From Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin to Mahler and Bartok, European classical music has been a source of inspiration to numerous jazz musicians. The 19th Century compositions of the Strauss family are the subject of All That Strauss, which documents a New Year's 2000 concert by the Vienna Art Orchestra–one of Europe's most adventurous big bands. It is quite appropriate that this Strauss tribute concert was performed in Vienna and that the orchestra has Vienna in its name; for many classical greats have lived in Austria's largest city, including Johann and Eduard Strauss. While the Vienna Art Orchestra's love of the Strauss legacy is obvious, the band doesn't treat its compositions like museum pieces. Instead, time-honored compositions like "Donauwalzer," "Albion Polka," "Ein Morgen, ein Mittag, ein Abend in Wien" and "Lagunen Walzer" are given serious jazz makeovers, and arranger Mathias Rüegg sees to it that the orchestra takes a lot of chances with the material.

Franck Pourcel & his Grand Orchestra.
French violinist Franck Pourcel is best-known for his jazzy string arrangements of pop hits, as well as his lush easy listening arrangements and film scores.
By 1958, Pourcel started recording classical music. His series of Pages Célèbres led him to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, The Society of Concerts for the Conservatoire, The BBC Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, and the Lamoureux Orchestra at the Salle Pleyel in Paris.

World-renowned American death metal icons Nile return in 2024 with their highly-anticipated 10th onslaught, The Underworld Awaits Us All. Boasting airtight technicality and unrelenting brutality, the new album pushes each member of Nile - founding mastermind/guitarist Karl Sanders, longtime drum master George Kollias, vocalist/guitarists Brian Kingsland and Zach Jeter, and bassist Dan Vadim Von - to their furthest extremes both in artistry and performance.
Each track soars as a technical tour-de-force - featuring career-defining extreme drumming from Kollias, as well as razor-sharp soloing from all three active guitarists and palpable bass exploration. A perfect example of this equation is pinnacle burner “Under the Curse of the One God”, combining sinister atmospherics with breakneck pacing and whirlwind, vicious riff acrobatics…

Rob McConnell & the Boss Brass add plenty of spice to this Christmas jazz CD, not only with superb, fresh charts but a few surprising selections. The rich brass and reeds carry the deliberate rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which segues into a perky Latin-flavored chart of "I'll Be Home for Christmas." "Away in a Manger" is not the commonly heard melody but one first written in 1887, though the music will likely be familiar, even if one doesn't associate it with the well-known lyrics. The lush setting of "The Christmas Song," which likely set Mel Tormé and Bob Wells for life with royalty checks due to its many recordings, showcases the leader's valve trombone and pianist David Restivo. "My Favorite Things," originally written for The Sound of Music, has gradually been transformed into double duty as a Christmas carol; this swinging interpretation works very well. Johnny Mandel, the composer of many memorable melodies, deserves greater recognition for his gorgeous piece "A Christmas Love Song"; this arrangement deserved to help put it on the jazz map. Rob McConnell & the Boss Brass consistently delivered first-rate music throughout their existence, this holiday CD no exception.

Recorded live at the Zurich Jazz Festival in 1980, this was America's first taste of the wild abandon that is the Vienna Art Orchestra and expatriate Lauren Newton's glorious vocal instrument. This is a 13-piece big band led by the beautifully weird compositional, instructional, and arranging craziness of Mathias Rüegg. They trash and revere all traditions – both historical and avant-garde at the same time – while using them both along with carnival and circus music, classical forms and fugues, and French salon music. They swing here like a Mingus big band playing "Jelly Roll, But Mingus Rolls Better," with soloists who could care less what the ensemble chart says and vice versa. Newton, mixed high above the prattle, soars with the intensity of a pianist while blowing Jon Hendricks away at his own game. The fun really begins when the ensemble changes tempos two or three times and sections play against each other as in "Concerto Piccolo," even if begun by the lilting line of the title's instrument.

Fusion for Miles brings together Eric Johnson, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Warren Haynes (Govt Mule), Jimmy Herring (Allman Brothers), Mike Stern (Miles Davis), Bill Connors (Chic Corea), Steve Kimmock(The Other Ones), Bireli Lagrene and Jeff Richman,each paying an inspired guitar tribute to one of the top founding fathers of contemporary jazz and fusion. These guitarists are all world renowned and collectively make a once in a lifetime musical statement.

Open Spaces (1971). Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the release of Open Spaces by CMU, the band's debut album from 1971, this unique masterpiece is a much sought after collectors item originally released on the Transatlantic label. CMU (Contemporary Music Unit) were a unique fusion of Progressive rock, Jazz and Folk influences. In keeping with the mood of the times, Open Spaces touches a style that evokes the work of contemporaries Affinity or even Arthur Brown. In Larraine Odell, CMU had one of the few female vocalists of the Progressive era, a fine vocalist supported by a fine band…

Shaman provides music and titles "evoking images of ancient and non-Western cultures". Conceptually, the album seeks to transport the listener into the mystical past of early civilization. Parsons accomplishes this by using some of today's most sophisticated music gear. Here his synth programming abilities are evident as Parsons creates sounds alien to the acoustic world. Repetitive patterns, reminiscent of '70s Berlin School, influenced by Eastern sensibilities are at the core of this release. Most of the six tracks build from a feeling of anticipation and continue on to sweep us away in a rapid swirl of synth rhythm patterns. The philosophy behind Shaman may be from the dawn of time, but the sounds are that of the 21st century.