At the heart of the story of jazz is the story of an interaction between two dynamic elements - the improvising musician, and the song. David Forman, well known as a concert photographer and one of the UK's foremost aficionados of jazz, has been composing songs for seventy years. Under the direction of renowned pianist and producer Mark Edwards, a fabulous team of creative jazz musicians have brought David's songs to life. David's compositions arise from the inspirations of his long and eventful life given shape and direction by his enduring love of the Great American Songbook tradition: unafraid to embrace sophistication but always adhering to the timeless appeal of direct melody.

Classical Music

Wolfgang Riehm is a prominent figure in the European new music scene. Riehm's early work, combining contemporary techniques with the emotional volatility of Mahler and of Schoenberg's early expressionist period, was regarded by many as a revolt against the avant-garde generation of Boulez and Stockhausen (with whom he studied). This disc offers a portrait of Riehm's recent compositions, including the fascinating recorder concerto Au bord d'une source, which is loosely based on Franz Liszt's Ann�es de P�lerinage.

Original cast includes: Ann Duquesnay, Jared Crawford, Raymond King, Savion Glover, Baakari Wilder, Jimmy Tate, Vincent Bingham, Dule Hill, Jeffrey Wright.
Recorded live at the Ambassador Theatre, New York, New York on May 11, 1996. Includes liner notes by George C. Wolfe.
BRING IN 'DA NOISE, BRING IN 'DA FUNK was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.

HÉROLD-HAYDN-MARTINI-ROSSINI-DONIZETTI-HERTEL La fille mal gardée (arr. Lanchbery with additional music) • John Lanchbery, cond; Nadia Nerina, David Blair, Stanley Holden, Alexander Grant, Leslie Edwards (dancers); Royal Ballet Covent Garden O • ICA CLASSICS 5088, mono (90:37)

This is not an actual performance of La fille mal gardée but a film version made for the BBC between September 7 and 9 of 1962. The images are sepia and white, and at times the old style TV cameras can scarcely keep up with the speed of the dancers’ feet, but one thing that shines through like a beacon in this, as in so many ballets under the direct supervision of Frederick Ashton, is its marvelous combination of characterization and humor. I’ve long felt that Ashton always wanted to present characters up there on stage, not just decorous dancers showing off their techniques, and he was capable of slipping some humor into even the most serious works. In this piece of fluff, he was in his element, and as much as one can do so on a ballet stage, he created a silent film combining love story with comedy.


Although this derives from one of the oldest surviving ballets—its premiere was in 1789 at Bordeaux—both the choreography and the music morphed considerably through the next century and a half. The first step towards confusion occurred at the 1828 Paris revival, where Hérold was asked to adapt his score to include themes from other composers’ operas—among them Haydn, Martini, and Donizetti. In 1837 Paris Opéra ballerina Fanny Elssler insisted on a new tailored version of the pas de deux using her favorite melodies from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (specifically, the tune of the finale and the middle portion of “Udite, o rustici”). Somewhere along the line, the opening scene music of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia crept in as the introductory music to Lise and Colas in act I, while in Berlin in 1864, a completely new score by Peter Ludwig Hertel appeared. Ashton, being a bit confused as to which form of the music to use, was partly guided in this respect by Tamara Karsavina, who had danced Lise at the Mariinsky Theatre. She suggested a return, more or less, to the 1837 version (which he found in the library) but using musical inserts of his own choice. Since Ashton created Widow Simone’s clog dance, he incorporated a piece of folk music into the score. Originally he was aided in the project by noted composer Malcolm Arnold, but for some reason Arnold quit, so Ashton turned to his conductor, John Lanchbery, to piece the music together. The two of them worked together for two months, meeting at least three times a week to match music to action. Lanchbery would play some of the music to get Ashton’s feedback. This eventually led to his writing interpolated passages to blend Hérold’s, Donizetti’s, Rossini’s, and Hertel’s music together, as well as composing Leitmotifs for Widow Simone and Colas and the “disaster” music in the last act.


The principal dancers—Nerina as Lise, Blair as Colas, Holden as Widow Simone and Grant as the “rich dweeb” Alain—were undoubtedly the cream of his then-current crop. By comparison with today’s dancers, only Blair suffers ever so slightly. He can do tremendous jetées and his elevation is superb, but he only occasionally creates the same kind of continuous flow with his motions that the amazing Carlos Acosta can achieve nowadays. Otherwise, however, this is the superior production. Pride of place goes to Nerina, whose series of rapid entrechats in the pas de deux have the rapidity and pointed grace of a cat; moreover, in all of her dancing one continually gets the impression that she’s having a ball, even though it must have been extremely demanding work. See my review elsewhere of An Evening with the Royal Ballet, and you will note my disappointment in the technically fine but somewhat staid dancing of the same scene by Marianela Nuñez.


I was also very impressed by the dancing of the two comic roles. Holden certainly can’t hold a patch technically on William Tuckett, who does the clog dance in the later video, but he doesn’t have to. His highly practiced “stumbling” looks more real, as if he’s about to trip over his own ankles and fall on the floor. Indeed, while watching him perform this dance I couldn’t help thinking that Ashton may have gotten the idea for some of these steps from watching Ray Bolger as the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, so similar were his motions. Alexander Grant, playing the role of the dim-witted Alain, conversely put me in mind of someone who came much later—Martin Short as Ed Grimley. Several of the steps Short used in doing his Grimley character were right there onscreen, being danced by Grant…not to mention a cowlick (but in the back rather than the front). I wonder if Short ever saw a production of this ballet?


I was particularly impressed by several of the little touches that Ashton put into certain scenes, for instance the intricacy of the dance in which Cola and Lise form a cat’s cradle out of her ribbon while dancing, or the maypole dance for the corps in which they twisted and untwisted the ribbons with deceptively simple but actually quite complex movements. And then there were the scenes involving Alain, of which I will give you two: During his first scene he inadvertently opens his umbrella and falls to the ground behind it. Colas and Lise push it aside to find him, but he has slid between the legs of his father and pops up behind him! Also, in the act I finale, a sudden thunderstorm, Alain and the Widow swerve back and forth across the stage—umbrella opened—as if they were actually being windswept, and do so in a really funny, skewered way.


If anything, act II is even funnier, more clever and well staged than the first, particularly in the modified morris dance for the male corps (no bells on their shins but they did dance with sticks held at shoulder height). Their dancing in this scene is simply spectacular. There’s also a marvelous scene where Colas (Blair) lifts Lise (Nerina) at the top of a double-door to give her a kiss, and she literally seems to be floating up to him; but this is one of Nerina’s special qualities, the ability to appear as if she is floating. Once again in this act, her work on pointe appears completely effortless—you never once see or sense the physical tension that goes into these moves.


Lise hides Colas in her bedroom before Mom (Widow Simone) comes back, but shortly after her return Thomas, the notary, the notary’s assistant, and Alain return to have her sign the marriage contract and wed her daughter to the dimwit. When Alain goes to open Lise’s bedroom door and finds her in her wedding dress, kissing Colas, he falls backwards down the stairs and everyone is in a tizzy, but Lise explains everything and begs forgiveness. Happily, even the notary realizes that they are a better match and encourages Simone to forgive Lise and accept Colas as a son-in-law, following which the latter celebrates his good luck with a series of excellent fast turns. Only Thomas seems to be taking it badly as he ushers his son out. And there are two surprise postludes: first, when Alain returns to the now-empty farmhouse and furtively moves around…until he retrieves his beloved umbrella, and the second when everyone is walking down the country path. Thomas makes a move to “come on,” which you assume is a gesture to Alain, but instead it’s the chickens who follow him first—trailed, finally and inevitably, by Alain.


The only complaint I have of this DVD is that the numbering sequence of the various “chapters” is off by one, because the booklet lists an “Introduction to the ICA Classics Series” as No. 1, but you only get this if you select “play all.” Otherwise, if you choose to select chapters of the ballet, you will be off by one number—in other words, the act I pas de deux is actually chapter 16, not 17 as listed in the booklet. But this is an absolutely delightful ballet and a classic performance. Despite the sepia-and-white print, I would even recommend this to young girls who are interested in ballet. It’s a funny enough story and has an excellent level of difficulty in it that will captivate and delight them. As for anyone else who enjoys ballet, this is a must.

FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

Ferdinand Herold
LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE

Lise – Nadia Nerina
Colas – David Blair
Widow Simone – Stanley Holden
Alain – Alexander Grant
Thomas – Leslie Edwards
A Notary – Franklin White

The Royal Ballet
Covent Garden Orchestra
John Lanchbery, conductor

Frederick Ashton, choreographer
Osbert Lancaster, designer

Recorded at BBC Studio, London, 7–9 September 1962

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: Enhanced Mono
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Booklet notes: English, French, German
Running time: 90 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Lanza, A.: Canadian Composers Portraits

This is not the first time this 1735 opera has been recorded. Erato (remember them?) released a 1986 performance under Claudio Scimone that was quite good but in the long run can't compare dramatically with this live performance from France in November, 2001. In the notes accompanying the earlier release, we learn that only the second and third acts survive and that the first was written by one or more other composers--a sort of patchwork. Scimone, therefore, only presents the acts he believes are by Vivaldi, as evidenced by the autograph score in Turin. Jean-Claude Malgoire claims to have located two of the missing Act 1 arias, takes the music of some others from various Vivaldi operas (and re-sets the words of the Catone libretto, which has been found in Bologna, to that music), and has composed the recitatives "drawing his inspiration from existing Vivaldi compositions." Scholarship aside, the result gives us lots of terrific music, scored for strings and continuo, but with the occasional addition of two trumpets and two horns (in the extant Vivaldi), and oboes and recorders in the Act 1 reconstruction.

If the truth be known, the plot stands very well with just the last two acts; the libretto of the first is exposition. The opera concerns the Republican Cato's (tenor) refusal to give in to Caesar (male soprano), who has killed Pompey and taken over Rome. Pompey's widow Emilia (soprano) actually is the piece's villain--her hatred for Caesar keeps everyone's feelings toward him inflamed and she tries to manipulate his death. Cato's daughter Marzia (soprano) loves Caesar, but he (Cato) wants her to marry Arbace, his ally. This is a real problem. And Caesar's ally, Fulvio, loves Emilia, although he may just be covering his bets--a confusing bonus. Metastasio, the librettist, wanted Cato to die onstage in his daughter's arms but opted for him to die off stage and have Marzia report it. Even that was too strong for 18th century Verona, so he recast it with a happy ending: after Cato's army is defeated Caesar spares Cato in order to gain Marzia's love, Emilia leaves in disgrace after swearing revenge, Arbace is unhappy but realizes that the outcome is good for the country, and peace returns. The final chorus is suitably unconvincing, and I bet Vivaldi knew it. He scored the soprano Caesar's vocal line so low that there's no real enthusiasm; the music is like an editorial commentary.

Up to then, however, the characters' feelings are ablaze and realistic, with impressive arias and huge drama in the recitatives. Malgoire is particularly good in the dramatic, realistic pacing of the recitatives, but the arias also are well accompanied, and if Malgoire is responsible for the embellishments in the da capo sections of arias, then he is to be further congratulated. His period-instrument band plays beautifully, with the trumpets braying nobly, the strings smooth or cutting as the text requires, and the ensemble work first class.


The singing doesn't let us down either: Simon Edwards' Cato is an aristocratic ruler, but he's capable of great fury against poor Marzia, with whom he becomes enraged for her love of Caesar in both Acts 1 and 2. He handles the role's coloratura well. Marzia is a sappy ingénue with pretty, lachrymose arias, though at least the one in the last act is energetic (and her interjections of "O Dio! Pieta!" in Cato's last Rage Aria are enchanting in their sincerity).


Emilia has two furious arias and wicked recitatives, and Veronica Cangemi, in this all-over-the-place-vocally-and-dramatically role, makes you sit up and listen to her scorn. She's spectacular. Sympathetic Caesar, sung by male soprano Jacek Laszczkowski, is expressive and has the difficult music--trills, leaps, pianissimos, high B-flats--fully in hand. Male alto Philippe Jaroussky is good in the nowhere role of Arbace, and the same can be said about Diana Bertini as Fulvio, an even weaker character. If you love Baroque opera, or may want to, this is top-of-the-line. And whether or not Malgoire is right about his reconstruction of Act 1, it's nice to have another 50-something minutes of well-performed Vivaldi to savor.
--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

ROSSINI / NIEDERMEYER: Robert Bruce (French pasticcio of La

Walter, C.J.: 4 Pieces Against Stagnation / Rihm, W.: Marsya

Tommy Edwards was a sophisticated R&B vocalist, best-known for his landmark US and UK No. 1 "It's All In The Game", but who also had many other pop and R&B hits, and released many singles which showcased the sophisticated ballad style which characterised much of his work, although he was a versatile artist, releasing a country-flavoured album before Ray Charles began interpreting the genre. He first achieved success as a songwriter, co-writing the big 1946 Louis Jordan hit "That Chick's Too Young To Fry", but he eventually got his first recording contract in 1949. This great value focuses on his singles releases for MGM during the period when he achieved all his chart successes, naturally featuring all his nineteen pop and R&B hits, and selecting A and B sides from across his output during that time to provide what we hope is an entertaining and representative cross-section of his work and a worthy showcase for his extraordinary voice and his unique way with a song. Tommy died tragically young in 1969, so this collection certainly comprises his main career highlights. We have, by way of fascinating comparison, included both versions of "It's All In The Game" with which he made the charts in 1951 and 1958, and done the same with his two versions of "Please Mr. Sun", hits in 1952 and 1959, and "Morning Side Of The Mountain", a hit in 1951 and 1959.

Like hardly any other personality in music history, Harry Partch has freed himself from the constraints of musical conventions. He has not only left the beaten paths of the conservatories, but has also developed his own microtonal sound system, which he has captured in spectacularly beautiful, archaically wild yet angularly modern instruments that are indispensable for a live performance. Since 2013, Ensemble Musikfabrik has been the only ensemble in possession of a full set of replica Partch instruments. These are not used solely for the performance of Partch’s own music, however; through numerous commissions in the context of their project "pitch 43_tuning the cosmos", they have inspired composers from all over the world to immerse themselves in these fantastical musical sculptures and their world of microtonal sounds. This album presents three outstanding examples of the many and varied ways in which the Cologne-based ensemble has taken up Partch’s legacy: Sampo Haapamäki’s "Heritage", "Wooden Clouds" by Martin Smolka and" Voices for Harry Partch" by Carola Bauckholt.

Performers: Laurence Perkins (bassoon), Sarah Watts (clarinet), Martin Roscoe (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sian Edwards (conductor) - The Duet-Concertino is one of those lyrical, bittersweet scores from Strauss's Indian summer. Laurence Perkins argues that behind the notes lies a hitherto little-known programme-whence the album's title-and that this misunderstood work has good claims to be regarded as Strauss's final tone poem.

After six prior engagements for Criss Cross as a sideman, drummer Donald Edwards' first leader offering for the label is a program of ten well-wrought originals that embrace the complex harmonies and rhythms of 21st century jazz while hewing to strong melodic values and abiding soulfulness. Helping set the mood is an A-list ensemble - pianist (and Criss Cross veteran) Orrin Evans and bassist Eric Revis, with whom Edwards performed on the 2013 Orrin Evans Trio record... It was Beauty (CRC 1359) as well as tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III (III - CRC 1328) and world-class guitarist David Gilmore.

Donald Edwards Quintet with Donald Edwards on drums, Anthony Wonsey on piano, Ben Wolfe on bass, David Gilmore on guitar and Abraham Burtonon tenor saxophone. Guest appearances by Sophia Edwards (vocals on track1 and Frank Lacy (vocals on tracks 2 - 8). All compositions and arrangements by Donald Edwards. The album was recorded january 31, 2020 at the Samurai Holtel Recording Studio and mixed and mastered by Mike Marciano at the Systems Two Recording Studios. The album The Color of US Suite is the second Criss Cross Jazz release after the death of former owner Gerry Teekens Sr.

SMOOTH SAILING

Have a close encounter of the jazz kind w. tenor icons Teddy & Houston - this sax battle is more complimentary than confrontational, and their easy rapport is evident on these swinging tunes that are full of warmth & humor

Tenor saxophonist presents a relaxed, easy-swinging session backed up by Virgil Jones-tpt, Richard Wyands-pno, Buster Williams-bss & Chip White-drms

Throughout the history of jazz, there has been a number of players who chose to remain in one locale to practice their art. Teddy Edwards is one of them. Though he chose to immerse himself in L.A.'s lucrative TV & radio scene, he also toured through the '60s &'70s with the likes of Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Milt Jackson & others. With his roots still firmly planted in L.A., he brings his wealth of experience to tunes titled with women's names on this CD. These are not all slow, smoochy ballads - included are chop-busters, such as Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" & the straight-ahead swing of Duke Pearson's "Jeannine".

Teddy Edwards/Howard McGhee - "Together Again!!!! (Contemporary Records Acoustic Sounds Series)" / Bringing together trumpeter Howard McGhee and saxophonist Teddy Edwards, "Together Again!!!!" was originally released on Contemporary Records in 1961. In addition to Edwards and McGhee, the album features Phineas Newborn Jr. (piano), Ray Brown (bass), and Ed Thigpen (drums). This new edition, released as part of the Acoustic Sounds Series, features (AAA) lacquers cut from the original master tapes by Bernie Grundman and is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at QRP, and presented in a tip-on jacket.