David Friesen and Jeannie Hoffman put together a jazz-intensive album of holiday favorites with Spirit of Christmas. Hoffman's numbers, especially "Waiting for You at Christmas Time," are some of the album's highlights. The breathy vocals and laid-back production showcase her incredible talent for jazz music. The album also boasts several excellent piano songs, including a great reading of "Bach Minuet." This is a nice Christmas album for jazz fans who want a good combination of new and classic songs for the next holiday season.

Rescue You is the first solo album of Joe Lynn Turner, formerly of Rainbow and Fandango. This album is a collection of AOR and radio friendly pop tracks from the rock heyday of the mid-80's…

For their second and, apparently, final album, the group of downtown New York City musicians who had come together under the banner of the New York Composers Orchestra branched out a bit from performing their own compositions in the attempt to construct a kind of repertoire of large ensemble music from various contemporary composers…

In anticipation of his 75th birthday in 2017, this luxurious 55-CD set presents Pollini's complete recordings on DG with their original covers, including the first ever release of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto with the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich (recorded in 1974). Also included are a 200-page booklet and 3 bonus DVDs: concerto recordings with Böhm and Abbado as well as Bruno Monsaingeon's documentary film De main de maître (2015).

Anytime a beloved young artist dies tragically, record companies scramble for leftovers that fans can treasure as a keepsake of a life and career cut short. Porter' s followers will love this tribute because it features a handful of previously unreleased recordings of the saxman in the live arena, where the tight studio-controlled funk of his four recordings was let loose into an improvisational setting. Anyone acquainted with Porter only through the easygoing soprano tracks played on smooth jazz radio will realize from these tracks – recorded at the 1996 North Sea Jazz Festival, not long before his drowning death in Thailand – that while the horn master chose a career in pop, he was also an exceptional, inventive jazz performer.

The concept of TALKING WITH THE BLUES is based on a view of the various US states as blues regions. Even casual blues listeners are familiar with the fact that there is Chicago Blues or Mississippi Blues and the gripping social history of the music is very much marked by its geography. But there is much more that just those two places and to this day blues music stays committed to local styles. Moreover, many US states are endowed with a unique cultural identity grown out of the prevailing social, historical and ethnic realities. Reflections of these specific identities are also expressed in the blues.

Guitarist Erik Rutan joins the fold on Morbid Angel's Domination and contributes several of his own compositions. The group's sound is better than ever and perhaps a bit more groove-oriented, but this is mostly standard Morbid Angel, with the typical problems: the bass drums are played too fast to be recorded properly and end up sounding like a fast clicking underneath the songs…

Andy Narell is the Jimmy Smith of the steel drums, an innovative player who has been responsible for introducing his instrument to jazz. On this CD Narell shows off the surprising versatility of his instrument, not only playing spirited Latin jams and calypsos but also heartfelt ballads and more complex works. The lively yet diverse date is a strong example of Andy Narell's talents.

The individual careers of Andy Emler, Claude Tchamitchian and Eric Echampard place them among the french, even european, most reputed musicians. Real interactive trio where the music develops and takes place in common, this band is situated between rich and diverse musical styles: contemporary, minimalist chamber-music, with the rock energy and the freedom of improvisation jazzistique. It is a matured, accomplished music and of a delicacy of arrangement and architecture " timbrale " remarkable. The album has a unique sound and his own creative dynamic, served by three accomplished and exceptional musicians.

On November 23, San Diego-based deathgrind masters CATTLE DECAPITATION release their new rarities collection, "Medium Rarities", via Metal Blade Records. Featuring six previously unreleased pre-"Human Jerky" (1999) demos with frontman Travis Ryan on guitar (while also handling vocal duties), plus the long-sought-after "To Serve Man" (2002) bonus track "Rotting Children For Remote Viewing" — in addition to other rarities (including the six songs from 2005's split EP with CANINUS) — this compilation spans the band's 22-year-long career and is a must-have for any CATTLE DECAPITATION fan.