Three years after the release of her successful Essentials II, Jazz diva Karen Souza is back with her fourth studio album. Velvet Vault is the title of a collection that combine jazz standards with jazz reworks of pop classics plus two songs co-written by Karen herself. Japan's superstar Toku duets with Karen on the track You Got That Something. Also part of the album are Robin Banerjee (Amy Winehouse guitarist) and legendary Tom 'Bones' Malone (Blues Brothers, Saturday Night Live Band). Vocals has been recorded in New York at The Orchard studios and produced by Richard Gottehrer (of Blondie, Richard Hell and Dr. Feelgood fame). The album's first single Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, will be available on November 10th. Velvet Vault is without a doubt, Karen Souza's most accomplished record to date and will definitely surpass the success of her previous efforts.

Pollini's traversal of Chopin's 19 Nocturnes (he leaves out the pair of posthumous ones) is one of his finest recordings in years. His long-lined yet detailed performances are comparable to the very different ones that have long stood at the pinnacle of recorded sets. Not as serene as Artur Rubinstein's, not as philosophical as Claudio Arrau's, nor as warm as Ivan Moravec's, Pollini's interpretations have their own allure. One is the way he shapes the melodies with a natural flow enhanced by his tonal beauty, less lean and streamlined than his usual way with Romantic music.

Focus On Nature is the new studio album from celebrated post-psyche singer songwriter Nick Saloman and his band The Bevis Frond. Seventy-five minutes of glorious melodies that span 60s psych, English folk, Seattle art-punks The Wipers, the buzzsaw pop of Dinosaur Jr and Hendrix-esque explorations. There’s always an element of playful Englishness to their music.

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee were the ultimate blues duo; McGhee's stylized singing and light, flickering guitar was wonderfully contrasted by Terry's sweeping, whirling harmonica solos and intense, country-tinged singing. They were in great form during the ten tunes featured on this live date. Sometimes, as on "Custard Pie" or "Barking Bull Dog," they're funny; at other times, they were prophetic, chilling, or moving. This is Piedmont blues at its best, and this disc's tremendous remastering provides a strong sonic framework.

Over the course of the last two decades, of Montreal’s creative force, Kevin Barnes, has been wowing fans with their vast catalog of endlessly fascinating pop and mesmerizing live shows. On of Montreal’s latest album, Lady on the Cusp, Barnes shapeshifts between genres with each song. On tracks like “Rude Girl on Rotation,” Barnes revisits sounds of late 60’s guitar pop and psychedelia reminiscent of 2013’s Lousy With Sylvianbriar, while “Young Hearts Bleed Free” and “Music Hurts The Head” showcase Barnes’ love of experimental funk pop that has been present throughout much of the band’s discography. Lady on the Cusp is another exciting listen from one of the most prolific and influential artists making music today.

Recorded in the fall of 2023 at the band’s studio The Barn, Evolve (the 16th studio album by Phish) was produced by Vance Powell and Bryce Goggin with the 12 songs emerging from the band’s dynamic live performances. Some, like fan favorite “A Wave Of Hope,” have become springboards for Phish's most soaring improvisation. The songcraft and production are confident and taut, with Phish’s distinct musical language on vivid display; still pushing boundaries, still very much continuing to evolve.

King Crimson evolves, changes, morphs as relentlessly as the Soundscapes which open each concert. Since the 2016 tour of Europe, the band has become a double quartet line-up with Bill Rieflin’s return from sabbatical as keyboard player & Jeremy Stacey’s confirmation as a permanent member/third drummer. This allows for the inclusion of an ever more complex & compelling array of material, far more than can be contained in a single concert. With options for up to three keyboard players in the current line-up – Fripp & Stacey both have setups alongside their respective guitar/drum rigs - the majority of Lizard is performed live for the first time ever, likewise Fallen Angel from Red is making its first ever concert appearance/live recording, Cirkus envelops the listener in sound, the beautiful title track from Islands closes the first set, while staples from the 1980s line-up Indiscipline and Neurotica appear in very different arrangements.

Shostakovich was genuinely trying to break new ground but had been sharply brought into line (viz. the edict issued against his opera "Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk"). His 5th Symphony seems to cast doubt on the Marxist purity of the Party in power. He conveys his rage in unexpectedly neo-Mahlerian style, but concludes with politically correct optimism. A quarter of a century later he produced "The Year 1917", a skilfully produced commission which sounds like a film score. Even today Mravinsky is still the most effective interpreter of this contradictory diptych, capable of rendering both its intrinsic power and resounding ambiguities.

Shostakovich was genuinely trying to break new ground but had been sharply brought into line (viz. the edict issued against his opera "Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk"). His 5th Symphony seems to cast doubt on the Marxist purity of the Party in power. He conveys his rage in unexpectedly neo-Mahlerian style, but concludes with politically correct optimism. A quarter of a century later he produced "The Year 1917", a skilfully produced commission which sounds like a film score. Even today Mravinsky is still the most effective interpreter of this contradictory diptych, capable of rendering both its intrinsic power and resounding ambiguities.

Born in 1968, Arve Henriksen studied at the Trondheim Conservatory from 1987-1991, and has worked as a freelance musician since 1989.