Hawkins's final studio session is rather sad. Due to an excess of drink and his unwillingness to eat, the great tenor-saxophonist went steadily downhill between 1965 and his death four years later. Recorded in late 1966, this quartet set finds Hawk constantly short of breath and unable to play long phrases. He is able to get away with this deficiency on the faster pieces but the ballads are rather painful to hear. Even at this late stage Hawkins still had his majestic tone but this recording is only of historical interest.

Gidon Kremer offers one of his most commanding performances, both polished and full of flair, magnetically spontaneous from first to last. Rarely do you hear such consistently pure tone in this work and the orchestral writing too is superbly realised. It has become customary to treat the long first movement as expansively as possible but Kremer takes a more urgent view, and after his thoughtful and dedicated, slightly understated reading of the slow movement, he and Harnoncourt round the performance off magically with a finale that skips along the more infectiously thanks to light, clean articulation and textures. Traditional performances seem heavyweight by comparison.

Cream - BBC Sessions (2003) {Polydor 076 048-2 rec 1966-1968}
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© 1966-68, 2003 Polydor Ltd. (UK) / BBC | 076 048-2
Rock / Blues Rock / Psychedelic

This compilation of 22 Cream BBC tracks from 1966-1968 marked a major addition to the group's discography, particularly as they released relatively little product during their actual lifetime. All of but two of these cuts ("Lawdy Mama" and the 1968 version of "Steppin' Out," which had appeared on Eric Clapton's Crossroads box) were previously unreleased, and although many of these had made the round on bootlegs, the sound and presentation here is unsurprisingly preferable. As for actual surprises, there aren't many. It's a good cross section of songs from their studio records, though a couple, "Steppin' Out" and "Traintime," only appeared on live releases, and some of these BBC takes actually predate the release and recording of the album versions, which makes them of historical interest for intense Cream fans.

Alexis Weissenberg, like Howard Shelley on Hyperion, couples the First Sonata and the revised version of the Second. There's little doubt that Rachmaninov improved parts of it texturally when he looked at it again in 1931, but whether he did the right thing in paring down the work so ruthlessly is another matter. If you're happy with the revision there's a simple choice between this disc and the Shelley, and in this case the decision is dear. Shelley may lack some of the force and whirlwind brilliance of Weissenberg, but when the latter's dynamic contrasts sometimes border on the crude (Rachmaninov's markings in the opening of No. 1 are only piano-forte) Shelley's restraint comes as something of a relief.

This fine Riverside debut by Adderley was cut just a few months after the alto saxophonist had contributed to Miles Davis' stellar Milestones release. Joining Adderley for the six tracks here are fellow Davis alumni Philly Joe Jones on drums and Bill Evans on piano. These three are augmented by the wonderful and often-underrated Blue Mitchell on trumpet and the equally illustrious Sam Jones on bass. Everyone is in top form on a varied set that takes in two Adderley originals (the fine ballad "Straight Life" and "A Little Taste"), a classic Gigi Gryce number ("Minority"), and Miles' oft-covered "Nardis." Filling out the program, we have a rare Sam Jones-penned cut, "Blue Funk," and a lone standard in the Rogers & Hammerstein chestnut from Oklahoma, "People Will Say We're in Love." One of the highlights from Adderley's hard bop prime.

Tasto Solo - Meyster ob allen Meystern: Conrad Paumann and the 15th century German Keyboard School (2009) {Passacaille PASS950}
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© 2009 Passacaille / Musica Vera | PASS 950
Classical / Renaissance / 15th Century / Early Music

The unique mission of this quartet is to perform music written for the keyboards of the Middle Ages on exact replicas of the Medieval clavisimbalum, organetto, and Gothic organ. Not only the content of Renaissance Music has been awarded so often, but the recording done by Jean-Daniel Noir is of very, very high quality. A winner in all respects.

Sonny Criss - Go Man! (1956) {Imperial–Toshiba-EMI Japan TOCJ-5978 rel 1995}
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© 1956, 1995 Imperial / Toshiba-EMI | TOCJ-5978
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

By the mid-'50s, William "Sonny" Criss was maturing as a significant voice on the alto saxophone. Heavily influenced by Charlie Parker, much of Criss' earlier output was plagued by a hurried time feel, awkward phrasing and an uncomfortably tense vibrato. Go Man!, one of three dates he did for the Imperial label, showcases a confident, energetic Criss on ten standard tunes and two original lines.