The French speak of the malediction d’avoir bien fait, i.e. the curse of having done well. It indicates the uncomfortable situation of one who has accomplished something satisfactorily, and is therefore expected to be always up to the standard he or she has set. This may be a particularly daunting feeling especially for young people, whose creative powers may be paradoxically blocked precisely by the consciousness of a successful first exploit, and of the expectations this has caused.

3 months after Woodstock, The Keef Hartley Band performed at the Essen Pop & Blues Festival in the Grugahalle in October 1969, as well as at the second edition of this festival a few months later on April 25, 1970. In contrast to the Woodstock Festival, there are sound recordings of these, which have now been lovingly edited and made available to a wide audience for the first time in almost 55 (!) years. This is a historic contemporary document, says guitarist and singer Miller Anderson, "The best thing you can hear from us live!"

Besides recording several respected EPs for Chain Reaction under the confusingly titled production concern known as Various Artists, Berlin's Torsten Pröfrock co-owns (with Sasha Brauer) Din Records, home to releases by excellent, respected producers Monolake, Pole, and Arovane. Pröfrock entered the Berlin electronics scene first by shopping at the Berlin record store Hard Wax while working toward his economics degree. By 1994, he worked at Hard Wax as well, growing closer to the store's base for legendary productions on the Basic Channel/Chain Reaction family of labels. Pröfrock also began producing and released his first Various Artists project, 1995's 1-7, on Chain Reaction. (He also recorded two singles for the label as Resilient and Erosion.) The continuation piece 8, 8.5, 9 appeared on England's Fat Cat label in 1997, highlighting the producer's subtle ambient sense and reliance on a restrictive frequency range – all middles, no highs or lows. Later that year, Chain Reaction compiled his work on the Decay Product compilation, and Fat Cat expanded 8, 8.5, 9 to an EP for Profrock's second CD release.

The most beautiful jazz songs by 101 Strings Orchestra, Anita O'Day, Jay Orlando and many more on one compilation!

When it comes to the Delta blues, all roads lead to its father figure Charley Patton, an immensely gifted performer, Patton served as a major influence on other legendary bluesmen who followed including Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf

Mikhail Pletnev and the newly formed Rachmaninoff International Orchestra (RIO) performed under the baton of Kent Nagano all four Rachmaninoff piano concertos and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini in October 2023.

Annihilator is a Canadian thrash metal band founded in Ottawa in 1984 by guitarist Jeff Waters and vocalist John Bates. They are the highest-selling Canadian thrash metal group in history, having sold more than three million albums worldwide. Fans have been waiting for years and it’s finally happening: the much sought-after and previously unavailable Annihilator back-catalogue is getting a series of re-issues via earMusic. Metal II stands out as a fully re-recorded, newly mixed by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Aerosmith and many more) and re-mastered album in a new line-up, featuring Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Grip Inc. etc) on drums and Stu Block (Iced Earth) on vocals. The guest list on the album is huge: Willie Adler from Lamb Of God, Alexi Laiho from Children of Bodom, Steve 'Lips' Kudlow from Anvil, Dan Beehler from Exciter”, Jesper Strömblad from In Flames - just to name a few.

Erich J. Wolff’s name will be unfamiliar to many but in the 1920s an authoritative reference book on popular art song ranked his compositions fourth, behind Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler. The first volume in this series of Wolff’s Complete Songs introduces a composer of astonishing gifts whose Romanticism is as daring as his formal sophistication. Wolff’s songs are lyrical, serene and full of melodic beauty, coupled with piano writing that is both virtuosic and atmospheric.

5 CD set. Includes his albums, Nilsson Schmilsson, a Little Touch of Schmilsson, in the Night, Aerial and Ballet Harry Son of Schmilsson.

No American rock group ever started with as much daring or musical promise as Blood, Sweat & Tears, or realized their potential more fully – and then blew it all as quickly. From their origins as a jazz-rock experiment that wowed critics and listeners, they went on – in a somewhat more pop vein – to sell almost six million records in three years, but ended up being dropped by their record label four years after that. Blood, Sweat & Tears started as an idea conceived by Al Kooper in July of 1967. An ex-member of the Blues Project, Kooper had been toying with the notion, growing out of his admiration for jazz bandleader Maynard Ferguson, of forming an electric rock band that would include horns and use jazz as the basis for their work. He planned to pursue this in London, but a series of New York shows involving some big-name friends didn't raise enough money to get him there. He did, however, find three players who wanted to work with him: bassist Jim Fielder, Blues Project guitarist Steve Katz, and drummer Bobby Colomby. Kooper agreed, as long as he was in charge musically. The horn section featured Fred Lipsius (saxophone), with Randy Brecker and Jerry Weiss on trumpets and flügelhorns, and Dick Halligan playing trombone. The new group was signed to Columbia Records, and the name "Blood, Sweat & Tears" came to Kooper after a jam at the Cafe au Go Go, where a cut on his hand left his organ keyboard covered in blood.

Blood, Sweat & Tears is a jazz-rock American music group. They are noted for their combination of brass and rock band instrumentation. The group recorded songs by rock/folk songwriters such as Laura Nyro, James Taylor, The Band and the Rolling Stones as well as Billie Holiday and Erik Satie. They also incorporated music from Thelonious Monk and Sergei Prokofiev into their arrangements.

The Beatles So much has been said and written about the Beatles – and their story is so mythic in its sweep – that it's difficult to summarize their career without restating clichés that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans. To start with the obvious, they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era, and they introduced more innovations into popular music than any other group of their time. Moreover, they were among the few artists of any discipline who were simultaneously the best at what they did and the most popular at what they did. Relentlessly imaginative and experimental, the Beatles grabbed hold of the international mass consciousness in 1964 and didn't let go for the next six years, always staying ahead of the pack in terms of creativity and never losing the ability to communicate their increasingly sophisticated ideas to a mass audience.

Formed 1968 in New Jersey as Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show, disbanded in 1985. Their name was shortened in 1975 to Dr. Hook.

My Morning Jacket Hailed as the new heroes of the alt-country scene when they debuted in the late 1990s, My Morning Jacket have matured into an eclectic, sonically diverse ensemble whose work encompassed indie rock, psychedelia, folk, blues, and even dashes of funk and prog rock. Led by songwriter and lead vocalist Jim James, My Morning Jacket's music is most strongly rooted in Americana, with Neil Young, the Band, and the psychedelic end of the '60s folk scene as obvious reference points. However, James and his bandmates have shown a frequent interest in pushing their boundaries, adding new flavors over the course of their career while holding on to the strong melodies and impassioned vocals that were their calling cards.

CD1 kicks off with Queen's outstanding ‘Don't Stop Me Now’, followed by Def Leppard's anthemic ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ and Meat Loaf's classic ‘Bat Out of Hell’. CD2 opens with a stellar run of defining classics of the genre, beginning with the iconic ‘Born To Run’ from Bruce Springsteen and followed by Paul McCartney & Wings' explosive ‘Live And Let Die’, The Who's timeless Baba O’Riley. Electric Light Orchestra's peerless ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ kicks things off on CD3, followed by one of Rock’s most enduring hits ‘Don't Stop Believin'’ from Journey. Boston's ‘More Than A Feeling’, leads the way to more classic Rock from Kansas, Blue Öyster Cult, Don McLean, Sweet. CD4 delivers the ultimate collection of Rock Ballads and Power Anthems – the epic Rock-opera of Meat Loaf's ‘I'd Do Anything For Love` opens the disc!