These sterling performances have been high among the prime available Beethoven Quartet sets since their initial appearance in the early 1970s as sought-after Telefunken LPs. Naïve’s booklet and transfers are the same as those of the 1987 Auvidis Valois set. So what’s this release got that the previous one didn’t? A bargain price, with the eight CDs marked down to the price of four. These are happy days for Beethoven Quartet lovers: my three favorite complete sets (the others are the Quartetto Italiano on Philips and the Talich on Calliope) are all now available at midprice.

Without doubt the most important qawwal is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party – "Party" is a generic term for a qawwali ensemble but is also used in Sikhism and to describe some classical music ensembles, for example, shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan & Party. Dubbed Shahen-Shah-e-Qawwali (the Brightest Star in Qawwali), he was born on October 13, 1948, in Lyallpur in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. He made his first recording in 1973 in Pakistan and a number of early EMI (Pakistan) albums jointly billed him with his uncle Mubarak Ali Khan.

The debut domestic recording by Steps Ahead (following three sets only released in Japan) features the 1982 version of the group: vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker, pianist Eliane Elias (a young unknown at the time), bassist Eddie Gomez, and drummer Peter Erskine. The music is essentially high-quality funky fusion, with Brecker typically blowing up a storm, Mainieri often playing the synthivibe, and Elias showing some early individuality. Best known among the seven originals are Don Grolnick's "Pools" and Mainieri's "Islands." The inventive but pretty accessible set concludes with "Trio," a fairly free improvisation featuring Brecker, Gomez, and Mainieri.

The title of Anna Wilson's third album, Yule Swing!, gives an accurate indication of its contents, which consist of seasonal music in big-band (and small-band) jazz arrangements. But without the subtitle that's written vertically in script up the right side of the cover, one might expect to hear the usual perennials. That subtitle reads, "A Collection of Original Holiday Songs."

Cathedral is usually mentioned with other 70s American prog bands like Yezda Urfa and Mirthrandir. Those three bands played symphonic-prog influenced mostly by Yes and early Genesis (although Yezda Urfa showed a strong Gentle Giant influence). And it had a profound influence on Cathedral. The listener will instantly notice that Cathedral were quite aggressive for a mid-seventies prog band, and the band wastes little time exploring action-packed sections in each track. The bass/drum interplay was one of the first things to catch my attention. Not only does the bassist and drummer lock into complex and aggressive grooves, but the drummer was also allowed to fill most of the tracks with additional percussive instruments. The guitarist is the next musician to stand out. Try to imagine Robert Fripp as an American guitar player…

Jeanne Mas is well known in France, Switzerland, Canada and Belgium for a number of hit singles released in the 1980s. Her first success was "Toute première fois" in 1984. This song was simultaneously released in the United Kingdom in English. Two of her singles charted at number one in France: "Johnny, Johnny" and "En Rouge et Noir" in 1985 and 1986, respectively. Her 1980's albums are good examples of the Euro disco electropop style popular in Continental Europe at the time, featuring synthesizers and very catchy melodies.

The Beach Boys' new 50th Anniversary Greatest Hits: 50 Big Ones collection features the band's most popular songs, including "California Girls," "Good Vibrations," "Surfin' U.S.A.," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows," "Kokomo," and two songs from the band's newest studio album – the title track "That's Why God Made The Radio" and a new single version of "Isn't It Time,"

Opus is a Schiller album whose shades and textures are inspired by classical music. It owes its freedom and melodic concentration to Christopher von Deylen s defined sense of being at home in the electronic world. His imaginative thinking does not lead to disorientation, but rather to an expanded, clear and panoramic view of the emotionalizing world of accentuated sounds, and rhythmic passions. Crossover is a term often used to refer to musicians and artists who diversify, and work in alternative genres. Christopher von Deylen clearly knows only too well that labels, and tags, only tell some of the story, and that the quest for compromise can lead to a dangerously seductive over-simplification. With Schiller, he has defied categorisation for some 15 years…

Zio Crocifisso is a musical project founded 2021 by Dario Magri (Yokoano, Sho), Paolo “SKE” Botta (Yūgen, SKE, Not a Good Sign) and Matteo Serenelli (The Appetizers), a trio with a multifaceted sound that has found fertile ground in the instrumental avant-prog realm, with influences ranging from King Crimson, Tool, Melvins, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Zu and Poil. The band made their debut in 2024 with the digital EP “Campana di Legno” and, after enrolling bassist Fabio Malizia (Orbe), thanks to a cross-genre, sinister and musically dynamic proposal, played live in both typical rock and cinema/animation contexts. In 2025 new material was ultimately recorded and, combined with the tracks of the previous EP, contributed to the final realization of “Campana di Legno + Trappola per Topi”.

Excelling at the art of blues balladry demands that a musician possess great feeling but also great control. No surprise then, that one of its greatest practitioners, Nancy Wilson, has both traits in abundance. Save Your Love for Me: Nancy Wilson Sings the Great Blues Ballads is one in a loose series of three Capitol compilations to compile her late-'50s and early-'60s prime, the others focusing on the Great American Songbook and the torch song.

Vivaldi’s sonatas op.5 appeared in 1716 and have some special features: The opus is declared as the second part of his op.2 and contains four solo sonatas and two trio sonatas, which was rather unusual at that time. In order to present their works to the audience, the 18th century composers tried to supply the title pages of the scores with as precise and detailed description of the contents.

Soft Ffog is a Norwegian progressive jazz-rock band celebrated for its exceptional virtuosity and high musicianship levels. The band combines intricate jazz improvisation with rock elements, creating a dynamic and engaging listening experience that showcases precision and creativity. On their second album Focus, the band is more progrock than ever. The Soft is Ffoggier and the Ffog is softer. Highly influenced by 70s underground heroes like Camel and Focus, sprinkled with that old jazz dust, this new record should satisfy all you 70s nostalgics with a jazz tickle out there!