Classical Music

Kevin Puts is one of America’s most exciting and important composers. His first opera, Silent Night, with a libretto by Mark Campbell, was commissioned by Minnesota Opera. It premiered in 2011 and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. A work profound and sweeping emotional power, it has since entered the modern operatic repertoire with remarkable speed, enjoying world-wide performances. The opera is based on Christian Carion’s screen-play for the 2005 French war film Joyeux Noël, and its fictionalized subject is the series of Christmas truces on the Western Front in 1914.

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American composer Kevin Puts’ first opera, Silent Night, with a libretto by Mark Campbell, was commissioned by Minnesota Opera, the house where this live recording was made. The opera's subject is the Christmas truce on the Western Front in 1914.

Various languages are used in the opera, German, French, English, Italian, and even Latin.

Puts and Campbell have packed the serious theme into a complex score, very colorful and modern in style, with painfully dissonant and wonderfully lyrical moments. Overall, the opera is good for an impressive musical experience, though the question is whether the visuals of the theatrical experience are missing from the audio recording. On the other hand, with just the audio there is more focus on the music, and it is, after all, quite expressive and convincingly performed in this live recording.

-- Pizzicato

As we have already heard in his orchestral works, Puts is a highly compelling and innovative orchestrator, and here he is equally compelling in the field of opera where he works within the conventions of solos, duets and choruses. They are then brought together by the British-born conductor, Courtney Lewis. It is not the type of story you can enjoy, but the opera, which takes two hours, must rank amongst the most outstanding staged in recent times. Add to this the ideally balanced recording, and it becomes self-recommending. The twin disc comes with English. This, and the slim two disc jewel case with notes on the artists, is then presented in a cardboard box.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

Brahms' fascination with music of the 16th to the 18th centuries was nurtured during his appointment in Vienna as conductor of the Singakademie. His own choral compositions had gradually moved from an almost pastiche Renaissance style towards a fully mature, Romantic approach, culminating in his large-scale choral masterpiece Ein deutsches Requiem. This performance is sung in a new English translation prepared by Lara Hoggard that fits the original German declamation and with the piano four-hands accompaniment written by Brahms himself.

Many eminent 20th-century composers have been fascinated by the expressive capabilities of the harpsichord, and this selection unites the instrument's traditional idioms with progressive and highly personal sensibilities. Sir Lennox Berkley's music evinces a distinct French influce, while Howell's Clavichord is a series of musical portraits of the composer's distinguished friends. Gavin Bryars has deep roots in the avant-garde, but After Handel's "Vesper" is virtuosic yet expressive, while John Jeffrey's Four Little English Dances are delightful tributes to the harpsichord's lyricism. Christopher D. Lewis performs.

At once poet and virtuoso, Paul Lewis has rapidly established himself as one of the leading Schubertians of his generation. This boxed set assembling the Viennese composer's major mature works for solo piano - Piano Sonatas, Wanderer Fantasie, Moments Musicaux, Impromptus and Drei Klavierst�cke - is sure to become one of the milestones of the modern discography.

Classical Music

The Modern Jazz Quartet was formed in 1952, largely by the rhythm section of the Dizzy Gillespie Band. When these recordings were made, John Lewis was still trying to develop the Modern Jazz Quartet as a jazz chamber group, attempting to make a unique style of jazz, free of cliché. The motto of the MJQ was “Change your attitude.” Each of the thirteen tracks on this album show the ensemble’s unique and dignified style. As Andre Francis wrote of the group, the musicians are “a sensitive instrument which vibrates in the same universe of sound, achieving a communion unique in the world of jazz.”

Classical Music

Saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis possesses an inspiring energy. His deep curiosity and the thrill he gets from discovery are crucial facets of his personality, and qualities that guide his art. Over the last half-decade he's emerged as one of the most exciting figures in jazz and improvised music, a voracious listener who rejects stylistic hierarchies and one that has feverishly explored new ideas and embraced fresh motivations with every new project. Inspired by molecular biology James Brandon develops a special system for a surprising and beautiful music with his Quartet with drummer Chad Taylor, pianist Aru�n Ortiz, and bassist Brad Jones. He has taken the idea of a "Molecular Systematic Music" to heart in the formulation of the compositions featured on the stunning debut album by this quartet.

(2-CD set) This best of set was picked from 52 George Lewis CDs issued by GHB - Jazzology group. This collection covers the clarinetist's entire recording career from the 1940s to the 1960s. Musicians included are Bunk Johnson, Kid Howard, Elmber Talbert, Kid Thomas, Baby Dodds, Joe Watkins, and George Guesnon.

Incl. 9 previously unissued cuts, w. Cuff Billet, Pete Dyer, Graham Peterson, John Coles, Terry Knight, recorded in 1965.

Recorded in September, 1964 at historic San Jacinto Hall in New Orleans, clarinetist George Lewis is joined by de De Pierce, Jim Robinson, Mike Polad, John Joseph and Cie Frazier.

George Lewis-cl, Punch Miller-tpt, Louis Nelson-trombone, Joe Robichaux-piano, Papa John Joseph-bass, Emanuel Sayles-banjo, Joe Watkins-drums.

George Lewis-cl, Punch Miller-trumpet, Louis Nelson-trombone, Joe Robichaux-piano, Papa John Joseph-bass, Emanuel Sayles-banjo, Joe Watkins-drums.

Clarinet king & trumpet tyrant combine forces on this 8 track album from 1961, feat. Jim Robinson, Emanuel Sayles, Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau & Sammy Penn.

This music on this album has become known as the George Lewis "Jam Session." This benchmark recording was originally captured on two tape recorders by producer Dr. Edmond Souchon on May 22nd, 1950 in New Orleans and features George Lewis, Elmer Talbert, Jim Robinson, Alton Purnell, Lawrence Marrero, Slow Drag Pavageau and Joe Watkins. This special release contains the complete session with never before heard outtakes. Souchon wrote the liner notes and there are photos from the session with a complete technical rundown of the material.

W. George Lewis-clarinet, Avery Howard-trumpet, Alton Purnell-piano, Lawrence Marrero-banjo, Alcide Pavageau-bass, Josiah Frazier-drums, Joe Darensbourg-soprano sax & clarinet.

Clarinetist & trumpeter/vocalist w. Jim Robinson, Alvin Alcorn, Lester Santiago + 1951.

Clarinet player is joined by Kid Thomas-tpt, Jim Robinson-trmb, George Guesnon-bjo, John Joseph-bss, Josiah Frazier-drms, 1962.

Second half of March 20, 1953 concert in Oxford, Ohio

First half of March 20, 1953 concert in Oxford, Ohio.

Historic New Orleans jazz w. Louis 'Kid Shots' Madison, Baby Dodd's + 1944.

Walter E. "Furry" Lewis (1893-1981), was a Mississippi-born, Memphis-bred guitarist and singer whose early fame was based on his 1927 recordings for the Victor label. When the Depression ended most of the recording in the South, Furry took a job as a laborer for the city of Memphis. He lived in musical obscurity until he was "re-discovered" by producer Sam Charters in the late 1950s. Lewis's version of "John Henry" is a powerful example of early southern blues. This collection also includes Lewis's oral history of his early days as a bluesman, as well as the story of his musical education in several styles of blues guitar. The liner notes include a discography of Lewis's early recordings.

In 1976 George Lewis' association with Muhal Richard Abrams and the AACM led to recordings with Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Braxton and a tour with Count Basie. Gradually his startling musicianship and the time-honored jazz virtues of a mellow tone and driving sense of rhythm, harnessed to a soaring imagination and technique became known to a growing number of listeners. Lewis came to play at A Space in Toronto his first solo concert and record this album. On "Toneburst (Piece for Three Trombones Simultaneously)", Lewis overdubbed all three trombone parts in the studio. The rest is solo.

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