestral writing. Born in Venice, Vivaldi was trained in both music and theology, eventually becoming a violin teacher and composer at the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for girls with an exceptional music program. His tenure there produced many of his finest instrumental works and helped shape the distinctive Venetian Baroque style.