The Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet and multiple Grammy-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin join forces for an uncommon album of music for strings and guitar from the Baroque to the mid-20th century. Souvenirs of Spain & Italy is the first joint recording by these renowned artists and marks Isbin's Cedille Records debut.  89.3WQED - Pittsburgh PA, Jim Cunningham talks to Sharon about the recording. LISTEN

The  boys  who  make  up  the  choral  group  Libera  are  normal  South  London  kids  aged  7  to  16  years.  The  music  they  produce  is  truly  extraordinary.  Their  new album ‘Christmas Carols With Libera' through Invisible Hands Music, takes on both mellow and upbeat holiday songs in this collection including; ‘Ding Dong Merrily On High' which requires real precision, as well as purity. Many of the tracks were recorded during a group ‘retreat' to a rehearsal space in an old school, this allowed a true live feel to the process. The boy who took the lead vocal on ‘The Snowman' had just turned 9 years old, whilst the introductions to the French ‘Noël Nouvelet' and the Irish ‘Wexford Carol' are both handled by native French and Gaelic speakers, Libera is as polyglot as ever. 'Christmas Carols with Libera' goes #1 on billboard - Traditional Classical Albums. See cover image

Jenny Lewis and producer/songwriter Jonathan Wilson have teamed with Sanba Zao, Paul Beaubrun and Jackson Browne for a new song, "Lapé Lanmou (Peace and Love)." The track will appear on the upcoming benefit album, Let the Rhythm Lead: Haiti Song Summit, Vol. 1, out January 31st, 2020 from Artists for Peace and Justice via Arts Music. The bustling song, whose title means "Peace and Love" in Creole, arrived with an equally lively video in which the musicians perform the song in Haiti alongside a crowd of revelers, dancers and singers. The clip captures the mood of the song, which Beaubrun described as "a spiritual awakening." "Haitians along with many others across the globe have been saying [‘Lapé Lanmou'] for a long time," Beaubrun added. "It's about peace, love and unity amongst us all and how we will never collectively move forward as one without it." Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) is a non-profit organization that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty around the world. Our immediate goal is to serve the poorest communities in Haiti with programs in education, healthcare and dignity. We are committed to long-term, sustainable development in direct partnership with the Haitian people. Our model is simple: we believe in empowering local communities, fostering economic growth, and the power of education to change a nation. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE FULL RollingStone ARTICLE & WATCH THE VIDEO

Comparing the year in jazz to that of 2018 is a little like comparing this year in metal to its predecessor-on the surface it seems hard to compete with 12 months of obvious ringers. After all, last year revealed the first set of unheard John Coltrane music in decades. I mean, this year also yielded a set of unheard Coltrane pieces, which was pretty cool as well, but they were still essentially alternate versions of pieces we'd already heard, and the novelty wasn't quite as strong. But if the strength of a jazz year can only be measured by the freshness of its rare Coltrane recordings, well, most years would be pretty disappointing. And honestly, to focus on 50-year-old outtakes when so much great new material is being recorded feels at best shortsighted and at worst intransigent. Jazz this year was dominated not by headline-grabbing archival music but by the sheer strength of new artists honing their craft. Some of them have made this list before (Yazz Ahmed, Shabaka Hutchings). Some of them are best known in other genres (Cochemea). And some arrived well out of left-field (Paisiel). But the one thing they have in common is that they all reveal something new about a 100-year-old style. Here are the best jazz albums of 2019. I've always been somewhat skeptical of anything described as "nu-jazz," as more often than not it's less jazz and more downtempo electronic music to pulse through the lobby of a trendy, high-end boutique hotel. The Comet Is Coming, however, are a proper jazz outfit who just so happen to sound like they're prepped to launch into hyperspace, thanks in large part to Danalogue's synth-heavy atmospheres. Yet saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and drummer Betamax are what bring the project back down to earth with both an emotionally powerful presence and grooves that never relent. One need only give one spin to standout jam "Summon the Fire" to understand that this group is simply not fucking around-they're certainly headed for the cosmos, but they're getting asses shaking on the ascent. Trust In the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery is the group's Impulse! debut, putting them in the league of giants like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane (and Hutchings' other group, Sons of Kemet), and while those might be big shoes to fill, it's to the iconic label's credit that groundbreaking talent like this-making something truly innovative from an electronic/jazz combo that's been stuck in M.O.R. range for too long-is carrying their its forward into the 21st century. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} SEE THE Treble '10 Best Jazz Albums of 2019' PAGE

Chart-topping, international violin soloist Rachel Barton Pine, joined by multi-faceted conductor Teddy Abrams and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, released Dvořák and Khachaturian Violin Concertos, on AVIE on November 1.  The album features Dvořák's Violin Concerto in A minor Op. 53 and Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in D minor, highlights each composer's prominent use of his own traditional ethnic music. The Dvořák and Khachaturian Violin Concertos marks Pine's 39th recording and fifth album on AVIE records (AV 2375).  In conjunction with the new release, RBP has made herself available for radio interviews on 2 consecutive days. Yesterday and today December 11 & 12. Watch for our tweeths throughout the day.

Violinist Margaret Batjer has been associated with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for a number of years. In their first CD for the Swedish BIS label, Batjer and the LACO begin with a new violin concerto by Quebec-born composer, Pierre Jalbert. With movements titled "Soulful, mysterious", and "With great energy", Jalbert's concerto is in good hands with Ms. Batjer, no stranger to contemporary music.  She ties this newest work to established, mystical pieces by Estonian Arvo Pärt (one of his Fratres pieces), and Latvian Peteris Vasks (Lonely Angel). Completing the circle among these spiritualistic composers, J.S. Bach's Concerto in A Minor reminds us that whether sacred or secular, Bach approached composition with equal seriousness. LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

After the releasing the Bach album with EMI in 2005, Decca releases; Sung-Won Yang's J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites recorded at 19th century's catholic church, Notre Dame de Bon Secours, Paris. In order to contain the natural sounds of the recording from the catholic church, this album specifically minimized the post production including the mixing process. You can experience the maturity and depth of Sung-Won Yang's cello sound of time compared to the recording 13 years ago. Sung-Won Yang's have said that Bach's music provides beyond happiness, yet intellectual and spiritual pieces which makes J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites holy grail for the cellists. Sung-Won Yang was recently interviewed by Spokane Public Radio's Jim Tevenan. Listen to the interview via the attached file.