CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Broadway - The American Musical (PBS Series)

from: Sony

Release Date October 19, 2004
Of course there should have been much more. I remember there been a Metropolian Opera series called CAST ALBUMS- 100 YEARS that was put out for a limited time only and had like five volumes.
As Peter Filichia noted they left out SHE LOVES ME, BRIGADOON and SWEENEY TODD. Also nothing from PACIFIC OVERTURES, BIG RIVER, CHESS, CRAZY FOR YOU, JEKYLL & HYDE, TITANIC, THE SCARLET
PIMPERNEL, FOOTLOOSE- THE MUSICAL, THE FULL MONTY, URINTOWN...
But they couldn't have put it all. I would have done without Lee Remick's
"Anyone Can Whistle", because the show was a flop. I guess because it was Sondheim's first "serious" show...

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

The Man Who Cried

by: Salvatore Licitra, Kronos Quartet, Taraf de Haidouks

Release Date May 22, 2001

Beautiful music, some of the best tenor arias from Italian opera, sung perfectly, and then South American music from heaven. I recommend this (hard to find) disc to all.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Elliott Carter: Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello & Harpsichord; Sonata for Cello & Piano; Double Concerto for Harpsichor

from: Nonesuch

Release Date March 24, 1992
Like J.S. Bach in his own lifetime, Elliot Carter has a reputation as an 'intellectual' composer, a stubborn conservative indifferent to the fashionable tastes of his contemporary audiences. Both reputations are just; neither Bach nor Carter made many concessions to fashion, and in both composers, it's the intellectual depth of the music that will make it perennially meaningful to future audiences. No composers have ever more systematically explored and expanded the harmonic vocabulary and theory of their eras than Bach and Carter. It will take some generations, I think, before the rest of us catch up with Carter's tonal brilliance.

So let me proclaim it: Elliot Carter is the greatest American composer ever. I'm not totally alone ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Venetian Vespers (Monteverdi * Rigatti * Grandi * Cavalli) /Gabrieli Consort & Players * McCreesh

by: Research Composer, Giovanni Antonio Rigatti, Alessandro Grandi, Claudio Monteverdi, Adriano Banchieri, Giacomo Finetti, Pietro Francesco Cavalli, Anonymous, Gregorian Chant, Biagio Marini, Gabrieli Consort, Charles Daniels, Paul McCreesh, Alison Wray, Jonathan Best, Tessa Bonner, Angus Smith, Peter Harvey, Robert Horn, Paula Chateauneuf, Timothy Roberts, Susan Hemington Jones, Fred Jacobs, Celia Harper, Charles Pott, Florian Deuter, Gabrieli Players

Release Date May 11, 1993
This really a fine recording. I bought my copy one sunny Saturday morning in Melbourne in around 1993. I saw it on the shelf and I got my wallet out. I was completely blown away by the music on this disc. Rigatti was a real discovery for me.

The use of high falsettists in the chorus and solos is particularly effective and gives us a real insight into the sounds of music in Venice in the early 17th century.

I cannot recommend this marvellous recording too highly, it is clearly one of the best made by the Gabrieli Consort, Choir & Players.

Great playing from the strings, cornetti and tromboni.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Moonlight Bay: Songs as Is Songs as Was

from: Albany Records

Release Date February 09, 1999
Joan Morris and her husband, composer William Bolcom, take another trip back to the early days of Broadway musicals and earlier. In the same groove as their earlier albums, After the Ball and Vaudeville. A great addition to your collection if you love this kind of music, performed the way it was meant to be heard.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Lil Tae Rides Again

by: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

Release Date April 08, 2008
I was really excited when I purchased Lil Tae Rides again. I was still listening to Jacob Fred performing an incredible live show and purchased the vinyl version of this recording. I can't really give it more than 4 stars, though, and here's why:

Jacob Fred is an improvisational band that continually ups the ante every time they play live. They break rules and re-form them again. New Drummer Josh Raymer really gives the band a nice pulse while keeping them on somewhat of a free-jazz track. There are some new members playing along with the core trio live, and I still feel that the 3 piece band has everything it takes to put them (and their audience) into the stratosphere whenever they're playing live.

True to the title, though, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Round Nut Tool

from: eighth blackbird

Release Date October 01, 1999
This is music of the sublime! There is a gothic beauty to this group's singular sound that can only be topped by watching them perform live. I heard eighth blackbird last year in Harrisburg, PA and they were astounding! I eagerly bought a copy of their CD and have been thrilled with the purchase ever since. As an English teacher, I frequently use selections from the CD to use as freewriting prompts in my writers workshops. The students are intrigued and inspired by the unique sound of this contemporary classical group. I look forward to future recordings from the ensemble to use with my classes. Bravo!

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Reincarnations

from: Gothic Records

Release Date September 07, 2004
I would not recommend this CD for people who are new to choral music, but it is definitely a valuable addition to the collection of any professional in the choral field. The performances as well as the recording quality are every bit what one would expect from this extraordinary ensemble. The major highlights on this recording, to me, are the Barber pieces and the Ives.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

King Of Hearts (1978 Original Broadway Cast)

by: Jacob Brackman

Release Date March 23, 1995
Don't waste any minute of your life and enjoy this music! It's one of those albums you fall in love with. It's pure beauty. It's a shame it's been so underrated since it deserves much more attention. Most of the songs are wonderful, specially "Nothing Only Love" "Close Upon the Hour" and "Somewhere is Here". Based in the unforgetable french classic movie about a young soldier during the I world War who gets used to sharing his life with insanes in a french clinic, finding love and confort in the place. Believe me, don't hesitate and get it asap. Much better than many overrated recent musicals which say nothing and sound awful.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

The Sameness of Difference

by: Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey

Release Date October 11, 2005
This is a knod to some of the more popular songs that probably had an influence on Jacob Fred. As such there are more popular tunes in here, although they are somewhat of a challenge to identify. Electric Ladyland, some Beatles, Neil Young, really a nice selection of tunes from the 60s and early 70s. JFJO is a band that will continue to please a wide range of listeners from the Jamband crowd to the Jazz crowd. This is an excellent compilation of songs, and I am looking forward to hearing their next outing.GO SEE THEM LIVE!