This third CD from the dynamic piano trio of Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith is a delightful surprise–and one of Zorn's greatest achievements. Exploring a wide variety of tempi, moods, and feelings the compositions dive deeply into the parameters of melody, harmony, hythm, and texture, stretching the ballade format to its limits and beyond. The trio, three essential members of Zorn's inner circle, performs with passion, imagination, virtuosity, and a telepathic improvisational interplay at the very highest level. A stunning collection of modern Ballades performed by three of the greatest young musicians in the Downtown scene. Essential!

This is an excellent 2-CD compilation, totaling 26 tracks, of Gil Scott-Heron's "Glory Years", covering the period from 1974 to 1982. One could nitpick about favorite songs that were left off, but looking over the selection included, it's hard to fault these fine choices. This is prime-time Gil Scott-Heron, one of the music world's true legends.

This is a farewell to the fourth generation of CASIOPEA and their extraordinaire keyboardist-organist Kiyomi Otaka. Enjoy her final (for now at least) concert with fusion's finest!

Set at the fictional college campus Parnassus University, the songs on The Scholars are populated with students and staff whose travails illuminate a loose narrative of life, death, and rebirth. Inspired by an apocryphal poem by "Archbishop Guillermo Guadalupe del Toledo," and featuring character designs from Toledo’s friend, the cartoonist Cate Wurtz, the first half of the album focuses on the deep yearning and spiritual crisis of the titular Scholars. They range from the tortured and doubt-filled young playwright Beolco to Devereaux, a person born to religious conservatives who finds themselves desperate for higher guidance. The second part features a series of epics detailing the clash between the defenders of the classic texts “and the young person who doesn't care about the canon, who is going to tear all of that up, basically,” Toledo says.

Composed of 10 new tracks and clocking in at 42 minutes, Pink Elephant is produced by Win Butler, Régine Chassagne and Daniel Lanois. When experienced in its entirety, Pink Elephant invites the listener on a sonic odyssey – a quest for life – that exists within the perception of the individual, a meditation on both darkness and light, the beauty within. The layers of this condensed epic unfold to reveal new dimensions with each successive listen.

"Les Sonates du Rosaire" forment l'un des cycles les plus originaux jamais composés pour le violon et qui fit la célébrité de Biber jusqu'à nos jours. Utilisant un accord du violon différent (scordatura) dans chacune de ses 15 sonates - toutes interprétées sur le même instrument d'Amati -, ce cycle représente le sommet de l'invention baroque et du style virtuose du XVIIe siècle. Distingué par un Gramophone Award, le duo Andrew Manze - Richard Egarr relève ce défi de manière éblouissante. Andrew Manze joue sur un violon Amati, 1700 ; archet de Gerhard Landwehr, Heemstede, 1988 d'après un modèle italien. Ce titre est paru pour la première fois en 2004.

In a Christmas album that is a gift itself, Jonas Kaufmann the most acclaimed operatic tenor of the age echoes his own holiday memories and joys with It s Christmas!, celebrating the most festive time of the year with a unique selection of beloved songs and carols. This uniquely rich and diverse holiday album features 40 favorites that reflect the many facets of Christmas, from ancient Christian hymns to contemporary pop classics.