Bobby Rush got dirty on 2013's Down in Louisiana but with 2014's Decisions, he returns to his slick blues-funk ways, but this doesn't mean it's a rote affair by any means. He has teamed up with the band Blinddog Smokin' and, for the first time in his career, recorded with fellow Louisiana legend Dr. John. Mac Rebennack shows up on the opening "Another Murder in New Orleans," a deeply soulful and searching portrait of the violence that often plagues the Big Easy but, really, that's the only instance when good times aren't on Rush's mind. He leers about being a "Funky Old Man" and winks about what happens on "Bobby Rush's Bus," two songs that set the pace and attitude for much of the rest of Decisions.

Following an initial reconstruction on disc in 2015, the Ballet Royal de la Nuit enjoyed a triumphal modern premiere at the Théâtre de Caen in November 2017. That staged version, presented in this outstanding box set, at last includes the entire musical score (twenty-seven additional dances). The meticulous reconstitution of Sébastien Daucé, the incomparable poetry of Francesca Lattuada, an oneiric universe featuring more than 120 costumes designed by Olivier Charpentier, all contribute to an incredible enchantment further enhanced by the exploits of virtuoso jugglers and circus artists. In this ballet, a masterly achievement from every point of view, the spell remains unbroken from first note to last.

The evolving musical climate of the 1950s occasioned a profound shift of culture and attitude in the performance of Bach’s great choral works. By the close of the decade, it was one of Bach’s own successors in the post of Kantor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, Karl Richter (who’d become organist there at age 23 in 1947), who’d become torch-bearer for a new generation of Bach interpreters. Richter’s recordings with the Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra (ensembles he founded in 1951 and with which his name has become synonymous) heeded an unbroken Leipzig tradition that could be traced back to the time of Bach himself.

Despite his very erratic lifestyle, altoist Art Pepper never made a bad record. This collection is better than most. The first four titles team together Pepper with tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, pianist Ronnie Ball, bassist Ben Tucker, and drummer Gary Frommer for generally intriguing explorations of four standards. One can feel the influence of Lennie Tristano (with Pepper in Lee Konitz's place), although Pepper had his own sound and a more hard-swinging style. The success of the Pepper-Marsh front line makes one wish that they had recorded together again. The other three selections are leftovers from a trio of classic Pepper albums, and all are quite worthwhile. Pepper is heard backed by three separate rhythm sections, which include pianists Red Garland, Dolo Coker, or Wynton Kelly; either Paul Chambers or Jimmy Bond on bass; and Philly Joe Jones, Frank Butler, or Jimmy Cobb on drums…

Cantata Collective, an ensemble "of San Francisco early music luminaries" (San Francisco Chronicle) inaugurates a major series of J. S. Bach's choral works with a live recording of the composer's St. John Passion. With celebrated conductor Nicholas McGegan, the toast of today's new generation of vocal soloists and a three-to-a-part chamber choir, the Cantata Collective conveys the emotional intimacy and dramatic power of this monumental passion in a highly polished performance that led Early Music America to implore: "To the excellent musicians of Cantata Collective: More Bach Please!"

Universal Music Presents The Best Golden Oldies Album In The World…Ever! album 100 original hits and the original artists genre Jazz, Blues, Rock.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive's Four Wheel Drive album is most often overlooked, mainly because all of the attention was focused on the singable "na na na naa"'s of one of B.T.O.'s biggest hits in "Hey You." But the rest of the album is made up of the band's lunch-pail rock & roll sound, combining ample amounts of factory-made blues to street-dirty guitar rock. Although it can't really hold a candle to Not Fragile, B.T.O.'s best album, there's still a fair amount of well-played radio rock to hold Four Wheel Drive up. "Hey You" gave B.T.O. their second last Top 40 hit, peaking at number 21 and reaching number five in Canada, but tracks like "Flat Broke Love," "She's Keeping Time," and "Don't Let the Blues Get You Down" are attractive arena rock efforts with both Bachman's Randy and Robbie sounding like they're still involved wholeheartedly.

Sir Roger Norrington has been chief conductor of the former Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (today the SWR Symphonieorchester) for thirteen years. During this time he has caused a stir internationally with what has come to be termed ‘The Stuttgart Sound’: a synthesis of historically-informed performance practice with the technical capabilities of a modern orchestra. Whether in Mozart, Haydn, Bruckner or Brahms, Norrington has sought to capture the performance experience of the time, adjusting the orchestra’s size and seating plan to create an authentic sound without vibrato. His artistic credo was to keep as close as possible to the composer’s expectations. The present re-issue brings together in a boxed set three of most the important works of Sacred Music from the 19th century: Berlioz' Requiem, Brahms' A German Requiem and Beethoven's Missa solemnis."

War Child was Jethro Tull's first album after two chart-toppers, Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play, and was one of those records that was a hit the day it was announced (it was certified platinum based on pre-orders, the last Tull album to earn platinum record status). It never made the impression of its predecessors, however, as it was a return to standard-length songs following two epic-length pieces. It was inevitable that the material would lack power, if only because the opportunity for development that gave Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play some of their power. Additionally, the music was no longer quite able to cover for the obscurity of Tull's lyrics ("Two Fingers" being the best example). The title track is reasonably successful, but "Queen and Country" seems repetitive and pointless…

You know the situation is getting desperate when a compilation recycles material from an outtakes collection released a decade prior. Such is the case with The Best of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me?, a package that basically combines the best of Syd Barrett's two proper albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, with a number of previously issued outtakes and a straggler from producer and Pink Floyd bandmate David Gilmour's vaults ("Bob Dylan's Blues"). But to be perfectly fair, the now-recycled outtakes release in question, 1989's Opel, was a rare instance where such a release lived up to the quality of the artist's proper studio albums.

With their debut CD Tala Matrix, the project known as Tabla Beat Science has essentially taken the rich and time-honored tradition of the tabla (a pair of North Indian hand drums) and fused it with contemporary electronica studio wizardry. Tala Matrix is dedicated to the memory of the late, great, and innovative tabla virtuoso Ustad Alla Rakha (1919-2000). The Tabla Beat Science project is comprised of one of Ustad Alla Rakha's sons, the tabla superman Zakir Hussain. Additional members include the venerated sarangi player Ustad Sultan Khan; Indian and jazz percussion innovator Trilok Gurtu; New York drummer Karsh Kale; bass, drum, and tabla visionary Talvin Singh; and music programmer Brad Somatik. Producer/bassist Bill Laswell, who "conceived and constructed" the CD, acts as the catalyst for the outfit, adding the bottom end with his dub basslines and the overall aesthetic with his studio prowess…

When four friends create an ensemble where their biggest love is playing Baroque music on recorders, one has to get creative. There is a serious lack of original Baroque repertoire for this combination, and that's how our concept 'Borrowed, not Stolen…' was brought into being. Woodpeckers' journey began 17 years ago while they were all living in Stockholm, Bach's wonderful 'Art of Fugue' being an integral part of the programming in their first concerts. The idea has developed over the years into the format that you find on this recording. They have 'borrowed' music of all kinds and turned it into their own: some arrangements came into being through improvising and playing around in rehearsals, while others were commissioned by them, and some were already in existence and too good to leave out or tamper with. Despite their wanderings in life, the four of them are still deeply rooted in their childhood traditions stemming from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Ireland, and some of their favourite folk tunes, many of which date from the Baroque era or even earlier, appear on this CD, alongside works by Bach, Telemann and Vivaldi.

This is a baroque dream: a performance of the sacred drama David and Jonathas, a masterpiece by Charpentier and one of the miracles of French opera, in the Royal Chapel of Versailles! In 1688, the Louis-le-Grand Jesuit school performed this vibrant version of the fateful, fusional love between David and Jonathas… and the inevitable confrontation between their armies. Their deep friendship - biblical love - leads to the death of Jonathas in the arms of the victorious David. The intense emotion exuded by this piece is amplified by the staging, sets and costumes, under the stirring direction of Gaétan Jarry: a sumptuous, dazzling baroque vision.

MY DARK TWIN is a companion to the band’s 1996 album Sweet F.A. The 22 track double CD release contains 8 previously unreleased versions, and 6 unreleased songs from the Sweet F.A. sessions, and 18 of the 22 tracks are on CD for the very first time. The band began recording the follow-up to Hot Trip To Heaven at San Francisco’s Coast Recorders with Andy Taub at the helm. These initial sessions proved fruitful and produced many quality recordings. Despite the great tracks, it was determined by all that the essential spark just wasn’t there. Rick Rubin suggested a new studio and a new producer.

For fans of Mike Tramp, White Lion & classic rock! New studio album from Mike Tramp (the voice of White Lion and Freak Of Nature). Mike Tramp has spent a significant portion of the last twenty years studiously carving out a solid solo career for himself as a singer/songwriter. Having long turned his back on the temptation to dwell on former arena- filling glories and extremely comfortable with his chosen path, it matters not to the Dane these days, whether he's playing a small café in some far flung town in France or a large outdoor Summer festival in his native Denmark. Mike Tramp is happy being Mike Tramp.