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Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas

Probably the coolest Christmas album ever: "A Charlie Brown Christmas"! The Vince Guaraldi Trio's film music for "The Peanuts - Merry Christmas" was first released by Fantasy Records in December 1965. In addition to Guaraldi's compositions, the album also contains several jazz interpretations of traditional Christmas songs. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" enjoys unbroken popularity: the soundtrack has been a regular fixture in the US Billboard album charts since 2009 and has sold over five million copies to date!

War - Greatest Hits

Friends of funk listen up, the greatest hits of War are ready to liven up your listening room in its best-sounding version! Awarded platinum and packed with great hits such as "Why Can't We Be Friends", "Slippin' into Darkness", "Low Rider" or "Cisco Kid", this compilation, released in 1976, revives the music of one of the most popular funk/rock/soul bands of the 70s. Clean, balanced and detailed in sound, the reissue by Analogue Productions brings the groove into your home.

Heart - Dreamboat Annie

Heart's breakthrough debut album, "Dreamboat Annie", is often considered in the context of a female-led band - in a time when men didn't want to associate women with rock music. Ann and Nancy Wilson stood virtually alone in a testosterone-dominated, commercial era and yet released a long player whose appeal, range and craftsmanship was at the top level and must be revered for its quality alone!

James Brown - Sex Machine

A true funk monster: James Brown and his band deliver an electrifying performance with "Sex Machine", which was named one of the 500 best albums of all time by Rolling Stone! No wonder: "Mr. Dynamite" gives everything and more on this masterpiece from 1970! "Sex Machine" is boundary-pushing, sweat-inducing, rousing and full of emotion. You simply want to drop everything to dance... Originally marketed as a live album, "Sex Machine" contains six songs that were recorded in the studio and later supplemented with recorded audience noises and reverb.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer

"Supergroups" existed before Emerson, Lake & Palmer were founded in 1970, and many came after. But few, if any, could match the chemistry of the British trio and their unique combination of virtuosity, vision and energy. ELP continue to influence a multitude of musicians and their self-titled debut album remains an impressive statement of creative imagination, dramatic songwriting and musical mastery more than five decades after its original release!

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Tarkus

"Supergroups" existed before Emerson, Lake & Palmer were founded in 1970, and many came after. But few, if any, could match the chemistry of the British trio and their unique combination of virtuosity, vision and energy. "Tarkus" is probably the only album that brings together jazz luminary Dave Brubeck, Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, gifted sound engineer Eddy Offord, Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera, American musical chameleon Frank Zappa and composing genius Johann Sebastian Bach.

Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna [Ultradisc One Step LP]

Stevie Nicks had a lot to prove when she went solo for the first time and recorded "Bella Donna". Although she enjoyed huge success with Fleetwood Mac, the singer was often overshadowed by the other band members - the group's approach meant she couldn't really establish herself as a songwriter. This was to change for good with "Bella Donna": The public received her solo debut enthusiastically, the album rose to number 1 in the charts and sold over four million copies! This makes "Bella Donna" more successful in the USA than any other Fleetwood Mac album - with the exception of "Rumours".

The Doobie Brothers - Toulouse Street

Although "Toulouse Street" was the Doobie Brothers' second album, the band liked to refer to it as their actual debut: after their self-titled first album in 1971, Pat Simmons (vocals, guitar), Tom Johnston (vocals, guitar) and "Little" John Hartman (drums, percussion) admitted that they had rushed into producing this album. "Toulouse Street" was produced a year later and under far more favorable circumstances: The album featured a new bassist in Tiran Porter and an additional drummer in Michael Hossak, with whom the band's characteristic twin-drummer sound was established.

The Doobie Brothers - Minute by Minute

"Minute By Minute" saved the Doobie Brothers, who were just about to break up. Released on December 1, 1978, the album was created at a time when the sextet - consisting of Patrick Simmons (guitar, vocals), Michael McDonald (keyboards, vocals), Jeffrey "Skunk" Baxter (guitar), Tiran Porter (bass, vocals); John Hartman and Keith Knudsen (drums) - was in a creative crisis. But the recording produced by Ted Templeman at Warner Bros.

Van Halen - Diver Down

Van Halen's exhausting touring schedule - coupled with the production of four LPs in four years - prompted the US rock band to take some time out. However, the break did not last long. Singer David Lee Roth thought that they could satisfy the record label's desire for new music by covering "Dancing In The Street" by Martha & The Vandellas and releasing it as a single. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who didn't just want to copy another artist's song but transform it, suggested Roy Orbison's "(Oh) Pretty Woman" when he couldn't think of a suitable riff for the Motown song.

Saint-Saëns - Symphony No. 3 (Organ Symphony)

Celebrated for "reinventing" the harp and discovering the instrument's power and timbre, Valérie Milot has built a discography of more than 30 recordings and received many prestigious awards, including the 2008 Prix d'Europe - the first harpist to do so in almost a century. After completing her master's degree with Caroline Lizotte, she graduated from the conservatory "with great distinction" and continued her training with Rita Costanzi in New York.

Valérie Milot - Nebulae

Celebrated for "reinventing" the harp and discovering the instrument's power and timbre, Valérie Milot has built a discography of more than 30 recordings and received many prestigious awards, including the 2008 Prix d'Europe - the first harpist to do so in almost a century. After completing her master's degree with Caroline Lizotte, she graduated from the conservatory "with great distinction" and continued her training with Rita Costanzi in New York.

FAVO 3 - Todo Cambia

The winner of the German Jazz Award 2023 Volker Holly Schlott has long been an institution in the German music scene. One of the best-known projects of the busy multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and producer, who has worked with Chaka Khan, Udo Lindenberg and Jocelyn B. Smith, among others, is called "Favo" - a collaboration with the renowned bass clarinettist Falko Breitkreuz. When the Belgian singer Sander De Winne joins them, they are known as "Favo 3".

Cannonball Adderley With Bill Evans - Know What I Mean?

Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans had already played together with Miles Davis' sextet on "Kind Of Blue" as well as on the Adderley recordings "Portrait Of Cannonball" and "Jump For Joy". For the recording of "Know What I Mean?", the brilliant alto saxophonist and the equally brilliant pianist and arranger were joined by Percy Heath (bass) and Connie Kay (drums) - the rhythm section of the Modern Jazz Quartet - and producer Orrin Keepnews at Bell Sound Studio in New York City.

Bill Evans - New Jazz Conceptions [Mono]

In September 1956, a 27-year-old pianist named Bill Evans quietly recorded his debut album "New Jazz Conceptions" - the bold statement of a musician who was still largely unknown: Miles Davis had not yet called him, and most listeners had no idea what to expect from Evans. Listening to the album today, one can already recognize the genius that was to reshape modern jazz piano at the time. On "New Jazz Conceptions", Evans' introspective touch, his harmonic boldness and his rhythmic sensibility were already fully developed.

Count Basie & Oscar Peterson - 'Satch' and 'Josh'

Producer Norman Granz was occasionally overwhelmed by the volume of his recording projects: On December 2, 1974, he recorded an entire album at Group IV Recording Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, bringing together pianists Count Basie and Oscar Peterson in a rhythm quintet, along with Freddie Green (guitar), Ray Brown (bass) and Louie Bellson (drums). Nobody could have guessed at the time that this unique combination would eventually lead to a total of five albums.

Sarah Vaughan - Crazy and Mixed Up

"Crazy And Mixed Up", a studio album by US musician Sarah Vaughan from 1982, was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance. The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings considers "Crazy And Mixed Up" to be possibly the best album Sarah Vaughan has recorded for the Pablo Records label. Recorded on March 1 and 2, 1982 with Roland Hanna (piano), Joe Pass (guitar), Andy Simpkins (bass) and Harold Jones (drums), the album combines Vaughan's impeccable phrasing with innovative, boundary-pushing jazz arrangements.

Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (Corrected Speed)

Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue" is the best-selling jazz album of all time - a five-track masterpiece full of melancholy moods and melodies and an album that can be found in all "Best Of" lists and was included in all "Hall of Fames". However, the groundbreaking recording had a small problem that was understandably never really communicated "to the outside world" by the studio producers and the record company and went virtually unnoticed by music lovers and experts: the motor of the 3-track recording device in the studio was running too slowly on the day of the album's first recording session.

Ray Charles - The Genius Sings The Blues [Mono]

The word "brilliant" doesn't even begin to describe the awesomeness of "The Genius Sings The Blues" from 1961. The album comprises a dozen songs recorded by Ray Charles between 1952 and 1960 and was released by Atlantic Records in 1961 to counteract the singer's move to rival ABC Paramount. What Atlantic had originally underestimated was that the album contained many of Ray Charles' greatest songs, all united by their bluesy emotions and stirring arrangements.

Foreigner - Head Games

Foreigner's platinum-decorated triumphal march continued with "Head Games", the band's third album. Songs like "Dirty White Boy", "Women" and the title track, which were made for the radio, kept the supergroup at the top of arena rock well into the 80s. Just four months after its release, the album went platinum for selling one million copies, and "Head Games" has since achieved 5-times (!) platinum status.

Lorin Maazel & Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Sibelius: Symphony No. 1 / Karelia Suite

Jean Sibelius is considered one of Finland's most important composers and is one of the few who became famous beyond the borders of his homeland. In German-speaking countries, he is best known for his "Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47" and his symphonic poems, in which he used themes from Finnish legends and mythology, among other things. The "Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39" was composed in 1899 and premiered on April 26 of the same year by the Helsink,i Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of the composer. Unfortunately, the original version of the work has not survived.

Wilhelm Backhaus / Karl Böhm & Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2

Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) is considered one of the most important German pianists of the last century. He was 83 years young when this outstanding Brahms piano concerto was recorded in April 1967 with conductor Karl Böhm and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in the legendary Sofiensaal in Vienna, Austria. "Classics Today" correctly assesses the value of the original Decca recording: "Böhm was in a particularly fortunate phase of his long career, and the Vienna Philharmonic played with that special combination of warmth and effortless precision that can so easily turn into carelessness under a less disciplined conductor.

Van Halen - 1984

Margo Nahas' illustration of a weeping angel with a cigarette in his hand - a mixture of the sacred and the rebellious - is regularly voted one of the 100 best album covers of all time and sums up the aesthetics of Van Halen's last album with singer David Lee Roth: "1984" is powerful and catchy, glamorous and glittering, stormy and heavy, wild and pyrotechnic! From the first notes of the atmospheric title track, David Lee Roth (vocals), Eddie Van Halen (guitar), Michael Anthony (bass) and Alex Van Halen (drums) go full throttle until the album ends with the stormy "House Of Pain".

Paquito D'Rivera - Portraits of Cuba

"Portraits Of Cuba" reflects the musical journey of Paquito D'Rivera - a unique blend of Cuban music and jazz that affirms both the artist's roots and his love of the American art form. Far beyond the realm of pop music, the album is a tribute by this extraordinary jazz musician to Cuba's enduring heritage. "Portraits Of Cuba" - beautifully orchestrated by arranger and conductor Carlos Franzetti and flawlessly performed by D'Rivera and eighteen seasoned musicians - was recorded live and without overdubbing at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in New York City over a two-day period in February 1996.

Kenny Rankin - Because of You [One-Step]

Kenny Rankin's musical journey began in New York City: he started playing guitar at the age of 21 and six months later he was already in the studio with Bob Dylan, playing rhythm guitar on "Bringin' It All Back Home". With the album "Because Of You", released on October 28, 1991 on Chesky Records, the multi-faceted American singer, whose talent knew no bounds, created a lasting monument to himself. Rankin had an incredible voice, which the legendary jazz saxophonist Stan Getz described as "a horn with a heartbeat".

Marta Gómez - Cantos de Agua Dulce

The Colombian singer and songwriter Marta Gómez has become an authority on Latin American music. After receiving a scholarship for outstanding performance, she graduated magna cum laude from the Berklee College of Music. She was nominated for the Latin Billboard Music Awards 2004 in the category "Latin Jazz Album of the Year" - the year in which she released her groundbreaking album "Cantos De Agua Dulce" on Chesky Records, making her one of the most poetic voices in Latin America.

David Johansen and the Harry Smiths

Released in 2000 on the prestigious Chesky Records label, "David Johansen And The Harry Smiths" - the folk-blues project of the legendary former lead singer of the hugely influential New York Dolls - is a unique album, inspired by the folk scene that developed in the clubs of New York City in the late 1990s. Inspired by the 1997 reissue of the "Anthology Of American Folk Music", a compilation of country and blues recordings from the 1920s and 1930s by musicologist Harry Everett Smith, Johansen named his band "The Harry Smiths" and recorded and performed live songs from the anthology or songs inspired by it.

Ella Fitzgerald - Live in Helsinki 1963/1965 [Mono]

In 1960, Ella Fitzgerald bought a house in Copenhagen. It may seem surprising that someone born in Virginia would choose Denmark with its icy winters. In fact, there was something crazy about it, because she was once again in love. This time the man was Swedish. But the chain of events had not been a coincidence: Norman Granz, her mentor, friend and producer, had decided to leave the USA and move to Switzerland around the same time. He was tired of fighting in a country characterized by racism and entangled in the Cold War and political witch hunts.

John Coltrane - Live in Finland 1961/1962 [Mono]

John Coltrane was no loner. A tireless worker, he was constantly striving to learn from and build symbiotic relationships with others. Before he played, he listened. The 1950s were dazzling and decisive years for him: he performed with Johnny Hodges from Ellington's orchestra, worked with Dizzy Gillespie's band and met Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. Then he met Miles Davis. Coltrane continued his search.

Bernhard Haitink & London Philharmonic Orchestra - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4

The conductor Bernard Haitink, who died in 2021, was a true conductor of the century. Born in the Netherlands, he studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and initially played as a violinist in various orchestras. He learned to conduct under Ferdinand Leitner in 1954 and 1955 and was appointed chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. In 1967 he was appointed first conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Other positions have included the Royal Opera House in London, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Bernhard Haitink & London Philharmonic Orchestra - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 10" was composed the year after Stalin's death and became a symbol of artistic liberalization in the Russian composer's oeuvre. Symphony No. 15", his last symphony, is characterized by interesting quotations from various works. Haitink, who completed the composer's entire symphonic cycle, revives the world view of both works with his unique perspective and meticulous ensemble. The conductor Bernard Haitink, who died in 2021, was a true conductor of the century.

Diana Krall - The Look of Love

After Diana Krall won the Grammy for the best vocal jazz recording of 1999 with "When I Look in Your Eyes", the Canadian musician recorded the album that is still regarded as her best: "The Look Of Love" - a wonderful, cinematic collection of ballads and great bossa nova hits. Thanks in part to the participation of the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by the legendary Claus Ogerman, "The Look Of Love" is reminiscent of some of Frank Sinatra's most famous albums - associations with "In the Wee Small Hours" and "Only The Lonely" are unavoidable: the elegant piano solos, the vocal style, the humor...

Stan Getz - Getz Au Go Go

A wonderful live album: "Getz Au Go Go" was recorded on two evenings in New York: on May 22, 1964 at Café Au Go Go in Greenwich Village and on October 9, 1964 at Carnegie Hall. The album, produced by Creed Taylor, was released on Verve in mid-December 1964 - just two months after Astrud Gilberto's huge success with "The Girl From Ipanema". It was not too surprising that "Getz Au Go Go" immediately entered the top five of the pop charts, because the program of these two concerts did not consist of pieces with Brazilian flair and rhythms, but the great Astrud sang a series of pieces whose style was more similar to North American genres.

Nina Simone in Concert

Three unforgettable evenings: "Nina Simone In Concert" was recorded on March 21 and April 1 and 6, 1964 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The album, produced by Hal Mooney, was released the same year on Philips. The album marked the beginning of Simone's explicitly civil rights-oriented music, in which she integrated messages into her performances. The clearly political song "Mississippi Goddamn" was released as a single.

Sonny Rollins - East Broadway Run Down

A real milestone: "East Broadway Run Down" by Sonny Rollins, was recorded on May 9, 1966 at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, and released in January 1967 by Impulse! released in January 1967. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, the album, produced by Bob Thiele, represents one of Rollins' most remarkable experiments with free jazz and illustrates "the maximum expansion in which he integrated noise elements into his playing".

Andreas Scholl & Edin Karamazov - In Darkness

Joe Zawinul - Zawinul

Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear

Eddie Harris - The Electrifying Eddie Harris