Chris Jarvis

Chris Rea is not alone in the company of musicians who found fame later in life – think Jarvis Cocker, Leonard Cohen – and indeed it is interesting to note that he didn’t achieve UK Top Ten single status until the release of The Road To Hell (pt2), a record that was actually his eighteenth chart entry. Artist and painter, blues aficionado and self-confessed motoring nut, filmmaker and Italian-influenced classical music composer, eclectic and maverick are two terms that hardly come close to describing a man who has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide for just being himself. Road Songs For Lovers is beautifully nuanced and a record that regularly tugs at the heartstrings and is arguably Rea’s best album to date. The album, Road Songs For Lovers, continues Rea’s obsession with travel and motion and includes songs with titles such as Happy On The Road, The Road Ahead, The Last Train as well as Road Songs For Lovers itself.

The follow-up to his smash 2009 concert album Live in Boston, Chris Botti's studio album Impressions features more of the cool trumpeter's crossover jazz, pop, and classical stylings. Focusing on Botti's love of melody, Impressions is an aesthetically varied album featuring works by classical composers Frederic Chopin and Astor Piazzolla as well as standards by George Gershwin and Harold Arlen. While Botti's virtuoso playing is always the focal point of his albums, here we get more of his acclaimed collaborations, including tracks with such artists as jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist Mark Knopfler, country singer Vince Gill, composer/pianist/producer David Foster, and more.