Given the critical and commercial success of 1 and their rebirth as the "Crusaders," the band decided to follow up the previous LP's double length with another one! There are 13 tunes here, all extrapolating the band's previously held notions of soul-jazz and hard bop as they emerged into the new funky '70s. Textures were a little different this time out as keyboardist Joe Sample expanded his palette to include not only the Fender Rhodes but also his first (subtle) forays into synthesizer, while Wayne Henderson and Wilton Felder keep the crisp horn charts popping throughout. Stix Hooper was, at the time, the best soul-jazz drummer in the business with the possible exception of Idris Muhammad.

The work of Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung (b. 1942) represents one of the more successful attempts to accomplish a musical integration of East and West, resulting in a style that is uniquely his own. In general, Ung's music is resplendent with lush romantic harmonies, rhythmic complexities, and lyrical melodic passages, an amalgamation that, together with his own idiosyncratic compositional technique, has evolved over the course of time.

The young Tippett – magpie and maverick – sought maximum intensity of feeling while shunning what he felt to be the sentimental fervour of Elgar, Bax and Walton. Equally abhorrent were the pastoral pieties of Vaughan Williams. Tippett took his stand with Blake and Yeats rather than Bunyan, and a Blake whose “bow of burning gold” required something altogether less complacent than Parry’s well upholstered jingoism.

Sea of Light was the 19th album for British progressive rock group Uriah Heep. It is well regarded by fans and the songs have remained part of the band's live set to this day. Bassist Trevor Bolder sings lead on "Fear Of Falling" and delivers 4 songs for this album, as many as on the predecessor "Different World", a count he never reaches before and after. Roger Dean was responsible for the sleeve painting, his third for Uriah Heep.

Barbara Conrad - Spirituals
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 217 MB | Full Artwork: 82 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Naxos # 8.553036 | Country/Year: Europe 1995
Genre: Classical, World, Folk | Style: Vocal, Sacred

The distinguished American mezzo-soprano Barbara Conrad has appeared regularly with the Metropolitan Opera since her début as Azucena in Il trovatore. She has appeared at the same opera-house in Der Rosenkavalier and Les Troyens, both also telecast, in Porgy and Bess, L'enfant et les sortilèges and Aida. A native of Texas, Barbara Conrad has been active with the University of Texas at Austin, where she was awarded the prestigious Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award, and enjoys an international career in opera that has taken her to the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, to Frankfurt and to Cologne, and to major opera-houses in America, with concert engagements in Europe and the Americas and recordings that include her performance as Gertrude in the Hamlet of Ambroise Thomas with Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge.

Once again Steve Turre has shown his style and ability by making an album that is entertaining to all. Turre not only shows his technical ability, but he shows his usual graceful and easing style. He also has great guest performances. The list includes Randy Brecker, J. J. Johnson, John Faddis, and many others. While Turre's seeming obsession with the conchshell provides the listener with a very soothing and natural sound at times, occasionally he can leave the listener wishing he would pick up his trombone. This album is a must have for anyone who values the beauty of the trombone, or the intricacies of good jazz.

Hard Rock Power House Masters TESLA are back with a new album "Simplicity" out in Europe in June on Frontiers. The Sacramento rockers are back with 14 new songs offering a ride of energy that doesn't come easy for a band of rookies much less a band whose been doing this for over 20 years. "Simplicity" is TESLA's seventh all-original studio album which follows a six-year creative break from the release of the previous album, "Forever More".