Homer's Secret Iliad Kenneth Wood

Beautiful, flawless performance by Kenneth Gilbert of a hitherto unknown work, one that deserves far more promimence in the body of Baroque keyboard music that is performed, recorded, and heard today. While there have been numerous recordings of the opera ballet itself, hearing the harpsichord transcriptions is a rare treasure trove.

Kenneth Gilbert has been a leading early music keyboard specialist for decades. His 1975 recording of the French Suites represents "Basic Bach" in the best sense: no frills or intervention, just a respectful adherence to the music in order to convey the emotional content. With unerring accuracy, Gilbert strikes to the essence of each movement. Given exceptional sonics for the time, this is a version that most folks should find highly satisfying. Essentially, Gilbert is a most reliable guide into Bach's sound-world.

Kenneth Gilbert is one of today's most outstanding harpsichordists. On this recording of works by J.S. Bach, he uses two different instruments by a modern maker based on period examples. The difference in the sound accentuates the contrasts between the two large-scale works and the more intimate pieces.

Everyone who has sat at a piano stool at a tender age will find old friends amongst the pieces comprising this delightful anthology. Kenneth Gilbert has arranged his programme in four parts. First he plays the eight Preludes, BWV924-31, of the Clavier-Buchlein which Bach compiled in 1720 for his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, then aged ten; he follows these with the Six Little Preludes, BWV933-8, and five further Preludes, BWV939-43. A sixth in C minor, BWV999, is also included but was evidently intended for lute.

Recorded over the course of a series of freewheeling, improvisatory sessions, ‘Kingdom In My Mind’ is The Wood Brothers’ seventh studio release and their most spontaneous and experimental collection yet. A testament to the limitless creativity of the unharnessed mind, the record explores the power of our external surroundings to shape our internal worlds (and vice versa), reckoning with time, mortality, and human nature. The songs here find strength in accepting what lies beyond our control, thoughtfully honing in on the bittersweet beauty that underlies our pain and sadness with vivid character studies and unflinching self-examination. Deep as the lyrics dig, the arrangements always manage to remain buoyant and light, though, drawing from across a broad sonic spectrum to create a transportive, effervescent blend that reflects the trio’s unique place in the modern musical landscape.

The gargantuan, galumphing Super Active Wizzo band out of his system, Roy Wood returned to the light, sunny oldies of Eddy & the Falcons with 1979's On the Road Again. As the title makes clear, On the Road Again is Roy Wood's version of a road album, the kind of record that was created on the road to be played on the road – that would be true if Wood were a conventional musician, but he's not, as this was not supported by a large tour and didn't even see a release in his native U.K. Therefore, this record is merely the yin to Super Active Wizzo's yang, a record that is about pop songs instead of instrumental interplay.