Martin Rev

It's unsurprising that If the Jasmine Don't Get You the Bay Breeze Will, with its six extended folk-rock compositions, bears a strong resemblance to the late-'60s Capitol recordings by Neil himself, as Neil and Martin shared Nik Venet as a producer. The Neil parallels are even less unexpected given that Martin had sung with Neil as a duo in the mid-'60s (they recorded one LP for Elektra). The easygoing but emotional feel of the material and delivery is of a general piece with Neil's, but more laid-back and countrified. The loose, jazzy folk-rock feel of "Yonder Comes the Sun" bears some resemblance to late-'60s Tim Buckley as well. Martin's pleasant, high voice lacks the emotional depth of Neil's, but this remains a pleasant, if low-key, period folk-rock record. The Fred Neil similarity becomes especially prevalent on the concluding "Jasmine," a long, flowing folk-rock jam with hints of raga, much in the manner of some of the lengthier cuts on Neil's pair of Capitol studio albums.

Jephtha was the last full-length composition that Handel wrote. (The Triumph of Time and Truth of 1757 was almost entirely made up of pre-existing music.) Given this fact, and also that the actual writing of it was an inordinately laborious task for Handel as he fought with rapidly failing eyesight, it's incomparable depth of expression and personal commitment make the whole work a profound and magnificent conclusion to his life's output. Based on a story from Judges XI, it tells of Jephtha leading the Israelites against the Ammonites and his ultimate sacrifice.

For newcomers to the work of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, this generous two-disc collection of performances from EMI's archive would be a good place to start exploring. The authoritative Pärt performances would probably be the premiere releases on ECM, produced by Manfred Eicher, but these performances are all of a very high quality and there is a handful of works that ECM has never recorded. Pärt's most famous works are here; there are three versions each of the ever-popular Fratres (for violin and piano, string orchestra and harp, and string quartet) and Summa (for mixed voices, string orchestra, and string quartet), as well as the version of Spiegel in Spiegel for violin and piano, Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten for string orchestra and bell, and the concerto for two violins and prepared piano, Tabula rasa.