Sacd 2020

The Chiaroscuro Quartet was formed in 2005 by the violinists Alina Ibragimova (Russia) and Pablo Hernán Benedí (Spain), the Swedish violist Emilie Hörnlund and cellist Claire Thirion from France. The Chiaroscuro Quartet made their first appearance on BIS with acclaimed recordings of Joseph Haydn’s Sun Quartets, Op. 20, described in The Strad as ‘period-instrument performances of the utmost subtlety and refinement’. The Op. 20 quartets are widely regarded as a mile-stone in the history of the genre. When Chiaroscuros now return to Haydn, it is with his last complete set of quartets, begun in 1796 when he was 64 years old.

Body and Soul is an album by Joe Jackson, released in March 1984. The album was Jackson's seventh studio album, and his first fully digital project. Body and Soul is a landmark recording as well, being an early digital recording captured on a 32-track 3M system in New York City's Masonic Lodge. The vast reverberant space of the hall is beautifully drawn, and yet Joe and the band sound positively explosive. Body and Soul is remastered to DSD by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio. The results are amazing! Body and Soul has never sounded so fullbodied. In addition to the wonderful ambience of the Masonic Lodge, the imaging is more three-dimensional and holographic than ever.

"Vanilla Fudge" is the first album by the American psychedelic rock band Vanilla Fudge. Released in summer 1967, it consists entirely of half-speed covers and three short original instrumental compositions. The album was Vanilla Fudge's most successful, peaking at #6 on the Billboard album charts in September 1967. Parts of the original stereo LP were actually mixed in mono, including the entire track "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

Japanese all-girls Trio-San's 2004 release features renditions of Dizzy Gillespie's "Be Bop", Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk", Horace Silver's "Filthy McNasty", Miles Davis' "Milestones", Richard Rodgers' "The Nearness Of You", and more.

The Super Quintet is formed of Philip Harper on trumpet and vocal, Jerry Weldon on tenor sax, Massimo Farao' on piano, Nicola Barbon on bass and Byron Landham on drums. Recado Bossa Nova features the title song plus "Vicksville", "Filidia", "It's You Or No One", "No Room For Squares", "This Will Make You Laugh", and more.

Japanese pianist Harumi Nomoto's 2002 release includes original compositions plus standards "My Shining Hour", "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Stardust". The Trio features mostly Japanese musicians plus an american drummer, Tommy Campbell on some tracks.

Two slinky 70s classics from French maestro Paul Mauriat - still doing great at this point in his career. Emmanuelle is a record that has Mauriat taking on the lead theme of the 70s erotic film at the start - then moving into a whole host of 70s covers, too - all done with Mauriat's trademark sense of timing alongside swirling strings - a bit of bass at the bottom, some well-paced arrangements on the top - occasionally nodding to a bit of the disco of the generation, but never too much overall…

Italian jazz vocalist Claudia Zannoni takes her inspiration from 1950s and '60s jazz, and singers such as Nancy Wilson, Anita O'Day and Ella Fitzgerald. She has collaborated wtih Massimo Farao', Phil Harper, Rodney Bradley, Davide Palladin, Danilo Memoli and many others. This set of songs draws from different worlds, that of standard American jazz, pop and Italian music. But there is something that unites them: the universal theme of love.

Harry Nilsson was many things in life - revered songwriter, razor-sharp wit, gifted singer, studio pioneer, daring poet, cult icon, creative maverick, fearless interpreter, larger-than-life inspiration, man of mystery and intrigue. All these hallmark facets come together in a resplendent symphony on Nilsson Schmilsson, a go-to standout in the beloved artist's vaunted canon and most commercially successful release. For the first time in decades, it features audiophile sonics that bring the record's brilliant melodicism, sophisticated soulfulness, subtle shading, and sure-handed production into full view.

Italian pianist Massimo Faraò is joined by Paolo Benedettini, Nicola Barbon and special guest, drummer Jimmy Cobb on this set which includes "The Things We Did Last Summer", "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me", "This Can't Be Love" and "Three Little Words".