Zoe Rahman Dreamland

Nine years after ‘The Lily’, Canadian blues singer Layla Zoe and guitarist Henrik Freischlader have reunited and recorded a new studio album together at Megaphon Recording Studio in Arnsberg: The World Could Change. Twelve new songs form the solid sound framework for the powerful and energetic voice of this exceptional singer, who not only inspires with authentic blues rock on her new album, but also with soulful and tender ballads. Freischlader’s guitar provides goosebumps and cozy warmth with its unmistakable sound, the inspired Hammond organ by Moritz “Mr. Mo” Fuhrhop gives the very last touch. An album to be heard and felt!

Muriel Zoe’s debut album on ACT Red and Blue (ACT 9416-2) caused quite a sensation throughout Germany when it was released one and a half years ago. "A debut that reverberates throughout the land" wrote the Hamburger Morgenpost accurately summarising the reaction of press and public. Another of Germany’s major daily newspapers, the WAZ, called the album "one of the most significant recent releases".Muriel Zoe was born in 1969 in the German city of Ludwigshafen and spent a part of her education at an English boarding school in South India.

Zoe Knighton and Amir Farid present their seventh cello-piano collaboration — this time from the composer Johannes Brahms. The program includes his sonatas for cello as well as three songs where the cello presents the vocal line wordlessly.

Unfortunately, the oboe quartet genre has never attained the status of the clarinet quintet in the public's favor. Yet it is no less appealing a combination, and in the 18th century in particular there was an abundance of quartets with oboe, of which only Mozart's virtuoso oboe quartet achieved fame. The oboist Emma Black and her colleagues set two pieces by Mozart's contemporaries alongside this famous work, which, not least thanks to the all-round convincing realization, arouse curiosity for further compositions in this instrumentation.

Madeleine Peyroux made a bit of a stir in 1996 due to her voice sounding remarkably close at times to Billie Holiday's. This wide-ranging set features Peyroux singing swing standards, originals and tunes that hint at country and folk music. Her supporting cast, which changes on each selection, includes a restrained James Carter on tenor and bass clarinet, Marc Ribot on dobro and guitar, trumpeter Marcus Printup, pianist Cyrus Chestnut and violinist Regina Carter, among others. A very interesting release which, despite the derivative nature of Peyroux's voice, is full of surprises. Highlights include "Walkin' After Midnight," "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter," "La Vie en Rose" and "Muddy Water".

At their best, cover albums have a strange way of galvanizing an artist by returning to the songs that inspired them; the artists can find the reason why they made music in the first place, perhaps finding a new reason to make music. Robert Plant's Dreamland – his first solo album in nearly ten years and one of the best records he's ever done, either as a solo artist or as a member of Led Zeppelin – fulfills that simple definition of a covers album and goes beyond it, finding Plant sounding reinvigorated and as restless as a new artist. Part of the reason why this album works so well is that he has a new band – not a group of supporting musicians, but a real band whose members can challenge him because they tap into the same eerie, post-folk mysticism that fueled Led Zeppelin III, among other haunting moments in the Zep catalog.

Italian pianist turned DJ Robert Miles scored a massive international hit with his wonderful, dreamy dance cut "Children" (one of the 1990s biggest and best dance hits) from his debut album Dreamland. The album at times sounds as if it were one continuous song (or set of beats with similar chord progressions) stretched over an hour, which may detract some, but, in essence, is what makes his sonic dreamscape so engaging. It's at once both dancefloor and chill out material; one of those discs where one can hit the play button, drift into a different dimension, and forget about worldly worries. Dreamland, which is both melancholy and blissful, succeeds in its simplicity. Highlights include the second single, "Fable," which continues with the same formula he utilized in "Children," this time using ethereal female chant-like vocals (also included is an instrumental version of "Fable")…