Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter William Ben Brooks has crafted a lilting, ballad-filled album in a broken beast, a record that reflects on the sudden, tragic death of his wife, actress Lisa Masters, and the seemingly impossible reality that he had to face every day following. What results is a broken beast. It feels like heartache and yet it feels, too, like hope. This brave new world is one that is desolate at times, but at others, shockingly full of love. Such an essence emanates from this wonderfully composed album, a surefire addition to the newest generation of Americana. Brooks himself describes the release as, "An eclectic aquarium-view of a tumbling soul in full display. A tightly woven blend of heartache and hope, thread bare sinners and hesitant saints. A life lost and reclaimed." It would be tough to put it more perfectly than that.

Born and raised in southern Oklahoma, William Ben Brooks may sound like a new name to the uninitiated, but the soulful singer-songwriter is already deep into his growing catalog of Americana-soaked, folk-rock and blues-based anthems. Further proof of his prominence as a reputable craftsman, can be gauged by the company Brooks keeps. His latest album "A Broken Beast", features a powerful line-up of Grammy and Emmy winning players: Catherine Russell (David Bowie and Steely Dan), Ms. Nicki Richards (currently backing Madonna) and Janie Burnett (Linda Ronstadt, Rickie Lee Jones), multi-Emmy winner, Robbie Kondor (Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel) and Grammy nominee Kelvin Wooten (Al Green, Macy Gray) on keyboards and Jon Gordon (Suzanne Vega and Madonna) on guitars, and bass. Clearly this is an important record for any fan of genuine music.

The Flute Recital was recorded on 19 July 2021 at Sakura Plaza Hall, Yokohama, Japan.

Flute Matsuishi Takashi Fritz, Ph.D.
Piano Ruike Yui

Hüe : Fantaisie
This piece, composed in 1913 for the Paris Conservatory Competition, begins with a cadenza-like passage in the flute, and once heard, it has a vivid image that cannot be forgotten. It is a mysterious world where dramatic tension and a touch of melancholy harmonize. The très vif section reflects Hüe's impressions of the Orient, where he loved to travel.

Albert Franz Doppler : Fantaisie pastorale hongroise Op. 26
Doppler was a 19th-century flute virtuoso, composer, conductor, and educator. He was born in Lemberg, an Austrian imperial territory, and learned to play the flute from his father, an oboe player. At 17, he was appointed principal flute player of the German Theatre Orchestra in Budapest. At 20, he was the principal flute player of the Hungarian National Theatre Orchestra. After this, he and his brother Karl, four years younger, formed a duo that performed with great success throughout Europe. He also served as the principal player and conductor of the Court Orchestra of Vienna. He was entrusted with the orchestration of Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody". Thus, he was active in many fields, which may have led to the creation of this masterpiece. The original, with orchestral accompaniment, consists of three parts and is in the style of the czardases favoured by the gipsies. The introduction is music that embraces the sentiments linking Hungary and the Orient. In the middle section, the music turns to a major key and is free and vigorous. In the finale, dance rhythms are used to great effect, and the piece closes with a spectacular development.

César Franck : Sonata in A major for piano and flute
This is a flute arrangement of Franck's famous masterpiece of a violin sonata. It was composed in 1886, in the composer's last year of life at the age of 64, as a wedding present for the great violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Throughout the entire work, the singing qualities of the violin and the profound harmony of the piano are fully utilized, resulting in a wonderful piece of chamber music. The contrast between static and dynamic expression, the exquisiteness of harmonic and counterpoint expression, and the cyclic form, a technique that gives the entire work a sense of unity, make the work structurally compelling. During Frank's lifetime, it has also been performed on the flute.

The album "Green Transformer" is a carbon-free transformation of industrial noises into music. In order to create the soundtrack for the multimedia project and album, music producer and composer Monom captured industrial noises at a nearby coal mine and thermal power plant. Since only "green" electricity generated by his own solar power plant was used, the music on the album is a unique mash-up of modulated industrial electro-mechanical sounds that are fundamental components of urban rhythms, harmonies and melodies.

Humanity is Falling Apart, was entirely recorded at Sami Studio in Algeria in 2019 and contains 9 songs including: 2 instrumentals, 2 songs sung in English, 1 song sung in Arabic, French, Tamazight & English, a Happy Birthday song, a prelude and 2 other songs in Tamazight. Instrumentation: Guitar, mandol, bass, banjo, violin, piano, hand drums, drum kit, bendir, flutes, ullulation, vocals and back up vocals.

The new CD showcases some of Moh's most heartfelt songwriting yet. "A Salute to the Women of Kabylia" pays homage to the courage, determination, and beauty of the charismatic Berber women, who still wear the traditional outfits, and keep Kabyle culture alive. They're the educators who transmit so much of our tradition to new generations.

"I was Only Nineteen" is a deeply personal track, sung in English, that celebrates Moh's friendship with legendary North African singer/songwriter/activist Lounes Matoub, and recalls a trip the two took together from Algeria to France in the late '70s. The memory of Matoub looms large over this record - a prolific, passionate spokesman for the Amazigh/Berber people, who used his music as a platform for his activism. Matoub was assassinated for his outspoken music in 1998, at the age of 42.