In 1994, the same Metropolitan Opera put two contrasting pieces of the verismo puzzle side by side—the belated verismo of Puccini’s Il Tabarro and the classic verismo of Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, which had reached the stage some twenty-six years earlier.

The motets of Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) are complicated works. Even casual listeners will notice that each of the three lines of music has its own text – one rapid and wordy, one moderate in speed, and one just a few words long. Musically they contain structural intricacies to which scholars devote pleasant lifetimes of research in old French libraries. Yet the interpretation of even music as arcane as this depends on the spirit of the age. Rationalists of earlier decades performed Machaut with rather harsh exactitude, seeking to clarify the subtle repetition schemes of Machaut's motets and polyphonic songs. But the Hilliard Ensemble, of the Self generation, focuses on Machaut as a creative figure with, to quote the liner notes, "a morbidly sensitive inner life."

Flash Mountain Flood, a five-piece band from Boulder, has been bringing their version of rock and roll with a heavy dose of traditional American roots music to their fans since 2014. Treating their loyal and growing fan-base to several hundred shows in the past few years, they have developed a style influenced by folk and blues, saturated with a heavy dose of jam. “Speak of Heaven” features 9 original songs written by four of its five members. Featuring soulful rock, foot stomping boogie, folk-rock ballads, and some good old fashioned jamming, the album is a culmination of several years of live shows and hard work.

Rock radio entered a new era on Feb. 18, 1973, when the King Biscuit Flower Hour debuted on FM stations across the U.S. The innovative Sunday night series featured recorded concerts and interviews with rock's biggest stars. King Biscuit would expand its reach to more than 300 stations before it ceased weekly production of new shows in 1993. Reruns continued until 2007. The list of rock royalty that appeared includes the Rolling Stones, the Who, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Pink Floyd, Steve Miller, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Band. Disc jockey Bill Minkin, the show's first host, remained with King Biscuit until the mid-'90s. Minkin dreamed up the show's title, a play on King Biscuit Time, a long-running blues radio show sponsored by King Biscuit Flour.

"Anybody Seen My Baby?" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones featured on their 1997 album Bridges to Babylon…

The English pianist Paul Lewis has been known for detailed, intelligent readings of Beethoven in which he follows his own creative dictates rather than established patterns laid down by others. Now he brings his approach to Haydn, who might seem less suited to it: Haydn's keyboard sonatas, though often delightful, generally haven't been thought of as manifesting the broad public ambitions of his symphonies and string quartets. Yet Lewis, as usual, brings considerable insight to these pieces, and his fans should lap this up. Sample the first movement of the Piano Sonata in C major, Hob. 16/50, for a representative slice: Whatever may be lost in the light humor of many readings is counterbalanced by Lewis' intricate tracings of the unusual second-degree-to-tonic resolution in the main theme and its ramifications throughout the movement.

Ike Quebec - Heavy Soul (1961) {Blue Note, RVG 7243 8 64472 2 7 rel 2005}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 319 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 116 Mb
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© 1961, 2005 Blue Note | 7243 8 64472 2 7
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Hard Bop / Tenor Saxophone / Organ

Heavy soul from Ike Quebec – one of Blue Note's greatest players of the 78 era in the 40s, stepping out here on one of his brilliant comeback sets from the early 60s! The set features Ike blowing in an all soul jazz mode – working with a quartet that includes some great work from organist Freddie Roach – swinging here in a great straight ahead mode, and really pushing Ike to lay out some of the best solos of his later Blue Note years. There's a few tracks on the set that step out in a tight modal jazz groove – organ vamping as Ike blows away – and titles include "Heavy Soul", "Que's Dilemma", "Acquitted", and a very spooky version of "Nature Boy".

Dexter Gordon - The Other Side Of Round Midnight (1986) {Blue Note ‎CDP 7 46397 2}
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© 1986 Blue Note ‎| CDP 7 46397 2
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Stage & Screen / Saxophone

Long before it became de rigeur to release multiple soundtracks for a single film, Columbia allowed Blue Note to release The Other Side of Round Midnight under Gordon's name. The additional album offers more music from the film, including Gordon's sole performance on soprano sax, "Tivoli" - incidentally the only track in the score not played by the same musicians seen in the film - and further outtakes that breathe the same heady atmosphere.

Oscar Brown Jr. - Sin & Soul (1960) {Columbia CK 64994 rel 1996}
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© 1960, 1996 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | CK 64994
Jazz / Vocal / Soul Jazz

Trend-setting vocal work from Oscar Brown Jr – one of the hippest singers of his generation, and a vocalist who really took things to the next level in the 60s! Brown's got a sound that's partially influenced by the vocalese of Eddie Jefferson, Jon Hendricks, and other singers of the 50s – but his groove here is also a bit more fluid and lyrical too – thanks to some great lyrics penned by Oscar, some of which went on to become classics over the years.