Trees of Light

Anders Jormin’s new Swedish-Japanese project returns the highly distinctive voice of Lena Willemark to ECM – it’s her first appearance on the label in more than a decade - and introduces koto player Karin Nakagawa. In this trio music the Japanese classical tradition and the stark, archaic sounds of the koto, allied to Jormin’s powerful and subtle bass playing, form a unique context for Lena’s sung poems, delivered in her native Älvdals-dialect. Traditions and non-idiomatic improvising are cross-referenced and new paths opened up in these compositions.

A member of both the Songwriters and Rock & Roll Halls of Fame, Laura Nyro not only wrote songs that became hits for acts including The 5th Dimension, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Three Dog Night, Barbra Streisand, and many more, but has been cited as a major influence by Kate Bush, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Cyndi Lauper, Todd Rundgren, Broadway composer Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Wicked), and countless others. She recorded 10 studio albums (one released posthumously), but a live performance from Nyro was always an event.

Discovery Channel - Africa's Trees of Life (2016)
HDTV | 1280x720 | .MP4/AVC @ 3026 Kbps | 3x~44min | 2.95 GiB
Audio: English AAC 160 kbps, 2 channels | Subs: None
Genre: Documentary

Surviving in Africa is not easy. A demanding human population increases the pressure on wilderness areas and persecutes the animals that threaten crops and livestock. But there are some protected areas in southern Africa where leopards, elephants and hyenas live a sheltered existence. Trees Of Life tells three stories of the endurance and survival of Africa’s most iconic natural history symbols – from predators to prey, extreme environments and legendary trees. A pride of lions, a territorial leopard and a cheetah mother play out their lives in the shadows of three impressive trees – the Sausage tree in the Luangwa Valley in Zambia, the Acacia Camel Thorn, in the Kalahri in South Africa and the Marula Tree in the Manyaleti near the Kruger National Park.

Released in 2013, Regions of Light and Sound of God was the debut solo album from Jim James of My Morning Jacket. This deluxe reissue features the original album plus a second LP of twelve B-sides, demos and alternate versions, including ‘State of The Art (Demo)’ and the previously unheard ballad ‘Begin Again’.