Jared Thomas Cocka

Mythologies is Thomas Bangalter’s first independent orchestral work. Initially commissioned by the choreographer Angelin Preljocaj for the ballet of the same name and premiered by the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine under the direction of Romain Dumas, Mythologies sees the co-founder of Daft Punk reinventing his approach to composition.

Ray was a founder member of The Moody Blues, a band whose legacy and classic albums need no introduction. He was a musical pioneer, introducing the flute into the context of a rock band before such luminaries as Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. Ray’s contribution to the Moody Blues was immense, and when the band went on a hiatus in the mid-70s, Ray recorded two solo albums for the band’s Threshold label: “From Mighty Oaks” and “Hopes, Wishes and Dreams”.

Baroque works for oboe have long been fertile ground for transcription to the trumpet and there are several examples here of this refashioning. The sequence of concertos and sonatas include examples from Handel’s Italian years, and from Johann Gottfried Stölzel, who was strongly influenced by Vivaldi. Telemann’s marvellously inventive Concerto in D major is performed on the modern flugelhorn. In addition, there is the only known surviving work from Johann Michael Fasch, younger brother of the more famous Johann Friedrich.

Rene Thomas was a Belgian guitarist who hoped to make it big on the international jazz scene following his move to Paris and a flurry of recording activity in the 1950s and early 1960s, though his goal ultimately eluded him. This CD in Verve's Jazz in Paris reissue series combines two separate dates originally made for Barclay and Polydor. For the most part, Thomas' approach to the guitar is rather laid back, particularly in his spacious arrangement to "All the Things You Are."

On this album from 1963, Thomas led a quintet featuring saxophonist and flutist Jacques Pelzer, organist Lou Bennett, bassist Gilbert Rovere and drummer Charles Bellonzi. Thomas' sound in the early 1960s was ambitious, robust and modern, with enormous optimism built in. He employed a spirited technique that never gave hint that a pick was being used on the strings. Imagine a woodpecker hammering away on a rubber tree. Add Bennett's organ, and the group's sound was remarkably cool and distinctly European - swift but never frantic.
The album opens with Meeting, an up-tempo, catchy swinger that today would be perfect for a radio-show opener. If You Were the Only Girl in the World is another swinger that displays Thomas' graceful attack…

Carla Thomas was more than deserving of her title "The Queen of Memphis Soul," but she was hardly oblivious to the sleeker, more pop-influenced sweet soul and uptown soul coming out of Detroit, Philadelphia and Chicago. One of her strongest albums, The Queen Alone isn't the work of someone who took a Memphis-only approach, but of someone who was well aware of what Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Martha Reeves and others were up to. What's surprising is the fact that this album contains only two hits: the playful "Something Good (Is Going to Happen to You)," which made it to number 29 on Billboard's soul singles chart, and the idealistic, gospel-influenced ballad and number 11 R&B single "I'll Always Have Faith in You"…