Prepare for the newest offering by US-American thrash legends Flotsam and Jetsam. I Am the Weapon not only takes up seamlessly where it's two outstanding predecessors left off, but also goes one step further in terms of musical skill and composition. While they fully live out their core competencies such as their aggressive style with fast tempos, I Am the Weapon features more surprising moments than ever before. From brutal high-octane tracks like "I Am the Weapon" to the atmospheric but not superfast "Burned My Bridges" each track on the album is convincing in its own way.

Former Roomful of Blues saxophonist Greg Piccolo stretches his musical wings even further on this, his third solo outing since leaving the group in 1990. In addition to his brawny tenor sax wailings, Piccolo also plays lead guitar (in a crude, but effective style somewhat reminiscent of Roy Buchanan and Carlos Santana) and alto sax this time around, coaxing acid-jazz sounds out of the latter instrument. With his regular working combo Heavy Juice providing stellar support in a multiplicity of styles (Piccolo jumps from swing to bop to acid jazz to soul ballads and even a taste of rock'n'roll on this one) and 14 Karat Soul providing backup vocals on "Money" and the title track, Red Lights is Greg Piccolo's most musically ambitious album to date.

Capella Cracoviensis, recently discovered on the Alpha release Te Deum, returns here under the direction of Fabio Bonizzoni. Together they present a highly vigorous reading of these monumental works - Their virtuosity brings out to the full the magnificent counterpoint while never neglecting the text, so vital in the motet genre.

This album is dedicated to Tomaso Pegolotti, a character who held the double role of notary public and musician in the land of the Estense dukedom between Modena and Reggio Emilia. In fact, his father Livio initiated him into both the study of music and law and thanks to his commitment and his talent, Tomaso had a brilliant career in both professions. The collection of the Trattenimenti armonici da camera […] opera prima, dedicated to Prince Foresto d'Este in 1698, contains his entire instrumental production, as the planned second work was finally never terminated due to Pegolotti's involvement in some unexpected political clash also connected to one of his judicial publications.

For the second time in two years, Chick Corea has assembled a band to give aural illustration to the fantasy writings of L. Ron Hubbard. For those who have trouble with Hubbard and his teachings, this may be a red flag to avoid the record altogether. The Ultimate Adventure is a tale that draws on characters from the Arabian Nights - there is an ad for the book in the back of the CD booklet. With that out of the way, one has to deal with the music entirely on its own terms. Corea has spent decades playing both electric and acoustic jazz. This is the first time since 1976's My Spanish Heart that he has woven his love of both so completely into a single album. There are more than a few echoes here that call upon the ghosts of the earliest Return to Forever band - primarily in the gorgeous flute playing of Hubert Laws and Jorge Pardo, in the saxophone artistry of Tim Garland, the drumming of Steve Gadd…

German ensemble Ibliss created a heavily jazzy voice within the psychedelic atmosphere that wrapped and shaped the psychedelic atmosphere of krautrock back in the late 60s and early 70s. This band is tightly sustained on the standard of jazz-fusion and jazz-rock, closely related to the 1st Annexus Quam, post-"Opal" Embryo and Xhol. Supernova is an obscure album with potential, but both the extended jams are at least twice as long as they should. Fans of Organisation, Embryo and Kollektiv might enjoy some of this album.

Fra Lippo Lippi created the blueprint for the band they'd eventually become on Small Mercies. On this album, the Norwegian group's roots in gothic rock have yet to be severed, especially with the funereal percussion, grim basslines, and sinister vocals on "Barrier." Nevertheless, the melodic, atmospheric keyboards that linger throughout the record would later shape Fra Lippo Lippi's trademark piano-based new wave pop. In fact, the second track on the album, "A Small Mercy," is the genesis of one of Fra Lippo Lippi's future hits, "Everytime I See You." The songs on Small Mercies are moody and depressing, but they're appropriate for rainy days. Like Joy Division, Fra Lippo Lippi were able to crawl into life's bleakest recesses and exit with music that emitted an ominous beauty…

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and during World War II he conducted at the Berlin State Opera. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records.

In popular mythology Haydn’s name is far less closely associated with the piano sonata than with the string quartet or symphony. Though a more than competent pianist (one writer in London described his playing of the brilliant fortepiano solo in the Symphony No 98 as ‘neat and distinct’), he was by his own admission no ‘wizard’ on the keyboard, and unlike Mozart and Beethoven never wrote sonatas for his own performance. Yet the keyboard remained central to Haydn’s creative process. His morning routine would invariably begin with him trying out ideas, for whatever medium, on the clavichord, the harpsichord or, from the 1780s, the fortepiano; and he composed prolifically for keyboard through most of his adult life, beginning with the harpsichord works he produced for aristocratic pupils during his ‘galley years’ in Vienna and culminating in the three great sonatas (Nos 50–52 in Hoboken’s catalogue) inspired by the sonorous Broadwood instruments he encountered on his London visits.