Light and breezy, pure and easy, that’s how I spent most of last week, and this album was a great soundtrack for it. Osmar Milito is an interesting figure in Brazilian jazz, having a hand in the famous Canecão club in Rio and playing with the likes of Sylvia Telles, Leny Andrade, and Flora Purim early in his career, and later on doing lots of soundtrack work for those venerable Brazilian exports, telenovelas. His post-bossa nova records are collectible for a reason: they’re damn good listening. Milito does the general arrangements and provides his groovy acoustic and electric piano stylings on a variety of tunes, many of which will be familiar to regular visitors to this blog. It opens with Jimmy Webb’s hit for the 5th Dimension, “Up Up and Away” aka “Beautiful Balloon” which sets the dreamy, laid-back tone right away.

Celebrated German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is joined by pianist Lambert Orkis for this performance of three violin sonatas by Johannes Brahms

The charismatic and inspiring Claudio Abbado and the magnificent mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, hold the audience spellbound in this live recording from Lucerne Festival in Summer.

A must for fans of german pianist Joachim Kuhn and the fantastic acoustic bassist J.F. Jenny Clark. Recorded in '87 in Germany with fantastic sound quality and musicianship. Very improvisational and highly energetic yet lyrical. A little known gem - at least on this side of the pond.

Adult contemporary pianist Dan Siegel has been helping to shape the smooth jazz genre since his recording debut in 1980. Having released several chart-topping records, Siegel now returns with Inside Out, his first all-new studio release in over six years. Inside Out is a collection of ten original tracks featuring special guests Boney James, Jeff Kashiwa, and Brian Bromberg. The recording is characterized by smooth urban grooves, insightful melodies, and mood-setting atmosphere. The recording opens with "Just Like That," a melodic distillation of piano finesse, ambient electronic instruments, and inventive programming. "Inside Out" is ripe with the beauty of percussive syncopation and the sonority one hears from an array of castanets, congas, and other percussion.

The Amadeus were the most successful and highly-regarded Quartet of the 20th century. Benefitting from the jet aeroplane and from the record industry s ability to reach out to world, they dominated chamber music making for nearly 40 years.