Classical Music

Classical Music

This new release centers around the importance of nighttime rituals from different eras and traditions. This album is the first release by the Georgia State University Singers with their current director Deanna Joseph. The ensemble were 2014 finalists for the American Prize in Choral Performance.

Dr. Kim S. Ellis is a native of Rockford, Illinois. She has been principal clarinetist with the Symphony of Southeast Texas since 1990 and is a Buffet Crampon USA performing artists. She is an active performer and clinician at conventions and clinics throughout the United States including the Texas Music Educators Assosication, Festival of Texas Composers, Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium, College Music Society-South Chapter, Sarasota Music Festival, and the University of New Hampshire Chamber Music Festival.

Swirling music with wildly branching roots that touch everything from Debussy and Delius to bop to techno. Sometimes lush and enveloping, sometimes brittle and percussive; sometimes suspended and motionless, sometimes agitated. This 16-minute CD EP features clarinetist Marty Walker with string quartet and electronic keyboards. “When it comes to attempts at musical seduction, Daniel Lentz’s music is way out front.” [Kyle Gann, Village Voice] “With its slow, interlocking suspensions and white-note harmonies, Tigres brings to mind Sibelius, of all things—particularly the twilight pages of the Sixth and Seventh symphonies—with the exception of a contrasting section about six minutes in where the rhythmic intensity gets cranked up and the piece breaks into a manic Michael Nymanesque jitterbug…. But the jitterbug ends just a quickly as it began, ceding to a much more lyrical style that gives a prominent, concerto-like roll to the clarinet. If Lentz talked about some of his earlier cascading echo pieces as ‘spiralling forms of becoming,’ Tigres traces—with its expressive grand pauses—a more improvisational line of fragmentation…. By intriguing his listeners at the same time he wreathes them in smiles, Lentz always comes up with something listenable and worthwhile. That’s certainly true of this new release.” [Gramophone magazine]

2024 release. Tinsley Ellis unplugs and channels his masterful guitar skills and soul-baring vocals into a bracing collection of solo acoustic tracks steeped in the traditions of Muddy Waters, Skip James, Son House, Robert Johnson and even Leo Kottke. Nine newly-written originals sit alongside reverent, yet spirited, versions of House's "Death Letter Blues," Willie Dixon's "Don't Go No Further" and Kottke's "Sailor's Grave On The Prairie."

Vinyl LP pressing. 2024 release. Tinsley Ellis unplugs and channels his masterful guitar skills and soul-baring vocals into a bracing collection of solo acoustic tracks steeped in the traditions of Muddy Waters, Skip James, Son House, Robert Johnson and even Leo Kottke. Nine newly-written originals sit alongside reverent, yet spirited, versions of House's "Death Letter Blues," Willie Dixon's "Don't Go No Further" and Kottke's "Sailor's Grave On The Prairie."

Atlanta-based southern blues rocker Tinsley Ellis has been burning up the road for nearly 40 years and has another lengthy coast-to-coast tour lined up in support of Ice Cream In Hell. A blazing guitarist and forceful singer, Tinsley is making the best music of his career right now and living to play live. He'll have a warm-up tour with Alligator labelmate Tommy Castro in November, play the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise in January and then hit the highway first week of February behind the new release.

A fascinating blend of jazz and contemporary classical influences, How Time Passes is the debut album from the envelope pushing trumpeter and composer Don Ellis. Known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures, Ellis began his long career in the New York City's post bop and avant-garde jazz scenes of late 1950s. Most notably he appeared on Charles Mingus' Mingus Dynasty, and albums by George Russell and Maynard Feguson. But he also worked with, among others, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Lionel Hampton, and Woody Herman. On subsequent albums, Ellis would take an even wilder direction. Here, on his first recoding date as a band leader, the experimentation begins. Ellis stretches the boundaries of bop-based jazz playing with time, tempo and meter. It is the start of his exploration of Third Stream - a fusion of jazz and contemporary classical music. The album title itself - How Time Passes - was taken from an article written by the controversial German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen on the "function of time." The exceptional section features Ron Carter on bass, the underrated Jaki Byard on piano and saxophone, and Charlie Persip on drums. The LP includes extraordinary liner notes by Candid A&R man and producer Nat Hentoff, and noted musician, historian and writer Gunther Schuller - the originator of the term "Third Stream" - giving a context and insight that adds to the experience of hearing these extraordinary performances.

Classical Music

Classical Music