While New York may have eventually emerged as the city in which to both hear, and perform jazz, Chicago continues to be influential, not only for its many fine clubs but for the excellent musicians that the “Windy City” continues to produce. For Eric Alexander, Chicago quite clearly remains a site of inspiration, import, and impact. He found and formed a community early in his career in Chicago, where he lived for two years partly through a fruitful association with the great organist, Charles Earland during which Alexander, had become steeped in the Chicago tenor tradition of such natives as Gene Ammons, Eddie Harris, Johnny Griffin, and Von Freeman. Such attributes as how to dynamically shape a solo, create long ornamented bebop lines, and the cultivation of an improvisatory style that never forgets the importance of the blues were developed early, and continue to be a hallmark of Alexander’s unique style today. Another equally meaningful connection to Chicago for Alexander came in the form of a productive musical and personal relationship that the young saxophonist made with pianist Harold Mabern (with whom Alexander studied at William Patterson).

Brown Horse are excited to announce their second album, ‘All The Right Weaknesses’, out April 4th 2025 on Loose Music. The group returned to Sickroom Studios in Norfolk following a multi-month European tour. Road tested and road worn, the band tracked these eleven songs in a whirlwind week of live takes. Building on the stark twang of their debut album, ‘Reservoir’ (9/10 Uncut, **** The Times, **** Mojo), ‘All The Right Weaknesses’ sees an energised Brown Horse meld slacker-rock, folk, and alt-country – equal parts Lucinda Williams, Jason Molina, The Breeders and Silver Jews. Weary, wry and disarmingly honest, these songs flash a smile at the dark and strange. With contributions from the band’s multiple songwriters, the record is a patchwork far greater than the sum of its parts.

Lineup-wise, the Miki Berenyi Trio is just a pared-down version of the last, touring edition of Piroshka, a group that included Berenyi, her partner KJ "Moose" McKillop, and bassist Oliver Cherer (who stepped in when original Piroshka bassist Mick Conroy broke his arm during the band's tour for its second album). However, the approach this group has taken on Tripla is dramatically different from Piroshka's, and it's more than appropriate that they've given themselves a new moniker. While Piroshka seemed intentionally designed to blur Berenyi's role into that of an equal contributor to a four-piece rock band whose sound style was quite distinct from that of Lush's poppy shoegaze, the MB3 both front-faces the singer/guitarist and explicitly calls back to the dreampop she made in the ‘90s.

GRAMMY-award nominated Jordan Rakei is a renowned multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, producer, and songwriter who, over soon-to-be-five studio albums, has been on a wide-ranging journey that explores the outer reaches of his inner psyche, traversing themes of emotional evolution, personal growth and family with unwavering sincerity. Always positioning himself in and amongst the bigger questions in life, he has navigated his musical journey with passion and precision, unveiling something new about himself through his songwriting at every turn.

Hard-core Steely Dan fans will find hints of the band in these pre-Dan demos recorded between late 1968 and 1971: there's an early version of "Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer)," and one song even uses the phrase "steely dan." Nevertheless, this is no more than promising juvenilia, not in the same league with the Dan masterpieces, and should be approached as a historical curiosity. This material has been reissued by various record companies in various countries under various titles.

The Orlando Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Orlando, Florida that specializes in playing classical and film score music.

Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to announce the release of legendary rock vocalist Robin McAuley's new solo album, "Soulbound". This new album sees McAuley's voice continuing to defy time and sounding as inspired and powerful as ever. The new album is definitively more guitars driven compared to the previous albums and the music itself is more straight hard rock than his previous effort, but still wonderfully melodic, infectious, and fist-in-the-air uplifting.

15 August 2025 would have been the 100th birthday of Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Celebrate this 100th Anniversary of his birth with the "Easter Suite", it has remained one of the least known compositions by Oscar Peterson, even though virtually all sources mention it as one of his major works. It was commissioned by the South Bank Show, London Weekend Television's flagship arts program, and broadcast nation-wide on Good Friday, April 24th, 1984. Its eight movements follow the events related in the gospel story. This recording of the world premiere performance also features an interview with Peterson, explaining how he went about composing the suite, his initial skepticism about interpreting such a topic in the medium of jazz and his relation to spiritual music. He also describes in detail the various motifs of the work. If the passion and resurrection seem surprising as topics for a longer jazz work, Oscar Peterson with his "Easter Suite" appears in a long line of other jazz greats, who at least in their later works created religiously inspired works.

If3 continues in the same jazz-rock vein as its predecessors, with strong solo work from reedmen Dave Quincy and Dick Morrissey, and the unique fretwork of fleet-fingered guitarist Terry Smith. The material is more pop-oriented than on the band's previous releases, but it's the jazz chops of the players that place this album a notch or two above those of the other bands working this genre in the early 1970s.

SOMM RECORDINGS announces the release of Kathleen Ferrier in New York, historic performances of Mahler and Bach by the much-loved contralto during her triumphant visits to the United States in 1948 and 1950. Recorded live on Ferriers only appearances in Carnegie Hall in January 1948, four months after her acclaimed performance at the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival, Mahlers Das Lied von der Erde reunited her with the conductor Bruno Walter and saw her making first appearances with tenor Set Svanholm and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Re-mastered by Norman White and Adrian Tuddenham, this remarkable account pre-dates Ferriers often-reissued 1952 recording by four years and finds her in exhilarating fresh voice a vivid, vital display of a great artist at her peak.

This album presents a sequel for the award-winning album (ICMA Choral disc of the year) of Tchaikovskys sacred choral works by the Latvian Radio Choir and conductor Sigvards Klava. These two albums together form the composers complete sacred works for the choir. The All-Night Vigil Op. 52 for mixed choir, also known as the Vesper Service, was written between May 1881 and March 1882. It was first performed by the Chudovsky Chorus conducted by Pyotr Sakharov in Moscow at the concert hall of the All-Russian Industrial and Art Exhibition on 27 June 1882. Tchaikovsky described the work as An essay in harmonization of liturgical chants. For this work the composer carefully studied the tradition of musical practice in the Russian Orthodox Church, which could vary considerably from one region to another.

André Campra s’attelle à la composition de sa série de «petits motets» dès son arrivée à Paris en tant que maître de chapelle de la cathédrale Notre-Dame (1694-1700). Très vite ces compositions remportent un vif succès et l’on se presse à Notre-Dame pour les écouter Les motets de Campra sont fortement influencés par la musique italienne : raffinements harmoniques, charme de l’accompagnement, écriture brillante et contrastée… Ils sont aussi de la main d’un homme de théâtre : le texte sacré se met en scène. Campra sait tirer profit de l’effectif restreint du petit motet : airs, récits, duos, trios et ritournelles s’enchaînent comme à l’opéra ! Mais son éloquence n’est pas sans profondeur et ses grâces savent encore nous toucher.

Sentimientos En Vivo featured rare compositions by Rexach and Umpierre, such as Y Entonces and Senda de Flores, along with tributes to Mexican icon Chavela Vargas, including No Soy de Aquí, Ni Soy de Allá and Noche de Ronda. The subtle sound of rain falling during Silencio added a unique atmosphere to this timeless recording…

Recorded Live 1992, no location specified.
Universally hailed as the king of the blues, the legendary B.B. King was without a doubt the single most important electric guitarist of the last half of the 20th century. His bent notes and staccato picking style influenced legions of contemporary bluesmen, while his gritty and confident voice - capable of wringing every nuance from any lyric - provided a worthy match for his passionate playing. Between 1951 and 1985, King notched an impressive 74 entries on Billboard's R&B charts, and he was one of the few full-fledged blues artists to score a major pop hit when his 1970 smash "The Thrill Is Gone" crossed over to mainstream success (engendering memorable appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand). After his hit-making days, he partnered with such musicians as Eric Clapton and U2 and managed his own acclaimed solo career, all the while maintaining his immediately recognizable style on the electric guitar.

The Byrds' second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, was only a disappointment in comparison with Mr. Tambourine Man. They couldn't maintain such a level of consistent magnificence, and the follow-up was not quite as powerful or impressive. It was still quite good, however, particularly the ringing number one title cut, a classic on par with the "Mr. Tambourine Man" single. Elsewhere, they concentrated more on original material, Gene Clark in particular offering some strong compositions with "Set You Free This Time," "The World Turns All Around Her," and "If You're Gone." A couple more Bob Dylan covers were included, as well, and "Satisfied Mind" was their first foray into country-rock, a direction they would explore in much greater depth throughout the rest of the '60s.