With Kim Simmonds and Chris Youlden combining their talents in Savoy Brown's strongest configuration, 1969's A Step Further kept the band in the blues-rock spotlight after the release of their successful Blue Matter album. While A Step Further may not be as strong as the band's former release, all five tracks do a good job at maintaining their spirited blues shuffle. Plenty of horn work snuggles up to Simmonds' guitar playing and Youlden's singing is especially hearty on "Made up My Mind" and "I'm Tired." The first four tracks are bona fide Brown movers, but they can't compete with the 20-plus minutes of "Savoy Brown Boogie," one of the group's best examples of their guitar playing prowess and a wonderful finale to the album.

The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and their Music Director Riccardo Chailly have already acquired legendary status – glorious reviews and many awards for their recordings testifying to their continuing success. At Leipzig’s International Mahler Festival, to mark the centenary of Mahler’s death, they performed his monumental Second Symphony in the Gewandhaus – together with two marvellous soloists and choral forces quite beyond compare. About the final movement the composer said: “The increasing tension, working up to the final climax, is so tremendous that I don’t know myself, now that it is over, how I ever came to write it.”

Music in Germany in the later 19th century found itself divided into two camps; the modernists, led by Liszt and Wagner, and the traditionalists who took Brahms as their model and who upheld the values of the classical period and Beethoven in particular. Fuchs and Kiel are very much in the later camp and both spent their lives in academic posts, as so often befits such establishment figures. They each wrote only one piano concerto and, as one might expect, these are not vehicles for empty virtuoso display but rather 'symphonic' concertos, both written in the traditional three movements, the first of which is a weighty sonata form allegro.

The dynamic young French-Canadian conductor records the symphony that has played a central role in his remarkable career.brbrYannick Nezet-Seguin first heard it live in Montreal at the age of eight. It was the work he chose for his debut with both the Orchestre Meetropolitain du Grand Montreeal and the Philadelphia Orchestra.brbrConducting this quintessentially Russian music with the Rotterdam Philharmonic acknowledges his predecessor on the podium, Valery Gergiev, as well as showcasing the depth and refinement of the Dutch orchestras rich textures.brbrYannick Nezet-Seguin admires Tchaikovsky not just as a composer of heart-breaking melodies but also as a master symphonist.

Gilbert’s twentieth studio album finds him working with a new producer, the revered Andy Wright (Simple Minds, Simply Red, Eurythmics and Jeff Beck) recording with a full band at London’s famous RAK Studios. The direction of the album is an organic and raw affair, featuring a mix of ballads as well as upbeat songs, all written by an inimitable master craftsman. In a unique addition to this new album, Gilbert O’Sullivan has collaborated on duets with Mick Hucknall (Simply Red) and KT Tunstall.

This is music from the Saturday night dances in Louisiana; the hot and sweaty have a good time dancing, drinking, and looking at all the people. Do not look for the Royal Albert Hall production on this CD, as on his stunning South of I-10 with its myriad "guest artists." The feel for this music is shown by someone who grew up with it. Listen to the respect and feeling he gives to Clifton Chenier's "If I Ever Get Lucky." Try to keep your body and feet from bouncing to the beat of "Sugar Cane" or "Little Linda." Doesn't your eye start to look around for a dance partner, even though you're in your living room? There is solid playing throughout this CD even though the sound is a bit thin at times and the big-name guests are nowhere to be found. It is a solid effort that spans the musical boundaries of all of Louisiana. Cajun, zydeco, blues, and country are all blended together so they are no longer confining, but a homogenous mix. A solid effort.

After releasing their vibrant fifth studio album,Viridian in 2020, TEMPERANCE – maestros of modern melodic/symphonic metal delight their devotees with the persuasivnew offering Diamanti, to be released on November 19, 2021 via Napalm Records. With Diamanti, the exceptionally skilled Italian outfit once again showcases their extraordinary ability to merge brilliant vocal melodies, hefty power metal guitar riffing and symphonic soundscapes in perfect harmony – all dressed in modern surroundings. This an offering fans of bands like Amaranthe will fall in love with immediately!