John Rogers

This eight-disc set includes odes and theater pieces; and Gardiner's performances are more than excellent. He synthesizes the spare delicacy and ceremonial grandeur of Purcell's music in performances that are very satisfying.

A northern California-based blues guitarist, Roy Rogers works firmly out of a Delta blues acoustic style and is particularly good with a slide. A member of John Lee Hooker's '80s Coast to Coast Band, Rogers produced and played on Hooker's Grammy-winning comeback album, The Healer, and its follow-up, Mr. Lucky. During the early '70s, Rogers played with a variety of Bay Area bar bands. In 1976, he and harpist David Burgin recorded A Foot in the Door, which was released on Waterhouse Records. For the next few years, he played in various bands before he formed his own, the Delta Rhythm Kings, in 1980.

Blues on the Range is a nice, but not particularly noteworthy, set of traditional blues. What makes the album worth a listen is Roy Rogers' facility as a slide player - he can make his guitar sing. However, the quality of the songs and performances are slightly uneven, making it only of interest to die-hard fans.
A northern California-based blues guitarist, Roy Rogers works firmly out of a Delta blues acoustic style and is particularly good with a slide. A member of John Lee Hooker's '80s Coast to Coast Band, Rogers produced and played on Hooker's Grammy-winning comeback album, The Healer, and its follow-up, Mr. Lucky. During the early '70s, Rogers played with a variety of Bay Area bar bands…

This recording of Monteverdi's retelling of the Orpheus legend may not be as fine overall as John Eliot Gardiner's, but it has much to recommend it. Nigel Rogers was the first great modern Monteverdi tenor: he made this record after his prime, but his virtuoso passage-work and stylish ornaments should be required listening for every student of the role. The cast, chorus, and orchestra give solid, if occasionally reserved, performances (though Guillemette Laurens is a shrill Messenger). The best singing of the entire record is (perhaps unfortunately) at the beginning: Emma Kirkby's sweet voice, imaginative embellishment, and eloquent delivery as Music result in absolutely the best rendition of the Prologue on record.