Michael Wood

Michael d'Abo first rose to prominence in British rock through his assumption of a most unenviable task, succeeding Paul Jones as lead singer in Manfred Mann – the group's own record label, EMI, was so persuaded of the unlikelihood that anyone could replace him, that they dropped the band from the roster. He proved up to the challenge, however, and across the four decades since, has remained a busy and well-known musical figure, in rock and in music in general.

In an album that includes world-premiere recordings, Michael Waldron and the London Choral Sinfonia perform Francis Grier’s modern-day Passion, Sword in the Soul, to texts by Rowan Williams narrated by Simon Callow, Samantha Bond and Adrian Peacock. Alongside Grier’s Sword in the Soul, we hear Lux Eterna, the profoundly moving choral setting of Elgar’s famous ‘Nimrod’ from his Enigma Variations, as well as a rarely-heard piece by Elgar recorded only once before: the intensely poignant We Will Remember Them, a beautiful and simple a cappella arrangement of a famous text. The album also features music by contemporary composer David Bednall, and LCS’s Composer in Residence Owain Park.

Six years after its initial appearance, Ronnie Wood's fifth solo album, Slide on This, is reissued by KOCH International in a deluxe package. There is one bonus track, a remixed version of the leadoff song, "Somebody Else Might," but the real draw to this version of the album is the 56-page booklet packaged with it, which contains examples of Wood's painting. He takes as his subjects his fellow members of the Rolling Stones, along with other musical peers such as Pete Townshend and Keith Moon of the Who, the Edge from U2 (who contributes some guitar work to the album), and Bob Dylan, as well as music legends like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison, and even a few animal portraits.