Dark Angel 1990

Jephtha was the last full-length composition that Handel wrote. (The Triumph of Time and Truth of 1757 was almost entirely made up of pre-existing music.) Given this fact, and also that the actual writing of it was an inordinately laborious task for Handel as he fought with rapidly failing eyesight, it's incomparable depth of expression and personal commitment make the whole work a profound and magnificent conclusion to his life's output. Based on a story from Judges XI, it tells of Jephtha leading the Israelites against the Ammonites and his ultimate sacrifice.

Destruction is a German thrash metal band, formed in 1982. They are often credited as one of the "Big 4" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard. In addition to helping pioneer black metal by containing several elements of what was to become the genre, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the late 1980s, along with American bands Testament, Sacred Reich, Death Angel and Dark Angel…

Boasting fellow Chicago blues dynamo James Cotton on both harmonica and lead vocals, The Blues Never Die! is one of Otis Spann's most inspired albums. When this session was recorded for Prestige's Bluesville subsidiary in 1964, Spann was still best known for playing acoustic piano in Muddy Waters' band. But The Blues Never Die! (which Fantasy reissued on CD in 1990 on its Original Blues Classics imprint) shows that he was as great a leader as he was a sideman. From Willie Dixon's "I'm Ready" (a Chess gem Spann had played numerous times with Waters) and Elmore James' "Dust My Broom" to Cotton's spirited "Feelin' Good" and Spann's dark-humored "Must Have Been the Devil," Spann and Cotton enjoy a very strong rapport on this consistently rewarding date.