With the exception of the Fourth Symphony, Gunter Wand's Berlin Bruckner remakes have not surpassed their NDR predecessors. The reason isn't hard to fathom: NDR is the better of the two orchestras in this music at present, and the evidence is right there on the discs themselves. During his tenure as music director, Claudio Abbado has replaced approximately two-thirds of the Philharmonic's personnel, and however fine these newcomers may be individually, as an ensemble the Berlin Philharmonic is a young group that has not yet found its corporate voice. Contrast this to Wand's years of work at NDR almost exclusively in the Brahms/Bruckner/Beethoven core German repertoire, and it should come as no surprise that his earlier efforts supercede a one-off guest gig in Berlin, however much rehearsal time he might have had. Still, this being Wand and Bruckner, the results are bound to be at least good, so when reading the following comments please insert the adverb "comparatively" before every descriptive adjective.

Dureco (Dutch Record Company) presents two volumes of musical tracks for midnight moods performed by the Botticelli Orchestra. The melodies are fully satisfying the Easy Listening lovers.

Austrian Black/ Death Metal masters unleash their newest piece of occult art, Blood Magick Necromance. Blood Magick Necromance, an opus filled to the brim with dark and sinful anthems showing a band clearly at its career peak. The eight new compositions are simply the most brutal, elegant, epic and gripping material heard from Belphegor so far! The production comes from none other than legendary Hypocrisy head honcho Peter Tägtgren, who gave the typical Belphegor sound a cutting and ultra-heavy yet crystal clear edge.

Finally released the 2nd Full Length CD Awesome technical brutal death metal band from LOS ANGELES! For all fans of SPAWN OF POSSESSION, DEEDS OF FLESH, DECREPIT BIRTH or SEVERED SAVIOR! GET THIS NOW!!!

Outstanding SACD sonics and vibrant playing make this a most appealing collection. The concept–"three theatrical symphonies"–is dubious: while the origins of Symphonies Nos. 50 and 60 (especially) are well known, there's no evidence at all that No. 12 had any connection to a stage work, and besides, all of Haydn's symphonies are theatrical. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is that the performances are completely enjoyable, full of fun, and not "period" to the point where orchestral timbres start to sound extraterrestrial.

While Miles Davis and Stan Getz were doing their cool things, there was another Yank chasing the pack - John Haley 'Zoot' Sims from California.
From four 1950s albums - The Four Brothers…. Together Again, From A To Z, Zoot and Whooeeee, we get the chance to hear arguably the best of Sims' work from the era, and maybe his long and illustrious career. ~ AllGigs

On the original LP issued by Columbia, Mingus thanked producer Teo Macero for "his untiring efforts in producing the best album I have ever made." From his deathbed in Mexico in 1979 he sent a message to Sy Johnson (who was responsible for many of the arrangements on the album), saying that Let My Children Hear Music was the record he liked most from his career. Although Mingus' small-group recordings are the ones most often cited as his premier works, this album does, in fact, rank at the top of his oeuvre and compares favorably with the finest large-ensemble jazz recordings by anyone, including Ellington. ~ AllMusic

Michel Portal – Bailador (2010)
MP3 320 kbps | 57 min 13 sec | 109.62 Mb
Label: Le Chant du Monde | Genre: Jazz

We can define Michel Portal as a solitary adventurer amongst the jazz Icons, drawing his energy and inspiration from meetings, unexpected and unsuals. For his new album,"Bailador", he's facing himself with an hybrid band, as usual… The result is a mix of traditions, generations, with incredible musicians such as the americans Scott Colley/Jack DeJohnette, the guitarist Lionel Loueke from Benin, the young trumpet player Ambrose Akinmusire, and french pianist Bojan Z, who takes care of the album producing with talent and verve. Michel Portal doesn't care about music borders, he's not trying to break them, simply said, he's just ignoring them.