Mark Curtis

Welcome To My World, Grammy Award-winning bass-baritone Mark Steven Doss’s debut recording for Cedille Records, is a solo vocal recital showcasing Doss’s extraordinary career and artistic versatility. The recording provides a rich and varied musical experience, reflecting Doss’s range as a performer.

La Susanna, a late oratorio composed in Genoa in 1681, the year before the composer’s death. La Susanna belongs to a popular 17th-century sub-genre termed oratorio erotico because it employed biblical stories concerned with love or the sensual aspect of women. It is typical of the kind of plot that might be used to attract an audience drawn to the prayer halls to be given Bible “instruction” in easily accessible form. The concept was a mark of counter-Reformation propaganda and stories such as those of Judith or Susanna were popular not only in music, but also literature and painting. Indeed, the cover of the present set is illustrated by a fine painting by Artemisia Gentileschi depicting the beautiful naked Susanna recoiling from the gaze of the two leering elders.

Those who think of singer/saxman Curtis Stigers as a pop/rock artist and associate him with "I Wonder Why" and "Peace, Love and Understanding" will be surprised to learn that Baby Plays Around is very much a jazz album – not jazzy pop, but straight-ahead acoustic jazz. Not that there is any reason why someone with pop/rock credentials can't embrace jazz if his heart is really in it; after all, jazz and rock are both part of the blues family. And even though some pretentious individuals in the jazz world love to state that jazz is "America's classical music," the fact is that jazz has more in common with rock and R&B than with Beethoven or Mozart. Stigers thrived on that blues feeling as a pop/rock singer in the early '90s, and he thrives on it as a jazz singer.

The name Mark Baker may not be immediately recognizable to many, but for liner note/album credits junkies, it signifies top shelf AOR songwriting. Whether it be anthems or ballads, a Mark Baker song means memorable hooks and a big chorus. Mark Baker is the man behind the iconic Signal "Loud & Clear" album as well as many other songs, including tracks for .38 Special, Paris Black, Triumph and Boulevard. He was also the main co-writer on House Of Lords' acclaimed "Demons Down" record, rejoining as co-writer on some of the band's more recent albums too.

Sol y vida is Elīna Garanča’sjourney to the South, from Spain to Italy and Latin America, and is her first album focusing entirely on non core-classical repertoire.