Bravo Sport From 8 September 2016

Dave Hollister's first album for the Shanachie label, the follow-up to 2014's Chicago Winds…The Saga Continues, was released after the singer had rejoined Blackstreet, and as he was preparing to perform in a stage adaptation of Love Jones. Considering all his activity, there's reason to be a little skeptical about The MANuscript, an album recorded during six days – a blip in time by the 2010s standard. Nonetheless, there's no evidence here that Hollister spread himself too thin, or even an impression that he rushed through his eight proper solo album. As with his best work, Hollister carries himself with easy-going, modest certitude. The songwriting and production crew, including Candice Nelson, Balewa Muhammad, and Walter Millsap III, is pretty much the same one that worked on Angie Stone's Dream, a set highlighted by a Stone-Hollister duet.

Griot is a multinational rock band formed by musicians João Pascoal and Sérgio Ferreira in 2014. Griot's sound evokes a style of progressive rock that explores and creates different textures and soundscapes. "Gerald" is a concept album portraying the journey of Gerald, a man with many questions and fewer answers. It's an immersive journey about himself and something more, something grand, something new…

This simple celebratory cantata made Stradella a well-known theatrical personality. As opposed to using traditional recitative, Stradella incorporates string interludes interrupting the characters, which allowed them to express emotions during facial expressions and movement, a novelty during the Baroque era. The Concerto Madrigalesco performs these works extraordinarily with historical performance practices.