AVID Jazz here presents three classic Ben Webster albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. 'Blue Saxophones'… Take the Oscar Peterson Trio with Alvin Stoller on drums, add two of the greatest tenor saxophonists who ever lived, Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster and voila… you have Blue Saxophones! Two masters together in 1957, one (Hawkins) a huge influence on the other (Webster), but now, both very much their own men. As the final paragraph of Charles Fox's liner notes attests 'This is tenor playing in the grandest of manners, unashamedly romantic, even sensuous, with both musicians constructing their solos firmly and audaciously'. 'Soulville'… Ben is once again joined by the Oscar Peterson Trio for another 1957 date. This time sitting in on drums is Stan Levey, in Bens own words 'he's improved since I heard him on the Street years ago.' Ben of course is a huge fan of Peterson…..'the guy can play a lot as a soloist but when it comes time for you to play a solo, he plays for you'. 'The Soul Of Ben Webster'… Here we find Ben joined by fellow tenor man Harold Ashby alongside among others Art Farmer on trumpet and Jimmy Jones on piano in a 1958 blowing date.

"The Right Stuff" is a song by Bryan Ferry, the former lead vocalist for Roxy Music. It was released as the first single from his 7th album "Bête Noire" in late 1987, being Ferry's 25th single. It was the album's only Top 40 hit in the U.K., peaking at #37. The song was co-written by Johnny Marr and adapted from The Smiths' instrumental B-side to "Bigmouth Strikes Again" ("Money Changes Everything"). When Marr was asked about the collaboration in a 1989 interview with Sonics he said "He [Ferry] didn’t know who I was. But he was looking for co-writers and someone suggested me to him. Someone played him some Smiths records and he went 'Oh, this guy plays guitar all right!' So he invited me down to the studio.

"Spy" is singer-songwriter Carly Simon's 9th album, and 8th studio album, released in 1979. It is also her last album for Elektra Records. The title of the album is a tribute to Anaïs Nin, whose quote “I am an international spy in the house of love”, is written across the top on the inside jacket. Simon dedicated the album to producer Arif Mardin, in which she wrote in the liner notes, "Dedicated to Arif who is himself fantastic." Although "Spy" did not yield any major hit singles, "Vengeance" (which features actor Tim Curry on backing vocals) earned Simon a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female in early 1980, the first year to feature this new category. The song peaked at #48 on the Billboard Pop singles chart, and Simon later included it on her Anthology album in 2002. The album also features a track entitled "Never Been Gone", which has gone on to become a fan favorite, as well as one of Simon's personal favorite songs of her own. In 2009, she would release an album entitled after the track.

Primarily known as sidemen, pianist Pinetop Perkins and guitarist Hubert Sumlin, if not as widely recognized as the artists they've supported, do have something of a legendary status in the blues world. Thus, this CD where the two of them take the lead (providing vocals as well) is aptly titled. The material consists mainly of longtime standards such as "Got My Mojo Working," "Rock Me Baby," "Hoochie Coochie Man," and "The Sky Is Crying," all performed with the considerable skill attained through years of experience. If Perkins and Sumlin's approach to these tunes isn't exactly innovative, it is rock solid and energetic, with plenty of excellent lead work from them both. Also notable is Annie Raines's harmonica, which provides solid counterpoint to the two leads, and occasionally takes the lead on its own.

"Over My Heart" is the 7th and final studio album by American singer Laura Branigan. Released in August 1993, it was Branigan's most personal album and saw her again try her hand at producing, alongside successful producer Phil Ramone. While the Gloria Estefan-penned "Love Your Girl" was aimed for the clubs that made her famous, the album was ballad-heavy, including the opener "How Can I Help You To Say Goodbye"; the Spanish-language "Mujer Contra Mujer"; "Mangwane (The Wedding Song)" (taught to her by her friend Stevie Godson, who was also the executive producer on the track), sung in Sotho, a South African language, and recorded there with the Mmabana Children's Choir; and several of her own compositions, "Didn't We Almost Win It All" and "Over You".

An unprecedented collection of recordings charting the earliest years of one of the world's most innovative and exciting renaissance women -composer, singer, performer, film director, visual artist and auteur Meredith Monk. Hand selected by Meredith from her personal archives, this fascinating compilation ranges from her first solo vocal performances in the mid-'60s, to ground-breaking works from the '70s up through 1980. An essential portrait of a vocal pioneer at her virtuosic and exploratory best.

Yamagata Symphony Orchestra is one of Japan's famous local orchestras and is very much loved by the people of Yamagata. This album is the first album by conductor Chiaki Murakawa, who will turn 90 in 2023. This is a live recording of the Yamagata Symphony Orchestra's 300th regular concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of its founding and the performance celebrating Chiaki Murakawa's 90th birthday. The program is Chiaki Murakawa's most important repertoire, Sibelius. Like the nature of Yamagata, the majestic music of Sibelius is played abundantly.

The musicians of The Bach Orchestra will perform Vivaldi’s most famous composition: the Four Seasons. With the Spanish violin virtuoso Enrique Gomez-Cabrero as soloist. Olga Zinovieva is singing the virtuoso arias by Vivaldi.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, John Harbison, is recognized as one of the dominant figures of his generation, with commissions from most of America’s leading musical institutions as part of a catalog of more than 300 works. Pianist Se-Hee Jin has been exploring Harbison’s oeuvre with fearless and insightful interpretations ever since their first meeting at Tanglewood many years ago. From the rhapsodic and virtuoso First Piano Sonata to the fleeting images of the Leonard Stein Anagrams and the playful Gatsby Etudes, this program represents works from the 1980s to the present, including several world premiere recordings.

Antonio Vivaldi composed several sonatas for cello and continuo. A set of six cello sonatas, written between 1720 and 1730, was published in Paris in 1740. He wrote at least four other cello sonatas, with two manuscripts kept in Naples, another in Wiesentheid, and one known to be lost.

What better introduction to a new Chopin programme than the Barcarolle op. 60? A pure masterpiece! Debussy recommended its study to his pupil Catherine de Romilly: "You will work on it until you play it well, and for years if necessary!" Written in the summer of 1846, in parallel with the Polonaise-Fantasy op. 61, the work brings together all the subtleties and the most refined colours of Chopin’s universe. After a short, questioning introduction on the dominant, the left hand begins a calm, swinging accompaniment that introduces the shimmering theme in thirds and sixths, which is most bewitching! The utmost flexibility is obviously required here, and it is not until the bridge in A major that the tempo slowly comes to life.

6CD Box Deluxe Digipack with a comprehensive, exceptional and great collection of the still highly demanded genre Soul. A total of 72 tracks from legendary and unforgettable acts like Barry White, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan, Bill Withers, Aretha Franklin, Prince, Kool & The Gang, James Brown, Tina Turner. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame defines soul as "music based on the experience of people of color in America that became a kind of funky, secular testimony through the transformation of gospel and rhythm and blues." Combining elements of religious African American music, rhythm and blues, and jazz, soul music became extremely popular around the world and has since significantly influenced both rock and pop music.

Musica baltica is a various artists compilation album. Released, September 22 2023.

Cesária Évora was a Cape Verdean popular singer. Nicknamed the "Barefoot Diva" for performing without shoes, she was also known as the "Queen of Morna". A native of the island nation of Cape Verde, Cesária Évora was known as the country's foremost practitioner of the morna, which is strongly associated with the islands and combines West African percussion with Portuguese fados, Brazilian modhinas, and British sea shanties. Évora began singing morna at age 16 after meeting an attractive young guitarist. Her talent soon had her performing all over the islands, and in the late '60s two of her radio tapes were released as albums in the Netherlands and Portugal, respectively.

The original incarnation of the Mahavishnu Orchestra was extraordinarily successful. Their debut LP Inner Mounting Flame (1971), achieved crossover nirvana, climbing the Billboard Jazz chart before breaking into the top 100 on the rock chart. Performed a year later and just two months after the sessions for their second studio LP Birds Of Fire, this live appearance demonstrates that McLaughlin’s vision, notorious for its intensity, also encompassed profound dynamic shifts and melodic beauty. At their best McLaughlin, violinist Jerry Goodman, keyboard innovator Jan Hammer, bassist Rick Laird and powerhouse drummer Billy Cobham were untouchable as a live act. Unfortunately for them after two full-on years and 500 concerts the band imploded. Fortunately for us, one of the best of their best nights, live at Berkeley Community Theater, CA, on November 9th 1972 was broadcast by KFAT-FM radio.