Mike Monford

After a tumultuous parting from his first label, Virgin, famed British new age artist/composer Mike Oldfield signed an extensive deal with Warner Bros which would carry him into the next millennium. His first act at Warner was to deliver 1992's Tubular Bells II, the instrumental sequel to his groundbreaking 1973 debut. Over the coming decade, he would release seven more albums with the label ranging in style from Celtic to worldbeat to dance-oriented music. The Studio Albums 1992-2003 includes all eight of his Warner releases in one affordable box set…

Zito's 16th album is descriptively titled Rock N Roll: A Tribute to Chuck Berry. This release finds him broadening his boundaries still further even as it marks a return to his roots. The album consists of 20 Chuck Berry classics performed by Zito and an impressive array of 21 guest guitarists, among them Joe Bonamassa, Walter Trout, Eric Gales, Robben Ford, Richard Fortus, Sonny Landreth, Luther Dickinson, Albert Castiglia, Anders Osborne, and, significantly, Chuck's grandson, Charlie Berry III.

In Dowland’s words: “ingenuous profession of Musicke, which from my childhoode I have ever aymed at,… the better to attain so excellent a science”. Mike Fentross achieves this “divine science of musicke” by wooing his audience by “speaking harmony” on his sweet lute. His art entwines harmony and poetry, albeit often a melancholic art, which is then framed by the proportions of rhythm. His art teaches, stirs and delights the heart and soul of his honorable listeners in profound ways. Mike Fentross first studied with Toyohiko Satoh at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, then with Nigel North and José Miguel Moreno.

Flynn's Place is another excellent collection of piledriving, good-time blues and boogie from Little Mike & the Tornadoes, featuring a fine selection of originals and smoking solos.

In 1973, Mike Oldfield burst onto the British music scene with his debut album Tubular Bells, two long instrumental suites in which Oldfield stitched together a series of melodies into a grandly scaled work in which he played the many instruments himself. The album was an audacious beginning to a career than saw him become one of the most respected artists in progressive rock, as well as a successful film composer. The Complete Mike Oldfield is a collection released in 1985 which features selections from his first ten solo albums, as well as highlights from his score for the film The Killing Fields.