on April 19th, "Tides of War", the second full-length of the German traditional heavy metal act SACRED GATE, will be released. The band created a truly captivating and epic concept album about the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans and their allies fought for freedom against invading Persians. Not a surprising choice of subject, considering that 2 founding members (vocalist Jim and guitarist Nicko) have Greek origins. The new album is undoubtedly a more mature, more epic and more confident effort showing the band crystallizing their own style, with strong, melodic but rough vocals, outstanding guitar work and rock solid rhythm section.

When Vicious Rumors returned from a long, strenuous and immensely successful world tour in autumn 2011, the musicians – least of all band mastermind and main songwriter Geoff Thorpe – couldn’t really see themselves mustering the energy to release a new studio album in the foreseeable future. “2011 was a monster year for Vicious Rumors in the most positive sense of the word,” he says, looking back at that time with surprise and some satisfaction. “We were on the road non-stop for more or less…

Given all the live documents Gov't Mule issued since the premature death of bassist Allen Woody, The Deepest End is easily the most satisfying. Recorded and filmed during the 2003 Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, the show features the most astonishing array of guest bassists yet, and so many other guests the date was like a festival unto itself…

The Hungarian formation SOLARIS was originally founded by some school friends in 1980. The band's name was derived from the title of book by SF writer Stanislaw Lem. After they made impression on a talent contest at The Budai Park for a massive crowd (mainly youth) the band was offered an opportunity to make a record…

The Yuja Wang album that everyone has been waiting for wows with musical miniatures that are short, sweet, and huge in impact. These encore pieces by Scriabin, Gluck, Rachmaninov, Chopin and others will enthrall Yuja Wang’s fans with challenging technical demands and the bravura precision of her execution. The variety of styles – which includes neo-Classical, Impressionist, Romantic, jazz - in addition to the quality of the arrangements of pieces that are adaptations, provides a welcome and yet unique listening experience.

Jean Mouton was a Renaissance French composer and choirmaster, much acknowledged but more rarely recorded, who wrote a body of music that’s both technically inventive and immediately appealing. Here Stephen Rice and The Brabant Ensemble—renowned exponents of sixteenth-century Franco-Flemish repertoire—perform all Mouton’s eight-part music, two four-part motets, and his only five-part Mass setting, the Missa Tu es Petrus. The latter is characterized by light, clear textures and a soaring cantus firmus, while the double-choir Nesciens mater is rightly famous for its ingenious canon. Sheer compositional skill aside, all these works demonstrate Mouton’s vivid and original imagination—one that has the ability to speak directly to our time.

A colorful mix of music, parades, and everyday New Orleans life…Veteran bassis Milt Hinton gives a mini-lecture and a breath-taking performance. Jazz Master Danny Barker sings, plays guitar and banjo, and leads us through the program with his wit and highly-amusing ancedotes. Very rarely are we fortunate enough to get an inside view into the earliest days of the great jazz tradition. This outstanding 1989 documentary by Preston Mc Clanahan focuses on the life of bassist Chester Zardi - the "last of the first" great African-American jazz pioneers, a master of the bass, and an important African-American jazz innovator.

Michael Bolton had an extensive (though not very successful) career under his real name, Michael Bolotin, before emerging in the mid-'80s as a major soft rock balladeer. He first turned up on RCA Records in the mid-'70s, singing cover tunes and his own blue-eyed soul songs in a gruff, Joe Cocker-like voice. Neither record buyers nor critics were much interested by the result. He then became the lead singer of Blackjack, a heavy metal band that made two albums for Polydor before splitting up in the early '80s. Looking to relaunch his career, he changed his name to Michael Bolton and signed to Columbia Records as a solo artist in 1983.

John Medeski's solo piano debut was a long time coming. Recorded for Sony Masterworks' revived Okeh imprint, it's a 41-minute showcase of a pianist we've not really encountered – at least at this length – before. At the suggestion of engineer and producer Henry Hirsch, Medeski cut this set using a seven-foot, 1925 French Gaveau piano. The instrument has a very different construct than the Steinways he usually plays. According to his liner essay, "The Gaveau responds to a more delicate, nuanced touch, requiring the player's full attention in every moment to control the sound. One must sing with the fingers."