Russian-born New York-based singer/ pianist/songwriter Regina Spektor is a drama queen. Not in a bad way; let’s just say her engaging, eccentric recordings lean toward the theatrical. On this latest CD, she even leans toward ...

The historical interest that always attends the release of previously unheard recordings by a major artist is enhanced in cases where that artist had a relatively short career, and given that the man most jazz ...

Stan Getz is at least partially responsible for the Bossa Nova craze that hit the U.S. in the early-to-mid-Sixties. For 1963’s Getz/ Gilberto the tenor saxophonist teamed with two of Brazil’s leading practitioners, the singer/songwriter/guitarist ...

Although pianist Ran Blake has made memorable recordings ranging from solo performances to collaborations with symphony orchestras, since his debut in 1962 much of his oeuvre has been devoted to duets, where his accomplishments place ...

Multi-directional drummer-keyboardist- composer Husband, a member of the stellar fusion band John McLaughlin & the 4th Dimension, assembled an all-star cast for his second volume of powerhouse originals and a few well- chosen covers. Guitar ...

In the 1920s, European classical composers—including Debussy, Stravinsky, Ravel, and Milhaud— incorporated jazz elements, some in the spirit of exploration, some in pursuit of fashion. In the 1950s, such American jazz musicians as John Lewis ...

Vinyl collectors know David Canfield for his mail-order sales of vintage classical LPs, but he’s also an accomplished composer, as these pieces he wrote for saxophone virtuoso Kenneth Tse show: four sonatas (one for each ...

Jonny Greenwood, guitarist for Radiohead and composer of the soundtrack to There Will Be Blood, has written two Penderecki- influenced pieces for strings. Popcorn Superhet Receiver is a study in orchestral white noise, full of ...

Renowned guitarist David Russell offers a well-recorded album of transcriptions of Baroque keyboard and lute works on this new Telarc. He has an excellent tone, avoiding both brightness and murkiness; the sound is rich throughout ...

For 30 years, “Professor” Keith Johnson and Reference Recordings have provided audiophiles with orchestral spectaculars to challenge high-end systems. This new CD of two perennially popular ballet favorites could be their best yet. The sense ...

Perhaps Morten Lindberg was out to make a point about progress in audio technology when he decided that his label’s new program, Souvenir Part I from the Trondheim Soloists, would be released as 24/96 stereo, ...

North Carolina’s Steep Canyon Rangers hit pay dirt last year teaming with Steve Martin for the chart-topping Rare Bird Alert. Now the quintet returns sans Martin and stronger than ever. The literate songwriting of ace ...

God bless the Chieftains for a half century of stirring, even daring, music in a traditional Irish framework—no matter the collaborators, Paddy Maloney makes sure the end results are distinctly, evocatively resonant of the ould ...

Bruce Springsteen’s latest solo album, Wrecking Ball, is a collection of populist songs powered by the recession-driven fear and unfocussed rage of working (and out-of-work) Americans. These rough-hewn protests harken back to Woody Guthrie, Pete ...

Bluesman Eric Bibb heads to Louisiana to explore the intersection between the African, French, Spanish, Caribbean, and Native American influences in that region’s music. Recorded at Dirk Powell’s Cypress House Studio in Pont Breaux, Louisiana, ...