... Celtic Roots--Stocktons Wing (Raglan RGLP 6) One of the new generation Irish electric folk groups, Stocktons Wing is rich in writers, to judge from this album Paul Roche, Kieran Hanrahan and Maurice Lennon wrote the music for the impressive Feasta no Feinne, which refers to the third centrury Irish army commanded by Finn Mac Cool Hanrahan also wrote the haunting in strumental, 'Se Mo Croi. ...

... Tea Break--Vic Lewis and the BBC Radio Big Band (Concept VL3) It is good to see the name of Vic Lewis on a record again, marking his 50th year in the business. There is nothing nostalgic about his comeback either as he directs the outstanding BBC Radio Big Band which, on this evidence, must be one ot me nest ot its Kind in me woria, for it is, of course, a full-time unit. There are a couple ...

... Dr Faustus NOTTINGHAM CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE'S emphasis on the possibly evil consequences of too much knowledge mades 'Dr Faustus a very relevant play for 1983, and Michael Winter's production, in conjunction with York Theatre Royal, is as compelling a rendering as you're ever likely to see. Ian McCulloch portrays Faustus as a frank, genial Tudor materialist with an unfortunate prediliction for ...

... Charlie Parker. Vol. 6. South of the Bonier; Vol. 7. Big Band (Verve 817 447-1. SI 7 AASi-l\ Reissued on French Polydor, these two albums are taken from the numerous sessions on which Norman Granz teamed the outstanding jazz musician of the early post-war years with an assortment of orchestras and groups, including, on one occasion, the Dave Lambert Singers of which Annie Ross was a member, ...

... The Golden Age of Hutch (EMI GX 2550) Previous collections of Hutch recordings have been mainly on the Decca label, but many of his best numbers were made for Parlophone, and later for HMV, and 16 of these have been packaged for EMI's new Golden Age series. Hutch's style of singing may have had its detractors in the forties ana ne was sometimes accused ol oeing over-dramatic. But listening ...

... Disc Data Grind Original Broadway Cast (That's Entertainment Records TER 11031 It is easy to gauge from this album why Grind was not a Broadway success, despite so many of the right ingredients, including direction by Harold Prince and performances by Ben Vereen and Stubby Kaye. It is that showbiz sentiment, as the subject of a musical, has probably had its day for the time being, and ...

... Chess Cast Album (RCA PL 70500} Smart-assed people might say that this collaboration between Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, recorded by a cast which includes Elaine Paige, Murray Head, Barbara Dickson and Denis Quilley, is exactly what one might expect, a mixture of Evita and Abba, with, at the end, a dash of Tchaikovsky thrown in to establish the fact that one of the main ...

... 3 Gays Naked From the Waist Dowa- Oriciaal Cast (That's EaterUinteat TER1100) This off-Broadway show must be the first musical about alternative comedy, proof that the Americans can find something in the most unpromising material. But although the three funny men who join forces to become a team and hit the heights on television are indeed anxious to broaden the scope of their comedy, the ...

... 112 Rock 'n' Roll Greats (available only from Reader's Digest Association Ltd, 25 Berkeley Square, London W1X6AB) Reader's Digest may have put out more musically satisfying compilations than this, but none so evocative. Every one of the 1 12 tracks probably brings back a memory to somebody, especially if you are over 40, for some of them date from the fifties, the majority from the early ...

... Swing is in the Air Ambrose and his Orchestra (Decca RFL 35) DESPITE THE TITLE, this is not instrumental Ambrose but a compilation relying heavily on the voice of Evelyn Dall, one of those singers who, in the late thirties, when these tracks were made, would be described as a peppy bundle of personality. Which never did make her much of a singer, but the songs bring back memories, other ...

... Back to the fifties with Jimmy Young SB ^SBP Hk Soats of the SOs (Decca FRLD 49) Most people would not regard the fifties as being a golden age for pop music, but 636 records during the decade sold over a million copies and this double album proves that many of the songs are not to be discounted. Yet it was the end of an era, not only pre-rock but full of songs which formed to the pattern ...

... Music for the Millions Astrud Gilberto (Verve 817 852-1) Gilberto fans may be able to fill up a few gaps in their collections with this issue on the popular Dutch series, available through Import Music Ser vice. Most of the songs are by Antonio Carlos Jobim, but only three, Medita tion, And Roses and Roses and How Insensitive, are really well- known, though all are given a tender ...