Heavenly Cream – An Acoustic Tribute to Cream (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 59:51 minutes | 682 MB | Genre: Blues Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Quarto Valley Records
Heavenly Cream An Acoustic Tribute To Cream features Ginger Baker, Cream lyricist the late Pete Brown, Free front man Paul Rodgers, Bernie Marsden, Joe Bonamassa, Bobby Rush, Malcolm Bruce (son of Jack Bruce), Debra Bonham, Maggie Bell and others.
Read moreFort Smith Symphony, John Jeter – Ballard: Devil’s Promenade, Fantasy Aborigine No. 3, The Four Moons & Scenes from Indian Life (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 57:08 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Naxos
Louis Wayne Ballard – also known as “Honganozhe”, which means “Stands with Eagles” in the Quapaw language – was the first indigenous North American composer of art music, and his extensive knowledge of the music, dance and mythology of this culture informed his compositions. Ballard’s style was eclectic, embracing tonal and twelve-tone elements, and the selected pieces presented here reflect the unique variety of his achievement. This album of world premiere recordings features his third ballet, The Four Moons, which embodies a rich cache of classic dances, and the Fantasy Aborigine No. 3 “Kokopelli” with its battery of unique percussive instruments.
Read moreFanya Lin, Polish Wieniawski Philharmonic Orchestra & Theodore Kuchar – Rhapsodic (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:15 minutes | 723 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Navona
Pianist Fanya Lin’s RHAPSODIC is a masterful exploration of two of the most iconic pieces in piano repertoire. With her deft touch and nuanced interpretation, Lin lends an entirely new dimension to George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Variations.
From the opening notes of Gershwin’s masterpiece, Lin’s playing proves both powerful and sensitive, capturing the complex emotions of the iconic American composer with great vividness. Some musicians might be hard-pressed to switch seamlessly into the mind and heart of the great Russian, but Lin’s virtuosity is on full display as she navigates the intricate variations with vigor and precision, effortlessly enticing the listener into their bittersweet, heady romance.
Read moreD’Virgilio, Morse & Jennings – Sophomore (Bonus Tracks Edition) (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 52:35 minutes | 634 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © InsideOutMusic
D’Virgilio, Morse & Jennings’ appropriately titled 2nd album, Sophomore, builds from where the group’s debut left off, with more acoustic guitars and multi-layer vocal harmonies, but with an ever-adventurous musical palette. There is no shortage of catchy choruses, interesting melodies and superb songwriting throughout the 10-track collection that sees Nick D’Virgilio (Big Big Train, ex-Spock’s Beard), Neal Morse (Transatlantic, NMB, Flying Colors) & Ross Jennings (Haken, Novena) join forces once again. Available as a Limited Edition Digipak (including two bonus tracks), Ltd gatefold 180g transparent red LP & as digital album.
Read moreDoric String Quartet – Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 1 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:37:58 minutes | 2,63 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Chandos
The Doric String Quartet is firmly established as one of the leading quartets of its generation, receiving enthusiastic responses from audiences and critics around the globe. Celebrating their 25th anniversary, the Quartet here embarks on a significant new recording project – the complete string quartets by Beethoven. This first volume combines works from Beethoven’s early, middle, and late period. The six quartets Op. 18 were the first he composed, in 1799 and 1800, encouraged by Prince Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz, a significant patron of the arts. Once he had completed the set, Beethoven heavily revised the first three quartets, writing to a friend: ‘I have changed it considerably; for I have only now learned to write quartets correctly, as you will see when you receive them.’ Andrey Kirillovich Razumovsky was the Russian ambassador to the Vieneese court, and the dedicatee of the three quartets Op. 59. The last of the middle-period quartets, Op. 95 (Serioso) was dedicated to Beethoven’s close friend and accomplished cellist Nikolaus Zmeskall and is regarded as showing a glimpse of what would come: Beethoven’s late quartets. Extremely complex and largely misunderstood by musicians and audiences in Beethoven’s day, these quartets are now widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time, and have inspired many later composers. Op. 127, featured in this volume, is the first of these monumental works.
Read moreCory Weeds – Home Cookin’ (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 39:19 minutes | 781 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cellar Live
There are so many variables with recording, so many things that can affect the outcome. I put a lot of thought into Home Cookin’ and what would set me and the band up for success. A rehearsal, two nights performing the music live at Frankie’s Jazz Club in Vancouver and then into the studio. It was perfect! What could possibly go wrong?
Read moreChristoph Croisé, Oxana Shevchenko – 1883 – R. Strauss, Grieg & Fauré (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:03:01 minutes | 1,11 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © AVIE Records
1883 was a fruitful year for cello composition as Christoph Croise’s new recording reveals. That year marked Edvard Grieg’s return to composition after a period of conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, with the Sonata in A minor, his only work for cello and piano. Also that year, Richard Strauss was writing for the same combination at the age of just 19, producing his Sonata in F. Gabriel Faure embarked on a cello sonata in 1880; only the slow movement transpired and was published and premiered as the stand-alone piece Elegie in 1883. Christoph’s regular performing partner, Oxana Shevchenko, joins him in this beautifully balanced recording of works for cello and piano.
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