One of the most telling indications of a composer's worth in our glutted musical marketplace is the response of one's fellow music-makers: those who create it as well as those who perform it. And in this regard, Alla Borzova, a Russian-trained composer-pianist from Belarus, is fortunate to claim the global microcosm of New York as her adopted backyard. When a composer of exalted stature praises one's music, the informed public tends to take notice. And well they should, when a modern master like John Corigliano speaks of Borzova's extraordinary voice and her ……..

There’s a strongly bipartite element to the programming here. Popper’s easy-going, lyrical Romantic charm is pitted against Piatigorsky’s wizardly virtuosity in his Variations on a Paganini Theme. Both were executants of high renown and Popper was the better known as an executant-composer. But Piatogorsky’s transcriptions, arrangements and original works – as here - are well deserving of perpetuation, as this disc amply demonstrates.
Popper’s Suite Op.69 is an extensive four movement affair, not far short of half an hour in length. Its opening ……….

Jonathan Woolf @ musicweb-international.com

Most French operas from the middle of the 19-th century included ballets, as a lightweight intermezzo amidst the highly dramatic action of the opera. Jules Massenet was especially successful in the genre, and his ballet suites from his operas have surpassed the operas themselves in popularity. This CD contains the delightful and colourful suites from Le Cid,Thais and Cendrillon, evoking the atmosphere of the respective stories and fairytales of the operas.

Violinist Christian Howes is a technically proficient, forward-thinking musician with a bent toward progressive jazz, bluegrass, and classical music. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Howes began playing classical violin at age five and by his teens was competing in various national classical competitions as well as pursuing a burgeoning interest in jazz improvisation. At age 19, however, Howes was convicted on a drug charge and sentenced to four years in a medium security prison.

There are several different guest vocalists on this CD. With one of the guest vocalists being a bona-fide Canadian blues legend in the name of Richard “Hock” Walsh, original vocalist from Downchild Blues Band, they are already off to a rousing start. His 3 appearances on the CD are easily recognizable and it is clear that he is still in top form after all these years.
With other guest artists such as Johnny V (if you’ve seen Eddy `The Chief’ Clearwater perform in the past year or so then you’ve seen Johnny V as well) playing some tasty slide guitar on “Crosseyed Cat” how can you go wrong.

Ondine is pleased to announce the debut release of charismatic mezzo-soprano Virpi Räisänen. Having already performed as a successful violinist, Virpi Räisänen has since appeared as a singer at the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Netherlands Opera and the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Ingo Metzmacher in Nono’s opera Al gran sole carico d’amore in 2009 and in the premiere of Wolfgang Rihms’s Dionysos in 2010.

Berne's (b. 1969) music is a mysterious world of sounds from many different sources, including instruments of his own making. Like many other composers whose work is considered "out" (such as Roscoe Mitchell, Terry Riley, John Cage), the listener has to jettison preconceived notions of what music "should be" and revel in composer's sonic world.

This is the ultimate review of the music of Pink Floyd on record, on film and in performance. Drawing on rare concert films, and penetrating interviews with the critics, this is the definitive exploration of the Pink Floyd phenomenon. Using an extensive selection of archive film and radio recordings, the key Pink Floyd works from the halcyon days of Syd Barrett through to the glories of Pulse are revisited and critically assessed.

Mal Waldron was a remarkably versatile piano player, able to work in many different contexts, from Billie Holiday to Eric Dolphy. This ability made him invaluable as musical director for Prestige Records, where the recording dates were often little more than jam sessions. Soul Eyes: The Mal Waldron Memorial Album collects 11 tracks, recorded between 1955 and 1962, that Waldron played on and/or led, including a mammoth version of the title cut, featuring John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, and others, that clocks in at 17-plus minutes. Although all the cuts have been previously released (not always under Waldron's name), it's nice to have this overview of one of his most fertile periods.

Recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 12, 1993, but not released for two-and-a-half years, George Duke's Muir Woods Suite is a musical work for orchestra (L'orchestre National de Lille, conducted by Ettore Strata) and jazz group (himself on piano, Stanley Clarke on bass, Chester Thompson on drums, Paulinho Dacosta on percussion). As that combination suggests, it's eclectic. Some sections make full use of the orchestra in passages reminsicent of 19th century classical music, but then a bass or drum solo leads into a jazz section. Consistently engaging, but disparate, the suite has the air of a movie soundtrack.

From Tüebingen, Germany, the metal band TERVINGI releasedthe first album "Gotensaga"The TERVINGI band name is taken from the nomadic tribes of Visigoths that existed in medieval times during the historical period referred to as late antiquity. The name TERVINGI translates to mean "forest people" and was historically used to distinguish between the people living north of the Black Sea. The debut TERVINGI effort "Gotensaga" is a concept album based upon this ancient theme.Framed by hook-laden metal, TERVINGI tells the story of the Visigoths during their time of migration. The songs from "Gotensaga" feature memorable lyrics performed in the German language that are interspersed with spoken vocals in the Gothic language. The group's sound is centered around the powerful, dynamic drumming of ex-BELPHEGOR drummer Tomasz "Nefastus" Janiszewski and the songs are dominated by strong, forceful guitar riffs and dark, melodic, vocals. The musical structures are refined by orchestral keyboard arrangements and melodic guitar solos.