To celebrate the 15 year anniversary of my debut album I'm releasing this big band cover of Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, How Do I Let A Good Man Down. It was recorded on the original session in 2006 but never released on the full length album. A nod to the great Ms. Jones and a walk down memory lane with the incredible LA big band that I was fortunate to work with on  Introducing. I had a blast revisiting this great arrangement by Willie Murillo and topped it off with a killer sax solo by my longtime friend and band mate, Mike Tucker.  So many worlds colliding in this version of a great soul contemporary classic soul tune!

Turn it up and get down! Time to dig deep in the vault!

Cellist Inbal Segev's inspirational commissioning project, 20 for 2020, continues apace with the second of four digital EPs featuring five of the 20 composers she commissioned in response to the extraordinary combination of events the world experienced 2020. A gesture of support to her fellow musicians and solace for audiences, 20 for 2020 features an immensely varied palette of strong and distinctive compositional voices spanning a range of ages, genders and cultures, and reflects by turns the darkness of the pandemic, the BLM movement, isolation and contemplation. Collectively the works celebrate a stunning array of music for the soulful sound of the cello in the 21st century.

Libera are a phenomenon with over 100 million hits on You Tube. One of the leading worldwide exponents of the British choral tradition, the three-time Classical BRIT nominees have recorded a brand new studio album titled ‘If'. The new album will be available on 15 October 2021 on CD plus digital formats through Invisible Hands Music and features 15 songs including 5 brand new compositions.

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys – who knows a bit about vocal harmonies - said, "When I heard them sing – it actually took me to tears." This album provides a welcome respite from over a year of unrelenting bleakness; the boys who make up Libera are very happy to be back making music. This album continues Libera's mission of spreading joy and hope through the beauty and purity of their wonderful voices and arrangements.

With  shimmering,  mystical  chords  and  ecstatic  harmonies,  they  are  unlike  any  other  group  you  have  ever  heard.  The  distinctive  sound  of  Libera has  garnered fans  all  over  the world,  particularly  in  the  USA,  the  UK,  the  Philippines,  South  Korea  and  Japan.  Their  albums  top  the  mainstream  and  classical  charts  and  they  pack  concert  halls and  cathedrals,  appearing  in  their  trademark  flowing  white  robes.

The  success  and  audience  that  the  group  have  reached  is  nothing  short  of  staggering; they have performed for Popes and Presidents. Libera have graced  programmes  such  as  the  BBC's ‘Last  Choir  Standing',  ‘Songs  Of  Praise'  and  Classic  FM. This new album is a wonderful collection of beautiful songs, old and new, delivered in the peerless Libera way. ‘If' you are looking for a really special and engaging choral album, then look no further.

In March and April of 2021 soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and drummer Allison Miller came together on five Tuesdays in March and April of 2021 to record some improvised sax and drum duets to see what might happen. They didn't set out to make an album - they just wanted to play because they needed to improvise any way that they could. They played with complete abandon, performing remotely from their home studios in New York City in the reality of the world of 2021. Tues Days is the result of those recordings that now appear on Bloom's Outline label and are available through Miller's Bandcamp site, mixed and mastered by bassist Mark Helias with breathtaking fidelity. It's a musical duet saturated in a kaleidoscope of color. The music is spontaneous composition at its best by two masterful improvisers – energetic, tactile, and alive. Miller's multi-colored array of percussion augments her drumset in exquisite counterpoint to Bloom's signature tone on the soprano sax. The music is both rhythmic and deeply lyrical - drum and sax dancing around one another until their song is sung. The compositions are Bloom and Miller making-it-up live and in the moment, taking you on a wild ride through their musical universe.  From the adventurous journey of "The Wild Frontier" to the unpredictable "A & J's Test Kitchen," get ready for Tues Days - a story for your ears that will have your head spinning in wonder.

After nearly six decades, a private recording of a rare, nightclub performance by John Coltrane of his magnum opus, A Love Supreme, is set for commercial release. Recorded in late 1965 on the culminating evening of a historic week-long run at The Penthouse in Seattle, A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle is a musical revelation of historic importance, capturing Coltrane as he began to expand his classic quartet-adding Pharoah Sanders on second saxophone and Donald Garrett on second bass-and catapulting him into the intense, spiritually focused final phase of his career. Today, you can listen to A Love Supreme, Part IV – Psalm, watch the visualizer here https://JohnColtrane.lnk.to/ALSPIV. The full album A Love Supreme Live in Seattle is for release October 8, on Impulse! Records/UMe.

"Chopin is reserved, visionary and mysterious," says Beatrice Rana. "There are many layers to his music. It's pleasing to the ear and sincere in its communication, but the deeper you go, the more you find …" For this album, Rana pairs Chopin's 12 op 25 études with his four scherzi, focusing on two musical genres that the composer, combining intellect and imagination, transformed into something new. "It was Chopin who invented the ‘concert study'," explains Rana. 

"To me, the études seem implicitly connected, joined by a single line of expression, as if they are taking you on a journey. The scherzi are evocative pieces, full of contrasts … They represent three distinct stages of Chopin's life and creativity and it is easy to read stories into them." When Beatrice Rana played the op 25 études for her New York recital debut in 2019, the New York Times wrote: "If you can play Chopin's études comfortably, you can probably play anything written for the piano ... and the best performances convey their musical riches. In that regard, Beatrice Rana set a new standard … She didn't just surmount the technical challenges; she made the pieces sound as poetic and colorful as anything Chopin ever wrote."

"This album is, in many ways, about love: the romantic love between Johann Sebastian and his first and second wives; familial love between parents and their children; and love for the Creator."   Daniil Trifonov

"…  a prodigious live performance of arguably the least performable and unarguably greatest contrapuntal exercise in the history of music, Bach's The Art of the Fugue, by Daniil Trifonov … he is already one of the world's most remarkable pianists. The legend grows."  Los Angeles Timesconcert review

Daniil Trifonov presents his new Deutsche Grammophon solo recording, Bach – The Art of Life. Centred around Johann Sebastian Bach's late masterpiece The Art of Fugue, the new double album reflects Trifonov's insight into the family life and music-making of one of the greatest composers of all time. Works by four of Johann Sebastian's sons, as well as two pieces known to have been Bach family favourites are also included in a programme taking in everything from lighthearted dance-like pieces to the mournful majesty of the Chaconne in D minor. Already renowned for his recordings of the Romantic repertoire, Daniil Trifonov brings the same magical combination of vitality, sensitivity and flawless technical command to these works of an earlier age. Bach – The Art of Life will be released on 8 October 2021.

Harpist and Composer Brandee Younger releases her major label debut album, Somewhere Different, on Impulse! Records.  The compositions are a luminous blending of genres, and you can listen to the album here. An accompanying visualizer for the track "Pretend", featuring Tarriona "Tank" Ball from Tank and the Bangas, can be watched here. To mark the release of the album, Ms. Younger will go live on her Instagram this Monday, August 16 at 1:00 PM ET with the renowned Bassist, Ron Carter, and Producer of the Album, Dezron Douglas.

Stillpoint is the moment between thoughts, when all mental chatter ceases and the clarity of absolute mind emerges from within. Stillpoint is also an album of original music and a book of short stories from Latin Grammy-winning producer, writer, and Zen practitioner, Barrett Martin. Building on his previous two books that also came with musical soundtracks (The Singing Earth 2017, The Way Of The Zen Cowboy 2019), Stillpoint is a stand alone studio album, but it also serves as the soundtrack for Barrett's 3rd book in the series titled, Stillpoint: Reflections From A Year On The Cliff.

All Press Secured by Doreen D'Agostino Media

‘The Singing Guitar,' 12 guitarists, 26 singers and a cellist, in new works by four American composers. Exploring the unique connection of voices and strings. Listeners experience an unusual musical journey on the Delos Music recording; ‘The Singing Guitar.' Combining voices, guitars, and cello with Native American and non-native pioneer stories, it is hard to overstate the power, challenge, and difficulty of this unique collaboration that expresses these exquisitely crafted compositions by Reena Esmail, Nico Muhly, Kile Smith and Craig Hella Johnson. On this episode of The Singing Guitar, American composer and sought-after collaborator; Nico Muhly.    LISTEN
About the Album - The wonderful Conspirare chamber choir, known for its interpretive depth and otherworldly sonic lushness, offers another of its captivating programs-this time joined by three superb guitar quartets-in a program remarkably relevant to our time. Conspirare's 2019 Delos album, The Hope of Loving (DE 3578), was nominated for a GRAMMY® Award for Best Choral Performance in 2020. The concert version of The Singing Guitar was performed to full houses in 2019. The combination of guitar quartet and chorus is so successful it's surprising that more composers have not written for it. Four recently written compositions feature the voices of Conspirare accompanied by guitar-twelve guitars in Nico Muhly's How Little You Are, a compelling composition telling of the struggles of pioneer women. Kile Smith's The Dawn's Early Light ponders our national anthem in the writings of a Native American woman, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins. The album is rounded out with compositions by Reena Esmail and Conspirare's founder and director Craig Hella Johnson. A Chicago Tribune Best Classical Recording of 2020, A WRTI Best of 2020 Album, Apple Music Featured New Album, and Qobuz Grand Selection. "The singing of Craig Hella Johnson's ensemble Conspirare combined with the delicacy of shifting textures of twelve guitars is intriguing and emotionally effective. … I found this a really moving setting for an unusual ensemble. You'll find it alongside other new pieces for choir and guitar quartet." – Andrew McGregor, BBC Record Review "Johnson and Conspirare continue to create indelible work, as in "The Singing Guitar," which pairs Conspirare's sublime voices with guitar accompaniment. The melismatic chant of Reena Esmail's "When the Guitar," the poignant tone painting of Nicol Muhly's "How Little You Are," and the storytelling character of Kile Smith's "The Dawn's Early Light" illuminate Conspirare's versatility and singular sound." – Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune Music for choir and guitars with Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Texas Guitar Quartet, Austin Guitar Quartet, and cellist Douglas Harvey. Johnson curated a program woven together by exquisitely crafted music for voices, guitar, and stories of women. Nico Muhly's musical mediation How Little You Are evokes powerful landscapes of American pioneers in a compelling work for choir and 12 guitars; soprano Estelí Gomez is a featured soloist. Kile Smith's The Dawn's Early Light sets selected text from Native American Sarah Winnemucca's autobiography that addresses the significant divisions in our human family.  The texts present contrasting perspectives of Sara Winemucca, the first Native American to publish and English language narrative, and the pioneer women whose texts are set in Muhly's piece. Indian-American composer Reena Esmail's "When the Guitar," in a new instrumentation created for Conspirare and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, opens the CD. Conspirare's sopranos and altos join cellist Douglas Harvey in Craig Hella Johnson's "The Song That I Came to Sing". Conspirare gratefully acknowledges the following for their support of this recording: Anonymous, Dale and Tina Knobel, Legacy of Sound 2, Hella Circle, CAPTRUST: STMM, National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, City of Austin Economic Development Department, Cultural Arts Division and St. Luke's Methodist Church.
  Produced 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.

CLASSIC FM's 'Feminine Fusion' highlights the roles of women in classical music. Host Diane Jones brings you stories and music of the women who create, perform, and inspire. Produced in the studios at WCNY-FM. On this installment "Cien Años" is not only an exquisitely expressive celebration marking the centennial of Piazzolla's birth, the CD honors more than one man's immeasurable musical contributions. For Uruguayan-born conductor Gisèle Ben-Dor, a fierce champion of Latin American composers, equally important as paying homage to the Argentine nuevo tango legend was capturing the uniquely mesmerizing performance of bandoneón player/arranger/composer Juanjo Mosalini on Piazzolla's most ambitious work-the Aconcagua concerto-and showcasing an exciting new piece she commissioned from this extraordinary musician. Mosalini's title composition, Cien Años, is in turn a heartfelt 100th birthday tribute to his own grandfather and the legacy of his family's four generations of bandoneónists. WCNY: CLASSIC FM 'Feminine Fusion' highlights include Astor Piazzolla, arr. Juanjo Mosalini:  Four Seasons in Buenos Aires
Gisèle Ben-Dor, conductor
Boston Pro-Arte Chamber Orchestra
"Piezzolla Cien Años"
Centaur 3844

"Chopin is reserved, visionary and mysterious," says Beatrice Rana. "There are many layers to his music. It's pleasing to the ear and sincere in its communication, but the deeper you go, the more you find …" For this album, Rana pairs Chopin's 12 op 25 études with his four scherzi, focusing on two musical genres that the composer, combining intellect and imagination, transformed into something new. "It was Chopin who invented the ‘concert study'," explains Rana.  "To me, the études seem implicitly connected, joined by a single line of expression, as if they are taking you on a journey. The scherzi are evocative pieces, full of contrasts … They represent three distinct stages of Chopin's life and creativity and it is easy to read stories into them." When Beatrice Rana played the op 25 études for her New York recital debut in 2019, the New York Times wrote: "If you can play Chopin's études comfortably, you can probably play anything written for the piano ... and the best performances convey their musical riches. In that regard, Beatrice Rana set a new standard … She didn't just surmount the technical challenges; she made the pieces sound as poetic and colorful as anything Chopin ever wrote." Classic Music Sentinel's Jean-Yves Duperron writes....Upon my initial listening session into this new recording by Italian pianist Beatrice Rana I was at once struck not only by her astonishing technique, but even more so by her "old-school" musicianship. By that I mean to say that so many of today's new generation of up-and-coming pianists seem to focus on technique and speed simply for the sake of velocity, but don't seem to have a single musical bone in their bodies. They all end up sounding inexpressive, and uninvolved with the impulse within the music. And if they do include a bit of self-expression it always sounds contrived or even clichéd. READ THE FULL Classic Music Sentinel ARTICLE

Cellist Inbal Segev is commissioning and recording 20 chamber music works to capture the year 2020. The recordings are being released in four volumes, and in this conversation with WQED-FM she describes the five works on Volume 1: "20 for 2020" Volume 1 features works by five of today's most compelling composers. Galvanized by the unprecedented worldwide crises that characterized 2020 and encouraging creative recovery from them, the cellist launched this major new project last fall to capture something of that collective experience through the music of composers with strong and distinctive voices in a panorama of styles. An established driving force in the creation of new cello repertoire for the 21st century, Segev committed to commissioning and recording, in four volumes, new chamber works from a roster of cutting-edge composers for a music video series and an album on Avie Records. Newly announced works by John Luther Adams, Camille El Bacha, Gloria Coates, Stewart Goodyear, Adolphus Hailstork, Molly Joyce, Christopher Tyler Nickel, Immanuel Wilkins, Agata Zubel, and Segev herself join the previously announced diverse compositional voices of Timo Andres, Sophia Bass, Christopher Cerrone, Viet Cuong, Avner Dorman, Vijay Iyer, James Lee III, Angélica Negrón, Fernando Otero, and Bruce Wolosoff. Digital releases for the four volumes are set for June 25, August 27, November 19, and early 2022, the last also including a physical release. Click here to pre-order, and here to stream an audio single. LISTEN TO WQED: Pittsburgh - Voice of the Arts chat with the cellist

Daniil Trifonov presents his new Deutsche Grammophon solo recording, Bach – The Art of Life. The album will be released on 8 October 2021. Centred around Johann Sebastian Bach's late masterpiece The Art of Fugue, the new double album reflects Trifonov's insight into the family life and music-making of one of the greatest composers of all time. Works by four of Johann Sebastian's sons, as well as two pieces known to have been Bach family favourites are also included in a programme taking in everything from lighthearted dance-like pieces to the mournful majesty of the Chaconne in D minor. Already renowned for his recordings of the Romantic repertoire, Daniil Trifonov brings the same magical combination of vitality, sensitivity and flawless technical command to these works of an earlier age.  DT has made him self available to Classical Radio, today September 20th to discuss the recording. Networks and Stations include; C24: National, Minnesota Public Radio: Statewide, K-Mozart: Los Angeles, KDFC: San Francisco, WRTI: Philadelphia  , WRCJ: Detroit , Classic 107.3: St. Louis, WVIA Public Media: Pittston PA, WCMU: Mount Pleasant MI & WMHT: Schenectady NY.

"Mellow" is the name of the game in WCRB: Boston 30th (!) edition of Instant Replay! Chill out with us when you listen to this playlist of our favorite music of the month, featuring Ben Folds, the Indigo Girls, Nanci Griffith, and more. This series highlights CRB's favorite music of the moment – discoveries we've made when we're at home cooking or cleaning, at the office, or out and about. Classical or otherwise, old, new, or just really cool, these are the tracks we've had on repeat this month. Find a cumulative playlist at the end of this post. Happy listening! Mozart Momentum 1785 is the first of two releases on which pianist Leif Ove Andsnes and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra are exploring the remarkable years of 1785/86 in W.A. Mozart's life. It includes piano concertos Nos 20-22, the Piano Quartet in G minor, Masonic Funeral Music and Fantasia in C minor for solo piano. Mozart wrote a series of masterpieces and revolutionized the nature of the piano concerto. The five piano concertos, no.20-24, are game-changers in the history of the form. Mozart began to re-examine the roles of the soloist and orchestra and created a dialogue between the two entities in a way that had not been heard before. "It changes completely with Mozart's Piano Concerto No 20 [in D minor K466]," says Andsnes. CRB's Laura Carlo writes....It has been a while since I treated myself to a new Mozart album. I've always admired Leif Ove Andsnes's ease at the piano. I saw him (and actually chatted with him) at Symphony Hall many years ago. So, I decided to check out the new "MM1785" on which Andsnes is joined by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. What a bright, yet warm-sounding collab on pieces Mozart wrote in a stellar composing year, 1785. I've always loved his Piano Concerto No. 21 (the one that's called the "Elvira Madigan" because it was used in the movie of that name), and Concertos Nos. 20 and 22, and in addition to these gems, there are his Fantasy in C Minor and Masonic Funeral Music. Happy to recommend this one over and over. SEE THE 99.5CRB PAGE

Legendary pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet announces Carte Blanche, a new album continuing his long-standing relationship with Decca Classics. Thibaudet has performed world-wide to audiences for more than three decades. A recording legend, the LA-based French artist has sold more than 1.5 million albums and generated 640 million streams. After more than 40 albums-including definitive recordings of Debussy's Préludes, the complete solo piano works of Satie and Ravel, and creative arrangements of opera music and jazz-Carte Blanche features a host of musical gems close to Thibaudet's heart.  To mark a milestone birthday and celebrate a new chapter in his relationship with the label, Thibaudet was given "carte blanche" by Decca to choose personal music that he has never recorded before-a selection that reflects on the people and pieces that have impacted his life as an artist while expanding his already diverse repertoire in new directions. Carte Blanche will be released on 10 September, following Thibaudet's birthday on 7 September.  LISTEN TO Winnipeg's CLASSIC 107 - Chris Wolf's conversation