Following his first successful release featuring the Fourth Piano Concerto and the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings by the Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin, Frank Dupree presents a selection of the little-known master's works for solo piano, performed as originally written, while bassist Jakob Krupp and drummer Obi Jenne improvise around him. There is surely no better example of jazz poured so expertly into a classical mould.

This volume concludes the complete Sibelius symphonies performed by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Santtu-Matias Rouvali. This series has already won numerous awards around the world and reaches its climax here with two of Sibelius’ greatest symphonies: Andrew Mellor writes in his introductory text that "we hear music carried by forms of gravitational energy reminiscent of those that govern the course of a river". Rouvali has also chosen to record eight extracts from Sibelius’ incidental music for Shakespeare’s The Tempest. First performed in March 1926, it is one of Sibelius's final orchestral works and is certainly his most fascinating composition for the theatre.

The New Seasons referred to in the title here are the so-called American Four Seasons, the Violin Concerto No. 2 of Philip Glass, which has even less of a connection to Vivaldi's model than do Astor Piazzolla's Buenos Aires Four Seasons and other works that take Vivaldi as a point of reference. The work is in eight sections, but which ones are supposed to represent which season is left up to the listener. It's really a typical but unusually effective example of late-period Glass, with the composer's usual textures intact but lots of harmonic motion. Part of the interest here lies in hearing Latvian violinist and conductor Gidon Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica, long champions of minimalism's Baltic branch, tackle a work by one of the leaders of Western minimalism. The American Four Seasons get a treatment that's a bit rougher than usual, but then Kremer turns around (after a Pärt girls' choir interlude) and delivers pristinely smooth, glassy textures in Giya Kancheli's Ex contrario. The program closes with a fascinating little melody by Japanese rock musician and film composer Shigeru Umebayashi, a daring and effective choice.

Alligator Records shows a different side of its house-rocking face on this 13-cut collection of acoustic blues. While Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Bukka White don't appear here, other performers – some of whom one normally associates with overdriven electricity – are. Buddy Guy is present, as is Stevie Ray Vaughan. Koko Taylor's "The Man Next Door" is here and it's one of her greatest performances on record. In addition, Johnny Winter, who was no stranger to a National Steel string bottleneck earlier in his career, returns to give it another go, and the true roots doctor Corey Harris is here with "God Don't Ever Change," and Carey and Lurrie Bell with "Stop Running Around." Guy's "Hi Heel Sneakers" is terrific as is Winter's "Evil on My Mind." But it's those that are normally associated with the acoustic blues like Harris, Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women, Cephas & Wiggins, John Jackson and the legendary Sonny Terry who come off best, bringing the true rhythm and mystery with them into their songs.

The leap from 1970's Benefit to the following year's Aqualung is one of the most astonishing progressions in rock history. In the space of one album, Tull went from relatively unassuming electrified folk-rock to larger-than-life conceptual rock full of sophisticated compositions and complex, intellectual, lyrical constructs. While the leap to full-blown prog rock wouldn't be taken until a year later on Thick as a Brick, the degree to which Tull upped the ante here is remarkable.

Icon 3 is a studio album, recorded by Asia band members John Wetton & Geoffrey Downes in 2009, and released the same year. It is their third and final studio release under the Icon offshoot. Andreas Vollenweider and Anne-Marie Helder guest on several songs.

To date, Joanna Connor's studio work has not lived up the live-wire energy of her personal performances. Fight takes a major step toward setting this right. This stuff wails, especially Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues" which Connor reinvents courtesy of some stinging slidework. While Connor's lack of dependence on cover material rates bonus points, not all her songs are memorable – even if the guitar playing is.

On the bands debut, their mix of symphonic prog with hard rock muscle (Deep Purple meets Kansas with a little Yes thrown in) that combines soaring vocal interplay, virtuoso guitar work, and vintage keys, produced stunning results. Here on "Circus of Life", you can expect more of the same formula, yet these songs sound nothing like what you heard on the debut. Anyway this fantastic sextet from Norway has made another great work. Strong 70's sounds and atmospheres still lead the band´s compositions and playing, but the group´s music is quite original on itself.

Formed during the vibrant 90s, Fatal Embrace has been a pioneering force in the Swedish underground death metal scene. The band made their debut with "Shadow Souls Garden," which garnered critical acclaim. Their second album, "Hail Down Deep," is now finally seeing the light of day 26 years after its predecessor. Last year's "Manifestium Infernalis" marked the band's third album and continued their evolution in the genre. The new release, "Hail Down Deep," has been remixed and remastered by the band, revisiting the original 1998 recordings that were previously shelved and left unreleased. The vocals have been re-recorded by Henrik Serholt (then the drummer, now the vocalist).