The music of Glenn Miller's orchestra was central to the style and atmosphere of the Swing Era and is inextricably associated with the Allied victory in WWII, his hits keeping people's spirits up on both sides of the Atlantic, with Miller himself becoming part of the war effort until his mysterious disappearance in 1944. Such was his popularity that in the period of less than a decade from his launching his orchestra in the mid-30s through to his demise, he had over 120 hits, both with his instrumental classics and with the new songs of the time. This great value124-track 5-CD set comprises just about all of recordings on the Columbia, Brunswick, Bluebird, Victor and RCA-Victor labels which are listed as hits in standard industry sources, many from the era after the launch of the Billboard record sales charts in 1940. It features an extraordinary tally of 21 No. 1s, including "A String of Pearls", "(I've Got a Gal In) Kalamazoo", "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree", "Moonlight Cocktail", "Chattanooga Choo Choo", "Tuxedo Junction", "In the Mood", "Blueberry Hill", "Fools Rush In" and many more. The featured vocalists include Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke, Kathleen Lane, Jack Lathrop, Dorothy Claire, Paula Kelly, Skip Nelson and The Modernaires. It's a substantial and entertaining showcase for one of the most important orchestras of the times, and an enormously evocative journey through the popular music landscape of a remarkable era in modern history.

Vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. 2018 release from the bass great. Marcus Miller brings the influence of modern urban music to his trademark sound on his highly-anticipated, genre-defying album Laid Black. Miller recorded most of the nine tracks on Laid Black with his band in a New York studio and also recruited guest artists Trombone Shorty, Kirk Whalum, Take Six, Jonathan Butler, and Belgian singer Selah Sue. Of his band, Miller says: "My guys are incredibly talented. They play everything from bebop to hip-hop. All of the special guests I called have the same vision about jazz, which made it possible to create this mix of music. Oh and if you like bass, there's plenty of serious bass work on this album too!"

As part of Sting's band, guitarist Dominic Miller sometimes gets overlooked. Even though the 40-year-old has the looks of a lean, shaggy-haired, Strat-toting youngster, he seems to get a little taken for granted in his role as guitar factotum. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the recent string of Sting gigs at the Albert Hall in which he was also accompanied by such jazz luminaries as keyboardist Jason Rebello and trumpeter Chris Botti. Now Miller's second solo album has arrived and it's time for him to take the spotlight. 'Second Nature' shows a very different side of this versatile Buenos Aires-born musician. Although Miller may have spent years playing rock'n'roll as a session player, his own music owes a huge debt to his Brazilian heroes Antonio Carlos Jobim and Baden Powell, and as a result the 12 songs here sing of South America - ringing, lyrical numbers plucked and strummed by a guitarist who remains true to his roots. The Time

Having played with some of the greatest names in jazz including, the Ellinton Orchestra, David Sanborn, Freddie Hubbard, Cassandra Wilson and others, Mulgrew Miller has made a name for himself. His greatest accomplishment though was forming Wingspan 15 years, a collective group of stunning musicians!! the Sequel is comprised primarily of original Melgrew Miller compositions and is a must for fans of piano jazz!

Miller takes it to the next level now by recording his first live album. Recorded July 22-23, 2003, at Yoshi's at Jack London Square - one of the world's premiere jazz clubs - Live At Yoshi's (Volume One) is Miller's second release on MAXJAZZ. Unlike The Sequel, where he presented eight original tunes, on Live At Yoshi's, Miller puts his stamp on ageless standards in an intimate trio format. Miller's trio is comprised of Derrick Hodge on bass and Karriem Riggins, who played on The Sequel, on drums.

LIVE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER (Volume 2) features a sumptuous selection of songs from a trio that shifts seamlessly from hard-driving grooves to soft ballads, all with a distinct sound that has made Mulgrew Miller one of the most in-demand pianists in jazz. Similar to his critically acclaimed Maxjazz releases, Live At Yoshi's, LIVE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER Volume Two offers exciting jazz in a live setting.

In the fall of 2002, the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opened an intimate venue, the KC Jazz Club, on the roof level of it's facility. The Club celelbrated it's two weekend of selected MaxJazz artists. The hihgly acclaimed pianist, Mulgrew Miller, and his trio featuring Derrick Hodge (bass), and Rodney Green (drums)were the featured performers on the Club's opening night in 2002. LIVE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER VOL 1 features a sumptuous selection of songs from a trio that shifts seamlessly from hard-dirving grooves to soft ballads, all with a distinct sound that has made Mulgrew Miller one of the most in-demand pianist in jazz.

Mulgrew Miller thrives as one of the premiere jazz pianists of today. He returns with the second volume of Live at Yoshi's, his third recording as a leader since joining MAXJAZZ in 2002. That year he reassembled his famed group Wingspan and released the critically acclaimed album The Sequel.

'November' offers plenty of space for the electric guitar. Some of the tracks show the more rock-oriented side of Miller, with an at times astonishingly powerful sound. Living proof are tracks like the literal slammer 'Rippled Nylon' or 'W3', steeped in fuzz.

On 5th House, Miller includes fantastic, dreamlike soundscapes where he creates harp-like sounds on his acoustic guitar ("Angel"); then again he produces galvanizing guitar sounds reminiscent of The Police ("If Only"). "Embrace" is a convincing soft-jazz track, whereas "Waves" is carried by the flair of Bossa Nova sounds, and classicist-sounding guitar arpeggios ("Catalan") alternate with full-volume band rock sounds ("Dead Head").

The active support for "ad hoc "he has gathered around himself by using outstanding masters of their craft whilst trying to crack this latest musical puzzle has paid off for Miller. With them at his side he has created an open-minded new work, which should delight fans of rich and diverse sounds everywhere. Those working at the frontiers of their art don't care about traditional genre barriers and in titles like " Exiting Purgatory", written in an intricate 7/8, the tender and melodic "Eva", the meditative " Shavasana " and " Moroccan roll " reminiscent of Weather Report's World Jazz, he has transcended all style barriers. What is special with this album is that he doesn't just stop at the mere crossover of time signatures, close together, sometimes wide apart, it's the combination of modern jazz, electronica, acoustic folk, contemporary classical and world music combined " ad hoc" style that leads to something entirely new. There isn't yet an appropriate genre term for such a symbiosis, it's yet to be coined, any suggestions anyone'

With RENAISSANCE, Marcus Miller surveys the landscape of not just music but society as a whole. In the same profound way that anointed gospel-soul singer Sam Cooke prophesized 50 years before in 1963, Miller feels that a change is coming. And just as with TUTU, he is ahead of the storm with RENAISSANCE, fortified by a team of hungry young players. Miller is creating the soundtrack for this musical, cultural and spiritual revolution.

Hecho en Cuba is Dominic Miller's and Manolito Simonet's innovative new album featuring Dominic's compositions, arranged in a brand new crossover salsa/ Latin American style. The nine tracks were recorded in Manolito's studio in Havana, Cuba back in 2012 (Manolito is founder of the legendary salsa band "Manolito y su Trabuco") and mixed in Tenerife, Spain in 2013. "Hecho en Cuba" includes re-arranged classics like "Shape Of My Heart", "La belle dame sans regrets", "Lullaby to an anxious child", "Tokyo", "Embrace", "Chanson I", "La Boca" and a new composition by Manolito he calls "D'Pronto". Here to tease you and please you is a pre-release version of "Lullaby To An Anxious Child". Enjoy!

MOONLIGHT SERENADE

JAZZ MOODS: HOT

Silver Rain, released in 2005, was named after a poem by Langston Hughes. The album features contributions from Eric Clapton, Macy Gray, Lalah Hathaway, Gerald Albright, Kirk Whalum, and others. Renowned bassist, producer and songwriter, Marcus was also a frequent collaborator with Luther Vandross; he and Luther met while working as backing musicians for Roberta Flack. TRACK LISTING: INTRODUCTION / BRUCE LEE / LA VILLETTE / BEHIND THE SMILE / FRANKENSTEIN / MOONLIGHT SONATA / BOOGIE ON REGGAE WOMAN / PARIS (INTERLUDE) / SILVER RAIN / MAKE UP YOUR MIND / GIRLS AND BOYS / SOPHISTICATED LADY / POWER OF SOUL /AFTERWORD (OUTRO) / IF ONLY FOR ONE NIGHT.

IN THE MOOD

FIRST TOUCH

Limited vinyl LP pressing. Sting, in whose band Dominic Miller has been a permanent member since 1991, describes him as my right and my left hand. That's why he has been involved in every Sting production since The Soul Cages in 1991, is on every tour and makes a significant contribution to Sting's sound aesthetic with his gentle and unobtrusive creativity. Together they composed the song Shape Of My Heart, which became a hit. In addition to Sting, he has also enhanced the productions of other stars such as Tina Turner, Paul Young, Phil Collins, The Pretenders and Steve Winwood, to name but a few. But Miller is not only active as a sideman. In 1995, he released his first solo album First Touch, which was to be followed by eleven more up to date. Gradually, the trade press and the public were also impressed by the qualities of the guitar all-rounder. He received euphoric reviews in which terms such as grace, gracefulness and sensuality were among the descriptors. When he has the time, he is increasingly touring the world with a high caliber band. Many of his fans still consider his debut album First Touch, which Miller released on his own at the time, to be his best.

Track Listing
1. Moonlight Serenade
2. King Porter Stomp
3. Little Brown Jug
4. In the Mood
5. Tuxedo Junction
6. Pennsylvania 6-5000
7. String of Pearls, A
8. Elmer's Tune
9. Chattanooga Choo-Choo
10. Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me)
11. American Patrol

Personnel includes: Glenn Miller (leader); Ray Eberle, Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke, The Modernaires (vocals).

Recorded in New York and Hollywood, California between September 27, 1938 and April 2, 1942. Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler.

Francesco Cavalli
ERCOLE AMANTE

Ercole – Luca Pisaroni
Iole – Veronica Cangemi
Giunone – Anna Bonitatibus
Illo – Jeremy Ovenden
Deianira – Anna Maria Panzarella
Licco – Marlin Miller
Nettuno / Tevere / Spirit of Eutyro – Umberto Chiummo
Bellezza / Venere – Wilke te Brummelstroete
Cinzia / Pasitea / Spirit of Clerica – Johannette Zomer
Mercurio / Spirit of Laomedonte – Mark Tucker
A Page / Spirit of Bussiride – Tim Mead

Netherlands Opera Chorus
Concerto Köln
Ivor Bolton, conductor

David Alden, stage director

Recorded live from the Het Muziektheater, 2009.

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis.
- Cast gallery.
- Behind the scenes with Johanette Zomer.
- Behind the scenes with Luca Pisaroni.
- The making of Ercole Amante.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo and 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch
No. of DVDs: 2

This is an essential collection of West Coast music that San Francisco’s Other Minds founder and longtime KPFA radio host Charles Amirkhanian called “a classic anthology of American new music.” Although bound together by a common concern with music’s basic sensuality, the pieces collected here are wide-ranging in style—process-driven works, through-composed pieces, ambient soundscapes, and music that glances in the directions of world music and avant-pop. In instrumentation, the music is also wide-ranging—from a celesta solo to a marimba quartet to a player piano solo to works for speaking voices and wineglasses to music for piano and bullroarer to music for pedal steel guitar accompanied by a choir of banjos to relatively traditional instrumentions. This anthology has something for everyone—and its incautious eclecticism is no doubt one of the reasons for its long-resonating popularity. International Record Review wrote, “Throughout, the music communicates the excitement of the new, the fresh, the experimental: most of the pieces convey a sense of delight and wonder in the sheer creative freedom of their approach to sound—an approach radically loosened from old rhetorics and rooted instead in a belief in the almost unlimited potential of texture and color…. a trove of small-scale pleasures and surprises, in which a sense of fun, curiosity, and the thrill of invention are never far away.” All-Music Guide wrote, “As avant-garde music at the turn of the century seemed confined to the extremes of noise and stamina on the one hand and the post-Feldman search for disappearance of sound on the other, one feels uncertain about how to approach the loveliness of the music on Cold Blue. Recommended.” And The Wire magazine called it “A rewarding snapshot of composition in the decade or so leading up to 1984… Cold Blue anticipates the new tonalities that characterize the post-minimal generation.”

Like Volumes 1 and 2, Volume 3 of Charles Wuorinen: Music of Two Decades consists in large part of recordings that appeared first as LPs. One doesn't drape terms like invaluable as bunting. For exotic example, the Concerto for Amplified Violin and Orchestra (Volume 2) appeared first on University of Iowa Press vinyl. Not exactly your household name. (I refer to the label. Were Wuorinen's to become such, I'm sure he'd begin wondering where he went wrong. Another performance by violinist Paul Zukovsky, Inbal conducting the Orchestra of the Hessian Radio, may some day be released.) As an instance of nlh degree rarity, Easley Blackwood's own recording of his live performance of Wuorinen's Piano Variations dwelt prior to Volume l's appearance as a 7'/2-i.p.s. tape on Charles Wuorinen's library shelves. Volume 2's Grand Bamboula, Chamber Concerto, and Ringing Changes got good distribution as Nonesuch LPs which, as a format the label has long since abandoned, have been long out of print. As further reason to applaud these Music & Arts Wuorinen discs, a succession of solid performances rates soundwise from adequate to excellent. In other words, the bad news simply isn't. So, to put conclusions first, as gratifyingly large as a “difficult“ living composer's CDiscography already is, the collector with an interest in the music of his time and place cannot afford to ignore these good resurrections. (Of all the one-man operations I admire—I offer the term as an alternative to “little“ label, which in terms of long catalogs many are not—Fred Maroth's Music & Arts Programs of America, Inc., remains among the more endearingly hydra-headed.)

It's a lot easier to tell you what the electronic piece, Time's Encomium, isn't: it isn't imitative of nature or acoustic musical instruments. If the point seems inappropriate or trivial, I remind the reader that a great deal of synthesized sound appears to exist for these kitsch aspirations. So then, while Times's Encomium in this narrow regard falls on the ear as abstraction pure but far from simple, I urge the reader not to conflate abstract with offputting. The piece abounds with playful energies. When disparate sounds interact as friskily as they do here, play of one kind or another, whether or not one knows the game's name, is obviously the thing, Wuorinen is the kind of cerebral practitioner who requires one's attention in a state of openness. We do not hear Time's Encomium transpiring toward a direction. The logic is rather that of extraordinary fireflies of various heft, hue, and gravitas. As anyone who's spent a country night outdoors, a lightshow's enjoyment need not connect with those forces that stage it. The listener is content (if he's wise) to perceive the co.nposer as firefly or, better yet, the firefly's First Mover. Wuorinen composed the work between 1968-69 at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center In New York.“ . . . The RCA synthesizer . . . is prejudiced by design toward 12-tone equal temperament . . . [I]f one accepts the limitation as a boundary condition . . . it ceases to be a problem. . . . Afterwards, I made the large-scale structure by processing the synthesized materials in one of the [center's] analog studios. Thus the work consists of a core of synthesized music, most of which appears in Part I, surrounded and interlarded with analog-studio transformations of that music. The synthesized [can be] identified by its clarity of pitch. . . . The processed almost always contains reverberation. Thus metaphorically, the listener stands in the midst of the synthesized music, which presents itself . . . with maximal clarity; and stretching away from him, becoming more and more blurred in detail, the various transformations . . .“ I assume that Wuorinen speaks in “standing] in the midst“ of the four-channel original, which one hears to his regret as a two-channel mixdown. We are back on my Fanfare hobby horse.

In no way strange to say, Wuorinen's Piano Sonata (No. 1, 1969) appears on its surface to share in those compositional impulses and schemata that yielded Time's Encomium. This seems to me especially true of the music's fast-paced, angular energies. Of particular interest is the sonata's performer, the late Robert Black. As others have for David Tudor, Wuorinen composed an obviously difficult work in large measure as a tribute to Black's strengths and sympathies. (Because music absorbs its background, we tend to overlook an executant's sometime part in a work's conception, no less its successful performance—which Black's certainly sounds to be.)

Wuorinen's comments about his here handsomely performed First String Quartet have the ring of a manifesto. “The [quartet of 1971] reflects fundamental concerns . . . with questions of large-scale form, in particular the issue of an appropriate developmental—or 'directed'—structure suited to a non tonal environment. I had already become . . . impatient with [much of new music's directionlessness] and wanted to establish formal procedures that would allow local flexibility while solidly undergirding a musical progress analogous to the very powerfully directed structure of tonality [my italics].“ Wuorinen then gives a summary of his solution, which need not detain us here. Enough to know what was then on the mind that remains aloof from a world, in too large part, of half-baked juvenalia. The String Quartet (No. 1) plays vis-à-vis the electronic and solo-piano work a tad richer in lyrical interest, in acknowledgement perhaps of a four-string ensemble's native soulfulness. The insert mentions an earlier Music & Arts CD of this Wuorinen quartet, with one of Milton Babbitt's, as an inferior transfer. While I haven't that disc to compare, the present digitization of an analog master sounds very good indeed. Again, the three volumes of this Wuorinen edition—there are no immediate plans for a fourth—address a need. All three volumes heartily recommended.

-- Mike Silverton, FANFARE [3/1997]

Cassandra Wilson's stunning third album, now available on vinyl! On Blue Skies, Cassandra moves into the arena of jazz standards with fluid ease, never failing to put her own stamp on these classic tunes. 180-gram vinyl, analogue recording, analogue remastered, folie-cutting. CD release topped Billboard's Jazz Album Chart at #1 back in 1988!

In the time of Madame de Pompadour, the hurdy-gurdy, like the musette, enjoyed a great success. It was considered to be on a level with other instruments and, as can be seen in various paintings, was highly regarded by the ladies of the aristocracy. Several books of instruction for the instrument were published, one of which was Michel Corrette's La belle vielleuse; virtuoso players such as Danguy and Dupuits extended its playing techniques to their limits. The instrument's charm was sung by various poets whose words were then set as cantatas. The unknown works that constitute this recording place it firmly in the French court of the time with its stylized pastoral diversions.