Issued in a thick glossy paper sleeve with an OBI-strip, a numbered flyer, three postcards and one A4 paper detailing track information.

In the years following the World War Two, Japan developed one of the most insatiable, dynamic and diverse markets for jazz. For a crucial period of little over a decade - from the late 1960s to the early 1980s - Japanese jazz culture progressed at an astonishing rate, producing an extraordinary array of artists, recordings and record labels that created some of the most forward thinking and impressive jazz to be committed to tape. This amazing journey is explored on ‘J Jazz’.

The Cleveland Orchestra is the "aristocrat among American orchestras" (The Telegraph), and the ensemble's music director Franz Welser-Most, leads them with verve and precision. These three discs from Belvedere (DVD and Blu-ray) feature six and a half hours of music, presenting a cycle of all the major orchestral works of Johannes Brahms. Included are the complete Symphonies and Piano Concertos, the Violin Concerto, the Tragic Overture, the Academic Festival Overture, and the Haydn Variations. Soloists include violinist Julia Fischer and pianist Yefim Bronfman.

The four Toccatas and Fugues require no introduction, including as they do the Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565, one of the most universally famous works in musical history, popularised notably by the cinema, from Monty Python to Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. André Isoir’s classic recording has been the benchmark version for thirty years.

Handels solo keyboard music has for too long been overshadowed by his operas, oratorios, and orchestral music. This comparative neglect seems unjust in view of the considerably large quantity of keyboard music which exists amongst his massive output. There are about 25 suites as well as numerous other single pieces including Fugues, Chaconnes, Fantasias, Preludes and individual dance movements. Amongst the suites there were two collections which were published in Handels lifetime. The Eight Great Suites first appeared in print in 1720 followed by a further six in 1733, often referred to as The Second Collection. There are also a number of miscellaneous suites.

Bellini's rare opera "La Straniera" was created under great time pressure and therefore can not develop the dramatic effect, as does "Norma". Also, the libretto is not the best. Nevertheless, there is a lot of magic, rousing music, so that the purchase is worthwhile especially for the lover. Performance from 1969 benefits above all from a young Montserrat Caballe, who simply gives everything. The sound is not perfect, a bit dull and blurry in the heights, but still audible in any case.

Gnosis is the highly anticipated 8th full length from Russian Circles.

Dana Gillespie first made her name as a teenage singer (and songwriter) in the 1960s, with a string of memorable singles and albums for Pye and Decca.

Blue Note will issue a never-before-released studio album by Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Just Coolin’, on 17 July. It was recorded on 8 March 1959 in the Hackensack, New Jersey studio of feted recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder.

"I spent a lot of time thinking why Alessandro Rossi called his record Emancipation. It’s a very intriguing word. It’s different to “liberty”, it’s different to “freedom”. The latter concept has, obviously, an important role in contemporary music, even if there’s little sensible discussion of what it actually means. Emancipation, though, isn’t so much a thing or a property, as an act or a moment…

Franz Liszt composed his Piano Concerto No. 1 in E♭ major, S.124 over a 26-year period; the main themes date from 1830, while the final version is dated 1849. The concerto consists of four movements and lasts approximately 20 minutes. It premiered in Weimar on February 17, 1855, with Liszt at the piano and Hector Berlioz conducting.