Alto saxophonist/flutist Julius Hemphill moved to St. Louis from Texas in 1968, and immediately threw himself into the very active creative music scene there. Nothing he would produce later had the raw power of his ...

When I was an undergraduate trombone major in the early 1970s, my friends and I could name every member of the Chicago Symphony’s brass section the way other guys could rattle off the starting lineup ...

This is a refreshing disc of rarely heard pieces; the musicians are thoughtful, and their playing very detailed. The violinist plays passages eloquently that would be rough-hewn in others’ hands. In the climax of the ...

The late Earl Wild, one of America’s greatest pianists, wrote three major pieces based on Gershwin’s music: Grand Fantasy on Porgy and Bess, Improvisation on Someone to Watch over Me, and Seven Virtuoso Etudes. They ...

As with many another in Hyperion’s long-running series of “Romantic Piano Concertos,” this is the first time the two (1876 and 1905) by French composer Charles-Marie Widor have been recorded. And what a joy to ...

The words Wilma Cozart Fine lived by were “Trust your ears.” This oft-repeated phrase was more than a mantra; it was the guiding principle that defined her working life. For those who don’t know the ...

(Note: This is somewhat of a hybrid blog---part news story, part blog, and, hopefully, part forum. If you already have auditioned these reissues, please add your comments below. Thanks!) The estimated five-fold increase in vinyl ...