Grechaninov’s long life (1864-1956) covered much, from birth in Moscow and training with Rimsky-Korsakov to exile when he was already old, and death in New York. His quiet Russian lyricism never left him, and his idiom did not range as wide as his experience. The Missa festiva is one of several attempts at reconciling Eastern and Western traditions, and to this Orthodox composer’s surprise it won a prize in 1937 for a setting of the Catholic liturgy. As in his subsequent Missa oecumenica, he tries to bring together different styles, making use of Gregorian-influenced melodies but avoiding the use of polyphony in favour of a more chordal, Russian manner; however, there is an important part for the organ. The most successful movements are the closing “Benedictus” and Agnus Dei, where his essential gentleness finds touching expression.

With his fifth volume of CPE Bach's complete keyboard concertos, Miklós Spányi comes to three works composed in the mid-1740s, which he plays on a copy of a Silbermann fortepiano of that period. The choice isn't only determined by the existence of such instruments at Frederick the Great's court, where Carl Philipp was employed, but also because the keyboard layout is more suited to the fortepiano than the harpsichord, and because the A major work here – a first recording, like that of the D major – includes the marking pianissimo. The present instrument is light and silvery in tone, which makes for some difficulties of proportion in the D major, performed with additional manuscript parts found in Brussels for trumpets and drums.

The Black Tornado is the supporting band of Thorbjørn Risager, a Danish blues musician who first came onto the scene early in the 2000s. A fan of Southern soul and Chicago blues, he fused the two sounds, something that was evident his 2004 debut, Live 2004. This record also showcased the skills of Black Tornado, a group he assembled in 2003 to articulate his artistic vision. Risager and Black Tornado signed to Cope Records, an imprint run by the band's trumpet player, in the mid-2000s and from that point on, he's worked regularly – albums have appeared every other year, and he's toured often – and he started to get international attention in 2014 after the release of Too Many Roads. This was their first record to appear on Ruf Records but it wasn't the last – Songs from the Road followed in 2016 and Change My Game appeared in early 2017.

Josquin Desprez, princeps musicorum, the prince of musicians, as his contemporaries called him, is best known today for his sacred works, the masses and motets, which have been widely performed and recorded. Surprisingly, his chansons have received little attention from performers, except for the pieces for five and six voices, printed after his death by the Antwerp publisher Tilman Susato in his seventh book of 1545. Doulce Mémoire has chosen to focus on the chansons for three and four voices, which are probably the earliest in the Hainault master’s output; with their diversity of language and themes (sometimes folk-derived), these songs constitute a varied programme that is at once serious and bawdy, a testament to the unequalled art of Josquin Desprez.

Harp master Billy Branch has been a figure of the note on the Chicago blues scene since he was discovered by Willie Dixon in 1969, and after more than four decades, he's grown from a young buck bringing new blood to the blues scene to an elder statesman who stands tall for the music's traditions. Blues Shock arrives ten years after Billy Branch last released an album, but it sounds like he and his latest edition of the Sons of Blues are still in fighting shape, playing tight, straight-ahead blues with force, imagination and wit. Blues Shock shows there's plenty of fun and fresh ideas to be found in a form as time-tested as Chicago blues. It's a great set.

Sky is the debut album by the supergroup Sky, released in 1979. Formed in 1979 as a direct result of classical guitarist John Williams' 1971 Changes album in which he ventured into soft rock for the first time, Sky was an attempt to meld the worlds of classical music and rock instrumentals, with results that echoed the U.S.-based work of composer Chip Davis with his Fresh Aire projects. In 1971, Williams recorded Changes with the intent of displaying his classical guitar prowess in the context of soft rock arrangements. Amongst the session players on the album were bassist Herbie Flowers (then with Blue Mink), keyboardist Francis Monkman (then working with Curved Air), and drummer Tristan Fry, who was doing session work in addition to working as a percussionist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields.

Calling something "The Ultimate Collection" is fraught with problems – usually of omission. Certainly over these two discs – containing a total of 30 tracks – there are plenty of fine moments from some of Joe Cocker's earliest material, such as "The Letter," "With a Little Help From My Friends," "Delta Lady," "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window," etc. Also present are virtually all of his later hits and some that should have been: "Up Where We Belong," "You Are So Beautiful," "Many Rivers to Cross," "Leave Your Hat On," etc. But there's just too much that isn't here. Where are "Bird on a Wire" and "Hitchcock Railway," for starters? Nonetheless, given the length of Cocker's career, this is not an unusual complaint. One thing that is unique about this set – other than the fine sound – is the sequencing that crisscrosses over the breadth and chronology of Cocker's discography.

Frontiers Music Srl is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of Neal Schon's Journey Through Time, a live concert recorded on February 9, 2018 at The Independent In San Francisco, CA.

This new recording from the Staatskapelle Weimar under Hansjorg Albrecht presents a rarely heard compilation of Richard Wagner’s themes from Tristan und Isolde, arranged for orchestra by Henk de Vlieger (b. 1953). This is Hansjorg Albrecht's follow-up Wagner recording to his album Der Ring Ohne Worte (OC1872). The Staatkapelle Weimar dates back to 1491, making it one of the oldest orchestras in the world, and one that is more than familiar with the works of Richard Wagner.

Mr. Tambourine Man is the greatest hits album by the American rock band The Byrds, originally released as The Byrds' Greatest Hits. It is the first greatest hits album by the Byrds and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records. It is the top-selling album in the Byrds' catalogue and reached number 6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart, but failed to chart in the UK. The album provides a summary of the Byrds' history during Gene Clark and David Crosby's tenure with the band and also functions as a survey of the group's hit singles from 1965 to 1967, a period when the band had its greatest amount of success on the singles chart.