ALONE

ALONE & ACOUSTIC

Rediscover the music of brilliant Italian keyboard virtuosos whose works are rarely heard today. Songs, toccatas, ricercars, fugues, and dances come together in a richly woven program that captures the excitement of an era when instrumental music was just beginning to find it's own voice. Rooted in the expressive world of vocal madrigals yet pushing toward new independence, this repertoire reflects a moment of bold musical innovation. With charisma and imagination, Corina Marti brings these works to life, inviting listeners into intimate, personal moments at the keyboard-moments of reflection and creative freedom once enjoyed by court musicians behind the walls of Renaissance palaces.

There are relationships that always remain fruitful. Maybe it is because the discourse never lags or there is unflagging affection. Vocalist Jay Clayton and percussionist Jerry Granelli have been making music together for forty years and their musical connection continues to surprise as their affinity deepens. Their new recording, Alone Together, shows how the spark of creativity has only brightened over the duo's long affiliation.// Separately, the two have had remarkable and eclectic careers. Clayton came up as a jazz singer, only to be recruited into the modern classical worlds of Steve Reich and John Cage before becoming one of the great vocal improvisers in any genre. Granelli was a first call drummer in the Bay Area, playing regularly with piano greats Vince Guaraldi, Mose Allison, Denny Zeitlin and the guitar wizard Ralph Towner.// Clayton and Granelli's relationship stemmed from a recommendation of the great percussionist Collin Walcott. Granelli was running the summer music program at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, an important Buddhist institution where many important voices in creative arts and music came together. Walcott suggested that Granelli invite Clayton to their workshop in 1979.// Upon arriving, and having never met Granelli before, Clayton was asked to perform an improvised concert with Walcott and Granelli in a local planetarium. The rapport between Clayton and Granelli was immediate and deep. Clayton return to Naropa each of the following three summers. Then when Granelli relocated from the Bay Area to Seattle to teach at Cornish College, he invited Clayton to join the faculty.// The two really began to develop their language in Seattle. Meeting regularly in Granelli's basement rehearsal space, the improvisers made a core sound that would drive many future projects, including their group Quartett, featuring trombonist Julian Priester and bassist Gary Peacock. But it was their connection that was the heart of these endeavors. They were true musical soul mates.// Their first foray into recording was a duo recording entitled Sound Songs that was released in 1986 on JMT Records from Germany. Apart from Charles Mingus's "Goodbye Porkpie Hat," the entire album was improvised, showcasing the captivating talents of these two masters as they created new music together.// Thirty years later, Clayton and Granelli have revisited the integral duo setting they perfected so long ago. They reconvened along with engineer Darren Von Niekerk at the Sonic Temple Studio in Halifax, Nova Scotia for three hours in July 2014. The music was later mixed and edited by longtime friend Sascha Von Oertzen.

Coming soon

One of the finer young tenor players on the New York scene in the last decade, Sam Taylor squares off against Philadelphia's acclaimed tenor man, Larry McKenna on "Along The Way." Taylor and the elder McKenna don't musically spar so much as put their equally rich saxophone sounds to good use in a spirited, cooperative effort in a warm program of standards that suits their unfettered bebop style.

Alto saxophonist performs conceptually diverse material w. deep feeling & cool clarity, telling his story w. exquisite tone & execution, feat. Mark Turner, Kevin Hays, Joe Martin & Billy Drummond.

The Alpbarock group comprises 6 musicians from various backgrounds, who came together to bring new life to old melodies from the Swiss popular repertoire. The surprising program of this recording revives ballads, love songs or death dances hailing from non-written traditions. The result offers a refreshing new view of the concept of popular music. The recording was made at the Swiss National Museum, which conserves chamber organs formerly used in the wealthy farms of Toggenburg and Emmenthal between 1750 and 1850.

The two choirs of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge return to Resonus Classics to collaborate once more on a new recording of contemporary works for Advent and Christmas. Featuring many world premiere recordings, the programme includes works written specially for the two college choirs including Diana Burrell’s exuberant carol, Green groweth the holly; Christopher Fox’s major new setting of the O Anitphons, interspersed with the original plainchant, and Jeremy Thurlow’s Magnificat for upper voices, organ and tape, that blazes with the intensity of a new vision of the world.

After it's 'undeniably beautiful' (The Financial Times) Linn debut and it's 'excellently performed' (Fanfare) follow up, Cappella Nova releases a third volume of choral works by the leading contemporary composer, James MacMillan. Of the eight works performed here, six receive their premiere recording (only 'Missa Dunelmi' and 'Invocation' have been previously recorded). Cappella Nova has enjoyed a 25 year association with MacMillan; the choir has established an intuitive response to his work and a passion for his creativity that is evident on Alpha & Omega. 'Missa Dunelmi' is conducted by the composer; founding director Alan Tavener lends his enthusiasm and expertise for the remaining works. James MacMillan provides illuminating and fascinating insights into his work in a conversation with Rebecca Tavener included in the booklet note.

Vinyl LP pressing. Originally released in 1974 on the Stax imprint Truth Records, The Round Robin Monopoly's funk-soul extravaganza Alpha returns to vinyl for the first time in 50 years! Evoking the feeling of a car chase scene in a mid-'70s action movie, Alpha lives right at the intersection of top-notch musicianship and immaculate vibes. This Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf reissue was cut from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray.

Vienna, Vienna, just you, and you alone Because Vienna was the capital of music, at least in the 18th century, many pieces were not only premi�red there but were also immediately musically adapted there too. There are a variety of ways of engaging fruitfully with the musical works of others, to a greater or lesser extent. One option might be an arrangement, i.e., the adaptation of a composition for a different combination of instruments than originally intended. Entire operas could be arranged for piano, for example, and so find their way into aristocratic salons or bourgeois living rooms. The 19th century also saw the development of the paraphrase, a freely embellished arrangement of popular themes from operas, often in the form of a concert fantasia written for the piano. These also included the variation, or, to be more precise, the series of variations, which took a well-known melody as a model and altering it to a greater degree in each variation, whereby the tempo and key can also change.

The critically acclaimed Jack Quartet perform four new works by the Áltavoz Composers, a group of Latin American composers who have emigrated to the U.S. and Europe. Felipe Lara, Jose-Luis Hurtado, Mauricio Pauly and Jorge Villavicencio Grossman are all dynamic compositional voices working in the modernist tradition; their works are heard here in the context of one of the most challenging and revered trajectories of the classical canon, the string quartet repertoire. "explosive virtuosity." (Boston Globe) "viscerally exciting." (New York Times) "thrillingly vital." (New Yorker)

As soon as you leave your homeland, says composer Hilda Paredes, who comes from Mexico and has been living in London for a long time, "you become a citizen of the world." Her work not only establishes continuity between the past and the present, but also denies any separation between the musical cultures of the northern and southern hemispheres or the Old World and the New, repeatedly building bridges between the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica and European-American modernity. The complexity of her sound world is rooted in this dual cultural identity and reflects diverse influences from both worlds. But Paredes does not look only to the past. She takes a keen and compassionate interest in the social conditions in her country, using her works to address themes of migration and the search for a better life. In addition to tradition and the current reality of life in her homeland, Hilda Paredes's work is rich in references to literary and visual works by her contemporaries and to Mexican cultural history. The first work on this album, the monodrama "Altazor" for baritone, eight soloists, and electronics, can also be seen in this context. It is based on an epic poem published in Madrid in 1931 by Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro, the founder of the literary movement "creationismo", a variant of surrealism. The musical language depicts this disintegration of consciousness and language of the poem fragments with a broad spectrum of instrumental and vocal techniques that are subjected to live-electronic processes. Two further aspects of Hilda Paredes's creative output can be seen in the two ensemble works on this album: "Epitafio" was written in response to a death in the composer's family, and "Siphonophorae", whose compositional idea and formal structure are borrowed from a fascinating phenomenon in the world of marine life, was inspired by a work of visual art.

An alter ego (second or different self) is both a close companion to the individual as well as an additional personality. David Orlowsky and David Bergmueller are companions, however, they could hardly be more different. They hail from different musical traditions and the combination of these two instruments have no historical references. When David Orlowsky first discovered a video of David Bergmueller on the internet, he was not aware that he had encountered his musical alter ego. The two met in Berlin and mutually agreed to make music together after just a few shared notes. They became companions, which then became a duo, the duo ultimately becoming an organism. Within this organism, David and David function as opposing and complementary personalities. Together they embark on a journey into unexplored worlds of sound. The clarinet is the voice of bygone times while the lute joins to create polyrhythmic structures allowing both new and old times to flow together in their original compositions.

Rebecca Taio’s choice to program these well-known pieces from the great repertoire for violin and piano has to do with the technical challenges they pose, both instrumentally and interpretatively.

While the transcription of the Five Pieces by Respighi is a first (no one having thought to arrange them for flute and piano before), the sonatas by Faureì and Franck are already a part of the chamber tradition for flute and piano. Nonetheless, the artists have made further revisions to these two works, coming up with alternative solutions to the ones normally used in such a way as to be as close as possible to the originals. Franck’s Sonata in A major for violin and piano (1886) creates the ideal end-piece for this musical journey.

The creation of the GIA WindWorks label represents an expanded relationship between the North Texas Wind Symphony and GIA Publications, Inc. Composers, conductors, music critics, and connoisseurs worldwide have praised the recordings conducted by Eugene Migliaro Corporon for their innovation, excellence, and professional standards.

Trumpet player, bandleader, composer, and arranger Tom Harrell picked up rave reviews for 2022's Oak Tree, and here he follows it up with another ambitious, hard-to-resist album, once again made up entirely his own remarkable compositions. Harrell is supremely regarded, not for playing loudly, fast, or high, but rather for his extraordinary talent at fashioning ravishingly beautiful auricular shapes with a wonderfully expressive tone and depth. He is also an exceptionally fine arranger, crafting scores embroidered with felicities of detail and an inevitability which are unique in jazz. Teamed here for the second time with Venezuelan-born pianist Luis Perdomo, featuring the tenor saxophones of Danya Stephens and Mark Turner, the guitar of Charles Altura and regular collaborators, German-Nigerian bassist Ugonna Okegwo and American drummer Adam Cruz, Harrell and his associates emphasize the diverse musical influences of the compositions with a versatility that vividly displays their common strength.

Alternating Currents album for sale by Spyro Gyra was released Jun 07, 1994 on the Amherst label. Featured is great songwriting and playing, and nice work by keyboardist Tom Schuman. Alternating Currents songs - Paul Kohler Live Recording Recorded at Bear Tracks Recording Studio, Suffern, New York. Alternating Currents album for sale Personnel: Julio Fernandez (guitar); Jay Beckenstein (saxophone, lyricon); Tom Schuman (keyboards); Dave Samuels (vibraphone, marimba); Richie Morales (drums); Gerardo Velez (percussion). Recording information: Bear Tracks Recording Studio, Suffern, NY (1985). Photographer: William Coupon.

Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan brings here his trademark “contrafacts” (a music making method that shares the chord progressions with other compositions) approach to this first SteepleChase leader outing challenging us (maybe?) to guess the tunes he is employing. Smulyan whose professional career took shape by joining Woody Herman’s Young Thundering Herds at age 22 (1978) has won Critics’ and Readers’ Poll awards numerous times by Downbeat and JazzTimes, among others. England’s Penguin Guide to Jazz once described Smulyan as “the leading American exponent of post-bop baritone”.

Track Listing
1. Four
2. Four - (alternate take)
3. St. Thomas
4. St. Thomas - (alternate take)
5. I Remember Clifford
6. I Remember Clifford - (alternate take)
7. 52nd Street Theme
8. 52nd Street Theme - (alternate theme)
9. Bluesongo - (bonus track)
10. Jungoso

Personnel: Sonny Rollins (tenor saxophone); Thad Jones (cornet); Herbie Hancock (piano); Bob Cranshaw, Ron Carter (bass); Roy McCurdy (drums); Candido (congas).

Producer: George Avakian.

Reissue producer: Orrin Keepnews.

Engineers include: Ray Hall.

Recorded at RCA Victor Studios, New York, New York between May 14, 1962 and April 14, 1964. Includes liner notes by Orrin Keepnews.

This CD is what too few "previously unreleased" collections are: a well-documented, well-annotated recording with a purpose and a point of view. In a thoughtful essay, producer Orrin Keepnews discusses what these early Sixties recordings of Rollins reveal about the tenorist's approach to repertoire and improvisation and, more pragmatically, about his relationship to the recording studio and to record companies in general. Each of the first four tunes can be heard in two different versions. "Four" was recorded both with a trio (with Roy McCurdy on drums and Bob Cranshaw on bass) and a quartet (with Herbie Hancock on piano and Ron Carter replacing Cranshaw on bass)

The versions of "I Remember Clifford" and "52nd Street Theme" were recorded with Hancock on piano and Thad Jones on cornet added to the basic trio. "Bluesongo" and "Jungoso" are trio pieces with Rollins, Cranshaw, and Candido on congas. Keepnews explains that these two cuts, which were originally released on the album WHAT'S NEW in 1962, have not been reissued anywhere else recently (unlike the balance of the material from WHAT'S NEW) and have consequently been included here.

The baroque trumpeter Josh Cohen is among the most sought-after clarino specialists in North America. A native of the Washington, DC area, he performs regularly with most of the leading early music ensembles in North America and has appeared as principal or solo baroque trumpet with ensembles such as Tafelmusik (Toronto), Washington Bach Consort, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Arion Orchestre Baroque (Montreal), The Bach Sinfonia (Washington, DC), Seraphic Fire (Miami), Apollo’s Fire (Cleveland), and the Sebastians (New York) to name but a few.

The development of historically informed trumpet playing has come a long way since the very early days of the movement, from coiled trumpets – first produced by Steinkopf-Finke, and played by Walter Holy in a 1962 recording of the Second Brandenburg Concerto under Harnoncourt – to the first modern baroque trumpets of Meinl & Lauber. Devoted to a broad cross-section of trumpet repertoire from the late seventeenth century through the mid-eighteenth, this recording shows how far the art of playing the baroque trumpet has advanced.

REVIEW:

This release by Baroque trumpeter Josh Cohen and the small Ensemble Sprezzatura features sounds from a natural valveless trumpet that are not often heard. Cohen is one of a group of players, at first mostly American, who have cultivated not only the playing technique but the repertory that goes with this instrument, much of it German and most of it unknown. For the full effect, sample the high Cs in several movements of the Sinfonia à 7 of Johann Samuel Endler. Another highlight is Telemann's Concerto in D major, TWV 43:D7, where the continuo group includes a bassoon, and Telemann gets delightful sonorities out of this rather unwieldy group. The backing from Ensemble Sprezzatura under director Daniel Abraham is lively and sensitive to the soloist's challenges. Brass players may be especially alert to the technical rigors involved in Cohen's playing, but any Baroque enthusiast will find this a diverting release that brings home just how far trumpet playing has advanced over the last 50 years.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)

ALTITUDE

Several of Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach´s, (called the “Bückeburg Bach”) liturgical works benefited from choral writing in cantatas, passions and oratorios by his father Johann Sebastian; at times, these even appear in prominent positions, as in the motet on the familiar hymn by Otto Nicolai (1566–1608) “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” (BR-JCFB H 101) with its elaborate counterpoint. The four-part chorale “Gloria sei dir gesungen” at the end of the work is taken from his father’s cantata of the same name (BWV 140). No specific occasion for the motet’s composition is known, and the work can be only approximately dated to the mid-1780s. Many passages written to show off the singer’s virtuosity are in the direct tradition of his father, who often gave his vocal writing an instrumental treatment – in accordance with his conviction that “everything must be possible”. The singers often found that this approach to composition tested them to the limit of their powers. We do not know the extent of Altnickol’s musical output. Very few of his compositions have survived. Apart from some keyboard works, a ricercare and the G minor harpsichord concerto, there are two Sanctus settings, two festival cantatas and the two chorale motets selected for the present recording, “Befiehl du deine Wege” and “Nun danket alle Gott”. Bach had testified to his pupil’s “quite special facility in Composition”. 1749 Altnickol married Bach´s daughter Elisabeth Juliane Friederica.

From the tenderness of Faur�'s songs to the famous Sonata by Franck, via Honnor�, B�sser and Enescu, the viola here champions the French School in it's widest sense: full of lyricism, sophistication and intensity, here is a program to match the abilities of Timothy Ridout and his partner at the piano, Jonathan Ware.

Alto Blue

Alto saxophonist is joined by his friend Russell Gunn on his latest hard-bop album, produced by drummer Cecil Brooks III; Bruce shows versatility with tunes like the bluesy "Elijah's Blues," the swinging Parker-esque "Three Crows On Guard" & the unique take on "You Are So Beautiful"

In February 1957, Bob Koester wrote in his newsletter, the Jazz Report, that recent rediscoveries of legendary artists Big Joe Williams and Speckled Red gave information on other forgotten musicians from the 1920s. Koester was told that Paramount and Decca recording artist Barrelhouse Buck McFarland was still around St Louis and he passed that info along to Charlie O'Brien, a fellow member of the St Louis Jazz Club and a St Louis policeman. Buck, the aged entertainer, rugged barrelhouse pianist and marvelous blues singer enjoyed the new interest in his work. Henry Brown, and especially Speckled Red, created new careers and Buck might have as well, but he passed just 8 months after this 1961 recording.

True New Orleans style jazz from legendary pianist & clarinetist, feat. Brian Turnock-bass, Barry Martyn-drum, Yoshio Toyama-trumpet, Keiko Toyama-banjo.

It has been a good while since I heard electronics quite this intriguing. So naturalistic, so alive like in the branches of a tree, much might be said here about the excellence of the technology employed. In each piece on this album, it constitutes a remarkable asset, while at the same time being wholly integrated with expression. The viola part, for it's share, is seamless, it's presence so closely interwoven with the electronics that the boundary fades away. It contributes gesture, impulse, and energy. Likewise, the entire catalogue of viola techniques serves the purpose of expression. - Krzysztof Komendarek-Tymendorf