Will Spring Forgive?

For the hardcore Britten fan on your list, the 10-disc set called Britten conducts Britten is the perfect gift solution. They'll no doubt already have the classic recording of Britten conducting the War Requiem, his choral-orchestral masterpiece. But unless they collect old LPs, they probably won't have most of the rest of the recordings on these CDs including the odd but intense religious cantatas The Burning Fiery Furnace, The Prodigal Son, and Noye's Fludde; the even odder but still totally convincing children's opera The Little Sweep; and all the Christmas music, especially Saint Nicholas. How could any hardcore Britten fans resist?

Igor Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971) is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential composers of the 20th century. The New Stravinsky Complete Edition (30 CD box set), the most complete survey of the composer’s works ever compiled, has been released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.

Igor Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971) is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential composers of the 20th century. The New Stravinsky Complete Edition (30 CD box set), the most complete survey of the composer’s works ever compiled, has been released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.

For several years, decades in fact, a lost gem issued originally not just in the US but in the UK as well (and our vinyl pressings were always much better than their US counterparts), on Chrysalis records who, for a while, had some very good material in this genre, for example the two Auracle albums (and wouldn't lots of us like to get those on CD). But finally it's now reappeared on CD and how very nice it is to be reacquainted with it in that format. Anyway, this album ~ his second, as far as I know ~ features a host of jazz luminaries of the day (Hancock, Erskine, Pastorius, Carlton, Ritenour, Gadd, etc.) and its only failing is its mildly raw upper registers, though thankfully there are no vocals to pollute the proceedings and Jaco Pastorius' electric bass work is of truly sterling calibre. On this album, if anywhere, you can hear why he was held in such very high esteem by his contemporaries.

A masterful stride pianist, a playful vocalist, and an influential jazz figure who was enormously popular in the '30s and '40s.
Not only was Fats Waller one of the greatest pianists jazz has ever known, he was also one of its most exuberantly funny entertainers - and as so often happens, one facet tends to obscure the other. His extraordinarily light and flexible touch belied his ample physical girth; he could swing as hard as any pianist alive or dead in his classic James P. Johnson-derived stride manner, with a powerful left hand delivering the octaves and tenths in a tireless, rapid, seamless stream. Waller also pioneered the use of the pipe organ and Hammond organ in jazz…

Pat Boone - The Fifties Complete (1953-1959) {12CD Set Bear Family BCD15884 rel 1997}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.66 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.83 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 1.48 Gb | 5% repair rar
© 1953-59, 1997 Bear Family Records | BCD 15 884 LK
Pop / Early Pop / Rock'n'Roll / Ballad / Vocal

This 12-CD box set containing 347 songs – Pat Boone's entire 1950s recorded output, including over 80 previously unissued tracks – deserves an honest, open-minded, and thorough examination. Listeners may like or dislike Pat Boone's early R&B hits – "Two Hearts," "Ain't That a Shame," "Tutti Frutti," etc. – but it is important to remember that those songs comprise but a very small part of his 1950s recorded output and demonstrate one side only of his amazing versatility.