I rather like the gentle irony of crowdfunding for music from the 16th century. Thanks to online donors, this release is out on Veterum Musica, a self-described micro record label run by lutenist Alex McCartney that focuses on recording small ensembles or soloists. Their point of difference is that they don’t add any canned reverb to “sweeten” a recording – it’s all in the microphone placement.

I thought I had a solid knowledge of guitar and lute repertoire, but Jean-Paul Paladin is a name new to me....