The mesmerizing grooves and tantalizing rhythms of Latin music have been leading people to the dance floor for decades. Putumayo’s new release, Latin Party, is perhaps its most diverse Latin release yet. It includes a mix of boogaloo, funk, cumbia, son, salsa, ska and dancehall and spotlights cutting-edge bands and rising stars that pay homage to Latin music’s past while creatively moving it into the 21st century.

With her soulful and riveting interpretation of her land’s captivating fado style, Ana Moura has become a leading exponent of this poetic, deeply expressive idiom which personifies the Portuguese psyche as it explores such universal themes as lost love, separation, and longing. As Ana explains, 'It’s very special because it’s all about emotions and feelings. It needs no translation.' She has performed on a variety of important world stages: in concert at N.Y.C.’s Carnegie Hall, among others. With Mick Jagger and Prince counted among her fans, her renown as the fadista face of her generation continues to grow. Move over, Mariza: Ana Moura is the next major breakout star in the Portuguese fado firmament!
Hear the raven-haired beauty with that seductive, sultry voice on You Tube.

Lokua Kanza’s soft, melancholy acoustic music has swept away the established conventions of Ex-Zaire music, with its rumba and diabolical Soukouss rhythms. His artistry has attracted artists from many different horizons, from Youssou N’Dour to Baaba Maal. On his new recording, Congalese singer-songwriter/guitarist Lokua Kanza is back to the roots. He boils up a sub-Saharan sonic stew that mixes traditional African R&B and Brazilian MPB (which translates as 'Brazilian popular music') styles. The songs are delivered in a mostly acoustic vibe, with Lokua's trademark easy-on-the-ears moods and grooves. Singing so purely and sincerely of love, God, life, and death, Lokua Kanza will bring tears to your eyes. That beautiful velvet voice has a huge range and he can work miracles with it - at times with an a capella vibe, at times venturing into R&B. These arrangements are meticulously crafted, delicate and smooth; the guitars are a mix of an easy sophistication coupled with an angelic sense of melody. The music is clearly African, yet eclectic, using mostly traditional languages and exploring a range of musical styles. No fan of world music should miss Lokua Kanza: you will always carry this experience with you. Watch a clip from his previous album on YouTube.

This mesmerising crossover album is a truly fascinating collaboration between guitarist Matt Malley, founding member of the multi-platinum rock group Counting Crows, and soulful Indian composer Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the inventor of the Mohan Veena Eastern slide guitar and its chief virtuoso. Bhatt won a Grammy Award for his album with Ry Cooder, A Meeting By The River, and here offers another cross-cultural foray in which blues-tinged guitar meets the exotic strains of the veena. 'The literal definition of "guru" is "one who takes you to meet God." In the tradition of Indian classical music, the music teacher is also a music guru. Whether attending Vishwa Mohan Bhatt’s jaw-dropping concerts, having a Mohan Veena lesson with him in his house in Jaipur, or eating dinner with his wonderful family at a nearby restaurant while watching a cricket match, everything feels like a musical lesson in the presence of God. He is my music guru and my friend and I hope that our record will put at least one more brick in the bridge between the East, West, and all races of the world.' — Matt Malley.

3 voices, 2 saxophones, a trombone, a flute, a darbuka and a sampler complement Sashird Lao's collection of ethnic instruments on Open The Box. This exuberant trio of singers and multi-instrumentalists has created a whimsical sound world uniquely their own, urban grooves, beat-boxing, classic jazz and exotic sounds combining in a musical playground bound to delight fans of Pink Martini and the Transglobal Underground.

On New Year’s Eve 2009, Havana’s legendary nightclub Tropicana celebrated its seventieth birthday with a colourful revue: a feast for the ears and the eyes. The evening’s special guest was longtime legend at the club, Omara Portuondo, who who as the singer of the Buena Vista Social Club has gained international stardom over some decades, most recently captivating listeners with her latest solo album Gracias. Singing with her five-man band, her performance ranges in style from Cuban guajira, bolero, mambo and son to elements of jazz. This is a bright, exuberant portrait of the grande dame of traditional Cuban music, whose musical set is enriched here by the exotic Tropicana Ballet, in which Omara was an original dancer in the 1940s!

Revered blues, jazz and R&B singer Catherine Russell’s third album for World Village, Inside This Heart Of Mineshowcases the ever-deepening interpretive wiles of her ripe, honey-dipped alto, as she personifies the living heart and proud history of each of the 13 songs that make up this set. Opening with the title tune, a Fats Waller torcher, she then launches into 'All the Cats Join In', a sepia-tone snapshot from the heyday of 1940s swing. On 'Troubled Waters', she is a misunderstood but undeniably shady lady, her musky musings shadowed by a scorching muted trumpet and solo piano. Whether demanding stamina from lover ('Long, Strong and Consecutive'), playfully bemoaning the evils of the demon alcohol ('Quiet Whiskey'), or celebrating New Orleans-style swagger (Struttin' With Some Barbeque), Catherine is never less than impassioned, genuine, vulnerable - and utterly indomitable.

In this swinging collection of ‘symphonic jazz’, Steve Richman and the Harmonie Ensemble New York recreate the original Gershwin orchestrations made by Ferde Grofé for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. The programme features Gershwin’s immortal Rhapsody in Blue (with legendary reedman Al Gallodoro, an original member of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in the 1930s!), the I Got Rhythm Variations, and a selection of George’s Broadway tunes, including 'Summertime'.

In 1987 John Zorn, George Lewis, and Bill Frisell were all members of New York’s thriving, conceptually-minded downtown scene. They approached the Blue Note material with a considered artistic agenda — to test its capacity for tolerance of outside techniques, and to critique bop’s ethos of individuality, which required many of its practitioners to trade a life of penury and exploitation for the chance to attain individual expression on the bandstand.

Does the 'perpetual motion' of the title refer to life on the road? Or the ongoing continuum of musical tradition, which in the hands of Mathias Rüegg can be honoured and playfully manipulated at the same time? Hard to say, since in the musical realm of Mathias Rüegg, Swiss bandleader and founder of the Vienna Art Orchestra, music has multiple meanings and anything is possible.

Sultry femme fatale Mina Agossi draws together a range of influences on her new album. Inspired by traditional jazz and spirituals ('When the Saints Go marching In'), French comedy (Bobby Lapointe, 'J'aimerais tant') and even Jimmy Hendrix ('Burning of the Midnight Lamp'), Just Like a Lady captivates with vocal stylings that call to mind Eartha Kitt and other grandes dames of jazz.

Those who think that Yiddish songs have to be accompanied with klezmer violin and clarinet will be suprised and delighted with the freshness of this new recording. Talila's Yiddish Blues is a touchingly personal and intimate exploration of the songs of her childhood, with a band of Parisian jazz and Hasidic musicians tapping into the influences of slow rumba, American musicals and swing. This record is also a book where Talila narrates the heartfelt story of her Jewish-Polish immigrant parents and their journey from the shtetl to Paris.

Heads and Tails is the new double album from jazz trumpeter Alex Tassel delving into both the ‘acoustic’ (disc 1) and the ‘electric’ (disc 2) sides if his work. As with his previous release, Movements, he has assembled the crème de la crème of French Jazz: Laurent de Wilde on piano and synthesisers, Daniel Romeo, Julien Charlet, as well as four guest saxophonists (Rick Margitza, Jacques Schwartz-Bart, Olivier Temime and Guillaume Naturel).

Following his first album Share, recorded in the USA with the band International (Tom Harrell, Mark Turner, Matt Penmann), the renowned jazz pianist of the Moutin Reuinion Quartet returns with an ambitious solo project: a beautiful new Suite accompanied by the same band featured on his debut.

Some twenty years ago, when he discovered by chance the music of Carlo Gesualdo, David Chevallier became entranced by the complexity of the counterpoint and the harmonic framework pioneered by the 'murderous composer', as rich as it is unpredictable. He began to incorporate these Renaissance ideas into his own formal experiments in the realm of modern-day jazz. With Gesualdo Variations he brings these two worlds together: to the pristine, at times anguished vocals of madrigals, jazz instrumentalists contribute improvisations and exchanges. These juxtaposed creative forces, far from constituting a collage, result in a highly original and meticulously blended project for fans of the previous ZigZag jazz/classical fusion, Bach-Coltrane (ZZT080101).

Jimi Hendrix is one of the best known names in popular music and certainly one of the most inventive electric guitarists in history. In 2010 we commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death with Jimi Hendrix: An Experience. This unique collector's boxed set, in lavishly psychedelic packaging, comprises two documentary DVDs and a CD with songs from what turned out to be his last concert in Britain with the band, Royal Albert Hall, February 1969. The CD includes 'Voodoo Chile', 'Purple Haze', 'Wild Thing', 'Sunshine Of Your Life' and other classic hits. The documentary Feedback presents revelatory interviews with musicians and friends close to Hendrix, with remarkable concert footage from some of his most memorable performances (including Rainbow Bridge). Hendrix died on 18 Septmber 1970 under mysterious circumstances. Was it a natural death or something more sinister? The documentary The Last 24 Hours unravels this enigma and presents some compelling evidence. This is an essential addition to any Hendrix fan's collection.

Elvis Presley's name is synonymous with classic rock 'n' roll songs of love and howling heartbreak. This collector's edition 4-CD boxed set offers listeners a broad spectrum of his most famous hits: 'Don't Be Cruel', 'I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,' 'I Got A Woman', 'Trying To Get To You', 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Jailhouse Rock' and more.

This collector's edition 4-CD boxed set is jam-packed with fan favourites and rarities spanning Tangerine Dream's groundbreaking ouevre of the last 30 years, from their Krautrock origins to psychedelic jams and innovations in ambient synthesizer soundscapes. Licensed from the iconic band's  own label, this this is a must for anyone serious about electronic music.

This release gives listeners a wonderful view of the great Marilyn Monroe's career and the impact that she had on Hollywood showtunes. Never more sultry, seductive and cheeky was Marilyn than when she was singing tunes full of innuendo and sass. Come hear the hits that made her a sex symbol and cultural tour de force, her brassy assurance shines through on 'Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend', or be titillated by the libidinous way she wraps her tongue around a phrase like 'post-meridian' in 'Bye, Bye Baby'. On 'Runnin Wild' is the goodtime party girl with the manic energy, the one enticing you to follow her anywhere and do anything. 'I Wanna Be Loved By You' is Monroe in little girl mode, playing the seductive Lolita card for all it’s worth. And finally, 'I’m Thru With Love' is Marilyn, the Queen of the Broken Heart, letting us all know how good it is to feel really bad. In these songs she lives on in our hearts, our minds, our fantasies. Especially when we can hear her sing in her uniquely persuasive style.

Not only is the musical On the Town the perfect reflection of just what America was like in the closing days of 1944 when, although the tide had turned in World War II, an Allied victory was still thousands of lives away, but it’s also a magic instance of a wildly disparate group of people coming together at the precisely right moment to create something unique. The present disc gives a real feel for the work as a whole, containing Bernstein conducting the show’s considerable ballet music, cabaret favourites Eadie and Rack offering a stylish period rendition of two tunes, a few selections from The Revuers original material and, to finish things off, Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra with a 1946 recording of three selections from Fancy Free, the revolutionary ballet that gave birth to an equally trend-setting musical comedy.

Hot rhythms and sophisticated arrangements were the hallmarks of swing, a dance band phenomenon that took off in earnest in the mid 1930s. These original recordings, mainly from New York and Los Angeles, feature some of the biggest dance band stars of the day: Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Jack Teagarden and many more in a programme of infectious fun.

13 Grammys and over 40 million albums sold over a 50 year career: 'The First Lady of Song' was one of the most remarkable singers of her age. This collection of her hits from the 1950s showcases her amazing voice. With a unique sound in turn flexible, passionate, expressive and fun, Ella Fitzgerald was a musician's musician, utterly professional and an icon of the twentieth-century jazz scene.

Nat 'King' Cole owed his stellar international reputation to his soft baritone, although before he started singing professionally he was already an accomplished jazz pianist. This album of his later vocal hits, from 'Unforgettable' to 'Mona Lisa' and 'Million-dollar baby', reveals a wonderful musician at work. A film star and idol of the 50s, he was feted by public and politicians alike, not least for his pioneering TV shows.

One of the most popular stars of all time, Bing Crosby dominated the musical scene of the late 1940s and early 1950s, with hundreds of millions of record sales, a radio play history like no other, and a strong presence on the silver screen. The Old Crooner's sound became universally recognised as the quality and dedication of his work increased, driven by his sharp grasp of the powers of new and sophisticated recording technology.

Anthems and hits from the stunning career of 'The Forces' Sweetheart', including several not heard before on CD. 'We'll Meet Again' and 'The White Cliffs of Dover' are essential recordings here, but tracks such as 'My Prayer' prove Vera Lynn was a great singer as well as a much-loved British entertainer and tracks such as 'Beginning to see the light' remind us of her popularity in Europe in the 1950s.