Vortex introduces a bold new chapter for the oboe and English horn, instruments too often overlooked as chamber soloists. Oboist Ari Cohen Mann, praised for their "brilliant virtuosity" (The Whole Note), joins pianist Benjamin Smith, guitarist Daniel Ramjattan, and composer-pianist Kevin Day in a program spanning wit, lyricism, turbulence, and introspection. Vortex introduces a bold new chapter for the oboe and English horn, instruments too often overlooked as chamber soloists. The journey begins with Stravinsky's Pulcinella-here newly transcribed for oboe and piano by Cohen Mann and Cornelia Sommer-where Baroque elegance collides with Stravinsky's tongue-in-cheek neoclassicism. From there, Jennifer Higdon's poignant Aria leads into the album's title track, Kevin Day's electrifying VORTEX, premiered to a standing ovation at the International Double Reed Society Conference. Works by Rodney Sharman (Famous Last Words), Jean Coulthard (The Enchanted Island), and C. Tyler Nickel (English Horn Sonata) reveal the expressive depth and modern versatility of the English horn, while Jocelyn Morlock's Verdigris, arranged for oboe and guitar, offers a gentle closing meditation. Vortex celebrates the oboe and English horn as instruments of colour, drama, and lyricism-capable of anchoring an entire sonic world.

Stone Flute was one of Herbie Mann's most popular albums. Originally issued on the Embryo label in 1970, musicians on this exellent album include Sonny Sharrock, Roy Ayers, Ron Carter & Miroslav Vitous.

EASTERN EUROPEAN ROOTS

Bill Evans' creative imagination and deep capacity for lyricism altered the vocabulary of contemporary jazz. In Peace Pieces, flute master Herbie Mann approaches Evans' masterpieces of composition for the piano without a piano player, resulting in a unique tribute that does not suffer in comparison with the original. Bassist Eddie Gomez brought to the table 11 years as a vital element in the Bill Evans Trio, and other musicians featured include Randy Brecker, Louis Nash, Bruce Dunlap and others.

I turned 65 on April 16, 1995, and I thought it would be a lot of fun to invite musicians from my past and present to join me for a week of musical celebration... we managed to get together over 50 players for what was probably the most memorable week of my career." - Herbie Mann. This historic recording features guests Randy Brecker (trumpet), Ron Carter (acoustic bass), Paquito D'Rivera (alto sax), Tito Puente (timbales), Bobby Watson (alto sax) and many others. Highlights: "Give And Take, " "Au Privave" and "Jungle Fantasy.

Herbie Mann - The Complete Recordings Part III 1959-1962 Having already put out an impressive body of work by the end of 1958, Manns career witnessed a major creative shift thanks to one Sid Torin. Better known as Symphony Sid, Torin was the DJ credited by many as having introduced bebop into the mainstream, and it was he who suggested Mann add a conga player to his group. This, coupled with a State Department funded tour of Africa, influences the Afro-Cuban jazz album Flautista! (Verve, 1959). Recorded live at Basin Street East, New York on 30th June that year and featuring renowned percussionist Carlos Patato Valdes, the record was a vital stylistic development for Mann, and for the jazz genre as a whole. Across the next few years Herbie Mann's albums would become a veritable smorgasbord of legendary jazz percussionists, with 1960s Flute, Brass, Vibes And Percussion (Verve, 1961) regarded as one of Manns finest recordings, due in no small part to the inclusion of Ray Barretto and Ray Mantilla. This four disc collection features eight complete albums from one of the most exciting and experimental phases of Herbie Mann's career, and serves as a perfect illustration of how this unique, exciting and ultimately fearless musician favored the exotic over the traditional or mainstream and in so doing ended up among the most respected jazz men of all time.

Herbie Mann - COMPLETE RECORDINGS: 1955-1957 - A true pioneer of his instrument - indeed his predecessors were few and far between - Herbie Mann was one of the first to take the flute into the mainstream jazz spotlight. Embracing elements of numerous genres throughout his long and decorated career, Mann was lauded for his intricate playing and impeccable sense of groove that would influence generations of flautists to follow. Born Herbert Jay Solomon in Brooklyn, New York on 16th April 1930, Mann became enamored with music at an early age, initially wishing to learn drums but eventually being convinced by a family member to take up clarinet instead. His parents, both of Eastern European descent, were dancers and singers before becoming vocal coaches later on in life. Mann attended Lincoln High School in Brighton Beach, and gave his first ever performance at a resort in the Catskills aged 15. After serving four years in the army including time stationed in Trieste, Italy, where he had played saxophone in the military band, Mann returned to the United States in 1952, only to find the Lester Young-derived style he had adopted now oversaturated the music scene. Fate was on Mann s side however, as he was soon approached by Dutch accordionist Mat Mathews, who was seeking a flautist to appear alongside him on the debut album of the then-unknown jazz vocalist Carmen McRae. These sessions would later be released as Carmen McRae (Bethlehem, 1954), and would enable Mann to distinguish himself as one of the first and most groundbreaking jazz flautists. In December of that year he would also appear on Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown (EmArcy), an album that would go on to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. It was soon after these collaborations that Herbie Mann began taking part in his first studio sessions as bandleader. These would initially be released as the 10 East Coast Jazz/4 (Bethlehem, 1954), and later as a full album with additional recordings as Herbie Mann Plays (Bethlehem, 1956). These sessions also saw the first collaboration of Mann with esteemed jazz guitarist Joe Puma, who would feature on nearly all of Mann s albums over the next four years. Whilst well known for his adoption of different styles as his career progressed, Herbie stayed firmly within the realms of cool jazz during this early period, a direction which received mixed reviews from critics at the time but did little to halt his rising popularity. His proper debut album, Flamingo (Bethlehem 1955) would appear the following year, along with an appearance on The Herbie Mann-Sam Most Quintet (Bethlehem), a collaboration with one of his few flute contemporaries. Mann would also release two highly-regarded albums alongside Belgian flautist and tenor saxophonist Bobby Jaspar: Flute Flight and Flute Souffl� (both Prestige, 1957). This four disc collection contains, in their entirety, the recordings that would prove the crucial foundation for this magnificent musician s career. Remastered in excellent quality and featuring nearly five hours of sublime music, this set captures perfectly the striking ability of Herbie Mann during the earliest period of his recording career, and hints at the potential that, when realized, would go on to establish Mann as one of the finest purveyors of his instrument within the world of jazz.

Herbie Mann - COMPLETE RECORDINGS: 1957-1958 - A pioneer of what has come to be known as world music and one of the first notable jazz flautists, Herbie Mann s unique sound developed throughout his long and eclectic career. With a repertoire that also included the tenor saxophone and clarinet, Mann produced a staggering back catalogue during his lifetime, both as bandleader and alongside such jazz greats as Chet Baker, Count Basie and Art Blakey, featuring prominently as he did on the latter s undisputed masterpiece Orgy In Rhythm. Between 1957 and 1958, a period in which he began to evolve from his roots in bop and cool jazz, Herbie Mann recorded some of his most critically-acclaimed albums of the 1950s, including the well received Salute To The Flute. Featuring a plethora of big name contributors including Oscar Pettiford, Philly Joe Jones and Gigi Gryce, this landmark work also included guitarist Joe Puma in it's line up, a musician who had featured on many of Mann s previous records. 1957 also saw the release of one of Herbie s most curious LPs, Mann Alone, remembered primarily as a solo jazz flute record and previously available only on vinyl. Other notable releases from the period include the classic Yardbird Suite, featuring Mann s interpretation of Charlie Parker s bebop standard, and Flute Fraternity, which saw him collaborate with the legendary Buddy Collette. Demonstrating the musical dexterity of the pair, the album would feature both Mann and Collette playing flute, various saxophones and clarinet. Just Wailin boasted the talents of saxophonist Charlie Rouse, pianist Mal Waldron, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist George Joyner and drummer Art Taylor. In December of 1958, Mann had the honour of recording several sessions with the great jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, which would later appear on Chet Baker Introduces Johnny Pace and Chet. 1957 and 1958 marked a true turning point in the career of Herbie Mann as he began to abandon the straight-edge cool jazz style for which he had become best known, and increasingly take influence from outside his traditional fare. This collection, featuring eight original Herbie Mann albums, all now in fully remastered format and providing over five hours of music across four CDs, documents perfectly the beginnings of this master musicians most transitional and challenging period, as it highlights the great man s ability to adopt increasingly experimental forms in a surprisingly subtle manner.

Stone Flute was one of Herbie Mann's most popular albums. Originally issued on the Embryo label in 1970, musicians on this exellent album include Sonny Sharrock, Roy Ayers, Ron Carter & Miroslav Vitous.

NEW MANN AT NEWPORT

Herbie Mann was an American jazz flute player & important practitioner of world music. Reggae was originally issued in 1974 & features guitarists Mick Taylor & Albert Lee, along with keyboardist Pat Rebillot. Reggae II was issued in 1976 & features those same musicians.

BEST OF

Push Push is a 1971 instrumental album by jazz flautist Herbie Mann and features rock guitarist Duane Allman. The record explored a range of popular genres, such as R&B, rock and funk music. [Note: This product is an authorized CD-R and is manufactured on demand] This means it is an M.O.D. title.

Until Volume One of his orchestral music was released last year, the English composer-conductor Henry Cotter Nixon (1842–1907) has entirely disappeared from music history. But this series – presenting all his surviving orchestral music in its first-ever recordings – reveals him to have been one of the most accomplished English composers of his generation, with a style that takes in elements of Mendelssohn, Schumann, Verdi and Brahms. This second volume confirms his ability to handle extended symphonic structures and also presents a Sullivanesque lighter side. Ian Hobson, pianist and conductor, began his international career in 1981 when he won the Leeds International Piano Competition. This is the thirteenth album that he has recorded for Toccata Classics as either pianist or conductor. Paul Mann is a regular guest conductor with many orchestras throughout Europe, the US, Australia, and the Far East. He is well known for his collaboration with the rock group Deep Purple.

After recent releases devoted to David Hackbridge Johnson and Steve Elcock, Toccata Classics now rescues another British symphonist from oblivion. Rodney Newton (b. 1945) earned his living as an orchestral timpanist and percussionist, becoming known primarily for his works for brass bands. Until now his substantial output for orchestra has remained completely unknown. This first recording of two early symphonies reveals a composer with a strong sense of melody, drama, and color, in the tradition of such earlier British symphonists as Vaughan Williams and Arnold. The tone poem Distant Nebulae, inspired by Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question, reflects the vastness of the heavens in music of understated beauty and elegance.

The English composer David Hackbridge Johnson has been, until now, one of the best-kept secrets in music. He has built up a huge catalogue of works completely unknown even within the classical world. learning the orchestra from the inside, as a player, he has developed a confident and powerful language inherited in part from Brian, Copland, Janacek, Rubbra, Sibelius, Simpson, Tippett and other such masters. As these three pieces show, his music is capable of bold strokes of color and gripping dramatic gestures, expressed with a natural sense of symphonic architecture. Amazingly, he had heard almost none of his orchestral pieces before this recording was made in December, 2016. Paul Mann is a regular guest-conductor with many orchestras throughout Europe, the USA, Australia and the Far East. He is well known for his collaboration with the legendary rock group Deep Purple. This is the sixth recording for Toccata Classics.

The first two Toccata Classics volumes of the orchestral music of the English composer David Hackbridge Johnson presented three mighty symphonies, conceived on a large scale and powerful in their utterance. The Fifteenth Symphony, tone-poems and other works offered here show a change in focus: an engagement with the natural world, reflecting the poetry of changing light and shifting winds, with man's impermanent presence dwarfed by the implacable grandeur of nature. Here Paul Mann, a frequent Toccata Classics artist, conducts the orchestra of the very town- Liepaja, on the coast of Latvia- that inspired the Fifteenth Symphony.

The orchestral music of the English composer David Hackbridge Johnson (b. 1963) is one of the most important discoveries to have been made by Toccata Classics. This second volume brings two mighty symphonies: the dark and tragic No. 10 (2013), cast in a single monumental span, and the three-movement No. 13 (2017), a fierce and fiery affirmation of life. They are complemented here by an orchestral ‘motet’ which passes plainchant in kaleidoscopic review. Writing in Gramophone, Guy Rickards said of Hackbridge Johnson’s Ninth Symphony: “what is so astonishing is not his ambition in attempting such large, big-boned structures… but that he possesses the compositional technique to achieve them so completely… This is a profound, complex, and visionary utterance.” Paul Mann, who here leads the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, is a regular guest conductor with many orchestras throughout Europe, the USA, Australia and the Far East. He enjoyed a famous collaboration with the legendary rock group Deep Purple and was a close friend of its keyboardist Jon Lord. He first came to international attention as first prizewinner in the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, and as a result was appointed assistant conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. This is his twelfth project with Toccata Classics.

The recording is one of the most important of the 300+ that Toccata Classics has released, in terms both of its extraordinary ‘back-story’ and the quality of the music itself. The English composer Steve Elcock (b. 1957) has been writing music since his teens but, with virtually no contacts in the musical world, told no one what he was doing- and thus has evolved a compelling symphonic style entirely his own. It combines virtuoso orchestral writing with a sense of momentum that has its roots in the Nordic-British tradition of Sibelius, Nielsen, Simpson, Brian and similar figures. His Third Symphony is a vast canvas generating fierce energy and titanic violence, leavened at times by a sardonic sense of humor. Choses renversees par le temps ou la destruction is a dark symphonic triptych where fragile beauty is constantly at threat from the forces of ignorance. The breezy, buoyant Festive Overture has a Waltonian swagger that barrels on with relentless jollity.

DVORÁK: STRING QUARTET AMERICA

Coupling the 1899 Verklärte Nacht with the 1946 String Trio – a late 12-note work – raises the possibility of special pleading: buy the disc for Schoenberg’s reassuringly familiar Romantic composition, and you might be converted to the more difficult one too. As a marketing strategy, that seems reasonable; both performances here could persuade a variety of listeners. You’d expect a big-gestured, strongly characterised reading with Walter Trampler and Yo-Yo Ma augmenting the Juilliard Quartet in Verklärte Nacht; and though these players sometimes take a larger-than-life approach to the score’s dynamic markings, the results never struck me as inappropriate. This 1991 performance is real chamber music; if the case notes hadn’t revealed that Trampler and Ma play second viola and second cello respectively, I wouldn’t have been sure who were the guests. Like many leading string players, at least one musician adds some irritating breathing noises to the quite close-miked recording. The 1985 recording of the trio benefits from the continuing vitality and real musicality, as well as experience, of three of the Juilliard Quartet’s members. There is much to enjoy as well as simply admire here.

-- Keith Potter, BBC Music Magazine

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.”

The English composer-conductor Henry Cotter Nixon (1842–1907) had entirely disappeared from music history until this series – presenting all his surviving orchestral music in its first-ever recordings – revealed him to have been one of the most accomplished English composers of his generation, with a style that takes in elements of Mendelssohn, Schumann, Weber, Brahms and Sullivan. This third and final volume mixes music for the concert hall and the stage and adds the Coronation March for Edward VII that turned out to be Nixon’s last composition. Most of the pieces here were left incomplete, but thanks to Paul Mann’s orchestrations they now confirm Nixon’s position as one of the superior tunesmiths of Victorian England.

This new release from The Choir of Chapel Royal features Christmas carols both old and new. These songs were recorded in St. James’s Palace, London, and the stunning acoustics can be heard in each track. Huw Williams currently serves as Director of Music at Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace. He also directs Cantemus Chamber Choir and Stroud Choral Society, and is on the faculty at Eton College.

This second volume of orchestral music by the Swiss composer Richard Flury (1896–1967) brings works from across his career. A suite drawn from an early Festspiel – a community pageant – opens with a march of Elgarian swagger and continues with a mix of charm and substance. Flury was a gifted violinist, and his Third Violin Concerto, written at the height of the Second World War, is virtuosic and lyrical in equal measure, its unashamed Romanticism perhaps an escape from troubled times. The four late Caprices for violin and orchestra form a concertante serenade in all but name; and one of his very last pieces was a dark and moving tribute to a musician friend, the slow movement of a suite he did not live to finish.