Andrew George

George Clarke explores the extraordinary world of small builds, where people turn tiny spaces into the most incredible places to live, work and play. He even tries making one of his own. For many the dream of having a bolt hole or a place to escape from their hectic lives can seem unobtainable. Architect George Clarke shows how such big dreams can be achieved in small and affordable places.

The Bass Groove Survival Guide will indeed feed you for a lifetime. This extraordinary learning experience for bass players imparts a sense of groove without relying on technical explanations or tedious theory to work through. Rather, you will play your way through a series of 72 groove studies working with rhythm tracks and video playalongs across a wide variety of popular styles of music; Reggae, Shuffle, Country, Salsa, Samba, Bossa, R&B, Motown, Rock and Jazz. Learn to groove in these six styles and you'll be able to step into any gig, do the job, and get invited back time and time again.

Composer, arranger, producer, educator and monster bass player, Andrew Ford's groove pedigree features recordings, tours and performances with the likes of Al Jarreau, Whitney Houston, Robben Ford, Chaka Khan, George Duke, Gladys Knight, James Ingram, Patti Austin, Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, The Emotions, The Stylistics, Larry Carlton, Oleta Adams and so many other world-class musicians that it makes your head spin. Nobody on the planet is better qualified than Andrew Ford to present this Bass Groove Survival Guide.

Early music specialists are still working through the wealth of Handel operas that began coming more to light in the late 20th century. Flavio, Rè di Longobardi remains one of his more obscure works. Its musical variety and richness make it a piece that deserves more attention and this excellent recording in Chandos' series of Baroque operas featuring Christian Curnyn and Early Opera Company makes a strong case for it. The plot, like that of many of Handel's operas, is convoluted to the point of being indecipherable, but each of the characters is carefully drawn. These singers invest each one with an incisive dramatic distinctiveness, and their voices are different enough that here is never in doubt as to which characters are singing. Curnyn leads a superb cast in an elegant performance.

Handel wrote incidental music for only one play, Tobias Smollett's Alceste, and it was never produced, so the composer, characteristically, recycled most of its major numbers. In this recording, Christian Curnyn and the Early Opera Company deliver a distinguished account of the rarely performed or recorded complete score. Written in 1750, late in Handel's career, it is clearly the work of the composer at the height of his powers, and many of its numbers deserve broader exposure. The soprano aria "Gentle Morpheus" is easily among the loveliest the composer ever wrote, and Lucy Crowe sings it with ravishing sensuality. Crowe's luminous singing in her three arias is one of the highlights of the album. Tenor Benjamin Hulett, whose part is given the bulk of the solos, performs with agility and lightness.