Damaged Magazine

Not only is Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne one of our foremost contemporary blues and boogie pianists, he's also extraordinarily well-versed on his chosen genre's proud history. Blues from Chicago to Paris pays rousing tribute to two of Chicago's postwar blues legends, piano-pounding Memphis Slim and bass-slapping powerhouse Willie Dixon. Focused in particular on the period when the two giants of the genre teamed up to tour the globe during the late 1950s and early '60s, the album presents a well-rounded collection of favorite songs as well as those innovative tunes that have inspired and influenced blues players ever since.

“Those songs and recordings will live forever and continue to bring joy to those who listen to them. John has left us all a gift, and it is a very precious one.” Geoff Downes, speaking about John Wetton in 2024. ‘Concentus: The John Wetton Live Collection, Volume I’ is the first in an on-going series of three box sets celebrating the life and times of this incredible musician, focusing on the concert arena.

Esther Abrami’s eponymous debut album will be released via Sony Classical. The album is a creative melting pot of different styles of classical music –full of new and inspiring compositions. Collaborating with a great variety of contemporary composers and musicians as well as the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esther Abrami has set a creative musical landmark representing a new generation of classical musicians. The 25-year-old violinist, named “Best Influential Star” by Forbes magazine, became known as an influencer on TikTok and Instagram. There she reaches millions of young people with her creative videos, who thus discover classical music for themselves. In 2019, Esther Abrami became the first classical musician ever nominated in the Social Media Superstar category at the Global Awards.

The autumnal sound of Britain at the turn of the 70s, looking out through wet window panes to a new decade with a mixture of melancholy and optimism for what might come next. With the Beatles gone and the pound sinking, a new and distinctive sound emerges, led by flutes and mellotrons. Available in 18-track CD and 19-track double LP formats.

Not the walls that should collapse is that passive place and "of craftsmanship" that the market has given to the Latin American. Today, for a Latin American artist to be recognized in the global art markets, he must be able to say "from here I speak". Recovering myths, traditions, ancestral cultures and popular are some of the twists that artists seek to be legitimized. "And I wonder: why? Already when you start working with record labels, you realize that it is the same market that imposes these criteria of legitimacy. It's interesting. Why do not other people need it to create their own language? We need instrumentalists able to think and live up to their time. They will be accused of heretics, yes, but I invite you to heresy.

The first volume in an adventurous new series juxtaposing the piano music of Shostakovich with his most talented pupils. As a teacher at the Moscow Conservatoire for many years, Shostakovich trained a generation of the Soviet Union’s most talented composers. He was renowned for a sharp ear and kindly criticism which immediately focused its attention on areas of weakness in a score without requiring that his pupils follow his own path. Indeed, all three of the younger composers here demonstrate the individuality of their own voice.