Count Basie was among the most important bandleaders of the swing era. With the exception of a brief period in the early '50s, he led a big band from 1935 until his death almost 50 years later, and the band continued to perform after he died. Basie's orchestra was characterized by a light, swinging rhythm section that he led from the piano, lively ensemble work, and generous soloing. Basie was not a composer like Duke Ellington or an important soloist like Benny Goodman. His instrument was his band, which was considered the epitome of swing and became broadly influential on jazz.

The Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg has been the scene of countless memorable musical events - operas, concerts and recitals - for 50 years. Here is a unique chance to celebrate the glories of this distinguished era. In an exceptional collaboration with the Salzburg Festival, we have prepared a 25-CD box set - 5 complete operas, 10 concerts and 2 recitals - featuring many of the world's greatest artists, in recordings with classical status and others that are appearing on CD for the first time. Concerts (five out of ten are first-time releases): with Abbado, Bernstein, B hm, Boulez, Karajan, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Solti. Soloists include Anne-Sophie Mutter and Jessye Norman.

The three world premiere recordings featured here comprise the complete works for piano and orchestra by both composers (an early student concerto by Cowen appears lost).
In his day Cowen was a hugely successful contemporary of Stanford and Parry and it is surprising that his music has not yet been revived on disc. The Concertstück was written in 1897 for Padereswki, who gave the premiere to much acclaim. The work is notable for its orchestral colour and a great understanding of virtuoso piano writing and reveals what a master of his art the composer was.

There's no way to know why CBS Records unceremoniously dumped Rotomagus and the Chico Magnetic Band after one single apiece; suffice to say that decision was a poor one, as both bands have (quite rightly) developed a cult-like following over the years. All in all, the artistic trajectory of Rotomagus was peculiar: they started out as a harmony pop-psych band, shifted through a brief Jimi Hendrix-ian interlude ('The Sky Turns Red'), straight into a Vanilla Fudge groove; they then went down in flames as a hair-raising monolithic heavy rock power trio

One of the eternal issues of record collecting is the question of how good records actually become rare.
Perhaps the record company goes bust. Perhaps the label is busy pushing some lame pop act on the roster, leaving the good stuff to rot. Maybe the band splits up just before the release. Less frequent than any of these is this: perhaps the record wasn’t supposed to sell in the first place. As strange as it seems, that was exactly the case with this album, the Sounds of the City Experience.

Given that John Williams has his pick of much of the $80-million, thrill-packed boilerplate that comes clanging out of Hollywood every summer and fall, it's especially noteworthy (and often gratifying) when he doesn't exercise his option. In scoring Alan Parker's adaptation of Frank McCourt's Pulitzer-winning memoirs of his dire Irish upbringing in the 1930s and '40s, Williams has produced a graceful, autumnal work of compelling, though decidedly delicate, emotional power. Using spare piano and solo woodwind melodies filled with longing eloquence, Williams effectively punctuates a sweeping, largely string and wind ensemble. As he did to great effect in The Phantom Menace, the veteran leans heavily on his classical moonlighting duties for inspiration. Interspersed throughout (and also effectively underscored by his music) are concise, telling excerpts of the film's narration read by Alan Bennett.

Fans of Donaggio's previous De Palma scores will find a lot to admire here. In the many years since his last collaboration with De Palma, Donaggio hasn't lost a step, and his score for PASSION contains all the brooding darkness and sensuality one would want. As a bonus, you get an excellent recording of one of Debussy's finest pieces.

At last! All-important cue underscoring first appearance of Robocop - with dynamic first statement of main theme, right down to clanking metal - makes it to CD! ROBOCOP has hit the market twice before, but both releases inexplicably deleted important cue plus subsequent variants as Robo first goes into action with hostage crisis. Paul Verhoeven sci-fi/actioner with Peter Weller inspires Basil Poledouris to create powerful music: otherworldly for creation of Robo, emotional for Robo's memories, riveting for explosive action set-pieces. Intrada also presents first-ever assembly of complete end credits on CD, as well as restoring cues to proper chronological order. Advertisement sequences (trademarks in numerous Verhoeven films) are scored by Poledouris and included in sequence as they comment on scenes outgoing or incoming. Intrada presents complete score in vibrant stereo, newly re-mixed and re-mastered from recently-discovered original 2" 24-track session masters plus 1" 8-track electronic session mixes, all stored in mint condition, courtesy MGM. Informative liner notes from Jeff Bond complete exciting package.

KeepMoving Records presents the premiere release of The Demons of St. Petersburg by the legendary Ennio Morricone. Directed by Giuliano Montaldo (Sacco e Vanzetti, Giordano Bruno, Marco Polo), the film tells the fictionalized life story of Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Miki Manojlovic) who is caught up with political intrigue and a career crisis resulting from his crippling gambling debts. While trying to finish his latest novel on schedule and reveal an anarchist plot targeting the Tsar, the troubled author must fight his inner demons to move forward in life… The Demons of St. Petersburg marks the latest collaboration between Montaldo and Morricone who had scored the majority of the director's films. The key thematic material includes the propulsive anarchist theme for the assassination plot and a darkly passionate love theme for a string quartet and harp which underscores Dostoyevsky's troubled relationship with his stenographist, Anna.

8mm is a 1999 crime mystery thriller film directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. The film stars Nicolas Cage as a private investigator who delves into the world of snuff films. The film's music was composed and conducted by Mychael Danna.

Known for her poetic expression and peerless technical control, French pianist Hélène Grimaud is one of the most sought-after artists performing with leading orchestras, in chamber music, and in solo recitals internationally and is an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon recording artist. A multi-faceted Renaissance woman with a deep dedication to her musical career, Hélène also nurtures passionate environmental, literary, and artistic interests.

What if the tour de force of French opera in the Age of Enlightenment was Scylla et Glaucus? At the age of 50, the famous violinist Leclair decided to write his first operatic piece, investing irrepressible energy in it. The drama is unrelenting: the nymph Scylla spurns the advances of the Demigod Glaucus, who seeks out the sorceress Circe to cast a spell on her; Circe is in love with Glaucus, drives Scylla to madness and turns her into a deadly rock… An infernal scene, an ocean storm and final cataclysm are employed to give striking relief to this trio of unappeased love, the effusions of irresistible beauty. The conductor and violinist Stefan Plewniak conducts a glorious stage of soloists in the eddies of vengeance!

The Ares Trio brings together two requiems in the form of piano trios by two composers whose active periods fell during those of the Soviet Union and who were harassed by the cultural bureaucracy there: Shostakovich composed his Trio for Piano and Strings op. 67 in memory of his beloved friend, the musician and music critic Iván Sollertìnski, who had always stood by him, even when the Leningrad composer's music was condemned by Stalin and he thus had to constantly fear arrest. The trio was premiered in Leningrad in the same year, 1944, and has been part of the standard repertoire of piano trio literature ever since. Shostakovich's contemporary and fellow sufferer Arno Babadjanian, on the other hand, wrote his Piano Trio almost as a requiem for himself: in 1952, the 31-year-old was diagnosed with leukaemia, which in his day was an almost certain death sentence. But with an iron will to live, he managed over 30 more years, during which his trio was performed again and again.

Of all the works Ernst von Dohnányi wrote for the stage, only his ballet pantomime The Veil of Pierrette (Capriccio C5388) received any particular acclaim. His concert music, however, was received much more warmly. This sixth Capriccio volume of Dohnányi's late romantic, sensual music that is deeply rooted in the Austro-German classical tradition features three of his concertos. Apart from two piano concertos and two violin concertos, Dohnányi wrote three more, which are concertos in all but name: Variations on a Nursey Song (for piano and orchestra), Concertino (for harp and chamber orchestra), and Konzertstück (for cello and orchestra), the titles subtly hinting at their specific character.

Released in 1971 by a Danish band, this is a highly collectable chunk of quality progressive Canterbury style rock and close to Traffic's style od jazz rock that has some great sax playing and fine extended instrumentals. Their one and only LP was released in 1971 and holds the sad record of being the most bootlegged LP in Denmark. Until now it can be found as CD editions on three illegal labels and as an illegal LP reprint. The now first legal CD is accompanied by a 32-page booklet, containing a detailed band history in German, English and Danish language, a comprehensive discography including side and solo projects, cover and label reproductions, and much more. It is the very first release of Garden of Delights' sublabel Thors Hammer.