Keith Simpson

2017 Grammy Nominees is a varied mix of the best releases of 2016, culled from the main nomination categories. From the Beyonce/Jack White collaboration "Don't Hurt Yourself" – her first nomination in the Best Rock Performance category – to darkhorse Sturgill Simpson's "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)," the selections on this 21-track compilation include a full range of genres. Kelsea Ballerini and Maren Morris represent the new generation of country singer/songwriters, while R&B newcomer Anderson.Paak and earnest Danish outfit Lukas Graham cover the pop-oriented end of the class of 2016. Ubiquitous hits from Twenty One Pilots, Sia, Drake, Adele, Justin Bieber, and the Chainsmokers are also included. The collection debuted in the Top 20 on the Billboard 200.

Bach was still writing The Art of Fugue at the time of his death. The work was intended to explore the possibilities of counterpoint, but Bach never wrote dry, academic music. It served its didactic purpose, but always there is warm humanity bursting from it. The Art of Fugue has been arranged for many musical groupings, and is always at best a guess at what Bach had in mind. What Robert Simpson has done here is to transpose the work so that it is playable by a string quartet. He does so without apology–Bach himself was a great transposer–and the results are totally convincing. Simpson knows a thing or two about string quartets (his own are well worth checking out), and he has breathed life into a work that is given a terrific performance here by the Delmé Quartet.

Roger Chapman is best known for his barbed-wire voice, used to front British '70s rock acts Family and Streetwalkers. He began a long-awaited solo career in 1978 that led to over a dozen full-length releases. Never heard of them? It's not surprising: album-wise, he camped out in Germany for 20 years. His first album and tour got high praise in his British homeland, but critics cut into him soon after. When the hassle-free German market beckoned, Chapman began to focus his subsequent work there, where he had become a musical hero, "the working-class artist." Chapman split with his longtime writing partner, Charlie Whitney, after the breakup of Streetwalkers in 1977.