New releases

FOY VANCE: Live In London (Gingerbread Man)

MENTORED by Elton John and Ed Sheeran, the Irish singer-songwriter is in excellent voice on this solo show at London’s Union Chapel. He spends as much time talking as singing, but the simple setting suits his informal approach. He augments Van Morrison-like originals with piano and ukulele and adds rambling anecdotes to a cover of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’.

THE ROLLING STONES: On Air (Polydor)

‘OUR policy is to produce an authentic Chicago R&B sound,’ said the Stones to the BBC in 1963, and these early radio sessions are steeped in the blues. With Brian Jones on superb slide guitar, they tackle Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters, making On Air a distant cousin to last year’s Blue & Lonesome. The rough and ready originals also catch the ear, including Satisfaction and a forceful The Spider And The Fly.

JEFF LYNNE’S ELO: Wembley Or Bust (Sony)

RECORDED at Wembley Stadium in June, this CD/ DVD celebrates ELO’s flawless blend of pop and classical. Rockaria has some suitably operatic flourishes, while the overblown 10538 Overture was the template for Oasis’s Be Here Now. Lynne is more of a craftsman than he is a showman, but it’s hard to resist the melodic sweep of Mr Blue Sky, Xanadu and the Traveling Wilburys’ Handle With Care.