Lepo Sumera (1950–2000) was one of the most important figures in Estonian music after WW2. Sumera can also be considered among the most important European symphonists of his era: between 1981 and 2000 the composer wrote an impressive series of six symphonies. These dramatic and emotionally-packed works of great beauty and contrasts were greatly admired by, among others, John Adams. This new album by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Olari Elts is the first instalment in a new fascinating symphony cycle.

J.J. Cale's debut album, Naturally, was recorded after Eric Clapton made "After Midnight" a huge success. Instead of following Slowhand's cue and constructing a slick blues-rock album, Cale recruited a number of his Oklahoma friends and made a laid-back country-rock record that firmly established his distinctive, relaxed style. Cale included a new version of "After Midnight" on the album, but the true meat of the record lay in songs like "Crazy Mama," which became a hit single, and "Call Me the Breeze," which Lynyrd Skynyrd later covered. On these songs and many others on Naturally, Cale effortlessly captured a lazy, rolling boogie that contradicted all the commercial styles of boogie, blues, and country-rock at the time. Where his contemporaries concentrated on solos, Cale worked the song and its rhythm, and the result was a pleasant, engaging album that was in no danger of raising anybody's temperature.

Philipp Scharwenka (1847-1917) gets short shrift next to his more successful brother, Xaver. The two had very dissimilar styles. Philipp, a professor at various conservatories (Otto Klemperer was his pupil) was austere and embraced academic German Romanticism, while Xaver preferred the extroverted salon idiom of Chopin and Liszt. In the opinion of the critic Hugo Leichtentritt “Philipp Scharwenka is an absolute master of composition. His violin and cello sonatas, his string quartets, piano trios and piano quintet belong to the most perfect and tonally beautiful works of their type."

In 2016 Joe was causing guitar wonder down under! Featuring tracks from his 2016 performance at one of the world’s most legendary venues. Celebrate this guitar event of the year with some cool merch to make your listening pleasure a whole lot better! For the media merchandise, this new album features four unreleased "live" tracks from his coveted No.1 album Blues of Desperation. August 28, 2019 – Fans and critics alike have been asking the big question of two-time GRAMMY-nominated blues king Joe Bonamassa - “Will there be a new album in 2019?” Today, that question is answered with the announcement of LIVE AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE, a brand new live album from “arguably the world’s biggest blues guitarist” (Guitar World) featuring recordings from his 2016 performance at one of the world’s most legendary venues. This includes previously unreleased versions of tracks from his coveted No. 1 album BLUES OF DESPERATION.

Alan Simon is a French folk-rock musician and composer, best known for his rock operas performed with noted rock musicians guesting. Simon is associated with Breton Celticism, and his most ambitious works are typically on themes linked to Celtic myth and history. Simon achieved fame with his rock opera Excalibur, La Légende des Celtes (Excalibur, The Legend of the Celts) (Sony) in 1999, of which he was both songwriter and producer. The first part of an intended trilogy, Excalibur blended musical styles and was performed by Roger Hodgson (ex-Supertramp), Fairport Convention, Dan Ar Braz, Tri Yann, Angelo Branduardi, Didier Lockwood and Gabriel Yacoub.

The Danish National Symphony Orchestra rolls out the red carpet for a sparkling Hollywood Gala with a musical firework display from the best Hollywood films such as Bodyguard, Titanic, Pirates of the Caribbean, Moulin Rouge, and The Hunger Games. From the greatest dramas about love and jealousy up to the wildest journeys and the world’s fastest cars - spiced with murders and gangsters. The evening also features a special section dedicated to the best music from the most iconic Oscar-winning movies.

For a short time in the late '50s trumpeter Dizzy Reece was an up-and-coming jazz artist. However, success eluded him and he quietly faded into obscurity, only occasionally releasing material after the early '60s. As a matter of fact, the sessions that became Comin' On! languished in the Blue Note vaults for almost four decades. Rediscovered in 1999, these dates feature six well-rounded hard bop compositions by Reece along with three standards. The tracks from April 3, 1960, not only document the Blue Note debut of tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine but also employ the talents of the Jazz Messengers' rhythm section of the time, pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Jymie Merritt, and drummer Art Blakey. By July 17, 1960, the only musician remaining from the previous date was Turrentine, sharing tenor duties with Musa Kaleem, who is also heard on flute. (The later session's rhythm section had changed to pianist Duke Jordan, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Al Harewood.) Neglected, although spirited, sessions from an underrated trumpeter and composer.

Passion rather than insouciance is Pires’s keynote. Here is no soft, moonlit option but an intensity and drama that scorn all complacent salon or drawing-room expectations. How she relishes Chopin’s central storms, creating a vivid and spectacular yet unhistrionic contrast with all surrounding serenity or ‘embalmed darkness’. The con fuoco of Op. 15 No. 1 erupts in a fine fury and in the first Nocturne, Op. 9 No. 1, Pires’s sharp observance of Chopin’s appassionato marking comes like a prophecy of the coda’s sudden blaze. Such resolution and psychological awareness make you realize that Chopin, like D. H. Lawrence, may well have thought that “there must be a bit of fear, and a bit of horror in your life”. Chopin, Pires informs us in no uncertain terms, was no sentimentalist.

Although he created a decadent glam rocker image through early albums like The Human Menagerie and The Psychomodo, Steve Harley soon revealed a romantic heart beating beneath all the artsy sleaze on singles like "Judy Teen" and "Make Me Smile (Come up and See Me)." This 1976 album, the last studio outing Harley would record under the Cockney Rebel banner, allowed him to give full vent to his romantic thoughts via lushly crafted songs about the travails of love. Love Is a Prima Donna features two of Harley's finest songs in the title track, a bracing song that features the writer waxing comical about the pitfalls of love over a briskly paced pop tune that fleshes out its pub-piano melody with flamenco guitar and a choir, and "(Love) Compared With You," a delicately orchestrated love ballad that manages to be touching and heartfelt without lapsing into sappy sentimentality. This album also produced one of Harley's biggest hits with an arty, synthesizer-laced cover of the Beatles' classic "Here Comes the Sun".