George Michael

Mosaic Voices are the Resident Choir at the New West End Synagogue, in London. The synagogue, designed in 1877 by the Scottish architect George Audsley, is a masterpiece of Victorian architecture, known for its beautiful choral acoustic. A great deal of the material on this album is therefore music sung by Mosaic Voices, in Hebrew, during religious services and festivals, of which this music forms a functional element.

The UC College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Wind Symphony releases a new recording, "Grand Pianola Music", featuring works by George Gershwin and John Adams, the recording showcases faculty artist Michael Chertock, student artist Giuliano Graniti and alumni artist Fabio Menchetti (DMA Piano, '19).

This ballsy album by Michael Hill has as much 'rock' in its roll as it has the blues. At the time, it was a lonely but prescient insight into the world to come. The fiery guitarist and provocative songwriter has a singular formula: intense social commentary combined with expression of love for beautiful women and for New York. Included are a couple of forthright songs criticising America's war in Iraq and George Bush in particular. Hill continues to produce blues for our times on this album. And the album's celebration of the mighty Hubert Sumlin has one unique extra: Mr Hubert Sumlin himself.

Pianist Michael Naura’s 1970 album Call assimilates contemporary sounds of free jazz and rock as well as the collective playing styles of a younger generation of musicians. His first album in eight years, this definitely showcased Naura in a new light. Two members of his old quintet, vibraphonist Wolfgang Schlüter and drummer Joe Nay, appear on Call and both had effortlessly mastered, as had Naura, the newly emerging rock and blues-oriented styles of the era. With the addition of electric bassist Eberhard Weber, a jazz-rock trendsetter stepped into the band and had a substantial impact on the new quartet’s sound.

Having taken Benson along with him when he founded CTI, Creed Taylor merely leaves the guitarist alone with a small group on his first release. The payoff is a superb jazz session where Benson rises to the challenge of the turbulent rhythm section of Jack DeJohnette and Ron Carter, with Clarence Palmer ably manning the organ. Benson is clearly as much at home with DeJohnette's advanced playing as he was in soul/jazz (after all, he did play on some Miles Davis sessions a few years before), and his tone is edgier, with more bite, than it had been for awhile. The lyrical Benson is also on eloquent display in "Ode to a Kudu" (heard twice on the CD, as is "All Clear"), and there is even a somewhat experimental tilt toward Afro-Cuban-Indian rhythms in "Somewhere to the East." A must-hear for all aficionados of Benson's guitar.

The debut studio album by William Michael Morgan, country music singer-songwriter from Vicksburg, Mississippi. The album has produced one single, 'I Met a Girl', which has been a hit with critics and fans alike. Morgan co-wrote two of the album's eleven tracks. His traditional sound is a breath of fresh air in the country music space in 2016.

This new album of music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, the latest by the London Choral Sinfonia and Michael Waldron, features collaborators including violinist Jack Liebeck and tenor Andrew Staples. The collection includes works such as Vaughan Williams's Violin Concerto; ""In Windsor Forest,"" adapted from the opera 'Sir John in Love;' and ""Prelude on Gibbons’ Song 13,"" newly orchestrated for strings. Among these adaptations are Vaughan Williams' own transcriptions of J.S. Bach's works, including the 'Giant' Fugue and 'Schmucke Dich' chorale, reflecting his admiration for Bach's music. The album contains poignant pieces like ""Nothing is here for tears,"" a sombre response to King George V's death, and ""Land of our birth,"" an homage to Britain's World War II victory.

Charlie Hunter is an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, and melodies. Critic Sean Westergaard described Hunter's technique as "mind-boggling…he's an agile improviser with an ear for great tone, and always has excellent players alongside him in order to make great music, not to show off.

Craft Recordings is thrilled to release Gershwin Country: a brand-new album from the GRAMMY®- and Emmy®-nominated entertainer Michael Feinstein, who reimagines the classic songs of George and Ira Gershwin through the contemporary lens of country music.