la Dolce Vita

Pop superstar Natasha Bedingfield wasn't the only artist bringing a "Pocketful of Sunshine" to the musical landscape in 2008. Thanks to veteran contemporary jazz saxman Warren Hill's equal penchant for colorful vocals, his vibrant and romantic singalong "Sunshine" is an early highlight on his compelling, melodically and groovingly irresistible Koch Records debut, La Dolce Vita. Hill is so optimistic that even when the clouds come, they pour out a graceful soprano ballad full of balmy acoustic guitar harmony and "Warm Rain." Like a lot of artists in his genre who have been around since NAC became "smooth jazz," Hill's a survivor, heading to smaller labels when the majors jumped ship and always finding a comfortable home to funk around in…

The themes of Monteverdi's arias, madrigals and concertos are timeless: passion, longing, hope, pain and happiness are as affecting today as they were four centuries ago. Dorothee Mields, one of the 21st century's most exceptional sopranos devotes her gifts to the works of one of the 17th century's most exceptional composers, the "true sun of the emotions", as Monteverdi was described by one of his contemporaries.