Net August 2016

American musician with Cuban and Italian roots. As a teenager Albert Castiglia started playing guitar and realized that writing his own music was the best way to express his thoughts. His first breakthrough was when Junior Wells hired him for his touring band, so they played several world tours together. In 1997 the New Times magazine in Miami named him the “Best Blues Guitarist” and finally, in 2002, Castiglia released his debut “Burn”. In 2014 Albert Castiglia comleted Ruf's Blues Caravan beside Laurence Jones and Christina Skjolberg and released his first album on Ruf "Solid Ground". Released in 2016 on Ruf Records, Big Dog confirms that Albert is a different breed to the lightweights and arrivistes who dominate the modern music scene…

Jazz guitar icon Larry Coryell, one of the most respected and celebrated guitarists of his generation, offers this brand new album of seven original compositions! In addition to Coryell's signature guitar playing, this album features the talents of award-winning pianist Lynne Arriale, longtime Coryell collaborator John Lee on bass, Dan Jordan on saxophone and flute, and drummer Lee Pierson! Coryell continues to draw massive audiences everywhere he plays, both Stateside and abroad, including upcoming gigs at the Maui Jazz Festival (Sept 10), Ingolstadt Blues Festival in Germany (Oct 28), and the prestigious Cork Jazz Festival in Ireland (Oct 30)! Maestro Larry Coryell, master guitarist of all styles, especially Jazz, and composer of Jazz and Classical compositions and Operas.

Decca, the opera company, presents a premium collection of the 100 most beautiful opera tracks on 6 CDs. Enjoy classic arias and overtures, performed by the greatest opera stars of all time. This is a fine compendium of opera's "greatest hits" by great singers including Pavarotti, Bartoli, Caballe, Horne and Sutherland from opera's latest "golden age" in the last decades of the 1900s. They're all there on six CDs, from Pavarotti's great "Nessun Dorma" to Sutherland's "Casta Diva."

Recorded in October 2015 in Los Angeles, California, Live and Acoustic at the Palace sees the screamo vets celebrating their 15th anniversary with a special, stripped-back performance. The intimate unplugged show, which featured a four-piece string quartet, harpist, pianist, extra percussion, and a three-piece gospel choir, offers fans a unique take on some the band's best-loved songs, including "Taste of Ink," "The Bird and the Worm," "On My Own," and "Tunnel."

Dave Hollister's first album for the Shanachie label, the follow-up to 2014's Chicago Winds…The Saga Continues, was released after the singer had rejoined Blackstreet, and as he was preparing to perform in a stage adaptation of Love Jones. Considering all his activity, there's reason to be a little skeptical about The MANuscript, an album recorded during six days – a blip in time by the 2010s standard. Nonetheless, there's no evidence here that Hollister spread himself too thin, or even an impression that he rushed through his eight proper solo album. As with his best work, Hollister carries himself with easy-going, modest certitude. The songwriting and production crew, including Candice Nelson, Balewa Muhammad, and Walter Millsap III, is pretty much the same one that worked on Angie Stone's Dream, a set highlighted by a Stone-Hollister duet.