Karen Hand

Karen Carroll has plenty of opportunity to strut her stuff on her debut, Had My Fun. Unlike many contemporary blues albums, which are highly polished blasts of blues-rock, Had My Fun takes its time. Many of the songs are torchy slow blues or down and dirty Chicago blues – either way, they sound natural, never forced. That's appropriate, since Carroll sings like a natural, caressing the ballads and growling the nastier numbers. Best of all, there's actual grit in the production – four of the songs were recorded live – and that allows Carroll to achieve her full potential on this impressive debut.

Mozart’s sole bassoon concerto dates from 1774. As the booklet points out, every bassoonist plays it at some time, and most seem to harbour an ambition to record it. I have come to regard the results as a very special test of a player’s musicianship. A technically proficient but dull performance will leave you wondering why you bothered to spend a quarter of an hour with such tedious music, whereas in the hands of a player with real imagination and energy it can be a most exhilarating experience.