Blu-Ray with SACD · 2 discs
A 2021 GRAMMY Nominee for Best Immersive Audio Album!
The Norwegian Girls Choir and pianist Tord Gustavsen combine their talents in a programme of much-loved Christmas carols, leading the audience through expressive improvisations and quiet melancholy to glittering, ecstatic moments. Anne Karin Sundal-Ask directs the performances with attention to each individual singer and to the distinctive sound of the choir as a whole. The result is an uplifting, emotional encounter in which these radiant, young voices appeal to our very hearts. The Norwegian Girls Choir is an independent continuation of The Norwegian Broadcasting Company’s Girls Choir, which was established in 1947. The choir has long been a strong institution in Norwegian cultural life, and it has fostered a number of great singers, musicians and artists.
Vinyl · 1 disc
This album is made up of selected live and radio broadcasts with the Danish Radio Big Band and Swedish, British and Danish/American small groups during 1964-71. As the title indicates only ballads are included on the album, and, for the first time on a Ben Webster ballad album, there is no string-section accompaniment. Three of the ten numbers were previously unreleased before the original issue of this album. The art of ballad-playing was all-important to Ben Webster. He once said "Remember, there are only three tempi in jazz - slow, medium and slow!" While all the tunes are ballads, the wide variety and constellations give a wonderful, multi-faceted sound-picture of Ben Webster.
This album is a collection of classic melodies from the repertoire of Ben Webster’s famous employer of many years, Duke Ellington. The album is comprised of three live radio sessions with the Danish Radio Big Band in 1969 and 1971, plus live concert sessions with two different backing trios (Finland in 1967 and Denmark in 1969). Aside from one tune, all the performances with the Danish Radio Big Band are based on Ellington’s original scores. The quartet sessions are also great - one with Ben’s boss from the early 1930’s, Teddy Wilson, and the other with Kenny Drew. That Ben Webster was one of the undisputed jazz greats on the tenor saxophone - both in a big band and small group context - is amply illustrated on this fine album.
CD · 1 disc
![Ben Webster Plays Ballads [Vinyl]](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/3847085.jpg?v=1786837238&width=400)
