... COWARD RARITIES On Volume 2 (PPCD 78141), the standout item is a Noel Coward rarity, a medley of his songs he recorded in New York with Leo Reisman's Orchestra in 1933. Many of those on Volume 1 reappear, including Gertrude Lawrence, this time with The Saga of Jenny, saxophonist Freddy Gardner, Carroll Gibbons and his Boyfriends, the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, with Reinhardt and ...

... STANDARD ISSUE Very unusual is Tim Whitehead's Personal Standards album (Home Grown HMR 047), on which this highly-regarded saxo phonist uses contemporary songs as the basis for exciting improvi sations. Material like My Heart Will Go On, Lovely Day and My Girl proves to be worth exploring. Equally interesting is the Village Life album Bubbling Under (98116 VL), in which a jazz trio featuring ...

... Sixties chart-topper walks back It is pretty alarming to discover that I have been an admirer of Helen Shapiro for nearly 40 years - it must be even more alarming for her. But there is no doubt that even when she was Walking Back to Happiness she had a great voice and style. Most of Simply Shapiro (Katalyst KAT 003) was recorded only last January but both these assets are in full working order ...

... Magic of The Master Among Noel Coward's achievements was that he was one of the first singer/songwriters, and EMI has paid him a handsome tribute in its Legends of the 20th Century series (0724 3 499923 2 0). Here are 19 songs interpreted by The Master, although it must be said that he is more successful in comedy numbers such as Mrs Worthington. The Stately Homes of England and Mad Dogs and ...

... Show Boat going nowhere COMPLILED BY PETER HEPPLE I am all for compilations, but I can see little point in Pearl's The Ultimate Show Boat (GEMS 0060), which brings together a collection of single recordings, originally of course on 78rpm, of the songs from Kern's great musical, the dates ranging from 1928 to 1947. What it means is that you get nine versions of 01' Man River, four of them by ...

... Sultry music of the war years If you are an enthusiast for music and stars of the thirties and forties, you will obviously want both CDs which Past Perfect has issued under the title Elegance, which emphasise the tunefulness and style of the period. Volume 1 (PPCD 78140) features two tracks, possibly the only two sides she ever made, by Christine Norden, a screen sex siren of the forties, who ...

... Groundbreaking tunes That much heralded revival in English folk music is put down to Eliza Carthy and Kate Rusby. But it should not be forgotten that Eliza's mum and dad, Norma Waterson and Martin Carthy, are still going strong and have a new album to Drove it. Broken Ground (Topic TSCD 509), on which Eliza makes a guest appearance. Both Norma, with her family group The Watersons, and ...

... LEST WE FORGET Students of the American musical will make a beeline for Volume III in Pearl's Broadway Through the Gramophone series, The Musical Stage In the War Years 1914- 1920, a double CD on GEMS 0084. I cannot pretend that it is of much more than academic interest, however, all the tracks being made in medley form by either the Victor or Columbia Light Opera Companies. Though one or two ...

... GREAT SCOT Technically of the highest quality, the recent output by Linn has encompassed both traditional Scottish and jazz material. I seem to have missed the first five volumes of Robert Bums: The Complete Songs, but Volume 6 (CKD 999) is much more ing than some Sassenachs mignt imagine. A varied collection of singers has been gathered to interpret them, from the highly traditional, like ...

... ABM VARIETY From the ever-growing pile of ABM releases, one picks another four which cover the jazz and pop spectrum. For sheer fun and good humour it would be hard to beat Wynonie Harris, heard on ABMMCD 1159 on a collection of R&B tracks with small and large bands led by Lucky Millinder, Johnnie Otis, Illinois Jacquet, Jack McVea and Johnnie Alston, practising in that area where jazz ...

... Dancing across the decades Three compilations from Rapper represent the dance music of the twenties, thirties and forties, even if some of the tracks are by stage or screen personalities who originally introduced the songs. Thus, on the Roaring Twenties disc (PAST CD 7845) we get a ludicrously hammy version of Clap Yo' Hands, by the Gershwins, from none other than Claude Hulbert, who ...

... Powerful and moving story Seen last year as part of the Covert Garden Festival, Let Him Have Justice is not the type of musical to make worldwide waves or even warrant more than the odd production in this country. But as a piece of musical drama it has a lot going for it when it comes to sincerity and passion, being based on the real-life story of Derek Bentley, an illiterate youth who was ...