Flac French

A lesser-known fusion set recorded for the Japanese Electric Bird label – but one that features great contributions from a host of American players – including Lew Soloff on trumpet, Jerry Dodgion on alto, and Peter Gordon on French horn – as well as Michel Camilo on piano! Calmilo did the arrangements with Gordon and Dodgion, and the overall vibe is more acoustic than usual efforts of this type from the label – especially given that there's a fair bit of extra percussion used alongside the drums, which brings in some occasional Latin touches. Titles include "Joe Cool", "Why Not", "Ion You", "BA Express", "Calentando Man", and "Butter".

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
In 1977, French jazz fusion violinist par excellence Jean Luc Ponty released his outstanding ENIGMATIC OCEAN. With some ten or eleven albums already behind him, and having lent his bowed magic to influential innovators like Frank Zappa, John Mclaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, and others, Ponty was a seasoned veteran — a true musician’s musician.

The cantate francaise flourished during the first half of the eighteenth century. Morin and Bernier were among the most interesting early exponents of it, Campra, Monteclair, Clerambault and Rameau among the most impressive. Indeed, it is generally recognized that the cantate francaise reached its zenith in the hands of Clerambault. He is represented on this new disc by Le Soleil, vainqueur des nuages. It appeared in none of the composer’s five published collections of chamber cantatas but was issued separately in 1721

French music always sounded different from english or american pop music. Not only because of the language, but also because of it’s very unique sound. Blank & Jones have been travelling to france since the 1980s and always brought home some musical souvenirs. It started with names like Mylene Farmer, Niagara, Etienne Daho or Vanessa Paradis, later artists like Benjamin Biolay or Keren Ann followed. After their Paris trip in spring 2013, where they shot the music video for “Days Go By” with Coralie Clement, they decided to present these new Pop Sensations from France on Bonheur & Mélancolie. This exclusive collection brings you stars like Benjamin Biolay or Sébastien Tellier but also presents new talents like Éléphant, Rose, Berry, Loane or Vincent Delerm…

Alirio Díaz (12 November 1923 – 5 July 2016) was a Venezuelan classical guitarist and composer and one of the most prominent composer-guitarists of his country.

Those who've heard Masaaki Suzuki's patient, reflective journey through Bach's Partitas will find similar traits in his recordings of the French Suites. At first the breathing spaces and tiny caesuras in the Allemandes and Sarabandes strike a precious pose. Listen again, though, and you realize that Suzuki is phrasing from a singer's perspective, undoubtedly influenced by his experience conducting the Bach Passions and Cantatas.

Strong but delicate, deliberate but subtle, driven but supple, Masaaki Suzuki's 2005 recording of Bach's Italian Concerto and French Overture for harpsichord are quite convincing in their own distinctive way. In Suzuki's hands, the opening crash of the Italian Concerto is as instantly arresting as the powerful opening prelude and fugue from the French Overture is immediately appealing.