To celebrate the 60th birthday (on 25 April) of Norwegian jazz pianist/composer/novelist and poet Ketil Bjornstad, ECM issues a double album as "literary soundtrack", its release also coinciding with the Norwegian publication of the one-volume edition of Bjornstad's highly-acclaimed fictional 'Vinding' trilogy, 'To Music', 'The River' and 'The Lady in the Valley'. After keeping his musical and writing activities entirely separate for decades, Renaissance Man Bjornstad dissolved the boundaries with his 'Vinding' books: "When I had the idea of writing a trilogy about the young piano student Aksel Vinding, I realised that I would have to grant music access to my world of writing. This felt surprisingly liberating, almost like a confession.
Following acclaimed discs exploring some of the more fascinating byways of the Italian eighteenth century, Auser Musici and its founder-director Carlo Ipata turn to the man Beethoven regarded as the finest of his contemporaries, Luigi Cherubini. It’s not difficult to understand why Beethoven was so impressed: this is music full of character and seriousness of intent, from the strong-jawed Sinfonia for the opera Armida abandonnata, written when Cherubini was just twenty-two, to the dark drama of the Overture to Démophon (which unaccountably failed to wow the sniffy Parisian audiences). And there are vocal delights too, showcasing a virtuosity that looks forward to Rossini and sung here with effortless agility by Maria Grazia Schiavo.
Johnny Cash was fortunate enough to enjoy a massive resurgence of attention and respect in the last decade of his life, but while no one seemed to be paying much attention to him from the early '80s (when his contract with Columbia ran out) to 1994 (when the Rick Rubin-produced American Recordings reminded listeners that a great artist was still in our midst), Cash continued to make good-to-great records and play for fans around the world, and this album, taken from a 1987 taping session for the long-running television series Austin City Limits, shows the Man in Black was still in sterling form as he traveled beneath the radar of country radio and the hipster music press.
The Squarcialupi Codex is an extensive, lavishly decorated manuscript of the Italian Trecento and was compiled around 1410. The manuscript contains works by twelve composers – including Francesco Landini, Giovanni da Cascia, Jacopo da Bologna, and Lorenzo da Firenze – and presents them in chronological order.
The kings of chillgressive aka Olaf Gretzmacher (GMO) and Christian Schoeps (Dense) from chillgressive tunes, have worked on a new downtempo full-length album for granting us to experience a perfect summer! This is the 2nd album from GMO and Dense. The first, which is entitled 'Through Other Glasses' was a remix project by Dense of former GMO works released in 2010. Now they put their powers together and present nine brand new tracks.
Released for short time in 1993 on the indie HTD label and hard to find. Recorded at The Attic Bar in Stafford in September 1992, before an ecstatic home-town crowd. Only their second live album after 1974's iconic FM Live and of comparable quality. Features definitive Nineties line up of Colin Cooper, Lester Hunt, George Glover, Neil Simpson and Roy Adams. Contains long-time set opener Fool For The Bright Lights , their biggest hit single Couldn't Get It Right and classics Chasing Change and The Movie Queen . Band play on today with frontman Johnny Mars replacing the late Colin Cooper, and most of this repertoire survives in their set. Booklet with authoritative and extensive liner notes written by respected Record Collector journalist Michael Heatley. Expertly remastered superb sound - top quality reproduction. The best in the business!