The 17th-century Bohemian/Austrian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber is best known for his works for solo violin, especially the Mystery Sonatas. However, he also wrote a considerable amount of music for string ensemble, including a set of 12 chamber sonatas subtitled Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum which was first published in Nuremberg in 1683. The title refers to the fact that the music in the sonatas combine sacred and secular styles. In his collection, Biber set new standards in the field of string chamber music. In the first part he composes for a five-part string ensemble: 2 violins, 2 violas, violone and basso continuo, a combination that was established at his time as the standard ensemble in Austrian cultural circles.

If you're familiar with Alessandrini and his sparkling period instrument ensemble you expect interpretations featuring rhythmic drive, colorful playing, and original insights. Those characteristics are what help make this version of Bach's perennial and oft-recorded Brandenburg Concertos so compelling. Tempos are generally on the fast side, but never overly swift, while slow movements have just the right touch of soulfulness. Virtually without exception, the solo bits are done with imaginative, fluent expertise, and Gabriele Cassone's rendition of the famous trumpet part of the Second Brandenburg provides musical thrills, as well as virtuoso ones. Alessandrini himself takes us on a wild ride through the Fifth Concerto's brilliant harpsichord cadenza.

Remastered and reissued on the Blood Music label, Carbon Based Lifeforms renews the life of this 2003 LP. Carbon Based Lifeforms specializes in a form of electronic ambience, but rather than drifting aimlessly through space, there’s a pulsating rhythm that keeps it firmly grounded on this distant planet. The album is front-loaded with livelier tracks, featuring a heavy focus on percussion and varied melodies to carry momentum. However, as the album progresses, ambience comes to the fore and song structure falls by the wayside. It’s designed for you to become complacent, adjusting to their sonic palette throughout the first half so you don’t notice the world around you becoming more and more foreign by the second. The final tracks are particularly indicative of this progression, featuring no percussion at all and steadily becoming stranger as the album nears the closer.

This compilation is 3 plus hours of stuff (42 tracks), and all in good quality, chosen from his ECM career back to the mid-70s. I would call it the "highly accessible Jarrett" as it does not include any of the thorniest stuff from the solo concerts. It's mostly the Trio, the European quartet, and some encore "blues" excerpts from the solo concerts.

Saxophonist and composer Jasmine Myra presents nine beautiful and powerfully grounded compositions that express her ruminations on life, growth, and progression, powered by the artist’s vision of duality. “It’s those bittersweet moments which are heart-breaking but so important. Looking forward and trying to make sense of life,” she says. “Pain is unavoidable, and you’ll have hardship no matter what, but you don’t grow or learn about yourself or the world around you without it. The duality is the growth and coming out the other side. I had the concept from the start.”

One of the first great albums by alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons as a leader - a tremendous entry into the BYG/Actuel series of avant jazz recordings at the end of the 60s - and a record that may well be one of the greatest that Lyons ever gave us! The setting here is nice and lean - a piano-less quartet with an all-star lineup - Lester Bowie on trumpet, Alan Silva on bass, and Andrew Cyrille on drums - the last two of whom provide all sorts of open, post-rhythmic energy that really sets the horns free - and Bowie is a wonderful match for Lyons in the energy of the set! There's a beautiful balance between structure and freedom throughout.

Mithras Trio’ second album for Linn showcases early works by Shostakovich, Korngold and Lisney, continuing the ‘intriguing and eclectic’ programming The Guardian praised on its first album Eros. Fountain of Youth highlights the surprising number of piano trios written by composers at the very start of their careers and features the world premiere recording of Petrichor by cellist Joy Lisney. Commissioned by Mithras Trio and premiered at Wigmore Hall in January 2023, this evocatively titled work is named after the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. Two youthful works by Shostakovich and Korngold complete the album: in Shostakovich’s First Piano Trio we find hints of the composer’s mature style, where grotesque and late-Romantic moments mingle in a single-movement trio, and in Korngold’s first published work, the Piano Trio, Op. 1, the influences of Mahler, Strauss and Puccini do not detract from the young composer’s already unique voice and exceptional maturity.

South African/Dutch clarinettist Maria du Toit and the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Arjan Tien release 'Clarinet Colours' on Channel Classics. Exploring the contemporary clarinet repertoire of South African composers reveals a sound world of striking colour and contrast. Often described as the “Rainbow Nation,” South Africa embodies a complex tapestry of cultures, languages, and histories, bound together by resilience and renewal. This album mirrors that spirit, showcasing the clarinet’s remarkable versatility while tracing a wide spectrum of expressive colour and energy. The concertos by leading South African composers David Earl, Roelof Temmingh and Conrad Asman were written for, or dedicated to Maria du Toit.

A seminal live set from tenorist Archie Shepp – and some of his freest, least-structured material ever! Shepp's still a righteous force here on his horn, but there also seems to be equal emphasis on the contributions of all members of the group – woven together in a really rich tapestry of sound, but with less of the structuring righteous concepts of some of Archie's other work – especially his sides for Impulse.

A seminal live set from tenorist Archie Shepp – and some of his freest, least-structured material ever! Shepp's still a righteous force here on his horn, but there also seems to be equal emphasis on the contributions of all members of the group – woven together in a really rich tapestry of sound, but with less of the structuring righteous concepts of some of Archie's other work – especially his sides for Impulse.