The Psycholog of Attiudes

This 2014 three-fer contains Loosen Up Naturally, The Sons, and Follow Your Heart, the albums the Sons of Champlin recorded between 1969 and 1971. These are also the Sons' first three albums and it's possible to hear them stretch out with each subsequent record, deepening their grooves, highlighting their jazz inflections, and eventually folding in a rather smooth, sun-kissed gloss. Unlike many of their San Franciscan brethren, they weren't particularly hard-edged or Dionysian: they had a stronger sense of soul and rhythm, they reveled in feel over texture. This can mean that all three of these records meander a bit – songwriting wasn't a Sons specialty – but there's an open-hearted attitude to the trinity that remains appealing.

The Sons of Champlin released three albums on Capitol Records between 1969 and 1971 (Loosen Up Naturally, The Sons, and Follow Your Heart), none of which was a commercial hit for various reasons, but not for lack of musical quality. This 78-minute CD makes a reasonable selection of the highlights from those LPs, demonstrating that at their best, the Sons were a collection of talented musicians who packed their songs full of good solos that grew out of complicated arrangements. Although they were a part of the psychedelic San Francisco scene of the time, their music never quite fit the mold, leaning much more toward jazz and R&B than, say, the Grateful Dead. the Sons played instruments including saxophones and a vibraphone, not otherwise typical of the San Francisco Sound, and they were less interested in songs than in creating platforms for soloing. They might start a tune like "Love of a Woman" as a gentle, romantic ballad with an acoustic guitar, but midway through that would suddenly give way to a jazzy instrumental section in a different time signature, return to the ballad, then again go off into jazz.

Jonathan Kent's spectacular production of Purcell's huge semi-opera is joyous, imaginative and witty Glyndebourne, with its intimate auditorium, provides the perfect setting for a drama which is partly spoken and partly sung. Based on an adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the story is lavished with a brilliance that justifies this production's acclaim. Paul Brown's inventive designs, Kim Brandstrup's exquisite choreography, an excellent cast of actors and singers and outstanding playing by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under William Christie combine to make a seamless theatrical experience, here recorded in High Definition and true surround sound.

The Sons Of Adam—a lean, mean rock’n’roll machine from the Hollywood rock scene of the mid-1960s—quite literally blew the competition off the stage. Led by influential lead guitarist Randy Holden (Other Half / Blue Cheer), the Sons boasted an affable frontman in Jac Ttanna (Genesis) and an incomparable rhythm section in Mike Port and Michael Stuart-Ware (Love). Schooled in surf, emboldened by the British Invasion, the band had a fearsome reputation as a live act. In this unprecedented anthology, Saturday’s Sons features a previously unreleased 1966 full concert performance from San Francisco’s famed Avalon Ballroom, a recording so powerfully dynamic that few listeners will doubt the band’s masterful live presence. The quartet enjoyed a brief but incandescent three-year career which is fully documented on this compilation with rare 45s, studio outtakes and demo recordings, including fiery surf material from their early incarnation The Fender IV, and the legendary single “Feathered Fish”, donated to the band by Love’s Arthur Lee.

Anna Lapwood is a trailblazing musician. Alongside her work as a conductor, Director of Music and public speaker, she performs an extensive number of organ recitals on some of the greatest instruments across Europe each season. In 2022 she was announced as Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall and Artist in Association at BBC Singers. Directed by Anna Lapwood, The Chapel Choir of Pembroke College has one of the most exciting and varied ranges of choral endeavours among Oxbridge choirs. Alongside their primary responsibility of contributing to worship in the College’s Chapel, they engage in regular artistic collaborations, media appearances and outreach work.

Following his attractive performance of six of Vivaldi's cello sonatas, Christophe Coin has recorded six of the composer's 24 or so concertos for the instrument. Five of these, Michael Talbot tells us in an interesting accompanying note, probably belong to the 1720s while the sixth, the Concerto in G minor (RV416), is evidently a much earlier work. Coin has chosen, if I may use the expression somewhat out of its usual context, six of the best and plays them with virtuosity and an affecting awareness of their lyrical content. That quality, furthermore, is not confined to slow movements but occurs frequently in solo passages of faster ones, too. It would be difficult to single out any one work among the six for particular praise. My own favourite has long been the happily spirited Concerto in G major (RV413) with which Coin ends his programme. Strongly recommended. (Gramophone Magazine)

Several generations of Bachs have been gathered by Richard Marlow and the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge for their programme of motets. All of them have been recorded at various times in the past but many only infrequently, and one or two, perhaps, now make their first appearance on CD. There is no dull music here and two of the pieces, at least, are of outstanding expressive beauty. The earlier of these is Johann Bach’s profoundly affecting Unser Leben ist ein Schatten (“Our life is but a shadow”). This member of the clan survived both the Black Death and the savage bombardment of Erfurt during the Thirty Years War.