Supermundane John Thayer

Returning to action after a nine-year absence, John Anderson set up shop on his own Bayou Boys Music label and settled in to do what he does best: pure country. He was aided in his comeback by Merle Haggard, who penned "Magic Mama" specifically for Anderson while holed up in a hospital recovering from pneumonia, and it provides a nice touchstone for the rest of Goldmine. With its West Coast Western swing, it's proudly part of tradition but Hag's lyrics are nimble and funny, the perfect match for Anderson's voice, a nimble, supple instrument. One of Anderson's great gifts is how he feels inherently worn-in and laid-back but he's never lazy; whether on a ballad or a honky tonk tune, he never follows conventional beats, his ease disguising his idiosyncratic phrasing.

Regarded as one of Europe’s leading horn players, Martin Owen appears as a soloist and chamber musician around the world. Currently principal horn at the BBC Symphony Orchestra, he has previously served as principal horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and as solo horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Weber’s Concertino was written for the old, valveless ‘natural horn’; its limited range of notes (tied to the harmonic series) was extended mechanically with additional tubing (‘crooks’) and, more artfully, by virtuoso players bending notes, and varied hand stopping. The technical demands of the Concertino are testament to the extraordinary facility of the hornists of the period.

Recorded in the 90's in Austria.
John Primer was part of the legendary Magic Slim & The Teardrops for over 10 years. 2013 Slim died, but his spirit is still there in the Blues world. During his days with Slim, he always opened the show with his great voice and guitar performance. Wolf Records manager Hannes Folterbauer recorded most of Slim’s shows which includes John’s songs. John Primer is now one of the greatest Blues men in business and if you listen to this album, you know why. Together with the King of the Lump Style Nick Holt and Earl Howell on drums they play the real deal - Blues at its best!

In August of 1961, the John Coltrane Quintet played an engagement at the legendary Village Gate in Greenwich Village, New York. Eighty minutes of never-before-heard music from this group were recently discovered at the New York Public Library. In addition to some well-known Coltrane material ("Impressions"), there is a breathtaking feature for Dolphy's bass clarinet on "When Lights Are Low" and the only known non-studio recording of Coltrane's composition "Africa", from the Africa/Brass album.

Three pieces of magic and religious mysticism performed by a new generation of musical masters! Written as a companion piece to 'Walpurgisnacht' (2004), 'All Hallows Eve' is a tour de force in three movements for string trio satanic counterpoint for the Witches Sabbath. Written as a gift to the ICE ensemble, Zorn wrote 'The Tempest' as a musical reading of Shakespeare s mystical and enigmatic last play. Finally, the virtuosic Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble performs Zorn's mini piano concerto in the form of a philosophical dialogue between St. Anthony and his tormentors.

John Oates is having a full-circle moment after leveraging a canny mix of new-wave soul to reach multi-platinum heights with Daryl Hall in the '80s. His sixth solo album is titled Reunion, but if anything it's a homecoming with Oates' former self. This is the John Oates from before Hall and Oates, the one who wrote two songs and co-wrote four others on 1972's jangly Whole Oats. You may associate him with flashy MTV videos, but the first things we heard from Oates featured pedal steel. His similarly rootsy turn as a solo artist has echoes in the past.

John Storgards's acclaimed series of Shostakovich symphonies continues with this recording of Symphony No. 13. The BBC Philharmonic is joined by the bass-baritone Albert Dohmen and the Estonian National Male Choir. The symphony, subtitled 'Babiy Yar', caused a great deal of tension and controversy in the lead-up to its premiere, in December 1962 - not because of the music, but the poetry.