Bethany Beardslee is renowned as one of the great lyric sopranos of the twentieth century, and the inspiration for dozens of composers who wrote specifically for her voice. Born in Lansing, Michigan, she trained first at Michigan State College, and later at the Juilliard School. Accompanied by pianists Richard Goode and Lois Shapiro, Ms. Beardslee's performances of lieder by Brahms, Schumann and Schubert display her exquisite artistry. USC Professor of Music and Journalism Tim Page writes: "Her flexible, expressive voice, with its silvered timbre and warmly caressing middle range, was suited not only to the premieres and first American performances she sang (by composers ranging from Schoenberg to Stravinsky to Milton Babbitt) but also to the Romantic repertory." While she retired officially in 1984, she performed and recorded a number of times in the decade that followed. These recordings, from 1984 and 1986, have been remastered by Grammy award winning engineer Adam Abeshouse.
The two major organ works on these discs (his longest for organ) show Max Reger at the height of his powers; not only do they sustain a structural coherence over an impressive span, but they show an almost inexhaustible proliferation of invention. As well as the large-scale Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme and the Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E minor, this 2 CD Set includes a collection shorter preludes and fugues - the Five Easy Preludes and Fugues and two transcriptions of preludes and fugues by JS Bach from the Well-Tempered Clavier.
Jazz trumpeter Brad Goode is back with his 4th Delmark CD, Tight Like This (yes, the same "Tight Like This" recorded by Louis Armstrong's Hot 5). He is accompanied by Adrean Farrugia, piano; Kelly Sill, bass; Anthony Lee, drums. A previous review said: "Goode's command of the trumpet allows for plenty of risk-taking moments, drenched with technical astonishment and raw emotion. With an abundance of melodic ideas, the Chicago native walks a musical tightrope, creating a rush of improvised suspense....Nature Boy (DMK 578) emphasizes everything genuine going on in jazz today. Goode and company are performing at an incomparable level, at once virtuosic and innovative." - John Barron, All About Jazz.
Jazz trumpeter Brad Goode relocated to Denver two years ago, but he maintains his Chicago connection by performing there at least once or twice annually. Brad resided in Chicago and had a weekly gig 12 years running when he cut his first Delmark album, "Shock Of The New" (DMK #440). Since then he's recorded 3 more CDs most recently for the European Steeplechase label. The last time he was in Chicago Brad recorded this new, exciting and sometimes edgy session. His rhythm section features newcomer Adrean Farrugia on piano, veteran bassist Kelly Sill and longtime cohort Dana Hall on drums. Contains 9 tracks including 4 Goode original compositions. (Previously deleted:5/1/11. Original release date: 4/18/06)
For more than two decades, Polansky, who the Village Voice called “the heir apparent to the Cowell/Nancarrow/Tenney genius experimentalist mantle,” has been composing a series of fascinating mensuration canons (a formal concept dating back to the Renaissance) that run the sonic gamut from wildly boisterous to serenely introverted. This disc collects thirteen of these canons with widely varying instrumentations that include marimbas, gamelan, electric guitars, children's voices, computer, choir, and chamber ensemble. Performances by and collaborations with William Winant, Jody Diamond, Daniel Goode, Nathan Davis, Nick Didkovsky, and others. The Wire magazine wrote about this CD, “An unashamedly tactile approach to musical material, forging an oblique angle to tradition… cool and elegant…. [I]t’s a mark of his resourceful mind that he can adapt the basic rules into a series of such complex and varied works.... Polansky’s canons show the extreme liberties that can be born from such exacting discipline.” International Record Review commented, “The music of Larry Polansky is as much fun to listen to as it is to think or get serious about…the results are dazzling as each canon defines its individual properties and unique sound world.... The transformations are ubiquitous and compelling…. With so much on offer, this is one of the best discs Cold Blue music has issued.” And ClassicalNet wrote, “Larry Polansky is the modern dean of the mensuration canon…. These canons are clever, mysterious, and comical—part theory of relativity, part Rube Goldberg.”
Jazz trumpeter was only 24 years old when he recorded Shock of the New in 1988. He was two years into an eleven year stint of Wednesday nights at Chicago's Green Mill Lounge. The CD features a wide variety of styles (bop to funk to ballad with 14 member string section) and some of Chicago's best musicians including Lin Halliday, Jodie Christian, Ed Petersen, Fareed Haque, Paul Wertico and others. Eight songs include "tribute to Clifford and Sonny", "Old Folks", "You Don't Know What Love Is", "Stew's Blues" and more. (Previously deleted:7/1/07. Original release date:6/1/88)"Presumably the shock in question is not Goode's choice of material but the warmth and surprising command of dynamics the trumpeter possesses". - Jazz Times.
