It's a shame it took eight years for these hot trottin', Latin blues dudes to grab the public's attention. This reunion album makes one wonder why their blues groove didn't catch wind on their debut effort in 1992. Among the friends joining in on the fun sessions are often-compared-to colleagues like Los Lobos' David Hidalgo, the Texacali Horns, the reunion organizer John "Juke" Logan, and Doug MacLeod. KPCC radio host Sancho adds his blessings on "Church of El Monte," explaining how all that music making started as the centerpiece of neighborhood parties. Public transportation is the setting for a romantic meeting in "Blue Line," inspired by brother Steve Delgado's commute to his day job. Lively merrymaking breathes even on goodbyes to the departed in "L.A. Ellie" (dedicated to Logan's mom) and "No Regrets" (to the memory of muy grande percussionist Ray Solis).

When the Ohio Players recorded their second Westbound album, Pleasure, in 1972, they weren't as big as they would be from 1974-1976. But their popularity was growing – slowly but surely – and those who were hip to the band recognized it as one of the most cutting-edge acts in the funk field. A lot of bands were providing funk in 1972, but not many of them used jazz progressions as creatively as the Players used them on "Laid It," "Walked Away from You," and Pleasure's title song. Those tracks are gems, and the Players are equally captivating on the sweet soul ballad "Varee Is Love."

This year, Uhlig continues his explorations in this new recording of the piano works of Maurice Ravel. Ravel's piano music is perhaps the most concentrated corpus of music ever produced by a major composer. Despite their modest dimensions (the complete oeuvre can be performed in just over 2 hours), each composition sets out to achieve something new, shaping the genre to achieve works of consummate originality. And no one surpasses Florian Uhlig in delivering performances that allow all the fascinating, ecstatic virtuosity of this music to shine.

Creatively, commercially, and conceptually, Pain was a major step forward for the Ohio Players. This 1971 album was quite a departure from their previous work – in the late-'60s, the Midwesterners' forte had been raw, hard-edged Southern-style soul along the lines of Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, and Wilson Pickett. But with Pain, they became a lot more experimental and unveiled an interesting, distinctive brand of funk that incorporated elements of jazz and blues as well as rock. The jazz influence is especially strong on "Never Had a Dream," "Singing in the Morning," and the hit title song, while "The Reds" is a progressive blues number that draws on jazz as well as psychedelic rock.

In the lush mosaic of Russian 19th-century music life, Franz Xaver Gebel (1787-1843) was a fascinating, if marginal tile. Born in Germany, Gebel emigrated to Moscow in the 1820s and there taught a generation of students, including Nicolai Rubinstein, while composing on the side. His chief role in Moscow was organizing chamber music concerts with the intention of elevating music taste in Russia. He impressed some pretty big names in the process, such as Borodin and Glinka. Gebel wrote eight quintets and the two selected for this recording are the best examples of his art currently on disc; if you're curious about him, this is the quintessential gateway.

Honey may have had the most controversial LP cover of 1975. Its erotic cover, which depicted a nude model covered in honey, was protested by feminists when it was alleged that the model had become stuck to the floor during the photo shoot. Some retailers, in fact, refused to carry it. All the controversy certainly didn't hurt the album commercially. In 1975, the Ohio Players were one of R&B's most successful acts, and were inescapable for anyone who listened to black radio at the time.

The World of Romanticism” was a subtitle of the famous Svyatoslav Richter’s music festival “December Nights”. Its programme, as it was the organizers’ intent, comprised compositions by Schubert, Schumann and Chopin. Ten day were devoted to the works of each of the composers. In the beginning of the night which opened the ten days of Robert Schumann, Svyatoslav Richter presented the audience with a Viennese bouquet Blumenstück, Op. 19. That was what they used to call flower still life paintings in Germany (German die Blume stands for a flower, and das Stück – a thing) which were hugely popular in the 19th century.

Rosa Ponselle - The Victor Recordings 1926-1929 (1994) {2CD Set Romophone 81007-2}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 520 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 342 Mb
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© 1926-29, 1994 Victor / Romophone | 81007-2
Classical / Vocal / Historical

Rosa Ponselle was one of the greatest sopranos of the century and this superb collection of recordings from her prime makes that evident. Some have long been the standards against which all others are judged–the Aida tomb scene with Giovanni Martinelli, the Norma "Casta Diva," and much else. Her famous Norma duet, "Mia, o Norma," with Marion Telvey is here, still striking sparks. Lots of Verdi–the big arias and duets from Aida, Trovatore, and Ernani, all sung in a big, stunningly beautiful voice alive to textual nuances. The arias from Spontini's La Vestale are wondrous, but so are the parlor songs, the 1920s "crossover" equivalents. Marston includes several alternate takes, and the transfers are excellent. This should be a cornerstone of any operatic collection.