Seizing his moment with a tight set of glimmering pop confections, Australian singer/songwriter Troye Sivan embraces his role as a budding LGBT icon with Bloom, his aptly titled sophomore effort that signals his sexual awakening and personal growth into adulthood. On his 2016 debut, Blue Neighbourhood, fans met the boy; here, Sivan introduces them to a bold and fearless man. Brave and unapologetic, Bloom bursts forth with confidence, grace, and poise, allowing listeners to peek into a world that includes fumbles and mistakes, but also pure joy and romance. On the opener, "Seventeen," Sivan dives right in, recounting the loss of his virginity to an older man. Given the age gap, it's an uncomfortable but ultimately important moment for Sivan, both a rite of passage and endearing coming-of-age touchstone.

Peter Bardens was an English keyboardist and a founder member of the British progressive rock group Camel. He played keyboards, sang, and wrote songs with Andrew Latimer. During his career, Bardens worked alongside Rod Stewart, Mick Fleetwood and Van Morrison. He also recorded solo albums. Seen One Earth is a concept album was based on the space exploration and astronaut book The Right Stuff. The album found chart success in the United States. The first single from the album, «In Dreams», was met with commercial success as well. The song enjoyed heavy airplay on rock stations in the U.S. and Australia.

The Crusaders' follow-up to Street Life did not result in any additional hits (does anyone remember Bill Withers' vocal on "Soul Shadows?") and found the group's R&Bish music sounding closer to a formula. Each of the three remaining original Crusaders (Wilton Felder on tenor, soprano, alto and electric bass, keyboardist Joe Sample and drummer Stix Hooper), who are joined by an expanded rhythm setion, contribute at least one original apiece but the group's concept was starting to sound a bit tired. The Crusaders was an American jazz fusion group that was popular in the 1970s. The group was known as the Jazz Crusaders before shortening its name in 1971.

In 1819 composer and publisher Anton Diabelli got the idea to invite composers from the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire to compose variations on a waltz by his own hand. This was meant to be a monument of the musical art of his time, and a money maker for his publishing house. A lot of composers, 51 in total, answered to his request, and sent their variations, among whom celebrities like Liszt, Schubert, Hummel, Kalkbrenner, Moscheles. The most famous composer of the time, Ludwig van Beethoven, first rejected the idea in scorn, later however wrote his immense Opus 120, comprising no less than 33 variations on the theme, thus outpassing his “competitors” by an immeasurable degree in both invention and profundity.

It appears that Eric Clapton had more Robert Johnson in his blood than he thought – or perhaps it was planned this way…

" […] my own beguilement with Szeryng came with his performance in 1987 Atlanta with Louis Lane, of the North American premiere of the 1927 Concerto by Reynaldo Hahn, the French master of the Belle Epoch.

Eruption was formed in 1974 in London by vocalist Precious Wilson, lead guitarist Greg Perrineau, bassist Morgan Perrineau, keyboardist Gerry Williams, and drummer Eric Kingsley. Wilson was born in Jamaica and she moved with her family to Great Britain at the age of seven. The other members of the band came from different parts of the Caribbean and Africa. In 1975, their winning of an RCA Soul Search Contest in England brought them a record deal and their first single “Let Me Take Your Back in Time” (1976) figured prominently in the soul charts. In 1977, Boney M.’s producer Frank Farian was introduced to Eruption by his talent scout Hans-Jorg Mayer, who then took them under his wing and signed the group to Germany-based Hansa Records. Their 1978 cover of “I Can’t Stand the Rain” was a big hit internationally; reaching number five in Britain and number 18 in the U.S. (it was a U.S. Top 40 entry). The success was sealed with “One Way Ticket,” which went to number nine in the U.K. the following year.

Eddie Higgins has been an active jazz musician since the late '50s, though he has developed an especially strong following in Japan, resulting in numerous opportunities to record for Japanese jazz labels. This single-disc set features the bandleader with tenor saxophonists Scott Hamilton and Ken Peplowski, along with bassist Jay Leonhart and drummer Ben Riley…