James Bailey

James Levine's is a more recent entry in the realm of Dutchman recordings, and sonically the recording is absolutely stunning, with great attention having been paid to the recording process. The casting for this Metropolitan Opera effort is also uniformly first rate, even in the less grateful roles of the hapless Erik, sung by the impressive Ben Heppner, and the scolding nurse, Mary, sung by Birgitta Svendén. Morris's brooding Dutchman is hard to match on any other available recording, and Deborah Voigt is a ravishing Senta. The chorus work is quite good, though not quite as rich as that heard in the Solti/Chicago recording. Overall, Levine does a workmanlike job of conducting these impressive forces, though there are passages in which his tempi seem to drag. This recording is a must for anyone who needs a completely up to date version of Wagner's first major opera.

“Continuation” is the first solo album which Earth Wind & Fire vocalist Philip Bailey made in 1983 for CBS. After the release of the album Electric Universe, EW&F took a break so Bailey had time to work on his solo career. The album was produced by George Duke and it features musical contributions from crème de la crème musicians such as Nathan East on bass, James Gadson and Ricky Lawson on Drums and Paulinho da Costa on percussion. George Duke himself plays the keyboards and the horn arrangements are from Jerry Hey & the Seawind horn selection.