Tana Quartet

An icon on the 21st-century stage, the Tana Quartet has won international acclaim for their versatility, exploring everything from Beethoven to the cutting edge of today’s composers.

The TANA Quartet has joined forces with composer Philip Glass for the premiere of his String Quartet No. 9. This new work is based on his earlier score for the Broadway production of King Lear directed by Sam Gold. This recording also features Glass’s String Quartet No. 8, written in 2018. Almost Schubertian in nature, this quartet is marked by layers of sound and contrasting timbres and rhythms. Glass seems to have entered a third period in his wide-ranging career, characterized by a more classical, introspective approach.

Brazilian Samba, Bosnian Sevdah, New Orleans Jazz, Cuban son – and Albanian Saze! The turn of the last century saw mass migrations to the world’s cities with rural people bringing their music with them, adapting their traditions to new circumstances and modern instruments. Of all these great musical forms, the mesmerizing arabesques, joyful dances and heart-breaking laments of Saze are among the least recorded, and they remain largely unknown outside Albania.

Long before "La La Land" or "Birdman" Jazz was a perfect way to underscore and even enhance the action on the silver screen - not only in Hollywood, but all the way across Europe, too. Some of the best and most influential Original Jazz Soundtracks from the 1950s and early 1960s are documented in this unique 10 CD collection. Beginning with Miles Davis' iconic soundtrack to Louis Malle's "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud", whose leading actress Jeanne Moreau can be seen with the trumpeter on the cover of our box set, and leading all the way to Henry Mancini's score to Orson Welles' "Touch of Evil". In between you will enjoy American Jazz greats like Art Blakey, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Gerry Mulligan, and The Modern Jazz Quartet, but also legendary Polish composer Krzysztof Komeda with the score to one of Roman Polanski's first films "Knife In The Water", British Jazz-scores by Dizzy Reece and Johnny Dankworth, or soundtracks by French Jazz greats from Barney Wilen to Martial Solal.

"Everything", a funky monster from Smoke, and a rare bit of tripped out groove from early 70s MPS label. Smoke has masterful mix of fresh, funky jazz and spiritual instrumental soul, with tunes that build from rolling lines on leader Woodi Webb's vibes, finding the best kind of wonderful elastic bass groove and excellent funky drums and congas. Those elements hold it all together for the rest of the line-up, which factors in psychedelic tinged organ, harp, sax, clarinet and occasional lilting background vocals. Tight and funky, but loose around the edges - another excellent bit of lost funky soul jazz from the early 70s.