Recommended music - other than classical and pop

I am not sure there is a thread on what Sonos is truly about - the music, so this might be an interesting thread. I have left out classical because that deserves a thread of its own and modern pop because it all sounds the same to me.

I have Phil Keaggy strumming Solitude from his Acoustic Sketches album right now in the bedroom on a play 1 pair and sounding very good indeed.

Recently heard and equally good music and mastering:

1. Michel Petrucciani and NHOP

2. Beyond the Missouri Sky - Metheny and Haden

3. Chiaroscuro - Fresu and Towner

4. Jan Johannsen - Jazz pa Svenska

5. The Astounding Eyes of Rita - Anouar Brahem

6. Last Dance/Jasmine - Jarrett and Haden

7. Saturday Morning - Ahmad Jamal

8. Melos - Paolo Fresu

All but the last are ITunes 256kbps purchases, the last a lossless CD rip.

Very little lost in translation for the lossy thing and Sonos convenience.

Any recommendations on similar music that uses the silence between the notes effectively?

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Not sure if this helps, but Linn have three radio stations streaming at 320kbps MP3 - Linn Radio, Linn Classical and Linn Jazz. Linn Radio plays an eclectic range of music. The quality is excellent.

http://www.linn.co.uk/radio

Good thread, Kumar. I'm always looking for new music to add to my collection... thanks for your list as today's springboard toward exploration.

I'm a fan of pretty much anything except pop... My goto stuff is usually vocals or instrumentals... Sinatra, Bennett, Mantovani... And the heavier on the strings the better. Huge jazz fan also... Sonny Rollins, Coltrane, Miles.

Yesterday's spin through Sonos on the patio was Mozart's Complete Piano Concertos.

Good thread. I listen to everything, here's some picks, hopefully not too pop.

Holy Vacants: Trophy Scars

Xavier Rudd: Solace

Levon Helm: Dirt Farmer

Robert Plant and Alison Kraus: Raising Sand

Harry Manx

Ali Farka Toure: Savane

Linn Radio, Linn Classical and Linn Jazz.

Yes, I listen to these when I am willing to give up control of what to listen to - excellent music on Radio and Jazz.

And the heavier on the strings the better. Huge jazz fan also... Sonny Rollins, Coltrane, Miles.

Good stuff that - most of it well known to folks so I did not refer to those. Recently discovered Charlie Byrd and Joe Pass - brilliant music.

Holy Vacants: Trophy Scars

Xavier Rudd: Solace

Levon Helm: Dirt Farmer

Robert Plant and Alison Kraus: Raising Sand

Harry Manx

Ali Farka Toure: Savane

Thanks - new to me and worth checking out except for AFT who I know. New Ancient Strings and Kaira by Toumani Diabate is also excellent music.

If the above is to your tastes, these three are brilliant, I have found:

1. Ragas and Sagas - Garbarek and Hussain

2. Making Music - Zakir Hussain

3. Song for Everyone - Garbarek, Hussain, Gurtu

Garabarek on his own can be hard to digest, I have found, but I like him on these.

Radio Paradise is also good for an eclectic mix of music.

Yes, and although I think their streams are lower kbps that the Linn ones, it doesn't seem to affect how good their selections sound.

Amazing, with one or two alterations I could have written this. Great taste:D

I just heard Gino d'Auri, Flamenco Passion [2003]. Great recording, wonderful playing.

Don't forget Brahem's Le pas du chat noir with the absolutely astounding track 'Leila Au Pays Du Carrousel'

I just heard Gino d'Auri, Flamenco Passion [2003]. Great recording, wonderful playing.

Don't forget Brahem's Le pas du chat noir with the absolutely astounding track 'Leila Au Pays Du Carrousel'

Thanks, I will check that out.

I have all of the Brahem ECM albums, I mentioned just the one to keep the list short. Some are better than others, but all are good.

What about

Lars Danielsson & Leszek Mozdzer - Pasodoble

Ulrich Drechsler Cello Quartet - Concinnity (not all great but some real jewels)

Arifa - Anatolian Alchemy (features superb clarinetist Alex Simu)

Chantal Chamberland - This is our time (late at night)

I have never heard of Chantal Chamberland. Wow. Just bought three of her albums from Amazon. Can't wait to pour that first martini tonight while listening to her.

If you like Chantal, you might also enjoy Cafe Accordion Orchestra.

http://www.cafeaccordion.com/

Thanks, I'll check it out too (why else do we have a subscription to Spotify?).

I have never heard of Chantal Chamberland. Wow. Just bought three of her albums from Amazon. Can't wait to pour that first martini tonight while listening to her.

Paul White on alto-sax on "This is our time" is outstanding ... and incredibly sexy especially on the title track. Also check out "Here comes the rain again", "Don't explain" and "When you leave".

Lars Danielsson & Leszek Mozdzer - Pasodoble

Chantal Chamberland - This is our time (late at night)

Good ones these - I bought them and while doing so I also found another great album, Ulf Wakenius - Vagabond.

More favourites, very well recorded:

Rosslyn - John Taylor

Heartplay - Haden and Forcione

Cloud Dance - Collin Wallcott

Things - Fresu and Caine

Michel Petrucciani - Solo live in Germany

Enrico Rava - Easy Living

You're putting up some fantastic stuff, Kumar... stuff I never knew existed. One of the best parts is Amazon is now recommending related artists and I'm finding even more. Interesting though... Cloud Dance - Collin Wallcott... they have a copy for a thousand bucks. Wow. No thanks... I'll just download it for $10.32.

Is this stuff big in India, or just to your tastes?

. Cloud Dance - Collin Wallcott... they have a copy for a thousand bucks. Wow. No thanks... I'll just download it for $10.32.

Is this stuff big in India, or just to your tastes?

No, it isn't big here. Perhaps that is why it is very well priced on iTunes for India located buyers - Cloud Dance is for Rs 96, approx USD 1.50:D.

Wallcott's Dawn Dance is good too, more introspective.

PS: And I too say God bless the internet! And digressing a little, I have found excellent sound quality from most of my ITunes albums, played via Sonos front end set ups - equalling any I have heard in the past via CDs/SACDs with high end kit. It just comes down to performance/recording/mastering quality.

I also found another great album, Ulf Wakenius - Vagabond.

This led to a couple of more excellent finds - his Momento Magico.

And a Korean jazz woman singer, almost all in English - an unusual combination. Youn Sun Nah, album Same Girl - very well recorded too.

Thanks to you, Amazon recommended someone named Beverly Kenney. I just bought her album Born To Be Blue. Awesome album with the instrumentation that I love and her jazz-style voice.

Amazon does a great job - in their interest, but even so very useful - of allowing users to explore more similar music. One con is that the 5 star ratings have been devalued by over liberal user use, almost every album with double digit and more reviews seems to have a few 5 star ratings.

My approach is to use Amazon for browsing and then switch to iTunes where the samples are more useful, being longer. And in my case because ITunes is priced for the market, while Amazon music downloads are not, it makes sense for me to save up to 90% of the Amazon prices by using iTunes.

I just heard Gino d'Auri, Flamenco Passion [2003]. Great recording, wonderful playing.

Good music. This also led me to albums by Gypsy Flamenco Masters - over twenty tracks on each CD. Guitars playing a range of music. Known, from Tears in Heaven to All along the Watchtower and many more, and as many that are new to me. Excellent recording and great value.

Checked out some of the recommendations, among them the Cafe Accordeon Orchestra. They are great fun and had my wife dancing through the living room in no time! So far I have been able to find everything on Spotify, so that is great. Are there any streaming services in India that let you check out the music?

Aupeo is the only one, two years after they started India services. One can select an artiste, not a specific album. I find iTunes to be handier, their 2 minute samples serve the purpose.

I was lucky to go to a Vieux Farka Toure live show last month and after some searching I found Vieux Farka Toure Live and bought it. Excellent music of a genre I don't listen to often, driving African blues infused guitars, vocals and percussion.

Listening to the music at home again highlighted for me how much more of an experience the live show was. Not just the sound quality, but also the visible interactions between the members as well as the infectious joy in their music.

While the album is also live, I doubt I can sit through it at one sitting. The live show, at about 80 minutes, seemed to get over too soon!

Excellent recent find - sax/bass/drums played tight, well recorded jazz standards and originals released in 2014: Background Music, Noah Preminger.

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