Top 10 Istanbul

Tom Waits wrote a song called "Frank's Wild Years" for his 1983 Swordfishtrombones album, then used the title (minus its apostrophe) for a musical play he wrote with his wife, Kathleen Brennan, and toured with in 1986. The Franks Wild Years album, drawn from the show, is subtitled, "un operachi romantico in two acts," though the songs themselves do not carry the plot. Rather, this is just the third installment in Waits' eccentric series of Island Records albums in which he seems most inspired by German art song and carnival music, presenting songs in spare, stripped-down arrangements consisting of instruments like marimba, baritone horn, and pump organ and singing in a strained voice that has been artificially compressed and distorted. The songs themselves often are conventional romantic vignettes, or would be minus the oddities of instrumentation, arrangement, and performance.

Fahir Atakoğlu is a Turkish pianist and composer who has worked with a wide range of artists across many genres of music, ranging in style from symphonic scoring to advertising jingles. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey. From the age of 7, Atakoğlu was interested in music and began playing piano and drums. Though his family intended for him to continue in the family business, his mother fostered his interest in music and through his music teacher Muzaffer Uz he was introduced to Cemal Reşit Rey, Turkey’s famous composer, pianist, script writer, and conductor. Atakoğlu studied under Rey from 1977-1979. He attended the Istanbul State Conservatory from 1978-1980. In 1980 he moved to London and for five years studied at both the London School of Music and Croydon College. He earned a degree in marketing and advertising from Croydon College in 1983 and returned to Istanbul to work as a jingle composer in the advertising sector.

This smoking organ trio recording is a first for guitarist Larry Coryell and a return to his roots. With the innovative young Hammond B-3 organist Sam Yahel and the versatile, reliably swinging drummer Paul Wertico, the guitar great breathes new life into six familiar jazz pieces, such as "Impressions", "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Embraceable You" while also showcasing his inimitable fleet-fingered facility on three original compositions.

Önder Focan started music by playing mandolin at the age of 8. He switched to guitar at 15 and concentrated on jazz in 1975. Being mainly self- taught, he has become a jazz musician most sought after as a guitarist, player, composer arranger and lyrics writer. In 1986, he got married to Zuhal Focan withn whom founded Nardis Jazz Club in 2002.

"Radio Days & Rarities" is the third volume in the series of Manfred Mann BBC recordings highlighting the radio appearances of Manfred Mann Chapter Three and numerous film soundtrack recordings, commercial jingles and various studio rarities. When pop group Manfred Mann broke up while near the top of the UK charts, Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg were quietly assembling Manfred Mann Chapter Three - a free-form group aimed at the growing album market. In addition to Mann and Hugg, the core of Chapter Three included sax/flute player Bernie Living, bassist Steve York, and drummer Craig Collinge.

The most beautiful old songs by The Platters, The McGuire Sisters, The Stargazers and many more on one compilation!

Drums. Bass. Guitars. On the top of that a weak spot for delicate and often surprising arrangements – that’s how the approach of the new Vienna-based four-piece-band 1000 FLAMES is best described. Subtly crafted rhythms are the basis of their songs on which they build soundscapes that can be fragile and delicate, or enthusiastically raw and brute, bearing results that oscillate between indie and electronica.

This smoking organ trio recording is both a first for guitarist Larry Coryell and a return to his roots. More than 40 years after moving to New York City from Seattle, Coryell comes full circle back to his roots with this inspired organ trio outing. And in the stellar company of Yahel and Wertico, he is pushed to some exhilarating heights on these nine tracks.

Eugenio Della Chiara, born in 1990 in Pesaro, Italy, started studying the guitar at the age of 8, under the direction of Simona Barzotti. Among his Maestros there have been Piero Bonaguri, Andrea Dieci and Oscar Ghiglia, of whom he has been a student at the Chigiana Academy of Siena.