Ben Sharpio

Ben Harper’s love for the humble lap-steel comes to a bold (and incalculably beautiful) peak with this 15-track instrumental trawl down trails of smoky soul, melancholic Americana and slick, summery folk. It’s downright incredible how much artistic ground the Californian bluesman is able to cover unaccompanied on Winter – the whole LP is just his prized Monteleone lap-steel, inhumanly articulate fretting hands and unfettered love for music as a spoon with which to stir emotion.

It was like I was moving forward and venturing into places I had never been before. Taking everything I've learned from every other record and kind of setting fire to it all and starting over," Ben Harper says of his new album Bloodline Maintenance. "And I knew the sounds I was hearing in my head were so unorthodox that I had to do most of it myself." The result is a fearless and immensely soulful work largely inspired by the loss of a longtime friend and the lingering influence of a mercurial and charismatic father. Along with guitar and bass, Harper also played the drums including an eclectic assortment of percussions.

The great soul legend Ben E. King is joined by friends and admirers on these recut versions of King’s most beloved hits! King’s voice sounds as good as ever on this collection while funky bass icon Bootsy Collins breathes new life into “Supernatural Thing, Part 1” while up-and-coming R&B artist Bette Smith joins blues guitar phenom Ronnie Earl on a rousing version of “Stand By Me!” King’s influence can continue to be felt and heard in retro soul artists such as Black Pumas, Joss Stone and more!

Nothing is as it appears in the old English manor house of Bly. A new governess takes up her post and discovers that the children who are her new charges are under the influence of the ghosts of the previous governess and her depraved lover. As one disturbing event unfolds after another, the questions become more pressing: What horrors happened here before her arrival? Are the children innocent? Do we really see what we are seeing?

Flanked by a spectacular cast featuring the role debuts of Nicky Spence (named ‘Personality of the Year’ by BBC Music Magazine in 2022) and Simona Šaturová, the conductor Ben Glassberg (Music Director of the Opéra de Rouen Normandie) once again demonstrates his Mozartian temperament. This late masterpiece (written at the same time as Die Zauberflöte) places his musical genius at the service of a plot centred on the complexity of emotions, passionate love and the absurd disaster of betrayal.

Recorded in 1958 and released the following year on Verve, The Soul of Ben Webster is a superb example of swinging mainstream jazz and bop. Webster is in fine form throughout, as are his fellow musicians including trumpeter Art Farmer, bassist Milt Hinton, pianist Jimmy Jones, and others.
Two complete sessions featuring Webster with pianist Teddy Wilson, as well as a 1954 reading of Billy Strayhorn's wonderful ballad Chelsea Bridge (also included on The Soul of Ben Webster) have been added as a bonus.

This 4 CD set brings together eight original albums from Ben Webster, on which he collaborates with a host of other Jazz Greats. Ideal as both a starting point for those new to Webster's work, and as a compilation more diverse in it's content than the more traditional anthology, this selection is certain to delight fans new and old of one of the greatest sax-players to have ever blown a note.