"Farasha" is the debut release of the award-winning (e.g. Anton Rubinstein International Competition) soloist and chamber musician Sindy Mohamed on Berlin Classics. The violist recalls her Egyptian, French and German roots and reflects this in a diverse selection of pieces for the viola. The album contains Sonatas for Viola and Piano by Breville and Hinemith, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's Spring Song and a transcribed version of Saint-Saens' Sonata for bassoon and piano op. 168. In addition Sindy Mohamed presents a newly comissioned work by Khaled Al Kammar "Faten Amal Harby" for oud, viola, req and piano.

« I enjoy exploring imaginary continents, dreamed-up worlds, building bridges where, on paper, there would be none. This time, I want to create new musical cartographies — those of a lost, mythical, dreamed-up city: Atlantis. » Anne Paceo Between spirituality and the pull of the abyss, the drummer with a thousand and one rhythms immerses us in a substance that is both part of our lives and our everyday existence, while retaining an aura of mystery. Is her Atlantis a source of reflection on our world in the midst of upheaval and chaos? Or is it the (re)source of her wildly magnetic artistic inspiration?

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Georg Philipp Telemann was not born into a musical family. His parents, descendants of a line of Lutheran pastors, wanted him to pursue a brilliant academic career, and Telemann taught himself to play various instruments such as the violin, flute, zither, and harpsichord. He quickly demonstrated great musical talent and began composing his first pieces at the age of ten, often in secret and on borrowed instruments. At twelve, he composed his first opera, Sigismundus. To discourage him from pursuing a musical career, his mother confiscated all his instruments and sent him to boarding school. She probably didn't know that the superintendent was passionate about music and that he would suggest that Telemann compose motets for the church choir every week, as well as occasional arias…

Conversation Piece effectively amounts to an exhaustive documentation of David Bowie becoming David Bowie over the course of 1968 and 1969. The five-disc box - which is packaged in a handsome, hefty hardcover book - collects a series of home demos, many released in a series of limited-edition vinyl box sets over the course of 2019, plus two mixes of David Bowie (aka Space Oddity), the 1969 album that brought him into the public eye. Strictly speaking, there aren't many unheard tracks here. Everything from the Spying Through a Keyhole, Clareville Grove Demos, and The "Mercury" Demos sets are here, along with a brand-new mix of the Space Oddity album by Tony Visconti, one that restores "Conversation Piece" as part of its sequence. Setting aside the new mix of Space Oddity, that leaves 11 tracks out of 75 that are making their debut here…

It’s no secret that ‘Rapture of the Deep’ isn’t the first album that comes to mind when listing Deep Purple’s classics – and while it was met with interest at the time, it gradually faded from view. Despite solid sales, the album arrived during a period when there was little spotlight on the world of classic rock, and over the years, ‘Rapture of the Deep’ developed into an overlooked chapter in Deep Purple’s rich discography.

From all accounts, George Butler was indeed a "wild child." But he found time between the youthful shenanigans that inspired his mom to bestow his descriptive nickname to learn some harp basics at age 12.
George remained active throughout the 60's and from 1966 he performed mainly in Houston and New Orleans. He worked extensively with the late Cousin Joe Pleasant and Roosevelt Sykes in New Orleans and the great Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins in Houston. George appears as a sideman on a number of sides with Lightnin' Hopkins, the best known of which being the album on the Jewel label entitled "Talking Some Sense". He was next signed to a contract by the Mercury label; in fact George observes, "The record companies always wanted me to sign an exclusive contract, and their people always met me with a paper their hand"…

George Coleman's resume is the stuff of legend. He cut his jazz teeth alongside some giants of the art form, joining Max Roach's ensemble in the 1950s, the Miles Davis Quintet, along with the bands of Herbie Hancock, Chet Baker and Elvin Jones. Mention must also be made of his work as a leader, which has inspired literally generations of saxophonists. Even with such an all-inclusive career, Coleman is still full of surprises and here on his new recording he gives his audience something they've never heard from him before - his first recording backed by a string orchestra. If you're into jazz history, you know this kind of project has some serious roots. Think Charlie Parker's "With Strings," or Stan Getz's "Focus"-albums where sax players let their lyrical side shine through lush orchestral arrangements. Coleman Hawkins did it. Ben Webster, too.