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.

Spain and Italy have much more in common than shared Latin-derived languages and sun dappled beaches on the azure Mediterranean Sea. Cellist Brandon Vamos contends that the music from both cultures is compatible. "They work so well together," he says. Vamos, who founded the Pacifica Quartet with his wife violinist Simin Ganatra in 1994, puts his thesis to the test with Souvenirs of Spain & Italy. Drawing from a time span encompassing the Baroque era to the present day, the Cedille release features compositions from Spaniard Joaquín Turina, plus Spanish-influenced pieces by a trio of Italians-Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Antonio Vivaldi, and Luigi Boccherini.  Although the quartet, comprised of second violinist Austin Hartman and violist Mark Holloway along with Vamos and Ganatra, essay an anxious and introspective version of Turino's "La oración del torero," they are joined on the remaining compositions by multiple-Grammy-award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin. READ THE Q&A

Curated by WGBH: Boston 'A Celtic Sojourn's' Brian O'Donovan Explore classic Celtic holiday essentials from including; 'The Wexford Carol' featuring: Alison Krauss, from Yo-Yo Ma and Friends, Songs of Joy & Peace. Yo-Yo Ma brought together a remarkable group of friends to create a musical party inspired by the holiday season: Songs of Joy & Peace on Sony BMG Masterworks. This party celebrates the universal hopes, dreams and joy animating seasonal festivals the world over – Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha, Kwanzaa, Yule and New Year's Day.  "It started with the idea of a party, a party built around the concept of joy and the infinite varieties of joy to be found in the world," Ma recalls.  "But joy can't exist in our world without the comfort of peace.  As we all draw closer and closer together in this world, nothing is more important.  So as much as the music in this album is about joy, it is also about peace, about the two operating in tandem.  I am really excited to know that I have all these fabulous colleagues who think the same way." LISTEN TO THE PLAYLIST

A bold and powerful nation with imperial ambitions must confront the fact that absolute power may not always equate to certain victory. It must come to terms with the possibility that in this world, other forms of strength and resilience exist. Sublime and transcendental forces, unseen by the naked eye, but infinitely more effective at motivating hearts and minds than brutish strength and bombast. Listen to the podcast The POINT LESS podcast is a series that boldly expresses views on social injustice. It is an activist's call - at once a celebration of life and a cautionary take on the social forces that threaten it. Violence, immigration, xenophobia, betrayal, and dignity are themes considered and rendered with a powerful and knowing generosity of spirit.So embodies the artistic - and entrepreneurial - philosophy of Onabulé, whose latest album release, Point Less, is a giant leap forward and deeply soulful Rueful yet optimistic, Onabulé's reach is global. His three-and-a-half octave baritone and the powerful emotions he conveys with it connects with audiences around the world. "Hands-on, self-sufficiency has always been my mantra for survival in the music game," says the songwriter. Produced & Narrated by Max Horowitz - Crossover Media This content, as well as the related podcast, are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) for redistribution and adaptation.

Angélique Kidjo - Celia (Verve/Universal Music France), is an album that honors Celia Cruz, widely known as "the Queen of Salsa" and the most popular Latin artist of the 20thcentury.  On Celia, Angélique explores the African roots of the Cuban-born Cruz and reimagines selections from Cruz's extraordinary career in surprising new ways, infused with an explosion of sounds and rhythms from Cuba, Africa, the Middle East, America and beyond.  The album includes performances by Tony Allen (Fela Kuti) on drums, Meshell Ndegeocello on bass, and British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchins plus his band Sons of Kemet.  The recording comes in at #11 on the Transglobal 'Best 100 of 2019' Chart

None of these works in any sense identifies with the carefree café scene, nor strikes the fave licks of the waltzing salon partiers of the 1920s and '30s. This is serious music that bristles and singes and sings, whose creators know strings and how to make three voices into the proverbial sum greater than its parts. And before I forget, the three members of Black Oak Ensemble-Desirée Ruhstrat (violin); David Cunliffe (cello); Aurélien Fort Pederzoli (viola)-are ideal advocates for this music, a threesome that often sounds like six, or like one, and makes the most of melody and makes magic of irregular rhythm and phrasing, of beautiful lines and jazzy utterances, reveling in the gritty groan of bows digging into strings, and finding the joy in rich harmony and an occasional raucous dance. Thanks to such insightful, committed, and masterful performances, those composers, though dead, are still speaking. READ THE FULL ClassicsToday REVIEW

OLA ONABULE'S recent 'Point Less' album was acclaimed right across the board and as year end loom into view he's released a key cut as a single... it's the reflective and simple 'Tender Heart'. Understated, the song's message chimes with the sentiments of the current season... "a tribute to people who dare to stand alone and be the first to declare an uncomfortable truth". As ever, Mr O delivers impeccably. SEE THE SoulandJazzandFunk.com PAGE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}