Afterbach Matinee

Mark Knopfler's second solo album might as well be called Dire Straits' eighth studio album, though Knopfler abandoned the group name back in 1996, dispensing with hefty sales in the process. There was never much doubt that the fame and lifestyle coincident with platinum sales made him uncomfortable, and discontinuing the Dire Straits billing was a means of walking away from all that. It also allowed him to indulge his love for various musical genres more, and that process continues on Sailing to Philadelphia…

Richard Page, is thelead singer and bassist in 1980s US band Mr. Mister, and is also now a songwriter and solo artist. His first major band, Pages, was formed with his childhood friend from Phoenix, Arizona, Steve George after he moved to Los Angeles from San Diego in the late 1970s. After producing three "Pages" albums, Page and George formed Mr. Mister along with Steve Farris and Pat Mastelotto.

Benjamin Koppel, Danish Jazz saxophonist and composer, is one of the most award-winning musicians of his generation, renowned for his versatility and virtuosity. 'Illuminations' is the first album in the series 'Living Room Recordings'. Inspired by the visionary French poet Arthur Rimbaud’s unfinished poetry collection Illuminations (1874), this is an elegant, animated collaboration between two brilliant musicians. The compositions are written and played by Danish saxophonist Benjamin Koppel, with the great Frenchman Jean-Michel Pilc on piano, and are rich with celebration of French culture and philosophy, its sophistication and history…

Between 1803 and 1968, the Grand Prix de Rome marked the zenith of composition studies at the Paris Conservatoire. In Maurice Ravel’s time the competition included an elimination round (a fugue and a choral piece) followed by a cantata in the form of an operatic scena. The entries were judged by a jury which generally favoured expertise and conformity more than originality and Ravel’s growing reputation as a member of the avant-garde was therefore hardly to his advantage, and may explain why he never won the coveted Premier Grand Prix, and the three-year stay at Rome’s Villa Medici that went with it.

6CD Box Set comprising the first five original studio albums plus exclusive bonus CD of demos, live tracks and non-album material, housed in a custom maroon and gold picture box with with a superb illustrated and detailed 28-page band chronology booklet!
Perhaps better known to most as a successful New Zealand, (and NZ's most successful band and hugely popular in NZ and Australia) new wave act from the early 1980s. Split Enz did in fact start life as a prog band formed in 1972 originally spelt Split Ends (the spelling changed to Enz when the band left New Zealand), by friends at Auckland University Phil Judd (Guitar, vocals) and Brian (Tim) Finn (Vocals, piano, guitar), who had an inspired period of song writing together. Their early sound was a mixture of vaudeville and influences of the Beatles, Genesis, Yes, Roxy Music, Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant…

6CD Box Set comprising the first five original studio albums plus exclusive bonus CD of demos, live tracks and non-album material, housed in a custom maroon and gold picture box with with a superb illustrated and detailed 28-page band chronology booklet!
Perhaps better known to most as a successful New Zealand, (and NZ's most successful band and hugely popular in NZ and Australia) new wave act from the early 1980s. Split Enz did in fact start life as a prog band formed in 1972 originally spelt Split Ends (the spelling changed to Enz when the band left New Zealand), by friends at Auckland University Phil Judd (Guitar, vocals) and Brian (Tim) Finn (Vocals, piano, guitar), who had an inspired period of song writing together. Their early sound was a mixture of vaudeville and influences of the Beatles, Genesis, Yes, Roxy Music, Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant…