Hits Hits Hits … as far as the eye can see - The Dome once again presents the best the current charts have to offer.
Celebration, John Williams' 2012 release on Decca, is a double-disc sampler of his recordings from the 1980s with the Boston Pops Orchestra that also serves as a kind of snapshot album of the conductor and composer. The first disc is entirely devoted to film music, and Williams' popular scores are well-represented by excerpts from Star Wars, E.T., Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Williams shares the limelight with other prolific film composers, notably Max Steiner and Henry Mancini, and the longest track, Pops Salutes the Oscars, is an evocative medley of familiar movie themes, including "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Moon River," "The Way We Were," and "The Shadow of Your Smile."…
The second of flugelhornist Art Farmer's two Concord albums is the equal of his first. For this Concord outing, the mellow-toned brassman performs four standards (including "Moose the Mooche," "Three Little Words" and the title cut) along with selections from Fred Hersch (who plays piano on this quartet outing), Tommy Flanagan and Benny Golson. With fine support from bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Akira Tana, Art Farmer is heard in prime form, playing in his appealing lyrical bop style.