100 Tracks From The Fabulous

John R. Cash was an American singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and author. He was one of the most imposing and influential figures in post-World War II country music. With his deep, resonant baritone and spare percussive guitar, he had a basic, distinctive sound. Cash didn't sound like Nashville, nor did he sound like honky tonk or rock & roll. He created his own subgenre, falling halfway between the blunt emotional honesty of folk, the rebelliousness of rock & roll, and the world-weariness of country. This crossover appeal won Cash the rare honor of being inducted into the Country Music, Rock and Roll, and Gospel Music Halls of Fame. This box includes 20 original albums from 1958 to 1986: "The Fabulous Johnny Cash", "Hymns By Johnny Cash", "Songs of our Soil", "Now, there was a Song", "Ride this Train", "I Walk the Line", "Bitter Tears", "Orange Blossom Special", "Sings the ballads of the true West", "Everybody loves a Nut", "From sea to shining Sea", "At Folsom Prison", "At San Quentin", "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash", "The Johnny Cash Show", "A thing called Love", "John R. Cash", "One piece at a Time", "Johnny 99", and "Heroes".

Antonín Dvorák famously complained about the sound of the cello, but if he had heard this album by Swiss-born cellist Christian Poltéra and his wonderfully sympathetic British accompanist Kathryn Stott, he might have written more for the instrument. Most of the music here was transcribed for cello and piano by Poltéra himself, with a couple of small Dvorák originals and two transcriptions by the composer rounding out the program. Poltéra has an extraordinary way with Dvorák's melodies, which require a distinctive kind of tempo flexibility: not full-fledged tempo rubato, but something of the caressing delivery of the café singer.

On Nuevo, a collection of music from Mexico spanning nearly 100 years, Kronos Quartet presents a kaleidoscopic view of a music as diverse as the culture of the country itself. On each track, the group’s sound is transformed, through the collaborative efforts of co-producers Gustavo Santaolalla, the noted Argentinean musician and Rock en Español producer, longtime Kronos producer Judith Sherman, and Kronos Artistic Director David Harrington, as well as through arrangements by composers Osvaldo Golijov, Stephen Prutsman, and Ricardo Gallardo, whose efforts serve to reflect the individual spirit and character of each song.