William Shawwcross

Walton’s Symphony No 1 and Belshazzar’s Feast, which were written consecutively, helped him consolidate his reputation as the most exciting British composer of his generation. Belshazzar’s Feast, a superbly crafted oratorio, vividly depicts the story of Babylon’s excesses and subsequent downfall, brilliantly coloured by the orchestral forces, including two brass bands. Similarly effervescent, volcanic sentiments simmer beneath the surface of the First Symphony, the music conveying the tensions of the 1930s, whilst remaining timeless in its appeal.

That William Parker is a bassist, composer and bandleader of extraordinary spirit and imaginative drive is common knowledge among any with an interest in the progressive jazz scene of the past 25 years or more. What’s become increasingly apparent, though, is Parker’s stature as a visionary of sound and song – an artist of melody and poetry who works beyond category, to use the Ellingtonian phrase. The latest multi-disc boxed set from Centering Records/AUM Fidelity devoted to Parker’s expansive creativity underscores his virtually peerless achievement in recent years.

Iconic veteran Southern soul man William Bell has been in the business of making records for 66 years, and was with Memphis’ fabled Stax label for virtually its entire 15-year existence (1960-1975). In that time, he composed and recorded many songs that are rightly regarded as classics, from his Stax debut ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’ to the classic blues song ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’ to his hit duet with Judy Clay, ‘Private Number’.

Poised at the convergence of 18th-century French and Italian schools, Leclair and Senaillé were the French Paganinis of their day. Technically challenging yet full of poetry, rhythmically varied and always dance-like, their sonatas find two fervent advocates in Théotime Langlois de Swarte and William Christie. Transcending generational differences, the “venerated elder statesman of early music” (Opera News) and the youthful violin prodigy join forces to help us rediscover these still unjustly neglected pages.

William Orbit is a British musician and record producer, best known to the public for producing Madonna's album "Ray of Light", which received four Grammy Awards.
His speciality is atmospheric keyboard electronica although much of his work features accomplished guitar playing.
Like its predecessor, "Pieces in a Modern Style 2" is a collection of classical music "covers": from Puccini to Elgar, Bach to Tchaikovsky. Special Bonus CD: 6 bonus tracks from William Orbit plus 8 remixes by Ferry Corsten, John Digweed & Nick Muir, Jakwob, Timo Maas & Santos, Alex Metric, Rockdaworld.

Paul Juon was born in Moscow, of Swiss parents, in 1872, studying there with Arensky and Taneyev; Rachmaninov, a fellow student at the Moscow Conservatoire, dubbed him ‘the Russian Brahms’. Woldemar Bargiel, Clara Schumann’s half-brother, was his main teacher at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin before Juon himself became a member of the staff. There are indeed echoes of Brahms in Juon’s early music but there is also a fondness for Russian folksong and a mastery of counterpoint, which all feed into his urgent, late-Romantic lyricism.

In 2022, we celebrate Vaughan Williams's 150th birthday, and the pinnacle of Albion Record's contribution to this important milestone is this Pan's Anniversary album, which contains five world premiere recordings.

The tension between David Paton's pop songcraft and Billy Lyall's art rock aspirations is one of the things that made the band Pilot so interesting. Lyall left Pilot because he felt that Paton's twee power pop ditties were overshadowing his arty songs, but the split was amicable enough that his former bandmates played on his lone solo album, Solo Casting…

Folk Songs from the Eastern Counties is is the third in a series of four albums recording all 81 of the folk songs in English that Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged for voice and piano or violin. 57 of the 81 songs have not previously been recorded in these arrangements.