Jonathan Scott Organ

François Couperin's 'Leçons de Ténèbres' (c. 1713-17), a setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, fused devotional expression with a dramatic performing style embodied here by sopranos Lucy Crowe and Elizabeth Watts. Two Trio Sonatas and a 'Stabat Mater' by Sébastien de Brossard round out this luminous programme. La Nuova Musica was founded by its artistic director David Bates in 2007 whilst in residency at Snape Maltings and was hailed by BBC Radio 3 as “one of the most exciting consorts in the early music field”.

Electric guitarist Joel Kipnis – or JK, as the smooth jazz world will know him – is an amazingly unselfish musician, not only including his keyboardist Dinky Bingham and featured vocalist Robyn Springer on the back cover of his Verve Forecast debut What's the Word, but deferring lead parts and solos to them as well as other bandmembers more often than not throughout the disc. Kipnis will establish a theme, then kick around in the background while Bingham sprouts a frenetic bluesy organ solo, Scott Kreitzer sparks some fancy improvisations on sax, and Jim Hynes eases in on trumpet, all in rapid succession. The tag eaming bears the most fruit on the funkiest cut "In the Pocket," where Bingham bubbles under JK's slick lines while Hynes waits for an open door to chime in a measure or two. While JK isn't always the one who stands out most on each cut, give him credit for aiming for solid ensemble vibes The few full-on instrumentals are a blast.

Flattop Tom & his Jump Cats, is a versatile, energetic group of talented musicians dedicated to keeping Blues and Swing alive. This eight-piece band plays Blues, West Coast Jump Blues, Big Band Swing, Jump Jive, Boogie Woogie, Rockabilly, and 40s & 50s Rhythm & Blues. The band has been in existence since 1992. Flattop Tom is also a professional swing dancer and prides himself in keeping tempos right for dancers, but they\'re fun to watch and listen to, as well…..