CD - Hot Club de Norvège
Released by Refined Records, 2001

These days, a lot of jazz musicians avoid being sentimental -- they're too busy trying to impress you with how much technique they have or how intellectual they can be. But when Django Reinhardt was making his mark in the 1930s and 1940s, romantic and sentimental weren't things to be avoided. The Belgian-born gypsy guitarist had no problem playing fast or swinging aggressively, but when he slowed down the tempo, Reinhardt wasn't afraid to savor his sentimental side. Dominated by the Hot Club de Norvège, Parisian Honeymoon Suite often becomes a celebration of Reinhardt's more romantic work. Some of the material is fast, but for the most part, the retro-swing that you hear on this CD is laid-back and sentimental.

- Alex Henderson,
All About Jazz, 2001

Jonathan 'Jonny' Hepbir boldly blends European swing with influences from his Anglo-Turkish roots, leading listeners on a musical odyssey from Istanbul's Grand Bazaar to Paris' boulevard de Saint-Germain to London's Soho District and back.

Rick Brockner: "Black Mountain Brew", featuring Jan Johansson & Cora Beth Bridges.
Released by Refined Records, 2005

Southern Mountain music of today with dulcimer, fiddle, mandolin and guitar. These songs are rooted in the great musical culture of the North Carolina Mountains seen through the eyes of today's artist.

Robin Nolan Trio - Mediterranean Blues - 2003

CD - The Snapdaddys: "Snappy Hour"
Released by Refined Records, 2005

The small Florida-based Refined Records label is known for its eclectic mix of acoustic music with intriguing instrumentation, as well as a Django-esque approach, which includes delightful recordings of some of the top gypsy guitarists alive today. Snappy Hour is the debut by The Snappdaddys: four seasoned session musicians with impressive pedigrees in jazz, film and even (gasp) pop; they've worked with everyone from Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones and Louis Bellson to Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks and The Who.

- Dr. Judith Schlesinger,
All About Jazz, February 2007

features Jimmy Rosenberg, Jon Larsen's Hot Club de Norvège, Robin Nolan Trio, Ulf Wakenius, Vertavo String Quartet, Randy Greer Jonny Hepbir

"The original style of 'gypsy jazz' that legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt pioneered in pre-WWII Paris is carried on today with some top musicians..."
- Roland Stone, ACCENT ON TAMPA BAY (St. Petersburg, FL)

"...this is one high-octane treat. Stylish and classy throughout..."
- Chris Spector, MIDWEST RECORD RECAP (Lake Zurich, IL)

Jimmy Rosenberg, Hot Club de Norvège, Robin Nolan Trio

"…modern gypsy jazz which friends, relatives, and acquaintances will immediately embrace with enthusiasm."
- Bernhard Gierstl, HOT CLUB NEWS (Augsburg, GERMANY)

"Acoustic guitar, in intimate European club style, Wine-Soaked Whispers makes great background for dinner parties – maybe even for shopping."
- NAPRA REVIEW (Eastsound, WA)

Michael Zaretsky, viola
Xak Bjerken, piano

Music of Russian composers for viola and piano.

Singular Voices - Brahms, Schumann & the Viola

Michael Zaretsky, viola
Xak Bjerken, piano
Pamela Dellal, mezzo-soprano

BRAHMS Viola Sonatas in F minor and E-flat major, Opus 120
Two Songs for contralto and piano with viola obbligato, Opus 91
SCHUMANN “Märchenbilder” for viola and piano, Opus 113

Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston, MA, January 2000

Performed on Viola by Michael Zaretsky Michael Zaretsky performs the Six Suites using the facsimile manuscript text of Anna Magdalena Bach. Recorded in historic Symphony Hall, Boston, January/February 2004

CD - Quartet San Francisco: "Whirled Chamber music"
Released 2007

"We feel passionate about this mixture of American genres – blues, funk, jazz, tango, and rock – and we perform each work from within the style in which it was conceived. The tradition of chamber music has taught us to play from our hearts with the highest playing standards we can apply. So when the music says swing, we swing. When the music says groove, we groove."

"... the sound is as impossible to categorize as the quartet itself."

"The playing is superb, with every song taking unpredictable turns, leaving the listener smiling."

Gilopez Kabayao is a talented violinist who came from a very musically inclined family. At three, he started improvising short piano pieces in minuet style and at six he was under his father’s tutelage, learning violin, and his mother, learning piano lessons. He also studied in New York and in Vienna. In 1978, he was the musical director of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in several countries including Belgium, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Gilopez Kabayao is a talented violinist who came from a very musically inclined family. At three, he started improvising short piano pieces in minuet style and at six he was under his father’s tutelage, learning violin, and his mother, learning piano lessons. He also studied in New York and in Vienna. In 1978, he was the musical director of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in several countries including Belgium, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Gilopez Kabayao is a talented violinist who came from a very musically inclined family. At three, he started improvising short piano pieces in minuet style and at six he was under his father’s tutelage, learning violin, and his mother, learning piano lessons. He also studied in New York and in Vienna. In 1978, he was the musical director of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in several countries including Belgium, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Gilopez Kabayao is a talented violinist who came from a very musically inclined family. At three, he started improvising short piano pieces in minuet style and at six he was under his father’s tutelage, learning violin, and his mother, learning piano lessons. He also studied in New York and in Vienna. In 1978, he was the musical director of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He has performed in several countries including Belgium, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

'Teslim' means both 'commit' and 'surrender' in Turkish and features two well known Bay Area musicians: violinist Kaila Flexer and Gari Hegedus on oud, Turkish saz, Greek lauoto and other (mostly plucked) stringed instruments. This potent duo performs Greek, Turkish and Sephardic music. In addition, both Flexer and Hegedus are composers whose original music is based on these fertile traditions. Both seasoned performers and recording artists, Teslim released its debut (self-titled) CD in December 2008. This unusual duo is at home in classical, early music, and folk music venues and holds workshops on a variety of topics.

CD - Megan Lynch - "Lovely Weather We're Having"

From Megan B. Lynch, a collection of beautiful waltzes, classic old-time fiddle tunes, and new interpretations of fiddle and mandolin duets. This album also features the expressive guitar and mandolin playing of California native (now making his home in Maryland) and State Flatpicking Champion John Relph.

"Megan's expressive playing flows in the stately waltz tunes and the listener can almost visualize dancers waltzing across ballroom floors. Megan also is able to put in a sprightly bounce in her renditions of fiddle tune classics such as "Soldier's Joy," "Fisher's Hornpipe," "Arkansas Traveler" and "Bill Cheatum." The 18 songs ebb and flow like a tide and the listener can be swept away and inspired by the glorious flow of notes."
-Bluegrass Breakdown magazine

Audio CD

First album from Oakland-based Tornado Rider, featuring cellist Rushad Eggleston.

"Herdin' Cats! is a tribute to those players who established a California beachhead of Western Swing - here on the Barbary Coast, down in sunny Los Angeles, out in the scalded, hard-scrabble Central Valley - whose crazy, yearning, knocked-out sounds resonate to this day."

Amy formed the Cello ChiXtet for the express purpose of bringing "The Secret Language of Subways" to life. Since the work's SF premiere at Dance Mission Theater -- documented on KQED TV's "Spark" program -- the ensemble has opened for The Tubes at The Independent, sold out the Freight & Salvage and The Great American Music Hall, was presented by Paul Dresher at Project Artaud and by John Adams at the LA Phil West Coast Left Coast Festival, and opened for Juana Molina at Yerba Buena Center. Recently the ensemble has begun to incorporate new repertoire including cello trio compositions by composers Dohi Moon and Moses Sedler, classic works for voice and cello (such as William Sydeman's "Songs After Emily Dickinson"), structured improvisational works, and new songs by Amy and by ensemble members.

CD - Quartet San Francisco: "QSF Plays Brubeck"
Released 2009

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Time Out, QSF pays tribute to the mastery of Brubeck with the first-ever all Brubeck string quartet CD!

Three To Get Ready, Golden Horn, Blue Rondo A La Turk, The Duke, Take Five, Bluette, Unsquare Dance, and others. Arrangements are by Jeremy Cohen, Matt Brubeck, Larry Dunlap, and Robert Gilmore.

"Virtuosity may be a given on The Playmaker, but what's most impressive is the sound of Tolling's quartet, which drives the majority of the record and, based on the results, must be thrilling live. For those who can, check out Tollings live; for those who can't, The Playmaker is a great place to start."

- John Kelman, All About Jazz

"Mads has the amazing talent and skills that few young musicians can match. His music is both beautiful and refreshing exhibiting his superb mastery of the modern American Jazz music that is rarely seen among his peers."

-Jean-Luc Ponty

Joseph Gold on violin, Debbie Dare on viola and Jaume Torrent on guitar perform compositions of Jaume Torrent.