Looking at the art work on Dom Um Romão's Lake of Perseverance, one immediately thinks of CTI's famous LP covers of the '70s. Back then, CTI's album covers had an instantly recognizable style, and a very CTI-minded look graces the front and back covers of Lake of Perseverance. But this diverse CD is not a CTI album from the '70s. Lake of Perseverance, an Italian release, wasn't recorded until 2000, and it was not produced by CTI founder Creed Taylor – the producer is Brazilian percussionist/arranger Arnaldo DeSouteiro. Lake of Perseverance does not fit neatly into one particular category. Some of the material is post-bop jazz.

Of all of Eberhard Weber's classic albums Yellow Fields is probably the most likely to appeal to the average prog fan. First of all because it opens with "Touch", the most "symphonic" piece Weber has ever recorded without using an actual orchestra: a lush, stately, moving instrumental ballad with gorgeous mellotron, and with the main melody played in unison by Charlie Mariano's lyrical sax, Rainer Brueninghaus's synth and Weber's own plangeant bass. "Touch" is utterly delightful, a major highlight in Weber's oeuvre.

Rinaldo Alessandrini's brilliantly realized recording of Monteverdi's Vespers is an intimate, slightly pared down version of the early Baroque masterpiece. Working in the warm acoustic of Rome's Palazzo Farnese, he employs just one singer per part, and eliminates instrumental doublings in the choral movements except where they are expressly indicated. The result is a compact, richly haloed sound that won't ever knock you out of your chair, but which flatters the more intimate solo and duet movements that can sound anemic in grander productions; with the sound gap between the biggest and smallest movements closed, each holds its own within the overall structure of the piece. While Alessandrini deserves credit for his conception and leadership, and especially his insightful treatment of Monteverdi's ever-changing rhythmic flow, it is his group of 12 singers that make the strongest impression.