After releasing the complete set of Ennio Morricone’s Cinema Suites for violin and orchestra on two albums (Cinema Suites, A495 and Cinema Rarities, A554), Marco Serino now presents world premiere recordings of the Maestro’s own arrangements for violin and piano. Marco is joined by pianist Leandro Piccioni, who, like Marco, brings over twenty years of experience working closely with Morricone in his favoured orchestra, Roma Sinfonietta. These original arrangements, all from celebrated soundtracks, represent the point of departure for an original anthology in which the two musicians investigate the wider repertoire connected to the cinema.

For this album, multi-instrumentalist Gandalf was on his own again (except for some fleeting wordless vocals by Pippa Armstrong). This album is noteworthy in bringing in many elements of what might be called World-Music and New-Age respectively. This bright and colourful music is mostly soft and dreamy and Gandalf concentrates here on atmospheres and moods more so than on creating melodies, yet he still manages to make varied and pleasant instrumental music.

Germany’s Warfield has come to break necks and breathe new life into the thrash genre, echoing the legacy of Kreator, Sodom and Destruction! With their devotion to idols like Tom Angelripper, the three know how to play tight with brutal, shredding riffs and rapid, speeding beats. Witness their new release, the unstoppable inferno With The Old Breed! With their latest record, Warfield explores the unembellished and emotional depiction of societal, historical, social and internal wars - expressing criticism of the bitter part of reality. “Soul Conqueror" explores the dark aftermath of conflict, where departed souls wander, while songs like "Appetitive Aggression" dive deep into the primal instinct of humanity with light-speed riffs and relentless energy. It's time for new thrash metal legends from Germany to arise, bonded by blood with the heroes from the past. Battle awaits…

Rock Candy Records specialists did some time ago great remasters to SURVIVOR‘s catalog minus the band’s classic “Eye Of The Tiger“. Finally they got the rights for the reissue and their own remastering treatment, featuring the hard to find Special Extended Version of the iconic title track.

Although a touch underrated, Jazz at Oberlin is one of the early Dave Brubeck classic recordings. The interplay between the pianist-leader and altoist Paul Desmond on "Perdido" borders on the miraculous, and their renditions of "The Way You Look Tonight," "How High the Moon" and "Stardust" are quite memorable. Brubeck's piano playing on "These Foolish Things" is so percussive and atonal in one spot as to sound like Cecil Taylor, who would not emerge for another two years. With bassist Ron Crotty and drummer Lloyd Davis giving the Quartet quiet and steady support, Brubeck and Desmond were free to play at their most adventurous.

Ella Fitzgerald began her glorious association with the newly formed Verve label in 1956, and her Verve album debut Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book, bankrolled the label’s initial success. Singles taken from that album turned out to be big hits, as did many other singles in this collection, all of which were pulled from Ella's albums and helped make them top-selling LPs. Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles, Volume 2 provides 3 CDs worth of snapshots of Fitzgerald, singing with an incomparable level of artistry, whether it’s songs by Cole Porter, the Gershwins or the Beatles.

Robert Wyatt continues to follow his singular musical path with the lovely Shleep, delivering another album of considerable quirky charm and understated beauty; a less melancholy affair than much of his recent work, the record is informed by a hazy, dreamlike quality perfectly in keeping with the elements of subconsciousness implicit in the title.

This is one of the best examples of timeless music. Environmental ambience with slow intense beats and liquid melodies including a lot of "Berliner Schule" sequencing is the best way to describe this rich music. The only exception to this is the track "Aura" that sends you into slow meandering dreamscapes with its Tetsu-typical pure, positive, floating sound of ambience.

Hania Rani performs the world premiere of Non Fiction alongside Manchester Collective assembled as a 45-piece Orchestra, conductor Hugh Tieppo-Brunt, Jack Wyllie & Valentina Magaletti.