Gabi Sympathy (2015) Mp3, Flac

Known for his expert songwriting, emotive vocals and fantastic instrumental technique, Cantuaria has led a successful career as a solo artist since the 1980s and as a collaborator of the utmost taste even longer, including work with Caetano Veloso, David Byrne, Bill Frisell, Arto Lindsay and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The new recording Vinicius canta Antonio Carlos Jobim is a dedication to this hero of Brazilian music. Cantuaria takes on this classic material in the most personal way he could, performing most of the music himself, playing acoustic and electric guitars and percussion. The album was recorded in Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro, and provided an opportunity to reach out to a number of talented and musical friends, most notably Frisell, Sakamoto, Joyce, guitarist Chico Pinheiro and Melody Gardot.

Diana Krall paid tribute to her father on Glad Rag Doll, the 2012 album sourced from his collection of 78-rpm records, and, in a sense, its 2015 successor Wallflower is a companion record of sorts, finding the singer revisiting songs from her childhood. Like many kids of the 20th century, she grew up listening to the radio, which meant she was weaned on the soft rock superhits of the '70s – songs that earned sniffy condescension at the time but nevertheless have turned into modern standards due to their continual presence in pop culture (and arguably were treated that way at the time, seeing cover after cover by middlebrow pop singers).

Chucho Valdés is at the top of his game here, on Tribute to Irakere (Live in Marciac). There is a visceral excitement in the performance, where the music is played in the idiomatic vein of Irakere. This means the creation of an attractive, edifying atmosphere in Marciac with the celebrated collision of African polyrhythms together with a polyphony born of Cuban folk forms that Chucho Valdés is so well known for adapting to his electrifying style.

In for a Penny, In for a Pound is the latest installment in saxophonist/ flutist/composer Henry Threadgill’s ongoing exploration of his singular system for integrating composition with group improvisation. The music for his band Zooid – his main music-making vehicle for the past fourteen years and the longest running band of his illustrious forty plus-year career – is no less than his attempt to completely deconstruct standard jazz form, steering the improvisatory language towards an entirely new system based on preconceived series of intervals. His compositions create a polyphonic platform that encourages each musician to improvise with an ear for counterpoint and, in the process, creating striking new harmonies.

This five disc collection contains some of the most important recordings of Monk’s career; from his very earliest Bluenote sessions to the startling compositions that have become all-time classics. Featuring nine original and now legendary albums in total, the music showcased within perfectly displays the rapid progress of Thelonious Monk’s natural talents as a writer, performer and bandleader, leaving no doubt as to how he came to achieve the revered status he still maintains to this day.

Danish trumpeter Jakob Buchanan also has a background in modern jazz and his large-scale work Requiem combines big band music, choral music, modern jazz and classical tones into a sweeping musical statement that enters the realm of spirituality. On the opening, "Requiem Aeternam," Buchanan's trumpet breaks through the silence like a glowing light in the dark before an organ intones with multiple brass voices in the background. Then a choir of Latin voices rise from out of nowhere and the composition grows into an understated bass-driven groove where Indra Rios-Moore sings: "nothing is permanent / the sun and the moon rise and set. / From hour to hour everything changes, / To take for permanent, that which is only transitory, is like the delusion of a mad man."

On March 31, 2015, Kidjo released her collaboration with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra. The album contains orchestral versions of 9 songs from previous albums and two original songs: Nanae and Otishe. All the songs are arranged by Gast Waltzing and David Laborier and the orchestra is conducted by Gast Waltzing. The Australian newspaper noted: "Kidjo opens what's arguably her most ambitious album by paying homage to her heroine, Miriam Makeba. None of her three previously released versions of Malaika can match the majesty and grandeur of this latest spine-tingling rendition, which features the singer in superlative voice (in Swahili) backed by the strings and wind instruments of the 110-piece Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. Elsewhere, the consummate guitar playing of Kidjo's compatriot Lionel Loueke and Brazilian Romero Lubambo augment conductor-trumpeter Gast Waltzing's sumptuous arrangements.

Hard rocking blues, featuring Andy Watts' virtuoso guitar, Dov Hammer's soulful harmonica and vocals and some unique original songwriting. The Blues Rebels began in 2012 as a one-time friendly jam between two veteran Blues artists – guitarist Andy Watts and singer/harmonica player Dov Hammer – but the immediate chemistry between the two and the powerful stage show that resulted was undeniable. The Blues Rebels soon became one of the hottest Blues bands on the scene, playing with world-class Blues artists such as Joe Louis Walker, Lucky Peterson and Bernard Allison. The band was also chosen to open for the legendary Johnny Winter, who told the band how impressed he was by their performance.

Blues guitarist/singer from Bath in the UK, played guitar in Robert Plant's band from 1993-1994. Recorded seven cd's on various blues label with his own band opening for Johnny Winter, Peter Green, The fabulous thunderbirds, Steve Cropper, Ronnie Earl, Taj Mahal etc. Innes Sibun plays high-energy Blues with intense passion, and he's done so from the tender age of 12 after hearing the B.B. King's Live At The Regal. Today Sibun's blistering, straightforward guitar artistry and raggedly sincere vocals at times recall the great Rory Gallagher. Mike Vernon (legendary producer of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton as well as all of the Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac albums) recorded Sibun's debut album.