Starting Point: 1979 1996 by Hayao Miyazaki

Original soundtrack collection from Studio Ghibli includes 12 soundtrack CDs for animation films directed by Hayao Miyazaki all composed by Joe Hisaishi. These CDs have been remastered in the HQCD format for the best sound and are fully compatible with standard CD players. Their covers are cardboard sleeves faithfully replicating the original LP cover artworks. Comes with a bonus CD and a catalog booklet.

While there can be no doubt that the late great Grover Washington, Jr. released his most commercially successful recordings for Columbia and Elektra, there is also no doubt that, critically and creatively, Washington's most visionary material, the stuff that virtually created the template for the smooth jazz generations that came after, were on the Kudu imprint and produced by Creed Taylor. Washington was a monster saxophonist on tenor as well as soprano, and a true stylist. Before coming to Motown and Kudu he had apprenticed with a number of soul-jazz masters, including Charles Earland and Johnny "Hammond" Smith. The material here focuses on the seminal eight years Washington recorded for Motown and Kudu, beginning with his early renditions of standards like "I Loves You, Porgy," from George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess…

For his first album on Deutsche Grammophon, Joe Hisaishi, the revered Japanese composer whose work has become synonymous with the magical Studio Ghibli animations of director Hayao Miyazaki has created an exciting series of symphonic arrangements of his original soundtracks for such Ghibli classics as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and My neighbor Totoro. Fittingly titled A Symphonic Celebration, it presents state-of-the-art recordings of his extraordinary work for this much-loved artistic force in animated movie-making. Recorded in London by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the composer, its tracks are newly arranged by Hisaishi for symphony orchestra and features Grace Davidson, Avi Avital, Bach Choir and Stephen Morris.