Raise Your Expectations is the first studio album from Animotion in 26 years. Newly reformed, with the line-up including both original front people Bill Wadhams and Astrid Plane, Animotion are back with an incredible set of original new music – and a new version of one of their signature hits, ''Let Him Go''. ''Raise Your Expectations'' is an effortless adult contemporary confection that will be sure to find new fans, as well as please those already onboard.

This releases contains the complete classic album Desafinado (Impulse AS- 28), which marks Coleman Hawkins’ only incursion into the Bossa Nova genre while showcasing him as the only horn. As a bonus, Kenny Burrell’s entire LP Bluesy Burrell (Moodsville MVST29) featuring Coleman Hawkins, and recorded in between the two bossa nova sessions. Even though it was not recorded in the Bossa Nova style, it maintains the relaxed spirit of the first album. Both LPs feature the exceptional Tommy Flanagan (playing percussion on the first album), as well as Latin percussion - by Willie Rodríguez on Desafinado, and by the great Ray Barretto on Bluesy Burrell.

Since winning the Silver Medal and the Krystian Zimerman Sonata award at the 2015 Chopin Piano Competition, Montreal and Quebec at large have been gaga – for good reason – over Charles Richard-Hamelin. Recorded live in concert this past May at Salle Raoul-Jobin of the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City, this album may begin conservatively with Beethoven’s Two Rondos for Piano, Op. 51, but takes a turn with George Enescu’s Second Suite, Op. 10. With the Enescu, Richard-Hamelin digresses from clinical Classicism into the Romanian composer’s grandiose late-Romantic chromaticism. Even in a live recording, Richard-Hamelin shows not only acute elegance and poise, but extreme precision and a heightened emotional sensibility.

It’s no secret that soprano Anna Netrebko is one of opera’s true box office draws: Her performances of Il Trovatore last season were among the few nights the Met was completely sold out. But her new CD, Verismo, reveals she is more than just a star; her performances of arias and scenes from Italian opera highlight an artistry that is both subtle and thrilling.

Florence Khoriaty, known as Florence K, is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter from Quebec, who performs material in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. She is most noted for garnering a Juno Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2014. The daughter of musicians Hany Khoriaty and Natalie Choquette, she started in the music business playing piano and performing duets with her mother.

This extensive 18 track, nearly 80-minute compilation is an excellent and much needed summary of the plaintive singer/songwriter's rather turbulent career. An American who is much better known in Europe, Casal's eight albums and EPs over the titular decade show glimpses of brilliance amidst material slightly less stellar. In other words, his output is inconsistent, which makes this a perfect entry point for those who haven't tuned in previously. Possessing a lovely, lilting tenor voice – at times sounding like Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook – Casal is often compared to Jackson Browne and Neil Young due to introspective songs similar to the former ("Free Light of Day") and the ability to rock out when necessary with layered guitars ("Eddy & Diamonds") of the latter.

John Zorn - Alhambra Love Songs (2009) {Tzadik TZ 7374}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 256 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 12 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2009 Tzadik | TZ 7373 | Tzadik Archival Series
Jazz / Experimental / Easy Listening / Contemporary Jazz / Piano Trio

In an easy listening mode, Alhambra Love Songs is Zorn’s touching and lyrical ode to the San Francisco/Bay Area and the wonderful artists who have made it their home. Including tributes to artists as diverse as Vince Guaraldi, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, Mike Patton and Harry Smith, the music is some of the most beautiful and soothing Zorn has ever written.