There's rare and then there are records like this: a limited vinyl release in Japan in 1975 that's never been reissued anywhere else in any format since. Perhaps that's not completely surprising, though: to be frank, it feels like something of a footnote to the career of the illustrious Haynes, which began almost 30 years earlier in the first full blast of be-bop. Here, electric piano and a twanging, slightly-too-high-in-the-mix bass guitar nod towards the fusion that was fashionable at the time: ‘Azteca’ is an up-tempo latin original with blazing hi-hat; while the title track (subtitled ‘Bullfight’) is a slightly corny Iberian-flavoured foxtrot. The two standards hint at Haynes's roots: ‘Tin Tin Deo’ is a leisurely vamp, and ‘Dear Old Stockholm’ is a trio with Nakamura sitting out and Barron switching to acoustic piano. It sounds exactly like what it is: a laid back jam session. And why not?

Living in a Fantasy is the last album to yield hits for Leo Sayer in America, closing out the terrific '70s run as the '80s began. A-ha/Bow Wow Wow/Squeeze producer Alan Tarney chooses to keep the production slick and sparse, the large mix of musicians who helped craft albums like Thunder In My Heart, Endless Flight, Here, World Radio, and others vanishes as the singer goes back to the pared-down format of his Just a Boy period. The big difference is that Sayer had gone beyond the singer/songwriter personality of those early recordings to having marquee value, as well as his own TV show.

Collector's Choice Sweetwater is the only Sweetwater album to feature Nanci Nevins on vocals throughout, and it's hard to get a grip on. Sometimes it's attractive Californian folk-pop-psych not too far removed from the Mamas & the Papas, as on "Through an Old Storybook"; sometimes it's trying for a rock-Baroque-classical-jazz fusion, although the material doesn't match the ambitions of the arrangements. Whether intentionally or otherwise, Nevins' vocals often recall those of Grace Slick, though she isn't as good. On "My Crystal Spider," they seem to be going for a far-out psychedelic sound; the ascending and descending bit of harsh electronics in the middle sounds uncomfortably close to effects employed, earlier and to more effective use, by the United States of America on "Hard Coming Love."

The Mamas & the Papas Gold is a two-disc, 32-track set that does an admirable job of mixing the major hits with well chosen album tracks. Unlike MCA's 1991 similar package Creeque Alley, solo tracks are ignored with the focus being only on the five studio albums recorded as a group: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears, The Mamas & the Papas, Deliver, The Papas & the Mamas and (thankfully) only one track from the contractual obligation swan song People Like Us. The remastered tracks bring out both the intricate harmonies and colorful musical arrangements of group mastermind John Phillips. Billy Altman's liner notes and several rare photos also add to the overall quality of the package.

Of Brahms' symphonies, his Symphony No. 2 in D major is the sunniest, a vibrant and rhythmically supple work overflowing with ardent melodies, joyful syncopations, and robust brass writing. Yet for all its brightness, Brahms' orchestration can be quite problematic, since his frequent doublings of winds and strings and scoring for full sections are in constant need of a conductor's subtle refinements. Hans Vonk and the Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra give the work a rich and warm performance, with great attention paid to the pacing and shaping of movements. However, the orchestral sound is rather dense, and there is little sense of graded dynamics or breathing room around the orchestra.

Leonardo Leo (1694-1744) was a Neapolitan composer whom academics have sometimes pushed as the missing link between Pergolesi and the full flowering of the early Classical style. Niccolò Jommelli and Gluck Piccinni were among his students, and his own operas feature smooth, lightly accompanied arias that do seem to look forward to the spirit of Gluck and even Mozart. Several recordings of the early 2000s have unearthed his almost-forgotten instrumental music, with liner notes chiding listeners (in the words of the present disc) "so entirely enamored with Vivaldi…that they have ignored music derived from other circles or styles."

Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) was born in Bonn and moved to Vienna in 1801, where his life became closely related to that of Ludwig van Beethoven (also a native of Bonn…). Ries studied piano with him, copied his scores and was the interpreter of several new works, notably the premiere of the Third Piano Concerto. Ries also wrote the first biography of Beethoven, an invaluable source of first-hand information. Ries' style inevitably is modeled on that of his master Beethoven, he was however strong enough to stand on his own. Ries also enjoyed a brilliant career as a virtuoso pianist. "Ries is rightly celebrated as one of the finest piano performers of the present day", a London reviewer declared. "His hand is powerful and his manner confident and often surprising.

In 2023 Brilliant Classics released a 9CD box of the complete keyboard music by William Byrd, marking the tercentenary of the composer’s death. The set was welcomed as a monumental achievement, and a worthy sequel to Davitt Moroney’s pioneering achievement on Hyperion: ‘Those who enjoyed Belder’s forthright and imaginatively ornamented Byrd performances in his complete Fitzwilliam Virginal Book survey will know what to expect,’ wrote Jed Distler in Classics Today. ‘He favors less agogic manipulation and more conservative rhythmic continuity compared to Hyperion’s Davitt Moroney. However, a palpable sense of controlled freedom informs Belder’s subtle placement of cadences and phrase endings and his flexibly articulated ornaments.’

From 1964, Archie Shepp's first date as a leader featured – as one would expect from the title – four tunes by John Coltrane, his mentor, his major influence, and his bandleader. The fact that this album holds up better than almost any of Shepp's records nearly 40 years after the fact has plenty to do with the band he chose for this session, and everything to do with the arranging skills of trombonist Roswell Rudd. The band here is Shepp on tenor, John Tchicai on alto, Rudd on trombone, Trane's bassist Reggie Workman, and Ornette Coleman's drummer Charles Moffett. Even in 1964, this was a powerhouse, beginning with a bluesed-out wailing version of "Syeeda's Song Flute." This version is ingenious, with Shepp allowing Rudd to arrange for solos for himself and Tchicai up front and Rudd punching in the blues and gospel in the middle, before giving way to double time by Workman and Moffett. The rawness of the whole thing is so down-home you're ready to tell someone to pass the butter beans when listening.