Joy Williams

This album represents the culmination of what leading British baritone Roderick Williams described as ‘a dream come true’. It features premiere recordings of his orchestrations of songs by Vaughan Williams and other composers associated with him and is released to commemorate those who perished in WWI.

While this album suffers from execrable reputation (some of it deserved), it's not quite as bad as what some reviewers would have you believe. While the music here is obviously affected by some trends of its time, this alone isn't necessarily a bad thing. The entire fusion movement had moved on that direction anyway - Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Herbie Hancock, you name it - so, as a result, we get some funky fusion jams with some melodic parts. Definitely needs rehabilitation among some "fans"

A stunning 12-CD box set, Beethoven Unbound, will be released to mark the completion of Llŷr Williams’ monumental Beethoven cycle at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) – recorded live at Wigmore Hall over three years and nine recitals.

Andy Kirk's Twelve Clouds of Joy was a top-notch Kansas City swing band that, by 1939, featured the pop vocals of Pha Terrell, the more blues-oriented singing of June Richmond, creative arrangements by Mary Lou Williams, and some excellent soloing from pianist Williams and Dick Wilson on tenor. Most memorable in this entry in Classics' "complete" Andy Kirk CD series are "Floyd's Guitar Blues" (an odd but pioneering electric guitar feature for Floyd Smith), "Wham" and "Scratching In the Gravel."