Willis Jackson, a veteran of the jazz-oriented R&B music of the late '40s, was a powerful tenor in the tradition of Gene Ammons. This is a particularly exciting release with Charles Earland pumping away at the organ, guitarist Pat Martino offering a contrasting solo voice and Jackson in top form, wailing away on the uptempo pieces. The CD reissue of the original LP adds two alternate takes to the program. The chord changes might be fairly basic but Willis Jackson plays with such enthusiasm and exuberance that it almost sounds as if he had discovered the joy of playing music.

For this one album, ex-Buggles Geoffrey Downes and Trevor Horn were drafted in to replace Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman. It rocks harder than other Yes albums, and for classically inclined fans, it was a jarring departure; but it was a harbinger of Yes and Asia albums to come. A newly emboldened Chris Squire lays down aggressive rhythms with Alan White, and Steve Howe eschews his usual acoustic rags and flamenco licks for a more metallic approach, opting for sheets of electric sound. Prime cuts include the doom-laden "Machine Messiah" and the manic ska inflections of "Tempus Fugit." Despite the promise of this new material, the band soon fell apart; Horn went into production, Howe and Downes joined Asia, and Squire and White toyed and then gave up on a pair-up with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, which was to be titled XYZ (i.e., Ex-Yes and Zeppelin).

The Synthesizer Cooperation Synco was founded 1984 in Berlin by Frank Klare and Mirko Lüthge. They bought some expensive analog equipment from Tangerine Dream and composed music in their style. This CD consist of remastered and remixed cassette material (tracks 1-8) and new work (tracks 9-14).

Harold Mabern was nearing his 57th birthday around the time of the two 1993 studio sessions that provided the music for this Japanese release; he's clearly in a mood to celebrate, as the CD begins with a driving hard bop original, "Look on the Bright Side," powered by his aggressive risk-taking playing and fueled by a lower key solo by young bassist Christian McBride and a series of powerful drum breaks by seasoned veteran Jack DeJohnette. Although Mabern's arrangement of John Coltrane's "Moment's Notice" is enjoyable, it is because the rhythm simulates a jaunty stroll while the leader unleashes some pyrotechnics.

This pairing of two totally idiosyncratic vocalists acquired legendary status over the decades in which it had been out of print. But the proof is in the listening, and frankly it doesn't represent either artist's best work. There is certainly a powerful, often sexy rapport between the two – Charles in his sweet balladeering mode, Carter with her uniquely keening, drifting high register – and they definitely create sparks in the justly famous rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The main problem is in Marty Paich's string/choir arrangements, which too often cross the line into treacle, whereas his charts for big band are far more listenable.

Supergroups have been common in the realm of hard rock for decades – some have worked wonders (Cream), while some, well, stunk (too many to mention). One of the more obscure ones to surface was the '80s outfit Phenomena, who debuted in 1985 with a self-titled release, and featured contributions from the likes of Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple), Don Airey (Ozzy Osbourne), and a trio of ex-Whitesnake members – Mel Galley, Neil Murray, and Cozy Powell. Those expecting tough, rip-roaring heavy metal may be a bit disappointed by the album (which features a cover shot of a young girl quite reminiscent of Linda Blair circa The Exorcist). Keep in mind – the mid-'80s was the era of polished, keyboard-heavy, melodic rock, and Phenomena fit in with the musical climate, especially on such tracks as the album-opening "Kiss of Fire" and "Still the Night." If GTR could have scored a hit or two around this time, with the right push, there's no reason why Phenomena couldn't have also.

For its very first disc with harmonia mundi, the duo formed by Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy offers us three closely related works: Schubert’s celebrated Fantasy, his Divertissement à la hongroise, full of contrasts between bursts of energy and enigmatic mists, and Leonid Desyatnikov’s Trompe-l’œil, written specifically ‘to echo’ the Fantasy. An intriguing hall of mirrors.

This recording of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony is an event, because it was made with period instruments of the kind the composer used in Vienna. The Mahler Academy Orchestra set itself the task of reconstructing this instrumentarium and researching how musicians of the time played it: ‘We were struck during our rehearsals by the incredibly distinctive characterisation of the woodwinds, the shattering blare of the brass, the perfect balance between the instruments, and the pure and warm sound of the strings…

Young and foolish is the title Café Zimmermann has chosen for this programme, which features music from the 1770s and 1780s by Mozart and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, starting with Mozart’s famous and sparkling Divertimento KV 138. For this fascinating W.A.-C.P.E. face-off, Café Zimmermann has invited an exceptional musician: the fortepianist Alexander Melnikov. They perform the Concerto no.17 in G major KV 453, of which Mozart said in a letter to his father that (like his concertos KV 450 and KV 451) ‘they make you sweat’! Melnikov is joined by harpsichordist Céline Frisch, co-founder of the ensemble, in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Concerto for fortepiano, harpsichord and orchestra, the only one of its kind ever composed, a work full of energy and mischief.