Mototurismo 2016

Two classic easy-listening albums by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra, originally released in 1984 and 1990 on the Philips label, together on one CD and remastered from the original analogue stereo tapes for Vocalion's trademark crystal-clear sound. French composer/conductor Paul Mauriat is a classically trained musician who decided to pursue a career in popular music. His first major success came in 1962, as a co-writer of the European hit "Chariot." In 1963, the song was given English lyrics, renamed "I Will Follow Him," and became a number one American hit for Little Peggy March. Mauriat is best remembered for his 1968 worldwide smash "Love Is Blue."

At the beginning of the 2000s, a new wave of music spilled into the cocktail bars and lounge music was born. The band DePhazz quickly became the insider tip darling of television and radio editors, who liked to put the band's retro-electronic sounds on heavy rotation among their lifestyle and news reports and thus enveloped the entire nation in an aesthetic carpet of sound. Through numerous samplers such as "Buddha Bar" or "Cafe del Mar", songs like The Mambo Craze reached the whole world.

Johann Bernhard Bach (1676-1749) is a somewhat ill-known member of the family, but known by his first cousin once removed, Johann Sebastian. A disciple of Pachelbel, he was in the service of the court of Eisenach and left us only instrumental music. His four Ouvertures for orchestra constitute the obvious link between French music of the Grand Siècle and the compositions that Johann Sebastian would write in Weimar and Cöthen. A missing link to be (re) discovered.

The German-born English transplant Johann Christoph Pepusch was an older contemporary and colleague of George Frederick Handel, and he is best remembered for arranging the music of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera. His involvement in London's music scene also led him to compose his own works for the stage, such as the masque Venus and Adonis, a vehicle for two of the leading sopranos of the day, Jane Barbier and Margarita de L'Epine.

This perennially popular annual compilation had Australia listening to Camille before she became a JJJ darling, Fade Out Line before The Avener’s remix topped charts across Europe, Yael Naim’s New Soul before it became the soundtrack to Apple’s MacBook Air, and to Lilly Wood and the Prick ahead of Prayer C becoming an international hit. Dancing, hanging out with friends, enjoying sunny afternoons in the garden with a glass of Champagne in hand; So Frenchy has been a soundtrack of musical joie de vivre. And now, to celebrate a decade of friendship, its curators have carefully culled its whopping 360-song playlist down to the very best of the best.

When You Wish Upon A Star, the latest project from legendary Grammy-winning guitarist/composer Bill Frisell via OKeh Records. Comprised of music from iconic film and television scores, the LP is conceived not only as homage, but as a celebration of music-making with long time collaborators and their collective commitment to refined interpretation of material.