Since the release of his first record as a lead in 1998 (From Here to There), but above all since 2011, with the formation of a very efficient quintet of young and brilliant English musicians centred around his bass, Kyle Eastwood has humbly imposed his talents as an instrumentalist and leader with a series of lyric albums generously anchored in contemporary post-bop (The View from Here, Time Pieces). Even if this was an effort to have his name forgotten, he has nevertheless never totally hidden his prestigious pedigree or the close connections he has cultivated with the cinematic work of his father. His numerous contributions as a composer on the soundtracks of some of Clint’s most prestigious films in the past few years attest to this, as well as his latest record Cinematic, a quintet exploring, amongst other masterpieces of the genre, a handful of recurring themes, emblematic of his filmmaking.No need then for a “coming out” in Eastwood Symphonic, but rather a simultaneously flamboyant and thoroughly mature way of fully owning up to this inheritance and paying homage to the affection that Clint has for music, which he has reaffirmed this time and again, by revisiting in cinemascope a selection of music from films that have marked his career as an actor and director alike. At the head of his usual quintet (where saxophonist Brandon Allen, as a soloist, and trumpet player Quentin Collins shine again and again), and accompanied by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra of Prague, under the direction of Gast Waltzing (who also arranged the session with Jean-Jacques Maillet), Kyle dives in with delight. He demonstrates a very secure know-how in the seductions and timeless melodies created by some of the genre’s greatest masters, notably John Williams (La Sanction), Ennio Morricone (A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly), Lalo Schifrin (Inspector Harry, Magnum Force) and Lennie Niehaud (Unforgiven)...Wholeheartedly playing with the spectacular abilities of the symphonic orchestra without letting his jazz education drown in its rolling drapery, or be artificially pasted onto the arrangements, the American avoids all the potential pitfalls of this endeavour and creates a record that is quite intimate behind its apparent splendour. © Stéphane Ollivier/Qobuz

For any art rock band, the fourth album means it's time for a self-styled masterpiece -- if you need proof, look at Selling England by the Pound or Fragile. So, with Kansas, the most determinedly arty of all American art rock bands, they composed and recorded Leftoverture, an impenetrable conundrum of significance that's capped off by nothing less than a five-part suite, appropriately titled "Magnum Opus," and featuring such promising movement titles as "Father Padilla Meets the Perfect Gnat" and "Release the Beavers." Of course, there's no telling whether this closing opus relates to the opener, "Carry On Wayward Son," the greatest single Kansas ever cut -- a song that manages to be pompous, powerful, ridiculous, and catchy all at once. That they never manage to rival it anywhere on this record is as much a testament to their crippling ambition as their lack of skills. And it's unfair to say Kansas are unskilled, since they are certainly instrumentally proficient and they can craft songs or, rather, compositions that appear rather ambitious. Except these compositions aren't particularly complex, rhythmically or harmonically, and are in their own way as ambling as boogie rock, which still feels to be their foundation. It's not really fair to attack Kansas for a concept album with an impenetrable concept -- it's possible to listen to Lamb Lies Down on Broadway hundreds of times and not know what the hell Rael is up to -- but there's neither hooks nor true grandiosity here to make it interesting. That said, this still may be Kansas' most consistent set, outside of Point of Know Return. Take that for what you will.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Their first major success in their native England, the album made the Top 20 on the British album charts.© Jon Samuels /TiVo

Anne Akiko Meyers’ imagination and ingenuity knows no bounds. Her idea to persuade leading living composer Morten Lauridsen to transform his choral masterpiece, O magnum mysterium, into a work for violin and choir is a masterstroke. Teaming up with conductor Grant Gershon – who first collaborated with Anne as chamber musicians over 40 years ago – and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, for whom Lauridsen was their first Composer in Residence, Anne rounds out this digital EP with three other arrangements for violin and chorus of ever-popular works by Johann Sebastian Bach. The result is gold dust for the holiday season. © AVIE Records

The original 1976 record and initial CD versions contain half a magnificent film score, half jazz-lite cover versions of the same music. Bernard Herrmann's soundtrack, full of dark, brooding brass, menacing percussion and a bittersweet dash of jazz saxophone, greatly enhance this big city tale of obsession, paranoia and violence. Robert DeNiro's chilling narration of "Diary of a Taxi Driver" -- including the famous "You talking to me?" monologue -- served as one of the models for the anger and isolation inherent in much of punk music. For some strange reason, the entire first side of the album is devoted to bland covers of Herrmann's music by arranger Dave Blume. Thankfully, Blume's arrangements are unnoticeable in the film itself, but their inclusion here distracts from a powerful soundtrack. Blume's arrangements are firmly rooted in L.A. mid-'70s fuzak, while Herrmann's score is one for the ages.© Rick Watrous /TiVo

American choirs sound quite different from British ones in the main, and one may wonder about the feasibility of performing American works in a British collegiate choral style, as is done here. However, this collection works nicely, and there are several reasons for this. The biggest is the web of interconnections between the choral traditions explored on this release by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, and director Graham Ross. The program kicks off with Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, composed for Britain's Southern Choirs Festival in 1965. Those wondering what Herbert Howells is doing on a program of this kind will learn that his Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing was written as a memorial to John F. Kennedy. Eric Whitacre has worked extensively in Britain, and it is delightful to have his Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine as the finale here rather than the ubiquitous Lux aurumque. Another point in the collection's favor is that the choir is composed of adult male and female voices, not boys. Bernstein preferred boys in the Psalms but agreed to the possibility of adult female singers, and they work better in this context. The folk song Shenandoah sounds a bit exotic here, but no more so than any number of American performances of British choral music. The bottom line is that this is a pleasing performance of a variety of American pieces, a bit on the restrained side perhaps, but fully idiomatic and enjoyable. © James Manheim /TiVo

On a Storyteller's Night, Magnum's sixth album originally released in the U.K. in May 1985, wasn't the band's best-selling LP; it peaked at number 24 in seven weeks, not as good a showing as the third album, 1982's Chase the Dragon (number 17), much less the Top Ten hits Wings of Heaven (1988, number five) or Goodnight L.A. (1990, number nine). Whether it is Magnum's best album is a matter of opinion, though, according to Dave Ling of Classic Rock magazine, whose 2004 interview with guitarist Tony Clarkin is reprinted as part of this 25th anniversary deluxe-edition reissue, "fans still rate Storyteller as Magnum's masterwork." What is indisputable is that the album, Magnum's only one on FM Revolver Records, marked a transition for the band from its first five albums, recorded for Jet Records, to its major-label contract with Polydor Records, which commenced with 1986's Vigilante. Ling notes that singer Bob Catley "has theorized that On a Storyteller's Night was important for offering a bridgehead between the more pompous early Magnum style and something more commercially oriented," to which Clarkin grudgingly concurs, "I suppose so." The turning point is commemorated here with a second disc of 1984 demo recordings that in some cases differ considerably from the finished tracks. (In between the demo sessions and the formal recording sessions, the band road-tested the material and wrote more, including the title song.) A drum machine is used, for one thing, and the songs are sometimes in an earlier form, such as the two versions of what would be "Steal Your Heart," called "Come On Young Love." The demo of "All England's Eyes" has what Clarkin calls "a hideous solo" played on a melodic because "I didn't have my guitar at the studio that day." Fans will find these rough takes of what would be very different finished tracks interesting even if they do not compare favorably with the final album. [In addition to the 35 minutes of demos, Disc Two includes a 25-minute interview with Catley and Clarkin from 1993 in which they trace the band's career from 1972 to that point.]© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

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