Strings of many shapes and sizes – not just violins, but guitars as well – all coming together in a host of instrumental pop classics! The package is a lot cooler than you might expect – and features about a decade of chart-topping instrumentals – the kind of clever little tunes that made radio so great back in the day, and which often took familiar instrumentation and played around with it a bit in the studio – so that the end result was a heck of a lot more than just the sum of its parts! Styles are great – and run from folksy to rocking to exotic, and more – really creative stuff spun out over a set list of 28 tracks that include "The Dis-Advantages Of You" by The Brass Ring, "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat, "Fly Me To The Moon" by Joe Harnell, "Flying Circle" by Frankie Slay, "Image" by Hank Levine, "Mexico" by Bob Moore, "Beautiful Obsession" by Sir Chauncey & His Exciting Strings, "Summer Set" by Monty Kelly, "Baby Elephant Walk" by The Minature Men, "Java" by Al Hirt, "The Enchanted Sea" by The Islanders, "More" by Kai Winding, "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" by Sounds Orchestral, "Swingin Safari" by Billy Vaughan, "Calcutta" by Lawrence Welk, and "Lost Love" by HB Barnum. CD

A rare Christmas album from French maestro Paul Mauriat – presented with a style that's maybe a bit more lush and scented with the season than some of his other albums of the time! The strings are a bit fuller, and the rhythms more laidback – so that the overall vibe is more in the best Christmas orchestral mode of the 60s – and a bit less like some of Mauriat's famous instrumental pop. Still, the approach is a nice one for those late hours after the party – when the fire's still going in the fireplace, and you're sitting around with the last few visitors enjoying a nightcap. Titles include "Rin Rin", "Among The Cattle & Grey Donkey", "Adeste Fideles", "Silent Night"," White Christmas", and "Little Father Christmas". CD also features 7 more Christmas tunes – including "Alle Jahre Wider", "Liese Riselt Der Schnee", "For Never & Always", and "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". CD