Dar He: The Lynching of Emmett Till

Christmas Oratorio is topical, it’s also universal. It doesn’t require lights or tinsel or presents under the tree to instruct, inspire, and/or entertain, especially if it is presented in as fine a performance as this one fashioned by Stephen Layton and his cohort. Layton is the director of music at Trinity College, Cambridge (having succeeded Richard Marlow), and his choir is top-notch, as is the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, mercifully identified as OAE. OAE’s roster is rife with such familiar names from the period instruments movement as Margaret Faultless (who is just that here) and Alison Bury. To mention Anthony Robson, oboe, and David Blackadder, trumpet, is not to slight any of the other players.

The GRAMMY award-winning sextet, Earls of Leicester, have returned with a triumphant live album. Taped over two nights at Nashville's historic Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the robust 23-song set, features 14 new recordings, and fan favorites from their two previous studio albums. The all-star outfit of Jerry Douglas, Shawn Camp, Barry Bales, Johnny Warren, Charlie Cushman, and Jeff White bring the Foggy Mountain Boys to life, capturing a night of pure Flatt & Scruggs magic.

This cd contains one of the best performances of Telemann's well-known A Minor Suite for recorder and strings. Sarah Cunningham is a fine recorder player, and Monica Hugget plays first violin and directs the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, who play on period instruments. The strings play with very little or no vibratto, which might sound a bit dry to some listeners, but the elegance and precision of this band will win over many others. The A Minor Concerto for recorder is also given an enjoyable performance, but the remaining pieces, a Suite in D for Viola da gamba, and a Sinfonia in F for recorder and gamba are less pleasing, mainly because the gamba playing of Marion Verbruggen is somewhat less than exciting.

The Broken Cloud is a true psychedelic experience.
This progressive-rock epic takes cues from bands such as Yes, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd. It grips you with music from both near and far, old and new, and from somewhere all-together different. From it's opening brigade of guitars, Hammond organ, and choral vocals, to its strange-even terrifying-marriages of Psychedelic Rock, Dark Ambience, Electronic Dance Music, Bluegrass, and Robert Johnson-esq Blues… You'll never be sure what's coming next! …and when the end is finally at hand you'll be lifted up into a thematic emotional high that you won't soon forget…