Composer, poet and folk fiddler, Wiljami Niittykoski (1895–1985) came from the Kaustinen village of Salonkylä in Western Finland, a region renowned for its lively folk music tradition. With the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival first held in the 1960s and the new folk music era he came to be an artist famous and popular the length and breadth of Finland. As a young man, he initially made a living as a joiner, then by tending the farm hacked out of the wilds by his parents where he spent his whole long life.

I do not intend to evaluate the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in any form here. The basic situation for me in this respect is very simple: I have not been able to identify with any intellectual argumentation or analysis, for I have always had a feeling of incompleteness. No superlative seems sufficient to me. Regarding the tunes of Bach, the saying that music begins where the word ends is the truest one for me.

This recording marks the beginning of the collaboration between the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and its new music director, the French conductor Alain Altinoglu, who conducts the leading European and American orchestras and has made a reputation for himself in every repertory – not forgetting opera at Salzburg, Bayreuth, and La Monnaie in Brussels, where he is music director. Their first disc pays tribute to a composer whose bicentenary is celebrated in 2022, César Franck, with the famous Symphony in D minor and two less well-known works, presented in new editions: the symphonic poem Le Chasseur maudit (1882) and the large-scale symphonic interlude from the oratorio Rédemption, composed in 1872 after the Paris Commune, performed here in its first version, long considered lost.

How to read Ronsard today? Simply aloud or in singing it, like back then. Because, for Ronsard, nothing is more obvious than to unite music and poetry: “I also want you to encourage you to pronounce your verses loudly in your room, when you do them, or sooner sing them, whatever voice can have. » Ronsard, Abbrégé de l’Art poétique françois, 1565 As soon as the collection of Loves was published, it was fashionable for a composer to set these poems to music. To quote the most famous: Goudimel, Certon, and of course Janequin. But long after death of the poet, many composers have continued to do so: Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Ravel, Poulenc… It is because Ronsard’s texts have no no age; Pick the roses of life today is a principle immortal. Julien Joubert reads poetry every day, aloud and even the most often while singing. It was therefore only natural that he lean on the work by Ronsard.

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, is one of the world’s best-known choral groups. Founded in the 15th century, it ranks among the oldest of its kind, and, while originally created for singing the daily services in the college chapel, now enjoys an international tour schedule that has seen it perform all over Europe and beyond. Every Christmas Eve, millions of people tune in to watch the choir’s A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s – a service which has been continuously broadcast since 1928.

Johann Georg Reutter (1708-1772) worked in Vienna as a court composer and gained a reputation early on as a skilled creator of oratorios and works of music drama. With this CD the mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen and the Ensemble Nuovo Aspetto present a fascinating preview of this talented composer.

Roger Waters Announces “Lock Down Sessions” Release. In a recent interview Roger Waters joins The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal and Anya Parampil, and Going Underground host Afshin Rattansi to discuss his politically charged “This Is Not A Drill” world tour and the creative process behind his pandemic-era ballad, “The Bar.“
Within this interview, Roger discusses that there will be a new physical and streaming release of his “Lockdown Sessions,” which were recorded between 2020 and 2022 during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Various songs were recorded and posted on Rogers’ official YouTube channel, including “Two Suns In The Sunset And The Gunners Dream” from Pink Floyd’s 1983 The Final Cut album, “Mother, Vera, and Bring The Boys Back Home” from 1979’s Pink Floyd The Wall, and a new arrangement of “The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range” from Rogers’ 1992 Amused To Death album. According to the latest interview, the new version of the recently released This Is Not A Drill Tour’s “Comfortably Numb” arrangement will also be included, the album is currently being mastered, and a physical and streaming release date has yet to be announced.

Carlos' debut album for Decca features a new work for spoken word, ensemble and piano honours the passing of the people bought and sold by university founders during the slave trade years

Pianist Spike Wilner and his trio chose to pay respect to two of the giant fathers of modern music: Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington! They both have a unique compositional style that lends perfectly for ALL musicians to digest and then interpret with their own voice. Features the all star rhythm tandem of bassist Peter Washington and drummer Joe Farnsworth and recorded at GB's Juke Joint in Long Island City, New York on January 11, 2022.

CAN YOU DIG IT?!!! La-La Land Records, Universal Music and Paramount Pictures are proud to present the remastered and expanded soundtrack to the 1979 Paramount Pictures cult classic motion picture THE WARRIORS, starring Michael Beck, James Remar and Deborah Van Valkenburgh, and directed by Walter Hill. The original A&M album presentation has been remastered, with songs from Joe Walsh, Arnold McCuller, Desmond Child and others sounding better than ever. But to top even that, Barry DeVorzon's influential original film score finally makes its world premiere, nearly 35 years since the film's release (the two score tracks on the original '79 album were uniquely mixed for that release).

IC Executive Producer, Mark Sakautzky: "Every week I go through numerous demo-tapes from all over the world, and rarely have I encountered music that was so abundant with lively, living and vital energy than this debut album by Quiet Force.
Music is always at its best when it reflects lite as opposed music that has been carefully manufactured, produced, made, styled. These guys not only made me sit up and take notice, they made me really listen and I amply felt their happy rhythms, their heartfelt emotion, their love of life. This music just wraps around you like a comfortable blanket. You can dance too, you can make lonely you can let yourself go with it, but best of all: fly a kite to it…

Formed as a jazz ensemble in the mid-'60s, Kool & the Gang became one of the most inspired and influential funk units during the '70s, and one of the most popular R&B groups of the '80s after their breakout hit "Celebration." Just as funky as James Brown or Parliament (and sampled almost as frequently), Kool & the Gang relied on their jazz backgrounds and long friendship to form a tightly knit group with the interplay and improvisation of a jazz outfit, plus the energy and spark of a band with equal ties to soul, R&B, and funk.

Between or Beyond the Iron Curtain: Rare Grooves From Eastern Europe 1967-1978, a Various Artists Compilation. Released in 2001 on Crippled Dick Hot Wax!

While not the first male or female jazz harp player (Casper Reardon of Jack Teagarden's bands, Adele Girard performing with her husband Joe Marsala, or Corky Hale set precedents), Dorothy Ashby was the very best and most swinging performer on the multi-stringed instrument associated with the gates of heaven. Here on Earth, Ashby adeptly plucked and strummed the harp like nobody else, as evidenced on a single reissue containing her two best LPs for the Prestige and Prestige/New Jazz labels from 1958 - Hip Harp and In a Minor Groove. Alongside her prior efforts for the Savoy label, they collectively represent a small but substantive discography for the Detroit native in small group settings. With the exceptional flute sounds produced by Frank Wess, the combo plays music that is oriented via a unique sonic palate, further enhanced by the principals in the standards and originals they have chosen…

More than another Herman's Hermits album with two hit songs, "Leaning on the Lamp Post" and "A Must to Avoid," this MGM soundtrack features the original version of "Where Were You When I Needed You," the first of 14 hits for the Grass Roots, which landed in the Top 30 four months after Peter Noone sang it. This version, like everything here, sounds very British Invasion, Mickey Most's production emulating early Beatles. Four of the tunes, including the title track "Hold On" and the hit "A Must to Avoid," were written by the team of Steve Barri and P.F. Sloan, the original pairing which helped launch the Grass Roots. This is the West Coast meeting the U.K. in a very pleasant way, and the combination is impressive. Five of the lesser tunes were penned by F. Kargor/B. Weisman/S. Wayne, including the best of that bunch, "Make Me Happy," sung by actress Shelley Fabares…