Few can predict the impact a composer may have, but those who experience the vision and tutelage of a true musical inspiration surely know it. American composer Allen Sapp left such a mark on artistic culture, and LIVE PIANO WORKS pays tribute to his legacy with recordings from the Ohio State University Music & Dance Library's Allen Sapp Collection. Each piece on the two-volume collection highlights a studied and academic approach to composition, with deep, expert exploration of idioms and techniques. This album features performances by Sapp's wife, Norma Bertolami Sapp, recorded live over a period spanning three decades at the Patricia Corbett Theatre at University of Cincinnati College - Conservatory of Music, and a historic recording of Sapp himself from 1961.

In an interview, the composer Sergej Newski remembered, "The voice was the ideal path for finding my own idiom. In the late 1990s I began to transfer expressive vocal sounds into syntactic systems that obstruct their expressivity. I set out to find the primordial element of the voice." This recording includes his works Blindenalphabet, Alles and J'etais d'accord performed by the Ensemble Mosaik and Arbeitsfle�che performed by the ensemble MusikFabrik.

Classical Music

The Bay City Jazz Band recorded two LPs for the Good Time Jazz label in the 1950s. That's the same label that issued Lu Watters' Yerba Buena Jazz Band, the band that started the west coast traditional jazz revival scene and influenced numerous groups including the Bay City Jazz Band. Three original Bay City members are on board: Everett Farey on trumpet, John Boland on clarinet and Lloyd Byassee on drums. They are joined by Chicago area musicians Bob Neighbor on trumpet, Jim Snyder on trombone, John Cooper on piano, Jack Kuncl on banjo, Mike Walbridge on tuba and guest vocalist (on one song) Grana Louise. The band played on three consecutive nights prior to this recording, so they really swing.

Following in the footsteps of our 20th, 25th, 30th and 35th Anniversary Collections, which have scanned a combined 400,000 units, comes this budget-priced double CD release celebrating the 40th anniversary of the worlds premier blues label. Featuring 38 songs (over 157 minutes of music) showcasing 40 years of career-defining recordings by a star-studded Who's Who of American blues and roots artists past and present.

Three CDs-58 songs. The king of blues labels turns 50! This anthology celebrates 50 years of classic, genre-defining recordings by a star-studded Who's Who of American blues and roots music artists past and present. Features tracks by Hound Dog Taylor, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, J.J. Grey & Mofro, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, Tommy Castro, Marcia Ball, Albert Collins, Luther Allison, James Cotton, Toronzo Cannon and many more!

Double vinyl LP pressing. The king of blues labels turns 50! This anthology celebrates 50 years of classic, genre-defining recordings by a star-studded Who's Who of American blues and roots music artists past and present. Features tracks by Hound Dog Taylor, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, J.J. Grey & Mofro, Koko Taylor, Johnny Winter, Tommy Castro, Marcia Ball, Albert Collins, Luther Allison, James Cotton, Toronzo Cannon and many more!

ALLOY

Allusions to Seasons and Weather is a suite of four works based on experiences of time and place in the woods, water, mountains and magical far north of Norway, where Composer Peter V. Swendsen lived for a year as a Fulbright Fellow. + The suite itself, as well as the three additional pieces that accompany it on this CD, combine field recordings and electronics with the invention and artistry of exceptionally imaginative performers.

Guitarist from Rome, Marina Tomei is among all the most active young Italian guitarists in the world music scene. She began to study guitar with Bruno Battisti D'Amario, the historical guitarist of Ennio Morricone. She continued her academic studies in Florence, as a fellow at the Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini, where she studied with Maestro Francesco Cuoghi. She received her degree in guitar under the guidance of Maestro Arturo Tallini at the Conservatory of Music Santa Cecilia in Rome. She worked in Masterclass with Dusan Bogdanovich, Magnus Andersson and Ricardo Gallen among others. She was selected to attend the Aspen Music Festival and School, under the instrumental direction of Sharon Isbin, and the famous Accademia Chigiana in Siena with Oscar Ghiglia. The CD offers, with personal lyrical strength and colorful language, a fascinating musical journey into the compositions of twentieth-century authors.

"Feasts of beautifully sculpted phrases...glimpses of heaven" - Philadelphia Inquirer

"Soulful depth...dramatic flair and contrast" - New York Times

Full of adventure, I Pizzicanti set about making this album a reality. They came up with the idea for the project together with C�line Pasche, with whom the musicians share a love of the Italiano style. After lots of searching and playing the original repertoire with recorder, they were able to capture the spirit of this Italian style with the artistic means of historical transcription. As members of the new generation of upcoming artists, the musicians Nadja & Chani Lesaulnier, Rafael Becerra and Jonathan Pesek founded the group I Pizzicanti in the year 2009. I Pizzicanti, with all it's members being graduates of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, is perpetuating the movement of rediscovery of the 17th, 18th and 19th century repertoire by using the techniques of the historically informed performance practice. The common ground of shared aesthetic principles allows I Pizzicanti to pursue a research for liberty, creativity and spontaneity while paying due respect to the integrity of the historical masterpieces. In a productive dialogue process the dynamics of the group evolve around the distinct personalities of it's members. I Pizzicanti is devoted to the recreation and promotion of baroque musical practice like the proficient playing of several instruments and the art of transcription.

A refined Lieder recital focused on the fascinating figure of Alma Mahler. All main composers of Vienna at the outset of the 20th century are represented. An unprecedented flourishing of musical and artistic talents concentrated at that time in the Austro-Hungarian empire capital. Third recording on Challenge Classics by raising star baritone Raoul Steffani. Previous releases: CC 72865 with Magdalena Kozena. Classica (FR): Raoul Steffani demonstrates a style and a diction always impeccable. He vocally masters all these lieder which often seek the top of the register and bring a lot of colors. CC 72785, American Record Guide (USA): This is an exceptionally fine debut recording for an already well-developed singer.

Anonima Frottolisti Ensemble, a group specializing in Early and medieval music, confronts a little performed yet interesting repertoire: the “contrafacta”, compositions in which the lyrics and the melodies are a blend of the sacred and profane. Starting from the 12th c., these two seemingly opposed worlds diverged in the custom of secular text usage on sacred melodies. Later, the trend is the opposite: popular melodies in vogue at the time are filled with liturgical and spiritual texts, thus becoming an effective means of leading people to faith and knowledge of the scriptures.

SOMM Recordings is excited to explore the fascinating and largely unknown repertoire of Ibero-American art songs. A shared passion for showcasing hidden jewels of Latin American song inspired the collaboration of Colombian soprano Julieth Lozano Rolong and Portuguese pianist Joao Araujo, who began their partnership while studying at the Royal College of Music. Julieth received the 2018 RCM President's Award presented by RCM President, HM King Charles III. She won the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Audience Prize in the 2023 Cardiff Singer of the World competition and was recently named one of Opera Wire's Top Ten Rising Stars. Joao was awarded best collaborative pianist prizes at the Concours Musical International de Montreal in Canada and the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at Wigmore Hall, and he has been nominated for the Gerald Moore Award. Their recital includes songs in Spanish and Portuguese from seven countries. Reflecting Argentina is "Dance of Two Brothers" by the Impressionistic composer Carlos Guastavino, and "Cancion de cuna India," a haunting lullaby by Gilardo Gilardi, inspired by Argentina's indigenous music. Maria Grever was the first Mexican female composer to gain international success. Her innate melodic gifts are evident in "My Soul" and "You Said 'I Love You'." "Uirapuru," by Brazilian composer Waldemar Henrique, describes the song of the so-named musician wren, while the evocative "Bluebird" by compatriot, Jayme Ovalle, was embraced by sopranos like Victoria de Los Angeles and Montserrat Caballe, and baritone Gerard Souzay. Ernani Braga's gift for transforming Afro-Brazilian musical elements is underscored in a song reflecting Brazilian folk religion and a sugar-mill workers' song. The simple originality of Spanish composer, Maria de Pablos Cerezo, who tragically spent her final decades in a mental institution, is heard here in "The Water Wheel." Ernesto Halffter's much-admired arrangement of a popular fado, "Oh, What a Beautiful Girl" is followed by two selections arranged by the Spanish poet and playwright, Federico Garcia Lorca: "The Moorish girls from Jaen" and "Sevillian Lullaby." Barcelona native Fernando Obradors conjures the Andalusian dance, "El vito," and from zarzuela composer, Joaquin "Quinito" Valverde Sanjuan, we have his sublime "Carnations." "Lullaby to Put Albertico to Bed" and "Rojo," a description of sunset, reflect the folkloric research by Venezuelan musicologist-composer, Modesta Bor. Colombia is represented by the haunting lullaby, "Promises So You Can Sleep" from Luis Carlos Figueroa Sierra; a loving picture of a country girl, "La campesina," by Jaime Leon Ferro; and "Four Questions" from a heartbroken lover by Pedro Morales Pino. The recital ends with two songs from Portugal. "The Willows" by Luis Costa is one of the gems of Portuguese art song. Finally, from Antonio Fragoso, a victim of the 1918 influenza epidemic, we have "Cradling the Little Boy."

Classical Music

Almanack (2017) is a collection of 76 varied pieces suitable for performance on keyboard instruments. Although piano is perhaps the most obvious (and ubiquitous) choice, many are also suitable for organ, harpsichord, clavichord, or other possibilities, even including harp or keyboard percussion. This album is a selection of 37 pieces drawn from the book, performed on the piano. The inspirations and connections behind this volume of keyboard pieces are diverse, ranging from the hymnody of the American Shakers to the experimental mostly European Wandelweiser collective. Other conceptual influences include the largely non-rhetorical, post-Cardew pieces of 1970s English experimental keyboard music, especially the remarkable work of Howard Skempton. Other pieces draw on elements of early keyboard music from the pre-baroque era. All of the pieces in this collection offer a variety of possible interpretations, and many involve flexible performance options. These recorded performances should not be seen in any way as prescriptive or binding for those who have the score and are playing the pieces for themselves.

Francesco Almasio (Milan, 21 April 1802 - Milan, 14 November 1871) was one of the protagonists of the musical life of Milan during the nineteenth century, and is considered the father of the reformation of sacred music in Italy. He was Kapellmeister and organist in several Milanese churches, and the very first teacher in the organ course at the Conservatory of Milan: the few surviving manuscripts of sacred music compositions of his, and the printed corpus of his organ pieces, reveal the everyday life of his liturgical and teaching activities. Francesco Almasio was born in Milan to Pietro Almasio (1780-1846), from Legnano, who also was a Kapellmeister and organist, and Maria Porri; his father made him study the piano, the organ and composition. Organist Fabio Nava uses the historic Bossi-Urbani organ from 1886 in the Prepositurale Church of Leffe (Bergamo) to best render this recording of Francesco Almasio's organ works. In addition to the original compositions, the organ transcriptions by the Milanese composer are particularly interesting. In addition to famous pieces such as Eja Mater from Rossini's Stabat Mater and the symphony from Giuseppe Verdi's La Forza del Destino, true musts of the era, he surprisingly adapts two movements from Beethoven's Septet for organ, enriching the sacred and liturgical repertoire of his time with chamber music genre.

José Antônio de Almeida Prado was one of the most admired Brazilian composers of his time. The two stylistically diverse works featured on this album exemplify different creative periods in the composer’s life. The prize-winning Pequenos funerais cantantes, which was Almeida Prado’s breakthrough as a composer, is a lament full of unique soundworlds forged from different combinations of choral and orchestral writing. The superbly orchestrated Sinfonia dos Orixás takes as its subject the Orishas (deities in the Yoruba religion) – and is a personal tribute to the rich Afro-Brazilian religious traditions, a sumptuous melodic and rhythmic feast celebrating the forces of nature.

REVIEW:

In his music, color and emotion were inextricably interwoven with the more technical aspects of his scores. His music can be described in words, but these words fail to convey its impact, which is not really definable. This music is never predictable. It always surprises the listener. It is a shame that he’s almost virtually ignored outside Brazil.

The Symphony of the Orishas, composed in 1984-85, is a masterpiece of extraordinary invention and complexity. Words do it little justice, you really need to hear and experience it for yourself. Nothing I say is going to convey the full power, richness and emotional impact of this score. Suffice it to say that I’ve heard absolutely nothing like it in a half-century of reviewing music. All I will say is that it is not at all a conventional symphony using theme and development, but rather a veritable cornucopia of sound, color and motion.

Neil Thomson is an excellent conductor who fully enters the spirit of these scores; he manages to sound Brazilian even though he isn’t. This is one of those very rare albums whose totality is greater than the sum of its parts. This is certainly one of the most interesting and culturally important releases ever put on the market.

-- The Art Music Lounge (Lynn René Bayley)

Studies in Rome equipped Francisco Ant�nio de Almeida for high musical standing at the court of the Portuguese King, Jo�o V. Here he wrote a series of admired operas but also embarked on serenades', court spectacles of a more private nature. Il Trionfo d'Amore, a scherzo pastoral, was written to celebrate the King's name-day. Ranging from intimacy to ceremonial splendor, with several sublime arias, not least the beautiful In queste lacrime, as well as dramatic passages, it reveals de Almeida to be one of the outstanding Portuguese composers of the eighteenth century.

Almost Everything

Double vinyl LP pressing. Almost Everything. Is a two-part album. The first, features 15 of Ireland's best-loved artists reading Kavanagh's poetry against the backdrop of a truly stunning musical composition. The second, is a remaster of the 1964 album from Claddagh Records, the only recording of Patrick Kavanagh reading his own poetry. The sleeve notes include fellow poet John Montague's description of Kavanagh as "a writer who already has his place among the Irish immortals, both as a personality and a poet."

Get your limited edition of the Almost Famous The Musical - 1973 Bootleg EP vinyl featuring four songs from the upcoming Broadway musical with music by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Kitt and lyrics by Oscar Winner Cameron Crowe and Kitt. Starring Chris Wood, Solea Pfeiffer and Casey Likes, Almost Famous The Musical is an adaptation of Cameron Crowe's beloved Academy Award and BAFTA-winning film and opens on Broadway November 3, 2022.

New York's Kelly's Stables on 52nd Street was a hotbed of innovative musical ideas in the early 1940s. The Coleman Hawkins Band was extending the harmonic boundaries of the music in association with younger musicians laying the seeds of the bebop revolution. Dan Block (a NY tenor saxophonist and clarinetist) and guitarist Chris Flory spent 5 years researching the period in an attempt to find the connection points and transition from Swing to Bop. This recording, Almost Modern, is the musical result of their work, including tunes by Dexter Gordon, Coleman Hawkins, Don Byas, Illinois Jacquet, Dizzy Gillespie, Gil Fuller, Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk and Sir Charles Thompson.

One of the most virtuosic and emotive voices of contemporary jazz violin, rising star Zach Brock has drawn praise from a wide cohort of fellow musicians and critics for his musical acumen. Having appeared notably as a sideman with musicians such as Stanley Clarke and Patricia Barber, Brock convenes a world-class rhythm section for his Criss Cross debut (pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland), who inspire him to uncork a series of efflorescent, graceful improvisations on a program of originals and re-imagined standards.

Pianist Kikoski returns to a piano trio setting for a collection of provocative, often unconventional, original compositions; features bassist John Patitucci & drummer Jeff "Twain" Watts.

In this recital of Alnæs’ atmospheric songs, Eriksen, whose playing of Alnæs’ piano works can be heard on an earlier Toccata Classics CD, returns to his music in the company of Solvang, one of Norway’s best mezzos. This CD marks the 140th anniversary of Alnæs’ birth and the 80th of his death and includes a number of word premiere recordings.

REVIEW:

Solvang’s lyric soprano is attractive and colorful, and she is capable of floating some lovely pianos. Very rarely she pushes it too much and the tone turns hard, but this is a minor flaw in a disc of lovely singing. Eriksen is clearly as much of an Alnæs expert as we have today—having recorded a disc of piano pieces—and he and Solvang are on the same wavelength throughout. One could not ask for better performances. The recorded sound is a bit too “airy” for my tastes—but one gets used to it quickly enough. Very informative and high-quality program notes along with complete texts and translations round out the production.

-- Fanfare

Alois Haba has gone down in the history of 20th-century music as an experimenter. He studied in Vienna and Berlin under Franz Schreker, studied the tonal principles of non-European music, and developed his own theory of micro-intervallic music. However, his enthusiasm for microtonal music narrowed the perception of his creative legacy solely to it's experimental component, although more than half of his works are compositions in the usual system of semitones. As he himself said, he was trying "to find the path from non-traditional training to artistically independent creative work with strongly altered harmony and melody in order to arrive at a personal means of expression following the line leading from Bach to Schumann and on to Reger." He achieved this goal in the Sonata, Op. 3, for which he received much praise from Schreker, while Vitezslav Novak "with condescending humour called it a 'sonata for three hands'". Erwin Schulhoff premiered the Two Grotesque Pieces in 1922 in Berlin alongside compositions by Satie, Casella, and Stravinsky, and according to a critic, "Haba's compositions made a far more authentic impression than much that surrounded them." After the Toccata quasi una fantasia (1931), Haba returned to writing piano music one last time 40 years later at the end of his life with his Six Moods. As a student in Vienna and Ghent, the pianist Miroslav Beinhauer focused on music of the 20th and 21st centuries. He was introduced to Haba through his compositions for sixth-tone harmonium (Beinhauer is the only player of this instrument, created by Haba), and he went on to study Haba's complete works for "ordinary" piano as well. These works are little known and worthy of attention. The first complete recording of Haba's works for "ordinary" piano. Haba surprisingly without micro-intervals

Taking on the bold freedom of the skylark, Chinese pipa virtuoso Gao Hong and flamenco guitarist Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde fly together from ancient Asian dynasties, through the Thar desert to Andalusia, harmoniously combining cultures as the East meets West.

Alone