Keith Simpson

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.

Celebrating 50 Years Of The Who’s Tommy. Performed by Roger Daltrey, with members of The Who band and the orchestra conducted by Keith Levenson with orchestration from David Campbell. 24 track live album recorded in Budapest and Bethel in upstate New York, the scene of the first Woodstock festival 50 years ago, was produced by Roger and Keith Levenson and features the core band of Simon Townshend – Vocals / Guitar, Frank Simes – Guitar, Scott Devours – Drums, Jon Button – Bass, and Loren Gold – keyboards, all of whom have played with The Who live. Keith Levenson conducted The Budapest Scoring Orchestra from new orchestrations by David Campbell.

Although it's difficult for those who weren't there to believe, for a short time during late 1965 and early 1966 the popularity of this singing quartet from Australia was sufficient to rival the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Seekers were at the head of the British Invasion's acoustic folk-rock division, right there with Peter & Gordon and Chad & Jeremy but without the personal Beatles connection of the former, and more successful than either they scored a string of number one hits in England and Top Ten successes in the U.S. that lasted into 1967, two years later than most of the rest of the British exports to America.

The multi-talented Quincy Jones has excelled at idiomatic combinations in his albums since the '60s, when his mix-and-match soundtracks for television and films alerted everyone that he'd switched from a pure jazz mode to a populist trend. Q's Jook Joint blends the latest in hip-hop-flavored productions with sleek urban ballads, vintage standards, and derivative pieces; everything's superbly crafted, though few songs are as exciting in their performance or daring in their conception as past Jones epics like Gula Matari or the score from Roots…
Ron Wynn, All Music Guide.