Little Tobias Lilja

Light & Dark is an impassioned and energetic performance of historic music that speaks to modern listeners. Cellist Catherine Little and pianist Gregory Myra’s interpretation of Mendelssohn’s joyful D Major and Shostakovich’s angsty D minor cello sonatas is a storytelling of the wonder and adversities of life. The album is a follow-up to the duo’s 2021 release, Taking Five, which won the 2022 Nova Scotia Music Award for Classical Recording of the Year, and which was praised by La Scena magazine for “…eloquently balancing graceful repetition and magical moments.”

Tasmin Little and her accompanist Piers Lane begin this most generous recital disc (comprising 72 minutes of music) in commanding style, with an appropriately gradiloquent account of Kreisler's Praeludium and Allegro. The playing is committed and demonstrative, although Little is less convincing in the other Kreisler work, the Caprice viennois, where her vocalization and sense of timing lack that special Viennese charm so characteristic of Kreisler's original compositions.

Some of the most Chicago-sounding bluesmen didn't grow up in the Windy City but rather were people who moved there after growing up in the Deep South. Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, and Howlin' Wolf are perfect examples; all of them were born in Mississippi, but ultimately, Chicago was the place that did the most to shape their musical identity. Despite their Mississippi roots, all of them became closely identified with electric Chicago blues instead of acoustic Mississippi country blues of the Son House/Robert Johnson/Charley Patton variety - and Little Arthur Duncan is another example of a Mississippi native who moved to the Windy City, was greatly influenced by Chess Records, and wholeheartedly embraced the electric blues of his adopted home…

Greatest Hits is a 1982 compilation of hits by the Australian band Little River Band. The album was digitally remastered and repackaged with six additional tracks in an expanded edition in 2000.
Australia's Little River Band was one of the most successful groups to emerge from down under. With the perfect sound via Glenn Shorrock's relaxed voice alongside the smooth flow of the guitar and keyboard work, LRB's polished style was draped all over radio throughout the late '70s and early '80s. This compilation from their most lucrative years contains all their chart hits, plus the sneaky-sounding "Down on the Border"…

Little Mike & the Tornadoes don't alter their musical approach on Payday at all, but they don't need to - they deliver driving Chicago blues with no frills and lots and lots of passion. The group doesn't just churn out the same old covers, either - they tear through a set of 12 originals that are written in the style of classic '50s and '60s blues. Occasionally their songwriting falters, but never their performances. Every song is delivered with conviction, and Little Mike positively wails on both the piano and harp.