Kendrick Scott is one of the most sought-after drummers in the jazz world and has distinguished himself for several years with Terence Blanchard's Grammy-winning ensemble. Recently, in the fall of 2008 he toured the world as part of Herbie Hancock's famous band. He is the founder of World Culture Music, an artist collective and record label out of New York. Kendrick now makes his Criss Cross leader debut with Reverence, a stirring quintet session featuring Moreno on guitar, Blanchard band mate Derrick Hodge on bass, and the prodigious up-and-comers Walter Smith on tenor and Gerald Clayton on piano. Together, Kendrick and the band put their own stamp on classics by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ornette Coleman and more.
Andrew Scott's latest project for Sackville takes a fresh look at some of the classic bebop tunes of the 40s based upon the harmonies of popular songs. The quartet of Andrew Scott - guitar, Mark Eisenman - piano, Pat Collins - bass and Joel Haynes - drums are joined by Jon Erik-Kellso on trumpet and Don Block on tenor saxophone and clarinet. Tracks: Did You Call Her Today, Hot House, on a Misty Night, Vicky's Dream, Nostalgia, Junior's Soul, Quasimodo, Contrafact, Salute to the Bandbox. Recorded on June 5, 2008 at the Estonian Hall in Toronto.
Two unique jazz guitarists collaborate on "Song Songs Song." Jeff Parker's previous Delmark CD, "Like-Coping" (DMK #543), his first as leader, was more rooted in the classic jazz tradition compared to his other work with Tortoise, Isotope 217, Chicago Underground or Tricolor. The music on "Song Songs Song" is free and stylistically similar to Scott Fields' first Delmark CD. Jazziz Magazine described Fields' music as: "open-ended, freeform sound-scapes filled with noises that are alternately weird, discomfiting and stimulating" - (reviewing "Mamet," DMK #527). "Parker turns in one cogent but disarming performance after another" - Top Ten best jazz recordings 2003 - Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune.
Innovative guitarist & composer Scott Fields makes his Delmark debut with a recording of 5 original compositions inspired by the work of playwright David Mamet. Fields, whose previous ensembles have included such notables as pianists Marilyn Crispell, Myra Melford, and saxophonist Joseph Jarman, finds himself in excellent company here. Drummer Michael Zerang is a stalwart of the Chicago scene and has provided the pulse for the Ken Vandermark Quartet & the explosive Peter Br"tzmann Tentet. Bassist Michael Formanek is a respected composer, bandleader, and bassist.
Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. 2023 release. Drummer and composer Kendrick Scott returns with the release of Corridors, his third album for Blue Note Records, and first compositional treatment of trio context: saxophone, bass, and drums. Corridors unveils an exposed rumination from the Houston-born artist and his acclaimed collaborators: saxophonist Walter Smith III and bassist Reuben Rogers. Born during the pandemic lockdown, the record focuses on posing outward questions instead of inward contemplation.
The variety and fluidity of bodies of water has always fascinated guitarist/composer Scott DuBois and inspires his first solo guitar recording, Summer Water. The view of Lake Michigan from his window was a daily reminder of the range of water's expressive forces. During the bone-chilling Chicago winter of 2019, he wrote pieces for solo guitar that would not only utilize his symphonic compositional voice but would emulate the sound without the use of overdubs, loops or layering. DuBois has captured the textures and colors of an orchestra and has maintained a bold sound, not just in terms of volume, but in the intensity, much as one hears from an orchestra, whether loud or soft. He has also created great variety within the sound and the compositions, an important aspect of his work. All of this was accomplished with the barest of essentials: a solo guitar. // This double LP set is the vinyl version of the CD album released in the spring of 2021.
There is something entrancing about the natural cycle of water. There is the constant ebb and flow. Then there are the nearly limitless variations, like the lightness of sprinkling rain, babbling brooks or the relentless force of crashing waves and storms. The variety and fluidity of bodies of water has always fascinated guitarist/composer Scott DuBois and inspires his first solo guitar recording, Summer Water, which is also the first recording on his new record label / publishing company, Watertone Music. // DuBois's 2015 album, Winter Light (ACT), began a series of recordings featuring music inspired by the four seasons that would be performed by varied ensembles. Winter Light featured DuBois's quartet of the past 15 years, featuring Gebhard Ullmann, Thomas Morgan and Kresten Osgood, while his 2017 album, Autumn Wind (ACT), added a string and wind ensemble in addition to his quartet. // Summer Water is the third release in the series and a true departure for DuBois. The view of Lake Michigan from his window was a daily reminder of the range of water's expressive forces. During the bone-chilling Chicago winter of 2019, he wrote pieces for solo guitar that would not only utilize his symphonic compositional voice but would emulate the sound without the use of overdubs, loops or layering. DuBois has captured the textures and colors of an orchestra and has maintained a bold sound, not just in terms of volume, but in the intensity, much as one hears from an orchestra, whether loud or soft. He has also created great variety within the sound and the compositions, an important aspect of his work. All of this was accomplished with the barest of essentials: a solo guitar.
The violin has a long history in western music, including an important part in the early stages of jazz. Even with this history, the instrument hasn't been much a fixture in the contemporary jazz scene. The French bred, Brooklyn based Scott Tixier presents his Brooklyn Bazaar as an introduction to a new improvisational voice on the violin.
Guitarist Scott DuBois has made a concerted effort to create a focused ensemble with a sound custom fit for his emotive compositional voice. He has found the perfect foils in reed player Gebhard Ullmann, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Kresten Osgood.
Toscanini's remains one of the half a dozen greatest opera sets ever recorded. Whether it is the clarity of the ensembles, the extraordinary care taken over orchestral detail or the alert control of dynamics, Toscanini is supreme.
The Falstaff remains, as it always has been, one of the half a dozen greatest opera sets ever recorded. The Requiem is certainly among the three or four most satisfying accounts of that work ever put on disc. As each has here been remastered on CD to give clearer, more immediate sound than I have ever heard before from the originals on LP, joy at the reissue is doubled. With the Aida some caveats have to be entered. In spite of the conductor's vital contribution, this set suffers both from an indifferent cast and a less successful recording and, in this case, the transfer to digital sound seems to have added an unwanted edge to voices and instruments. Even so, here is further evidence of Toscanini's complete understanding of a composer with whom he had worked and whom he understood better than any of his successors.
Toscanini's Falstaff is, and will probably remain, unsurpassed. It is a miracle in every respect. How he loved Verdi and how he strained every sinew to fulfil this amazing score's variety in line, feeling and colour. Whether it is the clarity and discipline of the ensembles, the extraordinary care taken over orchestral detail (most arresting in the whole of the final act's first scene) or the alert control of dynamics, Toscanini is supreme, yet nothing is done for effect's sake; everything seems natural, inevitable, unforced, as though the score was being created anew before us with chamber music finesse – and the atmosphere of a live performance, caught at a 1950 broadcast, adds to the feeling of immediacy. Nobody dares, or seems to want to interrupt the magic being laid before them. Toscanini in his old age is matching the subtlety and vitality of the composer's own Indian summer – or one might say spring, so delicate and effervescent does the scoring sound.
The other overriding impression of Toscanini's reading is the perfect relationship of tempos, not always precisely Verdi's, and the way he accommodates his singers, quite putting to flight any idea of him as a strict taskmaster. If, vocally, the main glory is the wonderful sense of ensemble gained through hours of hard rehearsals (now to be heard on non-commercial discs), individual contributions are almost all rewarding. Indeed, Valdengo's Falstaff, under Toscanini's tutelage, has not been surpassed on disc even by Gobbi. Flexibility, charm, exactness, refinement inform his beautifully and wisely sung portrayal (extraordinary for a singer in his mid thirties) – listen to the whole of the monologue at the start of Act 3 and you'll hear what a great singer working with a great conductor can make of a great role – mainly by observing what the composer has written. He is no less pointed and subtle in his encounter with Frank Guarrera's imposing Ford, and Guarrera himself, again with Toscanini's help, reminds us how much the writing in the Jealousy aria relates to Otello's music. Another great joy of the set is the women's ensemble, their contribution the very epitome of smiling chatter. The Alice, Meg and Nannetta (Stich-Randall – none better) all sound, as they were, fresh and youthful, and Cloe Elmo's Quickly is as rich and ripe of voice and diction as any on disc, though a trifle coarse at times. The Fenton is sweet and Italianate in tone, but not as stylish as others. The smaller roles are all very much part of the team. ...I have no space to dwell further on the sheer pleasures to be found in these sets. They are a repository of the very best in Verdi conducting, worthy of study by aspiring (or established) conductors. More important than that, they should be a source of revelation to a new generation of collectors who may have a dim and/or wrongheaded view of what Toscanini was about.
