Lonnie Liston Smith moved from RCA to Columbia with Loveland, an LP that is sleek and commercial but not without heart or creativity. While Loveland fared well among fans of fusion, crossover and R&B, the keyboardist had long since lost the attention of acoustic jazz's hardcore, which asserted that he had turned his back on his roots and was no longer playing jazz. But in fact, jazz is essentially what Smith is playing on Loveland, although it's jazz mixed with soul, funk and pop. "We Can Dream "(which features Donald Smith on vocals) is strictly R&B, but instrumentals like "Sunburst," "Explorations" and "Springtime Magic" are basically an extension of the spiritual post-bop Smith had played with Pharoah Sanders, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Gato Barbieri.

Respected British drummer Simon Phillips has a resume that’s as long as your arm…assuming you have a long arm. Here on his fourth release under the Protocol title he once again is performing with Greg Howe, Ernest Tibbs and Dennis Hamm. Together they’ve created fifty-eight minutes of some of the finest instrumental Fusion music I’ve heard in a long time. Most of these tunes are longer, in the six to eight minute range allowing for a great mix of combo performance and soloing. After all, this is a genre and an album that showcases performance and instrumental virtuosity, and on Protocol 4 we get plenty of both.

Arrows, the follow-up to 1978's The Blue Man, has Khan again signed directly to Columbia rather than Tappen Zee, where Bob James produced Khan's 1977 debut, Tightrope. With commercial considerations a non-issue and armed with a vague concept, Arrows is often a humorless and bleak affair despite the skills of the talented guitarist. Khan shares the production duties with Elliot Scheiner on this 1979 effort. Almost immediately, Arrows seems to suffer from a lack of direction. While the 11-minute-and-42-second concept song "City Suite" offers nary a memorable riff, "Candles" has Khan doing some great unnerving solos with Michael Brecker supporting on soprano sax. The insistent "Some Arrows" finds the rote backing of most Khan's fiery solos null and void. "Calling" has some of the tunefulness of Tightrope and has him easily accessing the sense of longing and drama the earlier tracks stumbled over.

Matt's Mood is the 2004 "temporary comeback" album by UK outfit Matt Bianco, released for Universal, and distributed by the Emarcy label. The album makes heavy use of Danny White and Basia Trzetrzelewska's signature harmonies. The two rejoined the band after twenty years (only to leave shortly after the end of the promotional world tour to revitalise their own career under the joint name of Basia). The third member on this installation of Matt Bianco is vocalist and composer Mark Reilly, whom many identify as the face of the band, being the only one constant member since its inception in 1983.

Recorded live at St. Jacob Stadium, Basel, Switzerland, on June 28th 1992 during the ‘On Every Street Tour 1992’

It is certainly unfair to judge Johann Nepomuk Hummel's modest String Quartets, Op. 30, against Beethoven's incalculably greater oeuvre, but any consideration of these works inevitably leads to comparisons. Hummel's conservative and inoffensive quartets go no further than the models established by Haydn and Mozart, and while Beethoven's developments of the form in the Op. 18 quartets were probably known to Hummel, he could not have been expected to absorb or use them, indeed, the magnitude of Beethoven's accomplishments eluded most of his contemporaries for decades.

Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid & Rodeo - San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas (2005) {RCA-BMG}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 336 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 179 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 59 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2005 RCA / BMG Music | 82876-65840-2
Claccical / Contemporary Classical

I'm a big fan of Copland. His music can be dramatic, sad, joyful, and just plain fun. I also think his music is a good vehicle for personal expression of the performer/conductor. I don't think this is true for all composers–-I cringe at some interpretations of Bach–-but I usually enjoy it when a performance of Appalachian Spring or Bill the Kid contains some individual stamp that indicates the performer is really feeling and enjoying what they are doing. The combination of Copland's timeless compositions and subtle playing effects can be very sophisticated indeed.

Venezuelan-born pianist Edward Simon marshals the combined forces of his Afinidad quartet (featuring alto saxophonist David Binney, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade), the Imani Winds chamber quintet and special guests, vocalist Gretchen Parlato, guitarist Adam Rogers and two percussionists, with a superbly light touch on this album that captures the titular sorrows and triumphs with subtlety, nuance and beautiful textures.