Marty Walker performs music for clarinet and bass clarinet written for him by composers Daniel Lentz, Peter Garland, Jim Fox, Michael Jon Fink, Rick Cox, and Michael Byron. Performing with Walker are noted new music stalwarts William Winant, Wadada Leo Smith, Amy Knoles, and others. The music runs the gamut from a lush work for ten pianos and ten clarinets to a technically thorny solo and includes just about everything in between. Although the individual pieces are on their surfaces quite different from one another, they share a certain commonality—an embrace of music’s inherent sensuality. Critics have described Walker’s playing as “masterful,” “flawless,” and “true artistry.” Minnesota Public Radio’s Michael Barone called this album a “mild-mannered, soul-filling collection of contemporary ‘meditations’. . . think Satie and Morton Feldman, and you come close to the overall mood. Delicate textures prevail…the thinking-listener’s slow lane.” 21st Century Music magazine wrote, “If people are best known by the company they keep, then clarinetist Marty Walker is blessed indeed. He keeps wonderful company with an excellent series of composers…. Both the playing and the recording quality are sparkling.”

Gloria Coates’s personal sound world is unlike any other in contemporary music. Her ‘Piano Quintet’ is rooted in the poetry of fellow American pioneer Emily Dickinson, with half of the quartet tuned a quarter-tone higher than the other, the strange beauty of the music emerging in glacial landscapes and shimmering microtones. Coates’s ‘Symphony No. 10’ evokes the archaeological ruins of a Celtic tribe, inspiring a torrent of dramatic percussion and long held tones that curve and shake in a moving body of sound. Gloria Coates is the most prolific female symphonist in musical history, and Naxos has an emerging series of her symphonic, chamber and other major works. Of her Symphony No. 15, released on a previous Naxos recording, Fanfare wrote: “the new symphony is still a jaw-dropper.” In general, the symphonies on Naxos come attached to other larger-scaled works and the chamber music (predominantly quartets) is programmed together. This is the first release to program a symphony and a chamber work in the same album.

The Bavarian-born composer Simon Mayr spent his compositional life in Italy, spreading the influence of Viennese classicism whilst himself being influenced by prevailing Italian models. His cantata Arianna in Nasso (Ariadne on Naxos) was written for the leading soprano Isabella Colbran, who was later to marry Rossini. Her virtuosity inspired Mayr, and his cantata is a stirring example of vivid nature writing, refined pathos, and joyous celebration. Franz Hauk and the Simon Mayr Chorus and Ensemble are the world's leading Mayr exponents and their recordings have received the highest critical acclaim.

Played on historical instruments, alongside Schumann's "Adagio and Allegro", there are first recordings by unknown romantic composers from a collection of A. E. Fischer Verlag, Bremen, which was lost in World War II. The varied program transports the audience to the German salons of the late 19th century. With short preludes, the piano creates smooth transitions to the valve and natural horn repertoire. The beautifully designed, informative booklet with many illustrations provides insights into the flourishing music world of Bremen at the time, researched in terms of music history.

Sylvia McNair has won two Grammy Awards, and is today’s leading interpreter of American Popular Song. After a thriving opera career, she recorded several albums, including her award winning albums with pianist Andre Previn. This programme includes a mix of new and old standards, such as Orange Colored Sky, Love Is In The Air, Summertime, and One Hundred Easy Ways. Jazz musicians Ted Taylor, Jeremy Allen, and Steve Houghton accompany McNair for this recording.

MESSIAEN: DES CANYONS AUX ETOILES

Fern Hill is a blithe poem, yet touched by darkness; time finally holds the poet "green and dying"... Poem in October begins in Thomas' seafront town: The poet, marking his birthday, climbs to a high hill, where he reflects on his youth.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Director Katharina Thoma sets Richard Strauss’ comedy in a country house in the South Downs (a surrogate for Glyndebourne), immediately before and during the Second World War. Hofmannsthals’ conceit—that a hapless young composer has to accept the simultaneous performance of his new tragic opera with a burlesque from a commedia dell’arte troupe—is turned into a touching wartime drama of nurses, invalids and airmen, and of painful delusions and soul searching, before final happiness.

ACCLAIM
“Everything fits superbly and the production captures the fragility of happiness and the undertow of melancholy better than any I can remember. The mellow glow of the LPO under Vladimir Jurowski’s sensitive baton complements the vision perfectly, while a fine cast enhances the pleasure. Soile Isokoski is superb as Ariadne…” – The Evening Standard

“Conductor Vladimir Jurowski ends his 13-year reign as music director by drawing sumptuous Straussian playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 40 years of watching Ariadne, the opera has never moved me more.” – The Daily Mail

Richard Strauss
ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

Ariadne / Prima Donna - Soile Isokoski
Zerbinetta - Laura Claycomb
Bacchus / Tenor - Sergey Skorokhodov
Music Master - Thomas Allen
Composer - Kate Lindsey
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
Katharina Thoma, stage director
Julia Müer, set designer
Irina Bartels, costume designer
Olaf Winter, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Lewes, March 2013

Bonus:
- When Two Worlds Collide
- Thomas Allen at Glyndebourne
- Vladimir Jurowski on his final production as Music Director
- Cast gallery

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2. 0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Korean
Running time: 121 mins (opera) + 21 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (blu-ray)

The violist and conductor, Rudolf Barshai is considered one of the great Russian musicians of the 20th century and his emigration to the West allowed for greater global exposure and marked a second chapter to his creative life. On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of his death, this monumental 20 CD box set is a unique homage to the legacy of Barshai featuring never-before-published radio and studio recordings along with live concerts from 1951 to 2012, many of his viola recordings along with his famous Mahler Symphony Nr. 10 with an ending scored by Barshai, and much much more. Also including a 49 page booklet of rare photographs and accompanying essays.

Following Caesar’s assassination, Mark Antony has reached the heights of power. Now he has neglected his empire for a life of decadent seduction with his mistress, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. Torn between love and duty, Antony’s military brilliance deserts him, and his passion leads the lovers to their tragic end. This production by the Royal Shakespeare Company, featuring Josette Simon as Cleopatra and Antony Byrne as mark Antony and directed by Iqbal Khan, was greatly praised by critics. “Richly textured, with big saucy acting.” (Daily Mail) “This Antony & Cleopatra is the best I’ve ever seen.” (Evening Standard) Extra features include interviews with Josette Simon, Antony Byrne & Ben Allen, and Laura Mvula's commentary, "Making music for the stage." Director Iqbal Khan also gives commentary.

Despite an obvious rapport, singer Elisabeth Kontomanou and pianist Geri Allen were not old friends when they met in France to lay down these tracks Kontomanou is based in Stockholm, while Allen is still in the states, a centerpiece of the University of Michigan's jazz faculty. The two met for the first time for a duet tribute to Billie Holiday in March 2011, at Montreal's annual Jazz en Rafale Festival. Geri Allen has long been considered the greatest jazz pianist since the 1980s, her work focused on furthering the legacy of Herbie Hancock and Thelonious Monk while retaining the gospel fervor of the blues. This program mixes traditional with new undertaking full-scale reimagining of iconic R&B themes like the opener, Marvin Gaye's God Is Love, and Curtis Mayfield's time-honored classic People Get Ready.

Includes son(s) for fl by Carl Philipp Emman. Bach. Ensemble: Toronto Camerata. Conductor: Kevin Mallon. Soloist: Patrick Gallois.

On his Criss Cross debut, 29-year-old Detroit-born saxophonist J.D. Allen brings his own perspective to the aesthetic rumblings that stamped middle '60s jazz music. Boasting an open, richly textured tone, a meticulous, thoughtful approach, and a definitive sense of time, Allen interacts continuously with pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Gene Jackson over a stimulating hour of original music. On three titles as guest, the great new trumpeter Jeremy Pelt.

Though the term "visionary" is rather overused, it certainly applies to tenor saxophonist and composer JD Allen. A musical sponge of sorts, Allen is a remarkable amalgam of a wide variety of musical styles and influences, blurring the boundaries of contemporary jazz by creating a dynamic fusion of tradition and modernity. There is a decidedly "third stream" quality to Allen's compositions, combining as they do advanced classical compositional techniques, the incorporation of electronic sounds and the distillation of historic jazz genres such as call and response, field hollers and, of course, the blues. This type of music relies on the total dedication of all the performers and Allen's latest recording features three of his regular colleagues, the acoustic and electric basses of Gregg August and Ian Kenselaar and the remarkably expressive drummer, Nic Cacioppo. These men have worked with Allen on his previous Savant recordings, perhaps most notably on the unofficial trilogy of "Americana," "Americana Vol. 2" and "Barracoon," and can be considered kindred spirits with their leader. Together, they delve into themes of culture and history, offering moving narratives through their sophisticated approach and profound improvisational skills.

Time was when the use of any electronically-generated effects in an artist's work, would immediately brand you as a member of the avant-garde. Eventually, however, jazz embraced the modernism of electronics as people like Rashaan Roland Kirk, John Zorn and classical composers like Edgard Var�se took electronics down a less self-destructive and more communicative road. On THIS, tenor saxophonist and composer JD Allen explores the possibilities of electronics+jazz with a set of new compositions for himself, drummer Gwilym Jones and electronics effects wizard Alex Bonney. These works exhibit an astonishingly wide spectrum where you may find modal, blues-infused melodies juxtaposed against startling and provocative electronic effects. There can be a slim line in jazz between being a traditionalist troglodyte and being a radical visionary. On his latest recording, JD Allen has demonstrated that there is a musically satisfying and emotionally fulfilling middle ground.

Together with Americana: Musings on Jazz and Blues, and Barracoon, two of JD Allen's previous Savant releases, Americana, Vol. 2 forms a trilogy of sorts, exploring and encapsulating a universal spirit based in roots and reflection. But despite the profound political, racial, financial and historic issues examined by Allen and company, at the central musical core of all three recordings is the underestimated but crucial role the blues has played in the history of jazz and how it continues to evolve and influence the art form today. On Americana, Vol. 2 Allen continues this investigation with his long-time colleagues Gregg August and Rudy Royston, but is now joined by guitarist Charlie Hunter, who shares not only Allen's interest in the blues and it's legacy, but they also share many similar life experiences. As Allen himself says, "(Charlie's) music brings light to me as a listener. When we met, we found out that we grew up in different areas of the country, but our experiences happen to be very similar. That's Americana right there. I wanted that on this record." Here the blues not only provides a welcome outlet for tension and gentle melodicism but it also gives us an unflinching look into deep-seated and long-lived injustices, particularly via the almost expressionistic utterances of three trio-only tracks. Once again JD Allen shows himself to be a player and composer as remarkable for his directness of communication as he is for the sometimes unforgiving sternness of his message.

In JD Allen's liner notes for Queen City, it becomes clear that he spent a great deal of time thinking about how the pandemic has impacted his relationship with music and specifically his saxophone.� In the notes Allen writes, "Performing music for and with people is what I do and I've come to the realization that an audience of listeners of any size is a part of the music; it's also a shared experience. Covid-19 changed that and forced me to try to remember why I started playing in the first place, the years before I started performing and recording."� The tenor saxophonist's response to his period of introspection is this current recording, a solo saxophone program.� It is a recording full of stark, uncompromising power, affording some rare insight into the psyche of the performer.� This is not a Coleman Hawkins' "Picasso"-toned, I-love-my-horn-and-my-horn-loves-me type of symbiosis.� There is a real sense of confrontation between Allen and his horn and, by extension, the audience which makes for a unique listening experience.� This is not to imply that Queen City is some severe piece of avant garde abrasiveness.� Rather, it encompasses an extraordinarily wide-range of musical languages which communicates an equally broad spectrum of emotions.� Melodies�� of ravishing beauty alternate with angular, aggressive phrases to express frustration, anger, resolve, hope, love and acceptance in what may become one of the most personal and revealing recordings to come out of the trying time of Covid-19.

RADIO FLYER

Tenor saxophonist J.D. Allen was born in Detroit, MI, on December 11, 1972. He is a member of the third wave of Young Lion mainstream jazz players. As a young man, he was influenced by the great musicians who stayed in Detroit, but upon his arrival in New York City his real apprenticeship began, as he worked with such notables as George Cables, Betty Carter, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Frank Foster's Loud Minority big band, Butch Morris, David Murray, and Wallace Roney.

Of JD Allen, Giovanni Russonello in The New York Times said, "Mr. Allen has become one of today's most exciting tenor saxophonists not by trying to spotlight his own virtuosity... but by defining a new way of playing in a group." Allen's current release, "Toys / Die Dreaming," is his 14th as a leader and builds on his already rich recorded legacy. His compositions exhibit his philosophy of providing short melodies as the basis of both solo and group improvisation; "Get in and get out," as Allen likes to say. This gives his music a remarkable ever-transforming feel, as if the improvisation was actually part of the composition itself. To bring his music to life, Allen requires players of the utmost talent and creativity and he has certainly found them in bassist, Ian Kenselaar and drummer, Nic Cacioppo. "I found the bad boys of this generation, as far as I'm concerned," says Allen, "guys who are not afraid to dip their toe in the avant-garde a little bit, and then turn around and play the tradition." But tradition to Allen is a development, an unending arc of creativity which begins at the dawn of jazz and to which he is the latest contributor to the music's evolution.

GRACE

For his Savant Records' debut, tenor saxman JD Allen went back in the studio with colleagues Gregg August and Rudy Royston, both of whom have been his regular partners on the bandstand and in the studio since 2008. They go about their business with a robust and focused melodic articulation propelled by great rhythmic drive. You will not find this trio beating a dead horse into submission. The original tracks are short, they get in, make a statement, essay some variations, and get out-short and sweet and intense. An interesting, exciting and thought-provoking release from JD Allen and company.

Every new recording by tenor saxophonist JD Allen serves to solidify his reputation as one of the finest, most adventurous young musicians playing today. With a gently swinging, very personal vibrato he weaves his way into territory that he has charted for himself. With pianist Orrin Evans, JD takes US on a intensely personal journey through an ever-changing landscape of jazz as he sees it with playing that earned Allen a blaze of critical attention signaling his ascension to the upper ranks of the contemporary jazz world.

BYRON ALLEN TRIO

Double 180gm vinyl LP pressing. This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition was mastered by Kevin Gray. The brilliant pianist and composer Geri Allen came out of Detroit's fertile jazz scene, eventually moving to New York where she became part of the emerging M-Base collective that was forging new creative ideas and approaches to jazz in the 1980s. Allen began recording for Blue Note in 1990 with The Nurturer followed by Maroons in 1992. For her 3rd Blue Note album Twenty One, recorded in 1994, Allen joined forces with two masters-bassist Ron Carter and drummer Tony Williams-for a dynamic trio date. Allen's stunning lyricism, as well as her boundless harmonic and rhythmic creativity, shines on this remarkable 12-song set that presents her own compelling originals like "Feed The Fire," "RTG," and "In The Morning" alongside choice standards ("If I Should Lose You," "Tea For Two, "Lullaby Of The Leaves," "Old Folks") and pieces by Thelonious Monk ("Introspection/Thelonious").