Dino Saluzzi

Comparing early Al di Meola dates like Land of the Midnight Sun and Casino to his albums of the 1990s, it's clear how much his playing has softened. The exceptional World Sinfonia, an entirely acoustic CD, makes it clear that what hasn't changed is his unpredictable, spontaneous nature. Di Meola's right-hand man throughout this highly introspective date is the soulful bandonean player Dino Saluzzi, with whom he enjoys an undeniably strong rapport. A long-time lover of world music, di Meola incorporates South American, Spanish, and Middle Eastern elements, and makes Argentine tango a very high priority.

The score to this beautiful movie (released as All About My Mother in the U.S.) was composed by Alberto Iglesias and recorded with the City of Prague Philharmonic under the production of Lucio Godoy. The haunting music leads the perfect mood to the film, which received critical acclaim at the Cannes Film festival and elsewhere.

Polish composer and trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's career has been long and varied – from working with the legendary Krzysztof Komeda in the 1950s and '60s, to his own work that ranges form hard bop to electronic improvisation. A wonderful illustration of that principle is his association with Manfred Eicher's ECM label. This volume, in the excellent Rarum series, begins with Stanko's first date as a leader for ECM in 1975 on the album Balladyna. There are two selections from the set highlighting what was well-known at the time as his radical "predatory lyricism" method of composition and soloing.