CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

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Agnus Dei, Vols 1 & 2 [BOX SET]

from: Erato

Release Date February 14, 2000
Make sure you listen before you buy, and be sure these are the kind of performances you want. Because although other reviews rave about this, I remain unconvinced.

Mind you, these comments only apply to the first of the two CDs. I haven't heard the second and can't comment.

But I was taken aback by the interpretations on CD1, some of which sound positively Victorian - slushy, wobbly and tonally wooden. And there are some vocal infelicities that simply should not have got past the editing process.

Take the Mozart: even in the first two bars - just the instrumental intro - there's a slushy rit (the first of many!), a sudden accelerando and another rit just before the choral entry. Where does Mozart ask for ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

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The Music of Westminster Cathedral Choir

from: Hyperion

Release Date October 05, 1998
Make sure you listen before you buy, and be sure these are the kind of performances you want. Because although other reviews rave about this, I remain unconvinced.

Mind you, these comments only apply to the first of the two CDs. I haven't heard the second and can't comment.

But I was taken aback by the interpretations on CD1, some of which sound positively Victorian - slushy, wobbly and tonally wooden. And there are some vocal infelicities that simply should not have got past the editing process.

Take the Mozart: even in the first two bars - just the instrumental intro - there's a slushy rit (the first of many!), a sudden accelerando and another rit just before the choral entry. Where does Mozart ask for ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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Songs my father taught me

by: Thomas Allen, Malcolm Martineau

Release Date February 11, 2002
This is a glorious collection of songs and ballads, beautifully sung by Thomas Allen. I bought this for my mother- for whom it brought back countless memories- but was surprised at just how many of these songs also conjured up happy childhood memories for me. Really well-worth listening to.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

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Richard Hickox - A Celebration

by: London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Release Date January 23, 2006
This is a glorious collection of songs and ballads, beautifully sung by Thomas Allen. I bought this for my mother- for whom it brought back countless memories- but was surprised at just how many of these songs also conjured up happy childhood memories for me. Really well-worth listening to.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow! Vintage Fiddle Music 1927-1935: Blues, Jazz, Stomps, Shuffles & Rags

by: Big Bill Broonzy, Charlie Pierce, Andrew Baxter, Clifford Hayes, Bubbling-Over Five, Memphis Jug Band, Mississippi Sheiks, Peg Leg Howell, Frank Stokes, Big Joe Williams

Release Date September 17, 2001
A fantastic collection of old-time music, "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow!" captures vintage fiddle music at that rare crossroads where the blues, jazz, and something that would one day be called folk were all in their infancy. For fiddle virtuosos performing between 1927 and 1935, quite simply, anything goes. Banjo Ikey Robinson's red hot "My Four Reasons" swings with humor and pizzazz, the State Street Boys' "Rustlin' Man" features the down-and-out blues vocals and fiddling of Big Bill Broonzy , and the Mississippi Sheiks' jazzy, but blues-inspired "Lazy Lazy River" musically straddles both sides of the Mason Dixon Line. For many listeners, the more esoteric tracks will stick out: Bo Chatman (a.k.a. double-entendre blues ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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English Viola Music

from: Helios

Release Date October 01, 2001
A fantastic collection of old-time music, "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow!" captures vintage fiddle music at that rare crossroads where the blues, jazz, and something that would one day be called folk were all in their infancy. For fiddle virtuosos performing between 1927 and 1935, quite simply, anything goes. Banjo Ikey Robinson's red hot "My Four Reasons" swings with humor and pizzazz, the State Street Boys' "Rustlin' Man" features the down-and-out blues vocals and fiddling of Big Bill Broonzy , and the Mississippi Sheiks' jazzy, but blues-inspired "Lazy Lazy River" musically straddles both sides of the Mason Dixon Line. For many listeners, the more esoteric tracks will stick out: Bo Chatman (a.k.a. double-entendre blues ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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Bach: Cantatas

from: Double Decca

Release Date August 10, 1998
A fantastic collection of old-time music, "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow!" captures vintage fiddle music at that rare crossroads where the blues, jazz, and something that would one day be called folk were all in their infancy. For fiddle virtuosos performing between 1927 and 1935, quite simply, anything goes. Banjo Ikey Robinson's red hot "My Four Reasons" swings with humor and pizzazz, the State Street Boys' "Rustlin' Man" features the down-and-out blues vocals and fiddling of Big Bill Broonzy , and the Mississippi Sheiks' jazzy, but blues-inspired "Lazy Lazy River" musically straddles both sides of the Mason Dixon Line. For many listeners, the more esoteric tracks will stick out: Bo Chatman (a.k.a. double-entendre blues ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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The Spirit of England

from: Nimbus

Release Date August 23, 2004
A fantastic collection of old-time music, "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow!" captures vintage fiddle music at that rare crossroads where the blues, jazz, and something that would one day be called folk were all in their infancy. For fiddle virtuosos performing between 1927 and 1935, quite simply, anything goes. Banjo Ikey Robinson's red hot "My Four Reasons" swings with humor and pizzazz, the State Street Boys' "Rustlin' Man" features the down-and-out blues vocals and fiddling of Big Bill Broonzy , and the Mississippi Sheiks' jazzy, but blues-inspired "Lazy Lazy River" musically straddles both sides of the Mason Dixon Line. For many listeners, the more esoteric tracks will stick out: Bo Chatman (a.k.a. double-entendre blues ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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Holst/Bridge/V-Williams/Harty/Smythe - Early Recordings

by: London Symphony Orchestra

Release Date November 13, 2000
A fantastic collection of old-time music, "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow!" captures vintage fiddle music at that rare crossroads where the blues, jazz, and something that would one day be called folk were all in their infancy. For fiddle virtuosos performing between 1927 and 1935, quite simply, anything goes. Banjo Ikey Robinson's red hot "My Four Reasons" swings with humor and pizzazz, the State Street Boys' "Rustlin' Man" features the down-and-out blues vocals and fiddling of Big Bill Broonzy , and the Mississippi Sheiks' jazzy, but blues-inspired "Lazy Lazy River" musically straddles both sides of the Mason Dixon Line. For many listeners, the more esoteric tracks will stick out: Bo Chatman (a.k.a. double-entendre blues ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Carter - Quintets & Voices

by: Arditti Qt

Release Date February 09, 2004
A fantastic collection of old-time music, "Folks, He Sure Do Pull Some Bow!" captures vintage fiddle music at that rare crossroads where the blues, jazz, and something that would one day be called folk were all in their infancy. For fiddle virtuosos performing between 1927 and 1935, quite simply, anything goes. Banjo Ikey Robinson's red hot "My Four Reasons" swings with humor and pizzazz, the State Street Boys' "Rustlin' Man" features the down-and-out blues vocals and fiddling of Big Bill Broonzy , and the Mississippi Sheiks' jazzy, but blues-inspired "Lazy Lazy River" musically straddles both sides of the Mason Dixon Line. For many listeners, the more esoteric tracks will stick out: Bo Chatman (a.k.a. double-entendre blues ... Read More: