Adams 2019

The Naughton sisters celebrate the glorious, exuberant sound of music for two pianists with a programme of American compositions. John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine” provides an explosive opening before Paul Schoenfield’s extraordinary homage to American popular music, Five Days from the Life of a Manic-Depressive, with its joyful highs and quieter contemplations. The restless, helter-skelter Sonatina by Conlon Nancarrow preludes Copland’s evocative portrait of a Mexican dance hall, “El salón Mexico”, beautifully and intimately arranged by Leonard Bernstein. And Copland’s “Variations on a Shaker Melody”, extracted from his orchestral suite Appalachian Spring, provides a gentler note to end the Naughtons’ colourful and skilfully performed love letter to their homeland.

Reckless is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Released on 5 November 1984 through A&M Records, the album was co-produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain, and it was arguably Adams' most successful solo album. The album was a huge international hit, selling over five million units in the United States alone and twelve million worldwide. It was the first Canadian album to sell more than one million units within Canada. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 and reached high positions on album charts worldwide.

Herbert Howells’s style, immediately recognisable for its long melodic lines, rhapsodic nature and rich harmonies, defined the sound of English cathedral music in the 20th century. His studies in London imbued his works with sophistication and a French influence, which were intertwined with a nostalgic ‘heart-ache’ for the ‘real Gloucestershire’, as can be heard in String Quartet No.3. The charming little character stories in Lady Audrey’s Suite tell of countryside and church, while the Piano Quartet in A minor is dedicated ‘To the Hill at Chosen and Ivor Gurney who knows it’, portraying a favourite local vantage point at different seasons as well as poignantly remembering a lost friendship.

Heart & Soul is a compilation album by American blues musician Johnny Adams. Released in 1969 by SSS International, the record was produced by Shelby Singleton and contains much of Adams' 1960s output. Heart & Soul largely blends 1960s gospel, soul, pop, blues, country and funk. "Georgia Morning Dew" has been described as "bouncy country-funk" that provides a "giddy, melancholy counterpart to Adams' throaty proclamations." In 2013, Tucson Weekly called Heart & Soul a collection of Adams' finest work, writing, "As a compilation, Heart & Soul is replete with Adams' astonishingly full-bellied soul—searching and salutatory, dramatic and light—fitting comfortably alongside such classics of the form as Songs in the Key of Life, Going to a Go-Go, What's Going On, and Otis Blue."

Avid Jazz presents four classic Pepper Adams albums, including original liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. “Jazzmen Detroit”; “Critics’ Choice”; “Pepper Adams Quintet” and “10 to 4 At The 5 Spot”.
It’s official… Detroit Swings! And here’s “Jazzmen Detroit” to prove it! Kenny Burrell on guitar, Tommy Flanagan on piano, Pepper Adams on baritone sax, Paul Chambers on bass and Kenny Clarke on drums. All but Clarke are Detroit men and all have come together from their respective day jobs, like Pepper Adams from the Stan Kenton band, Tommy Flanagan from Miles, Kenny Clarke from Hampton Hawes…

Composer David Arnold’s soundtrack to the highly anticipated TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 comic fable that packs a punch…