Novecento's recording Dreams of Peace featuring guitarist Stanley Jordan is a lush production that often melts into smooth jazz grooves, but the level of musicianship and the setails that are added keep this from being a soulless snoozefest. Novecento is comprised of the Nicolosi siblings Dona (vocals), Lino (rhythm guitar), Rosanna (bass), and Pino (keyboards). Along with Jordan, who plays lead guitar on the entire album, the Nicolosis recorded and mixed Dreams of Peace at their studio in Milan, with some additional sessions done in California.

Slovenia, located in Central Europe and on the Alps has brought their answer to the Dutch titans Epica, welcome the challengers known as Aperion, a Symphonic Gothic Metal octet, compromising of one of each positions: vocals, guitar, cello, bass, flute, viola, drums and the didgeridoo. Releasing their debut album in June 2010 was the first step for Aperion to great success and with this album in it's entirety, it fails to disapoint, come forth the new generation of Epica, bypass the 'Act Of Hybris'.

The last of the official discography Planxty. Hinted at such a loss that made them famous: the traditional and rustic folk, except of course, by the noble Liam O'Flynn, keeping their sound intact.

BWB consists of contemporary jazz cats Rick Braun (trumpet), Kirk Whalum (saxophones), and Norman Brown (guitar), who collectively honor the lush jazz-pop-R&B sound of Creed Taylor’s 1970s projects with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, guitarist George Benson, and saxophonist Stanley Turrentine for Taylor’s CTI label. Nearly all of those projects included jazz translations of contemporary pop hits by Taylor, Don Sebesky, or other arrangers (Benson’s album White Rabbit, for example). “It was all about having fun and being funky,” says Whalum, who first met Braun at rehearsals for the 1999 Montreux jazz festival. “The throwback to the CTI era was an obvious thread throughout, and we really rose to the challenge.”

The performance of von Otter and Gardiner on this CD encompasses both approaches without compromising the ideals of either. It is a magnificent achievement. Do you like Mahler? Especially the Mahler of Das Lied von der Erde, the slow movement of the fourth symphony, the adagietto from the fifth symphony, the finale of the ninth? Buy this disk.