Richard Shickel

Richard M. Jones was more important as a talent scout and an organizer of bands than as a pianist. This Classics CD features Jones as a soloist on two numbers from 1923 ("Jazzin' Babies Blues" and "12th Street Rag"); with the Chicago Hottentots backing the mediocre singer Lillie Delk Christian; playing with Nelson's Paramount Serenaders and Hightower's Night Hawks; and leading his own Jazz Wizards. Among the other players are clarinetist Albert Nicholas, banjoist Johnny St. Cyr, cornetist Shirley Clay, and trombonist Preston Jackson. Although the music is generally not all that classic, this formerly rare material has its strong moments and gives one a good example of middle-of-the-road Chicago jazz of the mid-'20s.

Thirty-two years after the fact, this live album presents a full-length version of the shows performed by Richard & Linda Thompson to promote their 1975 album Pour Down Like Silver, their third LP, following Hokey Pokey released earlier in 1975, and 1974's I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight. They are accompanied by John Kirkpatrick on accordion and concertina, Dave Pegg on bass, and Dave Mattacks on drums. The recordings have not been released previously, except for "Calvary Cross" and "It'll Be Me," which were included on Richard Thompson's 1976 compilation Guitar, Vocal, but which have been remixed for this album.

Thirty-two years after the fact, this live album presents a full-length version of the shows performed by Richard & Linda Thompson to promote their 1975 album Pour Down Like Silver, their third LP, following Hokey Pokey released earlier in 1975, and 1974's I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight. They are accompanied by John Kirkpatrick on accordion and concertina, Dave Pegg on bass, and Dave Mattacks on drums. The recordings have not been released previously, except for "Calvary Cross" and "It'll Be Me," which were included on Richard Thompson's 1976 compilation Guitar, Vocal, but which have been remixed for this album.

In their very first recording together, pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin and the Violons du Roy present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s piano concertos No. 22 and No. 24 that are replete with passionate outbursts, startling contrasts, rich orchestration and overt emotional fervor. Charles Richard-Hamelin, Silver medalist and winner of the Krystian Zimerman award at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, impresses with his extremely refined playing and the Violons du Roy, under the direction of Jonathan Cohen, offer grandiose performances imbued with dignity and grace.

With the release of their classic 1974 debut, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, Richard and Linda Thompson set an unbelievably high standard for themselves. Although containing many of the same attributes, their follow-up, Hokey Pokey, doesn't quite reach the lofty heights of its predecessor, but then again not many records do. The Thompsons, from the opening Irish fiddle derivation of a Chuck Berry riff, through Linda's exquisite performance of "A Heart Needs a Home," to their cover of Mike Waterson's "Mole in a Hole" which closes the record, once again create a timeless amalgam of folk and rock. Recorded at the time of the Thompsons' conversion to Islam, Hokey Pokey comes across a bit lighter than Bright Lights.