This band is hot. Very, very hot. And those aren't just empty words. After all, the Blues Company from Osnabrück, Germany is neither a hodgepodge of rank beginners nor - to borrow business lingo - a group of new business starters. Rather, they are a team of artists who have made their mark, musicians with experience and know-how aplenty. The musicians at work here have long since ensured that the name of their “company” is a recognised “seal of approval”. In a nutshell, “Blues Company” stands for German's longest-running and most successful blues band. And with each new recording, with each concert, these pros underscore that their passionate love affair with the blues is burning brightly as ever.
Two recent pieces of Van der Aa are combined on this album: Violin concerto with RCO and Janine Jansen (recorded live at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in November 2014, duration 26") and Hysteresis for solo clarinet, ensemble and soundtrack, performed by Amsterdam Sinfonietta and Kari Kriikku (recorded in session at Stadsgehoorzaal Leiden in September 2015 - duration 17').
Celebrating Helloweens greatest hits from three decades and offering a breakneck trip through time and the bands entire repertoire, United Alive was recorded over the bands 14-month Pumpkins United World that began in the Fall of 2017. Made up of the core past & current members Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner, and Daniel Lble, Helloween delivered 69 shows, including 14 headlining spots at the biggest festivals, in front of over one million people in 32 countries and on three continents. The 2-disc Blu-Ray & 3-cd United Alive nails the phenomenal sets with close quarters recordings from Wacken in front of 75,000 metal heads and 14,000 fans in the Madrid arena, and as a bonus tops it off with the legendary gig at the Espao das Amricas in front of 8,000 Fans in So Paulo.
Recorded on their first concert tour, this is the first release by Dave Bainbridge's new band Celestial Fire. Featuring a mix of IONA music (some rarely played live, such as 'Brendan's Voyage/Return'), music from Dave's solo albums and even a Yes cover or two, this recording shows the astonishing breadth of talent and stunning musical sensitivity in this new line up…
That Martha Argerich is a powerhouse with heart is not a problem, it's a delight; that she can occasionally be rambunctious and a bit careless, on the other hand, can be a problem. On this recording, happily, the pluses are very much in evidence and the minuses nonexistent. She plays the Tchaikovsky with absolute abandon joined with a technical assuredness that is thrilling, and the fact that she gets through it almost error-free makes the breakneck experience all the more rewarding. The Schumann Concerto is hardly in the same league as the Tchaikovsky, but Argerich makes a superb case for it.