Various Artists Dinner at Mancini's

The Henry Mancini family continues to celebrate what would have been the late legendary composer’s 100th birthday with the announcement of Dinner at Mancini’s, a lo-fi celebratory retrospective album to be released on Friday, August 30th via Primary Wave Music and Downtown Music Services.

For a whole decade, spanning between the second half of the ’50s and the second half of the ’60s, jazz took over the Italian screens. 33 tracks from the CAM Sugar archive that go beyond music, telling the story of Italian cinema, society and of its unmistakable style and charm. A genre that even when nodding to Californian be-bop, to crime jazz or bossa nova still sounds surprisingly original and Mediterranean, elegant, and seductive, either with joyous peaks or with enigmatic and nearly dramatic nuances. The compilation also offers a precious insight into the Italian jazz scene of the times, with its string of formidable soloists and international stars like Chet Baker and Gato Barbieri.

Featuring a stellar cast of performers, and curated by pianist Dylan Perez, this complete anthology of Samuel Barber’s songs present those works published during his lifetime, together with those published posthumously, some of which are recorded here for the first time. Barber was clear as to what he wanted from very early in his life, and this strength of character and courage to follow his path is heard throughout Barber’s significant contribution to the genre. At a time when American classical music was heavily influenced by experimentalism, Barber’s inclination for "traditional" harmony and melody helped set him apart. Barber’s vocal music demonstrates the ease he finds in the marriage of text and music.

"Jazz At The Pawnshop", recorded in 1976, has been regarded as "The Best Jazz Recording of the Century" and is known as one of the most famous audiophile records in music. These sessions recorded at club Stampen (Pawnshop) in Stockholm on December 6-7, 1976, by Gert Palmcrantz, have an extaordinary presence and a genuine live feeling.

This album embodies Volume 2 of the great event which was recorded in December 1976 over two nights at the intimate Pawnshop jazz club in Stockholm and considered one of the most famous audiophile recording in music. Both the musicianship and the engineering came together in a magical symbiosis captured on this enduring classic. Recording engineer Gert Palmcrantz used one pair of microphones spaced eight inches apart for the main pick-up, with a couple of microphones placed to register the “live” atmosphere and a few discrete support mikes, all recorded on a pair of two-track Nagra tape recorders in the restaurant kitchen!

A previously unreleased continuation of the highly successful Jazz At The Pawnshop recording.