This program is a loving tribute to Aram Khachaturian, the towering musical figure from Armenia and to George Gershwin, the musical genius from the artist's adopted home, the United States. These two composers are bridged here by the phenomenal pianist/composer and Hollywood superstar, Oscar Levant. Some of the works on the album have been the artist's loyal recital companions since childhood, the others have become such upon my immigration to America as a young adult. The release includes a world premiere recording of Oscar Levant’s jazzy Sonatina.

Two classic easy-listening albums by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, originally released in 1969 and 1975 on the Philips label, together on one CD and remastered from the original stereo tapes for Vocalion's trademark crystal-clear sound. French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat is a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." In 1963, the song was given English lyrics, renamed "I Will Follow Him," and became a number one American hit for Little Peggy March. Mauriat is best remembered for his 1968 worldwide smash "Love Is Blue."

All Proceeds from the Release Benefit the Non-Profit Detroit Sound Conservancy Understanding, a blazing 1970 concert recording featuring the Detroit born master percussionist Roy Brooks leading a gifted quintet through its spirited paces at Baltimore’s Famous Ballroom, will be released by Reel to Real Recordings in July. Comprising more than two hours of expansive performances averaging 20 minutes in length, the potent date was recorded by Left Bank Jazz Society and stars trumpeter Woody Shaw, tenor saxophonist Carlos Garnett, pianist Harold Mabern, and bassist Cecil McBee. It will initially be issued on June 12 as a three-LP set mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram platters at Standard Vinyl in Toronto. The set will be released as a two-CD set and digitally on June 18. All proceeds from the release – produced with the cooperation of McBee and Garnett and the estates of Brooks, Mabern, and Shaw – will go directly to the Detroit Sound Conservancy, a non-profit organization founded in 2012 and devoted to the preservation, education, conservation, and placekeeping of the Motor City’s musical heritage.

After India’s heat and its vibrant colors, Buddha-Bar takes us to the wild East to discover Russia. Emblematic and mysterious country, Russia offers a wide array of climates, cultures and arts. That last aspect has seduced DJ Ravin and led him to have Buddha-Bar XV focused on this enchanting atmosphere. Take a journey to these unexplored territories; walk through Russia from east to west and from North to South to the sweet sounds of Russian traditional instruments and vocals. The first CD, acoustic and enchanting, will take you through the steppe, listening Bliss, Yasmine Hamdan, Thor… The second CD, more infused with electronic music, will immerse you in Russia’s warm nights with artists such as Dim Vach or Sean Bay.

‘This recording’, says accordionist Samuele Telari, ‘is one that I felt compelled to make. Every time I play Bach’s Goldberg Variations I realise that something changes inside me, and as a consequence in my interpretation as well. The piece is a kind of mirror into which I can look and see what is inside me. Finally, after performing it many times in concert over several years, I felt ready to fix a version in a recording.’

Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre, Herbie Flowers, J. Keating and J. Williams. All tracks are cover versions. Arranged by L'Orchestre Electronique.

Gus Gus create a multi-vibe stir with Polydistortion. At times as cold and icy as their frosty homeland (Iceland), at other times a rumbling volcano of pyrotechnic rhythms, the CD is a study in the dynamics of the electronic. Atmospheric without ever being boring, Gus Gus rely on soul-filled or breathy vocals to turn their compositions into some of the more interesting and accessible aural amalgamations ever committed to disc. "Believe" is a rhythmic juggernaut, while "Gun" is a moody study of beats and texture. "Why" is particularly stunning, a sparse torch song carried along by a Fender Rhodes-style piano line. More eclectic than electronica, Gus Gus make aural sculptures out of rhythm.

The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever. More than a half-century after her death, it's difficult to believe that prior to her emergence, jazz and pop singers were tied to the Tin Pan Alley tradition and rarely personalized their songs; only blues singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey actually gave the impression they had lived through what they were singing. Billie Holiday's highly stylized reading of this blues tradition revolutionized traditional pop, ripping the decades-long tradition of song plugging in two by refusing to compromise her artistry for either the song or the band. She made clear her debts to Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong (in her autobiography she admitted, "I always wanted Bessie's big sound and Pops' feeling"), but in truth her style was virtually her own, quite a shock in an age of interchangeable crooners and band singers.

The quartet first performed at the Royal Academy of Music in 1965 to compete for a prize and set out to make the string quartets of Bartók and Beethoven the centre of their repertoire. In 1967, the quartet was appointed to be Leverhulme Scholars at Keele University, and in 1970, it changed its name from the Cropper to the Lindsay String Quartet, naming itself after Lord Lindsay, the founder of Keele University. 1971 brought a change in second violin to Ronald Birks. The quartet gained a Gramophone Award for the Late Beethoven Quartets in 1984. Roger Bigley left the quartet in 1985 to be replaced by Robin Ireland. Bigley then became assistant principal viola of the BBC Philharmonic orchestra before becoming assistant head of strings at the RNCM.
In 1974, they became Quartet-in-Residence at Sheffield University and five years later held a similar position at Manchester University, where they performed a regular concert season, directed seminars, and coached chamber ensembles. The quartet presented festivals each year at the Studio Theatre in the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, which featured many famous local and international musicians, and travelled widely throughout the world.

Restriction and reflection. Like every choir, the Zurich Chamber Singers have been particularly suffering since the beginning of the pandemic due to the restrictions and limitations imposed by hygiene regulations. Canceled concerts, canceled recordings, but then at the beginning of 2021 came along the possibility of recording with a small ensemble. Conductor and ensemble leader Christian Erny saw the opportunity and seized it: "The composition falls into a time when Scarlatti had a very good choir at his disposal. We assume that he thought that he could draw from the full. It's really 25 minutes of the highest intensity with ten solo voices cast, and it goes from the innermost sorrow, from the most intimate despair, to operatic drama that at times you feel the piece is exploding". And that with only ten voices.

There are many great contemporary composers of our time, but few write music that we can relate to so easily and closely as Nikolai Kapustin. His exquisite use of techniques and musical languages of classical and jazz ensures that his music appeals to a wide range of listeners. To those who love classical music but know little about jazz it does not sound too unfamiliar, and vice versa. Indeed, it gives great pleasure to even the most untrained ears of either genre of music. The Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son has long been a champion of the composer, and became friends with him. This album is therefore a personal and affectionate tribute to this unique genius, and a wonderful introduction to his music.

Two classic easy-listening albums by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, originally released in 1971 and 1969 on the Philips label, together on one CD and remastered from the original stereo tapes for Vocalion's trademark crystal-clear sound. French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat is a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." In 1963, the song was given English lyrics, renamed "I Will Follow Him," and became a number one American hit for Little Peggy March. Mauriat is best remembered for his 1968 worldwide smash "Love Is Blue."

Unlike many of its rivals, Fingerman's Hot Digits label doesn't fill its' obligatory annual compilation with back catalogue cuts. Instead, we're offered a vast number of previously unheard re-edits, remixes and original productions. It's a successful blueprint and one religiously adhered to on Hot Digits: Year Seven, the popular imprint's latest must-check collection. There's not enough room to single out every sonic highlight, but our current favourites include the breezy boogie squelch of Ross Fitz's 'I Miss Your Love ('85 Mix)', the driving deep house haziness of Fingerman and Henri Le Blanc's 'Leave Your Cares Tonight', the neo-trance cheeriness of Picklejam's 'Endorphin Situation' and the stab-happy, peak-time house retro-futurism of 'The Feeling' by Downunder Disco.

Union Square Music Presents Greatest Ever Soul & Disco album original hits and the original artists genre Disco, Reggae, RnB, Pop, Blues, Rock.

Two classic easy-listening albums by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, originally released in 1973 on the Philips label, together on one CD and remastered from the original analogue stereo tapes for Vocalion's trademark crystal-clear sound. French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat is a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." In 1963, the song was given English lyrics, renamed "I Will Follow Him," and became a number one American hit for Little Peggy March. Mauriat is best remembered for his 1968 worldwide smash "Love Is Blue."