Walton Wilson

‘Made in Britain’ is a rich and nostalgic journey through English music straddling the turn of the 20th century, with John Wilson, today’s leading proponent of British Music, at the helm of the UK’s oldest orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. ‘Made in Britain’ celebrates a rich period of English music surrounding the turn of the 20th century, including evergreens such as Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending (for years No 1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame) and Elgar’s Salut d’amour, as well as the folk-inspired Two English Idylls by Butterworth and English Folk Song Suite by Vaughan Williams.

John Wilson, today’s foremost conductor of film and British light music, finds himself the centre of attention this summer with a slew of performances and media appearances that cast the spotlight on his singular specialty, and particularly the music of Eric Coates, as heard on the Avie release ‘London Again’. A new album from John Wilson and the RLPO on Avie entitled ‘Made in Britain’, due for release in October, will feature music by Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Walton amongst others.

A wonderful collector's edition of jazz pianists' records in almost all styles from the first ragtimes to modern jazz.

One might assume that bassist Christian McBride's CD Kind of Brown would be a tribute to Ray Brown. Au contraire – in fact, it would be appropriate for this recording to own up to the title Kind of Blue Note, because this music bears a strong resemblance to the late-'60s to mid-'70s recordings of the legendary Bobby Hutcherson-Harold Land quintet. That seminal post-bop ensemble defined the mid-period Blue Note label sound, and created resonant sonic signposts that remained unequaled, until now. A new discovery in vibraphonist Warren Wolf, Jr., teamed with veteran saxophonist Steve Wilson, the wonderful pianist Eric Reed, and drummer Carl Allen makes McBride's quintet dubbed Inside Straight into one of the more melodically tuneful and harmonically focused contemporary ensembles combining past tradition with a fresh new approach to this potent style of jazz.