The People’s Friend – September 05, 2020

This is the sixth set in this comprehensive and excellent Handel edition from Warner. This volume deals with an important oratorio in the shape of "Saul" as well as the "Utrecht Te Deum" and the famous "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day" and "Alexander's Feast", another splendid cantata. The recordings date from the early 1970's to 1990 and come from the prolific Teldec stable under the indefatigable Nikolaus Harnoncourt who conducts in his exemplary no nonsense fashion. "Saul' is a fine interpretation although I still feel that John Eliot Gardiner comes to the core of the work better. "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day' is also given a pomp and circumstance treatment whilst the Utrecht Te Deum is winningly done. The team of soloists is also very good and the recordings are fine and well balanced in proper Teldec tradition.

It is with a mixture of pride and sorrow that Smoke Sessions Records announces the release of Harold Mabern’s Mabern Plays Mabern on March 20th. Pride because Mabern’s 27th recording as a leader, culled from the same three January 2018 nights that generated his 26th, The Iron Man: Live At Smoke, documents the master pianist, then 81, in prime form, functioning as an inspired soloist, attentive accompanist, melodic interpreter, and crafty tunesmith. Sorrow because the release is posthumous — Harold Mabern died on September 17, 2019, at the age of 83.

The hidden masterpiece that could rewrite Australian Progressive Rock history Aragon's "The Suite."
In 1975, a strange album that pressed only 50 copies without even an outer sleeve was released quietly. It was the only album by Snakes Alive, a band with a unique combination of guitar, drums, bass, keyboards, woodwinds and trumpet. About 25 years later, when its pirated CD was released, people were amazed at the high level of performance by unknown musicians and the complex, well-designed structure of a mix of Progressive Rock and Jazz. There are countless minor bands that have disappeared leaving only one album in the form of a private pressing, but Snakes Alive’s album was on a different level from those of mediocre minor ones. Despite this high level of musical quality, due to the very small amount of pressings, their music did not reach a larger audience and the band disappeared into history…

One of the most celebrated singer/songwriters of her generation, Lucinda Williams was also a fiercely independent artist who had to fight for the creative freedom that allowed her to do her best work. The daughter of a well-respected poet, Williams brought a literacy and sense of detail to her work that was unpretentious but powerfully evocative and emotional, which led to a number of major artists covering her tunes while she was still establishing herself as a performer. As a vocalist, Williams used the rough edges of her instrument to her advantage, allowing the grit of her voice to heighten the authenticity of her performance.

In the mid-1970s, Andrew Gold’s skills as a musician and an arranger were ubiquitious, appearing on some of the biggest records of the decade by artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkel, and James Taylor. By 1977, he had reached the Billboard Top 10 as an artist and writer with his self penned hit, “Lonely Boy.” In the mid ’80s and early ’90s, Andrew’s song “Thank You For Being A Friend” was used as the theme for the hugely successful NBC-TV sitcom The Golden Girls. From 1992–1999, Andrew was the TV theme voice of the Paul Reiser—Helen Hunt comedy starrer Mad About You and in 2019, Andrew’s “Spooky Scary Skeletons” found new life thanks to a viral dance craze on TikTok that has reached over 250 million people!

This is a stripped down version of The 7" Singles Box. The 7" Singles was designed as a collectable and was treated as such by its intended audience. Not long after its announcement, the wooden crate containing 80 vinyl 7" singles sold out its limited pressing of 3,000 units. Those who missed the boat – or were constrained by the high cost of admission – could enjoy the digital version, which trims a few duplicates and re-releases existing in the vinyl incarnation. Listening to the digital version of The 7" Singles is much easier than flipping sides on 80 different 45s, but the experience is much the same, as it's hard not to marvel at the breadth and scope of what McCartney achieved within the confines of a single for five different decades.