Robert Shaw and Telarc have released another disk of not-too-often performed choral/orchestral works, but they are ones that are important: John Adams' Harmonium and Rachmaninoff's The Bells, two works featuring texts by important authors.

It was hard to muster much enthusiasm for Welser-Möst’s soft-grained, untheatrical approach to Mozart’s score and his careful avoidance of appoggiaturas, though it has to be admitted that the clarinet and basset-horn obbligatos — their players not credited in the program — sounded ravishing. Welser-Möst’s beat could certainly have been fueled by some extra zest, his syncopations by stronger incisiveness. Little was made of the explosive clashes of contrasting keys, Welser-Möst’s opera gentile dallyings replacing Mozart’s needed opera seria gravitas.

Georg Philipp Telemann wrote a huge body of music, with many great pieces. The 12 Fantasias for Violin Solo stand out among his greatest. Violinist Tomás Cotik, who has made other exceptionally well-received recordings for Centaur Records, turns in magnificent performances of these masterpieces. Hailed by Michael Tilson Thomas as “an excellent violinist,” Tomás Cotik is internationally recognized as a soloist, chamber musician, and professor. A much sought-after recording artist, Dr. Cotik has released fifteen recordings for Naxos and Centaur Records, which have received over three million streams and more than two hundred enthusiastic reviews from the international press. Committed to passing on his passion for music, Dr. Cotik is the violin professor at Portland State University.

Are the songs on this new double album musical letters between the genius composer siblings Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn? Through their joint musical training, the children of a pianist and a respected Jewish banker were musically kindred spirits; music was their soul language. Later they exchanged many entertaining and poetic letters about their compositions. The sister, three years older, was the closest advisor to the "child prodigy" Felix throughout his life. According to those who knew her, she was his equal as a pianist and composer.

This rare December 1953 session was unusual for Terry in that his guitar accompanist was not Brownie McGhee, but Alec Seward, who had previously recorded as Guitar Slim in a duo with "Fat Boy" Hayes" (aka Jelly Belly). It's unusual only in the personnel, however. It sounds like typical Sonny Terry, as he works his way through original material, including standards like "John Henry" and other blues tunes like "In the Evening" (the song that would provide much of the basis for Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain"). You'd have to say that it's usually more interesting to hear Terry with his longtime partner McGhee than it is to hear him with Seward, but it's not terribly different. The trademark vocal and harmonica whoops, and hollers are in gear and running throughout the album, sometimes to exhilarating effect, as on the rapid "The Fox Chase (aka "Hound Dog Holler")"…

Men at Work were one of the more surprising success stories of the new wave era, rocketing out of Australia in 1982 to become the most successful artist of the year. With its Police-styled rhythms, catchy guitar hooks, wailing saxophones, and off-kilter sense of humor, the band's debut album, Business as Usual, became an international blockbuster, breaking the American record for the most weeks a debut spent at the top of the charts. Their funny, irreverent videos became MTV favorites, helping send "Who Can It Be Now?" and "Down Under" to number one. Men at Work's momentum sustained them through their second album, 1983's Cargo, before the bottom fell out of the band's popularity. After releasing Two Hearts in 1985, Men at Work broke up, becoming one of the better-remembered phenomena of new wave.

Pete Jolly and his longtime sidemen (Chuck Berghofer has been his regular bassist since the late '50s while drummer Nick Martinis joined up in 1964) perform 11 standards plus his old hit "Little Bird" on this fine outing. The virtuosic pianist dominates the ensembles but the contributions of Berghofer and Martinis (who have to think fast to keep up with him) should not be overlooked. Jolly's total command of the piano and infectious enthusiasm, which can result in some explosive outbursts, do not overshadow his good taste and the self-restraint that he shows on the ballads.

Ry Cooder's soundtrack for The Long Riders received a top-notch treatment from Warner Bros. (Japan), who not only did an excellent remastering job, but backed it up with English lyrics to the songs, notes, and a Japanese insert. Cooder was in fine form with this score, using original material, unusual and anachronistic instruments (saz, tamboura, electric guitar), and elements of traditional songs from the Civil War period. As a result, the album can be appreciated as a unique entity, away from the film – and bonded to the film, the music provides grace and power to the onscreen events.

Ozric Tentacles are simply put, legends of the UK underground. Inspired by a myriad of musical genres and musicians from Kraut-rockers Kaan to guitar maestro Steve VAI, from ethnic Arabic to electronic techno, from Hendrix to Hillage. Ozric Tentacles' music is a fusion of sounds, styles and genres that cannot be categorized nor plagiarized, such is its complexity. The essence of the Ozric Tentacles remains essentially a free-willed musical unit oblivious to fashion trends and intent on exploring instrumental experimental music with an obsessive zeal. Formed in the early eighties, the Ozrics began life as a free-form psychedelic vehicle for jamming, attracting a dedicated fan-base at grassroots level by playing at all the free festivals to fans of space-rock, dub, psychedelia, and later on when the festivals had developed into raves, to fans of house and techno…

Sandee Chan is a singer-songwriter, music producer and director in Taiwan who generally sings and writes songs in Mandarin Chinese.

Moby's most unified and understated album, and all the better for it, Wait for Me is a morose set of elegantly bleary material, quite a shift from the hedonistic club tracks of Last Night. Dominated by instrumentals, "Shot in the Back of the Head" is the most evocative of the bunch, seemingly pulled from an unreleased David Lynch film scored by the Afghan Whigs circa Gentlemen - a lament from a dustbowl, full of mournful slide guitar and dewy electric piano. Other than "Mistake" - a glum neo-post-punk rave-up that, despite its cathartic release, remains downcast - Moby leaves the vocals to a series of women (neighborhood chums, apparently) who each contribute to one song. The smoky 3-a.m. gospel whispers from throwback soul singer Leela James on "Walk with Me" steal the show.