George Michael

The first recordings of choral masterpieces by Britten, performed by the dedicatees and newly reissued in a unique compilation.

Still relatively unknown nearing the end of the 1970s, this talented violinist turned to George Duke to produce, arrange and hopefully reach some ears. The result for the most part is enjoyable but unremarkable jazz-pop-soul. On tunes like "The Red Planet," though, he's right there with the glory days of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Billy Cobham. It suggests what might have been for White before Jean-Luc Ponty staked out the high ground on the jazz violin landscape.

5 key Columbia albums from George Duke – presented here in these cool little LP-styled covers. 52 tracks in all.

DreamWeaver marks George Duke's return to recording after a three-year silence, and his first since the death of his wife Corine in 2012. While he is always diverse, this set is uncommonly so. The opener, a slippery, atmospheric title intro, flows directly into the Latin-tinged "Stones of Orion," a jazz tune with Duke on piano, Rhodes, and synths, Stanley Clarke on upright bass, and a four-piece horn section. It's shimmering groove-oriented jazz that reflects the time that Duke spent with Cannonball Adderley. "Trippin'" is a funky, jazzed-up R&B tune where he offers his autobiography; it features some fine muted trumpet work by Michael Patches Stewart. "Missing You" is a jazz ballad tribute to Corine, with the finest vocal Duke has laid down in a decade. But there's funk here, too, in the fat stomper "Ashtray."

The Sony/BMG Original Album Classics series brings together 5 CD's of rare and out of print titles with some best sellers from the Sony/BMG Rock catalog. Many of these albums have been unavailable on CD for some time and are sought after by collectors. Each set is presented in a high quality, rigid cardboard slipcase containing five vinyl replica mini LP sleeves. This 5 CD collection of original releases featuring George Duke includes the albums From Me To You, Reach For It, Don't Let Go, Follow The Rainbow, and A Brazilian Love Affair.

Giustino is the Baroque version of a ‘ripping yarn’. The eponymous hero rises from ploughboy to emperor via an action-packed curriculum vitae that has him seeing visions, routing traitors, fighting bears and even slaying a sea-monster! Written in the autumn of 1736, shortly after Handel had suffered a period of ill-health, Giustino is not among his greatest operas, but it is thoroughly entertaining and offers much fine music. Particularly felicitous are Giustino’s bucolic aria ‘Può ben nascere tra li boschi’ and Anastasio’s lovely ‘O fiero e rio sospetto’. The headlong pace leaves Handel little time to develop the more sensual, amorous side of his music. One exception – and the opera’s most entrancing interlude – is the ravishing love duet in Act II, superbly sung here by Dorothea Röschmann (Arianna) and Dawn Kotoski (Anastasio).

The Pavarotti and Friends Collection celebrates the internationally renowned charity concert series that brought together the world's greatest pop performers with the greatest international classical star, Luciano Pavarotti.