Dune

In 1965 Frank Herbert published Dune. After it was heralded as a masterpiece of science fiction, he wrote the briefer Dune Messiah in 1969, concentrating eponymously on Paul Atreides, and then, sensing the sales potential, added sequels. They were continued by his son, culminating in the just published finale, Sandworms of Dune. Now, 38 years after its publication, four narrators capture Dune Messiah on discs, while listeners, with no glossary, try to recall the meaning of its esoteric nomenclature. The audio gets off to a lively start as the book opens with nearly all conversation, playing up the camaraderie between the narrators who have partnered on several other readings of classic sci-fi novels. While the cast works well together, some of the male narrators emphasize a stately dullness. Kellgren, the sole feminine voice, supplies real emotion and a true sense of awe.

DUNE 3 builds on the award-winning DUNE 2 synthesizer, adding frequently requested features and innovative ideas, to create the best DUNE experience ever! DUNE 3 comes with many new patches crafted by expert sound designers. Since DUNE 3 is fully patch-compatible with DUNE 2, it includes its presets as well, doubling the factory library size to more than 1000 patches.

David Matthews is a keyboardist, pianist, and arranger. Matthews has composed television soundtracks as well as albums with the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra. In 1970, he began working as both an arranger and bandleader for James Brown. Matthews has worked with many musicians, including Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Rich, Idris Muhammad, and the Starland Vocal Band. He was staff arranger for Creed Taylor's CTI Records label in the mid-1970s, working on albums for artists such as George Benson, Esther Phillips, Grover Washington Jr., Hank Crawford, and Idris Muhammad. "Dune" is based on the Hugo award-winning novel, Dune, by Frank Herbert. Matthews has already had plenty of CTI arranging experience by the time of this set – but he really moves into some unusual space with the record – open, evocative tunes that really live up to their inspiration, but also have some of Dave's funky touches too. Matthews gets help from an all-star lineup of CTI players – including Grover Washington on reeds and Eric Gale on guitar.