Giacomo Puccini The Great Opera Collection Boxset 15cd

On IMPRESSIONS OF SPAIN from Navona Records, the critically acclaimed guitar trio enchants and excites with their performance of Spanish-influenced works from master composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Arranged and adapted for guitar trio by Gregg Nestor, the unexplored repertoire of five composers cascades across guitar frets in this recording, communicating themes of love, poetry and literature, spanish dance, and the spirit of Spain itself through music. Experience the works of Isaac Albéniz, Maurice Ravel, Enrique Granados, Joaquín Turina, and Manuel de Falla through a new and virtuosic voice.

The name of the group might be immodest, but the combination of pianist Hank Jones, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Tony Williams lives up to its billing. Originally cut for the Japanese East Wind label and last available domestically as an Inner City LP, this swinging but unsurprising session features boppish interpretations of six jazz standards including "Love for Sale," "Secret Love," and "Autumn Leaves."

Despite a frequent change of supporting players, pianist Hank Jones always produces rewarding sessions when he leads the Great Jazz Trio in a studio date. On the 1978 Great Jazz Trio Direct From L.A. disc made for the Japanese label East Wind, premier sidemen Ron Carter and Tony Williams are on hand. Right away Jones signals that he is in a playful mood, using Tchaikovsky's "Arabian Dance" (from The Nutcracker) to introduce and close a cooking rendition of "A Night in Tunisia." The treatment of "'Round About Midnight" is more straightforward, though Jones' style adds an elegant touch. His off-kilter introduction to the well-traveled "Satin Doll" keeps the song fresh. He transforms "My Funny Valentine" into a brisk loping waltz, with Carter and Williams providing imaginative support. If there's a bone to pick with this well-recorded CD, it is the miserly length of just 29 minutes.

It was an inspired idea to match alto saxophonist Jackie McLean with the Great Jazz Trio, a regularly working unit on record and in concert led by the outstanding pianist Hank Jones, joined by two first call players, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams. Although the word "again" is added to McLean's two originals, the barnburner "Appointment in Ghana" and "Little Melonae," they aren't very different from earlier recordings in concept. McLean also shines in ballad settings of "It Never Entered My Mind" and "'Round Midnight." Jones' advanced playing may be a eye-opener for some fans who do not realize how advanced and wide ranging a pianist he is.

Collaboration is the third CD to be issued from a pair of 2002 sessions by the Great Jazz Trio, featuring Elvin Jones and Richard Davis with leader Hank Jones. The pianist previously worked alongside Davis on numerous sessions led by other musicians, including Elvin's Dear John C., though the Jones brothers worked together only sporadically during their long careers. Although eight of the songs appeared on Someday My Prince Will Come (issued by Eighty-Eights/Columbia) and the earlier 441 CD Autumn Leaves, these are valid alternate takes and not repeats or castoffs. Elvin Jones, who died in 2004 from heart problems, is still in top form on these sessions, especially on the thunderous opener, "Rhythm-a-Ning," though he focuses quite a bit on his underrated brushwork for the remainder of the disc…

The Great Old Ones stand as harbingers of cosmic nightmares and arcane melodies. Forged in the ancient mists of Bordeaux, France, their evocative soundscapes transcend mere music, invoking the eldritch horrors of H.P. Lovecraft’s mythos. Prepare to embark on an odyssey of the soul with their latest offering, Kadath. In this seven-track masterpiece, the band delves into Lovecraft's "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath," guiding listeners through the doomed dreams of Randolph Carter and his quest for the elusive, magnificent city denied to him by malevolent gods. Traversing the perilous Dreamlands, Carter's journey is one of both awe and dread, his path marked by phantasmal realms and crawling chaos…