Alex Svetsky

Only "What Makes a Man Turn His Back on God?," which features Bessie Griffin, has been previously released. But any number of those 23 sides could have been issued with success (only "Dinner, Mr. Rupe?," a half-minute of studio byplay, wouldn't). The earlier, slightly longer take of "Too Close to Heaven" is especially interesting to compare to the hit; too sweet how Bradford whittled almost 30 seconds out of a performance already in fine fighting trim. Superb annotation by gospel historian Anthony Heilbut offers an insightful history of Bradford and his sound and also gets down to cases about various tracks.

Alex Acuna ( drummer for the famous Weather Report ) and world class session drummer is well known but his work with the "Unknowns" remains unknown to the vast majority of the jazz fusion listening public!

"David Pohle created his Zwolf Liebesgesange in the early seventeenth century, crucially advancing the emerging genre of the German song. The settings of the 26-year-old Pohle are valuable testimonials to the development of this genre. The poems by Paul Fleming, on which these settings are based, bear autobiographical features, mirrored by David Pohle in his compositions by the use of two equal voices. In a varied manner, the music and text tell of love, loss and pain, of happiness, determination and abstinence. Audite presents this premiere recording with a top-class cast of soloists and instrumentalists.

"The greatest song cycle ever written." - Glenn Gould is very unequivocal in his judgement of Paul Hindemith's Das Marienleben, based on a collection of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke. The notorious bourgeois terror, then only 27 years old, shows a very different, internalised side here. "There is something in these songs that forces and fascinates the listener beyond all habits of conventional song manner," wrote a reviewer in 1923, and to this day there is nothing to add. Yvonne Friedli and Constantin Alex make it palpable in their sensitive interpretation.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band was one of the most unconventional bands that were part of the 1970s glam rock era. Fronted by Alex Harvey accompanied by Zal Cleminson on guitar, bassist Chris Glen, keyboard player Hugh McKenna and drummer Ted McKenna, their music veered from glam rock to experimental jazz, around a core of experimental and avant-garde rock, dealing with themes from environmentalism to chinese take away food…

Three Venetian contemporaries named Antonio - one, Vivaldi, achieved world fame with his concerti. But who has heard of Antonio Lotti and Caldara today? In their time, they were famous composers beyond the borders of Venice, and yet some of their music has lain dormant in archives for over three hundred years. Now selected alto cantatas by Lotti as well as oratorio introductions and an "Ave Regina" by Caldara may reawaken attention: paired with the "Nisi Dominus", RV 608, and two rousing concerti by Vivaldi, the baroque orchestra la festa musicale and the internationally acclaimed countertenor Alex Potter present an album full of virtuoso and touching musical treasures by the three Antonios from the Canal Grande.

Even though musicians may come from divergent places, it is amazing to find that many have the same proclivities when it comes to musical tendencies and taste. The relationship between Detroit born baritone saxophonist and bass clarinetist Alex Harding and Romanian pianist Lucian Ban is one example, in this case two musician from such different places, coalesce around the power of the blues. Their new recording, Dark Blue, is a testament to their musical and brotherly bond.

Grammy Award-winner Alex Klein, former principal oboist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, performs sonatas that signify the oboe’s 20th-century reemergence as a brilliant solo instrument. One of the world’s most famous oboe players, Klein says he waited to acquire a professional lifetime’s worth of experience before putting his stamp on the six sonatas heard here.

It's not the first time guitarist Alex Machacek has composed around drum improvisation—he did that with three tracks on [sic], his 2006 breakout record and first for Abstract Logix—but he's taken the concept even farther on 24 Tales. It's also not the only release to use, as its basis, a 51-minute drum improvisation by Marco Minneman—Machacek's band mate in keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson's Ukz, which debuted in 2009 with the Radiation (Globe Music) EP. Guitarist Mike Keneally, touch guitarist Trey Gunn, and Mars Hollow bassist/guitarist Kerry Chicoine were all given Minneman's metrically and polyrhythmically challenging solo as part of the drummer's Normalizer 2 project as well, but 24 Tales sets the bar incredibly high for everyone else; a true fusion masterpiece that actually surpasses [sic]'s remarkably deep composition and stunning performance.