Toast 19

A lesser-known fusion set recorded for the Japanese Electric Bird label – but one that features great contributions from a host of American players – including Lew Soloff on trumpet, Jerry Dodgion on alto, and Peter Gordon on French horn – as well as Michel Camilo on piano! Calmilo did the arrangements with Gordon and Dodgion, and the overall vibe is more acoustic than usual efforts of this type from the label – especially given that there's a fair bit of extra percussion used alongside the drums, which brings in some occasional Latin touches. Titles include "Joe Cool", "Why Not", "Ion You", "BA Express", "Calentando Man", and "Butter".

The year before Neil Young tracked 2002's meandering and sometimes draggy Are You Passionate?, he recorded some of the songs with his longtime backing band Crazy Horse, trying on the fit of the semi-soulful material with them before ultimately choosing to re-record with groove masters Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Seven-song album Toast consists of the long-shelved Crazy Horse sessions from 2001 and includes versions of four songs that materialized in different forms on Are You Passionate? as well as three previously unreleased outtakes. Despite their reputation as one of rock & roll's loosest, scrappiest institutions, Crazy Horse's playing is surprisingly refined on Toast, with their takes on some of the Are You Passionate? tunes being hard to differentiate from the ever-smooth Booker T. versions. "How Ya Doin'?" (aka "Mr. Disappointment") is superior on Toast, with the tempo slowed just a little bit and Young approaching the vocals with his familiar achy near-falsetto rather than the experimental grumble he sang with on the AYP? version.

efore ‘La Stupenda’ came ‘The Voice’! Dame Nellie Melba was Australia’s first singing sensation, and one of the most famous Australians of her day; idolised in the theatre, mobbed on the street and known by name in even the most remote corners of the country. Soprano Lorina Gore and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra salute Dame Nellie Melba, Australia’s first singing sensation.