As Ismael’s name suggests, he comes from a family musical tradition rich in gypsy guitar. It’s no surprise then that the music of relative Django Reinhardt is a big influence on his jazz style that mixes equal parts of gypsy music with swing and old-time standards to create the perfect sampling of sounds. As he says in the liner notes, "my heart burns for the music of Django Reinhardt, and always will — this is my identity.”

Blue Room is an album that comes very close to home for Ana. When she was growing up, her family’s apartment in Belgrade was unlike other Serbian homes. It was within that 11th floor flat that an enclave called “the blue room” was the place where blues and rock albums were played and discussed, and music was pursued. It was where a father inspired his daughter to take up the guitar and to unlock the blues feeling within her. “I wanted to record the songs that we used to play together while I was still living at home,” Ana says about the many deep blues cuts on the album. While her father had never pursued a career in music, Ana has since become an international touring sensation. Popovic, widely recognized as a brilliant guitarist…

Back by popular demand, The Toscanini Collection is a reissue of RCA's 1992 compendium that encompassed all of the recordings Toscanini made with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and NBC Symphony. A new addition to this amazing collection is his approved recordings with the BBC Symphony from the 1930s that were not included in the 1992 edition.

The second PASSPORT album continues building upon the solid foundations of the debut. "Mandragora" is a nice melodic opener with prominent use of electric piano/clavinet and of course Doldinger's wild sax. More aggressive "Nexus" is interesting for a short bass pedal works (wah-wah). "Fairy Tale" is a slower tempo, gentle theme with very good bass lines although sax gets sometimes too improvised. "Get Yourself a Second Passport" contains some nice unison bass and electric piano parts.

Phil Thornton is now closely associated with the British New Age music movement, but he is also an accomplished guitarist and has had a long touring and recording association with Sinead O'Connor. He is a regular member of the neo-psychedelic English band Mandragon, and he has worked with Gordon Giltrap, Talking Heads, Stallion, Die Laughing, Naked Lunch, 4 B 2's, and Expandis.

Rüdiger Baldauf (born 31 January 1961 in Bensberg, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German jazz musician, trumpet player, composer and arranger. Baldauf completed a classical education but at an early age he preferred Jazz, Funk and Soul. He used to play the first trumpet in Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story as well as Neue Musik of Mauricio Kagel. In June 2010 Baldauf launched his first solo album with the title Own Style. Prominent guests accompanied him, like Till Brönner, Nils Landgren, Ack van Rooyen, Andy Haderer and Max Mutzke.