Jazz
Arnett Cobb
4 products
Bottesini: Fantasia On Themes Of Rossini, Passione Amorose / Martin, Cobb, Oldfather
The sound of the solo double-bass, even when playing in its highest register and therefore able to match the actual notes played by a cello, is wholly different from that instrument. Indeed it is in some ways more akin to that of a viol, partly due to the lack of the fierce continuous vibrato that most professional cellists employ today. It is nonetheless a compelling sound, and after the initial surprise has worn off, it is far more than a mere comical curiosity. However on the evidence of the works included here, Bottesini was by no means an innovative composer. Not merely is the first work based on themes by Rossini but the language of the others is closely related to that of the older master. All make enormous technical demands on the two bass players. I have never attempted to play the instrument and have long admired those able to gauge accurately the long distance between notes on the strings. I can only guess as to how certain passages which seem to demand superhuman dexterity can be played on something so apparently unwieldy. The two players here display great bravura, playing fine instruments by Landolfi and Testore loaned specially for the recording.
All four of the works on the disc have three movements each, but the Gran Duetto is by some way the longest, being nearly twice as long as any of the others. Unfortunately it is also by some way the least interesting and most conventional in its themes and structure. However, it is certainly worth hearing once, even if one is unlikely to want to repeat the experience often. The other pieces are worth repeating. Overall an out of the way but rewarding disc whose strange but characterful sounds resonate in the memory.
-- John Sheppard, MusicWeb International
Graham: Metropolis 1927 / Childs, Black Dyke Band
Peter Graham is one of the leading brass band composers of his generation, and the first outside the US to win the American Bandmasters Association’s prestigious Ostwald Award for composition. Black Dyke Band celebrates his 60th birthday with this recording, the theme of which derives from Graham’s time in New York and from some of the ‘giants’ of American culture. On the Shoulders of Giants pays tribute to great brass virtuosi such as Miles Davis and John Philip Sousa; New York Movie is a ‘musical narrative’ on seven of Edward Hopper’s iconic, haunting paintings; and Metropolis 1927 takes its inspiration from the dystopian beauty of Fritz Lang’s classic science fiction film. The Black Dyke Band is legendary in brass band circles, and has already recorded the music of Philip Wilby, which American Record Guide called “dazzling.”
ARNETT BLOWS FOR 1300
