A Silent Fire

Just in time for the holiday season, Seraphic Fire’s 17th studio album, The Apple Tree: Christmas with Seraphic Fire, will be available to purchase and stream on all major platforms on Nov. 17. James K. Bass, the conductor of the album, said of the project, “One of the goals we were trying to achieve on the new Christmas recording was to capture the intimate atmosphere the audience experiences when they walk into the candlelit sanctuary surrounded by 13 a cappella voices singing such magnificent and meaningful music.”

A 10 CD box set with all the albums of the legendary Dutch Prog Rock Formation Earth and Fire. The nine albums packed in a monumental box, some albums of which no longer available for years, specifically for this release packed into replicas of the original sleeves. Besides there is an extra bonus CD with non-album singles, special single releases, b-sides and more. The accompanying booklet includes rare photos and clippings from the private archive of singer Jerney Kaagman.

The first ever survey of the seminal British experimental music collective, Gentle Fire, Explorations (1970 - 1973) offers a remarkable and previously unavailable glimpse of their activities during the early 1970s, spanning their crucial interpretations of scores by Stockhausen, Brown, Cage, Ichiyanagi, and Wolff, as well as an incredible deep dive into their own works and "Group Compositions". Unapparelled and historically important work, stretching across the length of 3 CDs, from Paradigm Discs, meticulously culled from Hugh Davies' archive, it's among the most important missing links within the history of British experimental music to have emerged in living memory, and not to be missed.

The popularity of Earth, Wind & Fire's biggest hits - 'September', 'Boogie Wonderland', 'Let's Groove', 'Got To Get You Into My Life', 'Fantasy' and 'After The Love Has Gone' - will never diminish! Formed in Chicago in 1969 by Maurice White, with a blend of soul, funk, R&B, pop, rock, jazz and ultimately disco, they had hits in the US and UK through the '70s and '80s. Aside from the unique combination of White's baritone and Philip Bailey's falsetto vocals, the ensemble also featured the tightest horn section ever, playing the most exciting arrangements. The band won six Grammys, and sold over 90 million records. This 45-track compilation contains their 17 UK hits and 38 US hits, and features extended 12" versions of 'Boogie Wonderland' and 'Let's Groove'.

Cleveland's phenomenal early music ensemble Apollo's Fire ought to be proud of its 2010 double-disc release of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, BWV 1046-1051, augmented with the Harpsichord Concertos, BWV 1052 and 1056, and the reconstructed Violin Concerto, BWV 1052, for this set is quite comparable to other excellent period versions on the market. Led by Jeannette Sorrell from the harpsichord, the group is vibrant and fully engaged in making lively music, so the performances are far from stodgy museum pieces.