Neima Ezza Piccolo Principe

Celeste is an RPI band from Sanremo, Italy that formed in 1972. The band put an album in 1976, disbanded in 1977, and reformed in 2016. In January 2019, they finally released a new album called "Il Risveglio del Principe" with new material. This is excellent Italian Prog that has a lot of classical influence and undertones of folk music and jazz. The music is mostly pastoral, but it is anything but boring. It is quite beautiful and relaxing and it never seems to get cliché or stale.

Like all castrati, Gaetano Berenstadt's hormones had gone crazy, but Berenstadtis were particularly strong. With a height of about 185 cm, he is said to have had 130 cm long legs, arms that were far too short and a corpulent belly; a field day for the caricaturists. But when he stood on the opera stage and sang, he was idolised.

The idea of a piccolo concerto might have seemed far-fetched at the beginning of the 20th century, but numerous composers have now expanded its role as the highest instrument of the orchestra into a true solo voice. With this recording Francesco Viola has brought together four unknown works by Eastern European composers – the Romanian Andreas Baksa; Slovenian composer Uroš Krek; German-Croatian composer Boris Papandopulo; and Hungarian composer Frigyes Hidas whose Oboe Concerto is recorded here in Francesco Viola’s transcription for piccolo. All of these concertos are filled with atmosphere, passion and high spirits.

“Suave and sparkling music, sprinkled with dream”. This is how, with this beautiful sentence, a music festival had defined our recital. Those words fully suit the idea we had while we were imagining our program, both entertaining and rich in music, emotions and delights. Véronique Poltz has put together some arrangements in harmony with this rare duo.

These stomping tenor sax instrumentals come from the jazz and R&B repertoire of the '40s and '50s. Many Roomful of Blues alumni, such as Duke Robillard (g) and Al Copley (p), contribute. It doesn't rock any harder than this.

Jennifer Bouton’s VIVALDI PICCOLO CONCERTOS is the first complete recording of the concerti by an American piccoloist. Bouton possesses a mastery over these works, having performed the most famous and beloved C Major concerto (RV 443) numerous times, notably with the Milwaukee Symphony and Nicholas McGegan in 2023.

Ophelie Gaillard has made recently a deep impression with the Suites for cello solo by Jean-Sebastian Bach. On this new recording, dedicated to the Cantor of Leipzig, she gathered her close team from the Pulcinella Ensemble and invited some of the most talented soloists: Sandrine Piau, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, Christophe Dumaux. This programme gives a vision of the most beautiful cantatas written by Jean-Sebastian Bach in Leipzig from 1723 to 1750, interspersed with some of the masterpieces from the 'Schübler' Chorales and Orgelbüchlein. With a passion for Baroque music played on period instruments, Pulcinella is a group of virtuoso soloists, gathered in a chamber spirit around cellist Ophélie Gaillard.

Former Roomful of Blues saxophonist Greg Piccolo stretches his musical wings even further on this, his third solo outing since leaving the group in 1990. In addition to his brawny tenor sax wailings, Piccolo also plays lead guitar (in a crude, but effective style somewhat reminiscent of Roy Buchanan and Carlos Santana) and alto sax this time around, coaxing acid-jazz sounds out of the latter instrument. With his regular working combo Heavy Juice providing stellar support in a multiplicity of styles (Piccolo jumps from swing to bop to acid jazz to soul ballads and even a taste of rock'n'roll on this one) and 14 Karat Soul providing backup vocals on "Money" and the title track, Red Lights is Greg Piccolo's most musically ambitious album to date.