Rift Hugar

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire has proven himself an artist of rare ability and wide-ranging aesthetic interests. Now with his bold new double-album A Rift in Decorum: Live at the Village Vanguard, Akinmusire reached a new pinnacle as he and his quartet - Sam Harris (piano), Harish Raghavan (bass) & Justin Brown (drums) - join a distinguished strata of jazz artists who've made live recordings in the hallowed New York City venue.

'Reflections' features 'reworkings' by Ólafsson and other contemporary artists - alongside several of the Icelandic pianist's unreleased Debussy recordings. Víkingur Ólafsson's remarkable originality and powerful musical conviction have seen him become one of the most sought-after artists of today. The global success of 'Debussy Rameau' follows that of his award-winning 'Johann Sebastian Bach' album and its sister release, 'Bach Reworks', featuring reimaginings by such diverse artists as Peter Gregson, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Skúli Sverrisson. The same thread of inspiration runs through this release, as Ólafsson and his fellow composers celebrate the work of two French masters and translate their musical languages into a contemporary idiom.

Pianist Víkingur Ólafsson releases the third volume in the Debussy • Rameau Reflections series, featuring reworks by Víkingur Ólafsson and other groundbreaking artists including Icelandic singer-songwriter Helgi Jónsson, genre-defying Icelandic duo Hugar, Texas-based post-rock minimalist ensemble Balmorhea and Christian Badzura, Vice President A&R New Repertoire at Deutsche Grammophon.

For this new instalment of their series devoted to British music of the eighteenth century, the musicians of La Rêveuse take us to London in the 1740s. The leading Italian and German virtuosos Handel invited to play in his orchestra brought a powerful wind of change to English musical life, while the Scot James Oswald achieved the tour de force of making the music of his country fashionable in the drawing rooms of London.