This is an engagingly idiosyncratic CD. Bach wrote only three chamber works specifically for the viola da gamba—BWV 1027, 1028, and 1029—largely because the instrument was falling out of fashion during his lifetime. The last of these three works is included on this CD, but in an expanded version for three parts, with harp and lute continuo. BWV 1011/995 is more familiar as the Fifth Cello Suite, or as the Lute Suite in G Minor. BWV 1025 is better known as a Violin Sonata with harpsichord accompaniment, after a work by Silvius Leopold Weiss. Weiss was a famous lutenist, and a presumed acquaintance of Bach. Bach took one of Weiss’s lute suites and arranged it for violin and harpsichord. In effect, what Perl and Santana have done is to “back-arrange” the suite for lute once more, and to drop the violin part down an octave to make it suitable for the viola da gamba. Got it? By now, you will have gathered that this is not a CD for Bach purists, although there is not the faintest whiff of sensationalism to mar the music and the performances.

Why the viola da gamba?” asks Perl rhetorically. “Why these three pieces?” She answers these questions in her booklet note, but the simple answers, I suppose, are (1) because she loves her instrument (as well she should!), and (2) why not?

The least convincing of the three selections is the Viola da Gamba Suite. The viola da gamba’s voice is too small and buzzy to present this music to its best advantage. Perl gets an A for effort, though, and I won’t deny that her performance gives the music a kind of monastic humility. The other two selections are more charming. The viola da gamba and the lute blend beautifully with each other, and the sobriety of the playing sets the timbral delights into relief. (It should be noted that Perl and Santana dispense with an Entrée movement found in both Weiss and Bach because “it was almost like having an Ouverture in the middle of a piece.”) The Sonata in G Minor sounds like a missing Brandenburg Concerto in this setting. The lute and harp continuo is very attractive, and the entire sonata bubbles with a sense of pleasure and purpose. Everyone’s having a good time, and so will you.

The soupy acoustic—this CD was recorded in a church—adds atmosphere and removes clarity. The music sounds good, but you might not be entirely sure what it is that you are hearing! The recording and copyright year is 1999. That—and a little sticker on the shrink-wrap—suggests that this CD might not stay available for very long in the United States. So, if the idea of this CD makes you itch, scratch fast or you might be too late.

Raymond Tuttle, FANFARE

PUCCINI: LA RONDINE MOLINARI-

Double vinyl LP pressing. 2013 release from the six-time Grammy winning Blues legend. The follow-up to his 2010 Grammy Award winning album Living Proof, this double-disc masterpiece features first time studio collaborations with A-list artists Kid Rock, Keith Urban, Gary Clark, Jr., Beth Hart and Aerosmith members Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. Produced by Grammy Award winning producer/songwriter and longtime collaborator Tom Hambridge (Skin Deep, Living Proof), Rhythm & Blues captures the 76 year-young Guy at the peak of his creativity. Replete with heartfelt vocals, straightforward lyrics and mesmerizing guitar licks, Rhythm & Blues not only exemplifies how blues continues to be the foundation of all genres of today's music, it also illustrates why Guy has been influential in the careers of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan and more.

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"; Choral Fantasia

This CD was formerly available as RCA 5316.

THE VIENNA CHOIR BOYS SING STR

The Mendelssohn first appeared in this country in harness with the Ravel Trio, and the Tchaikovsky was listed in the 1952 World's Encyclopedia of Recorded Music as available on five 78rpm discs in America. In fact, it is only in recent years that the record companies have paid much attention to the Tchaikovsky and as it so happens I did not know either of the present performances.

I began the Mendelssohn with the keenest anticipation but to be frank I remained unmoved on first hearing, though the playing as such is pretty dazzling—as one would expect from "the million dollar trio". The scherzo in particular struck me as overdriven and wanting in charm, and certainly not chamber-music playing of the kind Cortot, Thibaud and Casals gave us: their 1927 account of this Trio (last available on HMV RLS723, 1/77) had a wonderful sense of intimacy and a sparkling freshness. I turned up the GRAMOPHONE for November 1952 and saw that Hubert Foss spoke of it as "magnificent—authoritatively played con amore but without a trace of sentimentality", and in a way he is right. But there is not quite the sense of intimate, spontaneous discourse of the earlier record. The second movement is by far the best thing and brings some highly expressive playing.

The Tchaikovsky is hardly less high-powered and while lost in admiration for the golden tone of both string players and the dexterity of Rubin stein, I found I was less moved by the performance than such recent versions as those by the Beaux Arts (Philips) and Barenboim/Zukerman/du Pré (EMI), and the Perlman/Ashkenazy/Harrell account, also on EMI (12/87) which is complete. (Rubinstein, Heifetz and Piatigorsky make a substantial Cut in the finale.)


Both recordings were made in August 1950 in a dry acoustic and perhaps my responses have been affected by that. Some allowance must be made for the two-dimensional quality and lack of range, particularly as far as the piano timbre is concerned. Both Heifetz and Piatigorsky are glorious, though the former tends to dominate at times and even if you share something of my slight disappointment at the Mendelssohn, the rich sonorous timbre of Heifetz and Piatigorsky is seductive.

-- Gramophone [9/1989]

Compilation producers: Steve Backer, Andy Kaufman, Bob Belden.

Recorded live at Birdland, New York, New York between March 11 and June 28, 1998. Includes liner notes by Larry Blumenfeld and Ted Panken.

Personnel: Peter Bernstein (guitar); Christian Howes (violin, electric violin); Antonio Malaby (saxophone); Jimmy Greene (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Chris Potter (tenor saxophone); Darren Barrett (trumpet, flugelhorn); Richard Nant, Hugh Ragin, Dave Douglas (trumpet); Aaron Goldberg (piano, Fender Rhodes piano); D.D. Jackson (piano, keyboards); Bruce Barth (piano); Kenny Davis (acoustic bass, electric bass); Ben Perowsky, Billy Kilson, Joe Farnsworth (drums); Robert Quintero (congas); Ralph Irizarry (timbales); John Lamkin (percussion).

Liner Note Author: Ted Panken.

Recording information: Birdland, New York, NY (03/11/1998-06/28/1998).

Editors: Dave Baker ; Katsuhiko Naito.

Photographers: Teri Bloom; Joseph A. Rosen.

Featuring a nice slice of New York's modern jazz crowd, this ten-cut compilation showcases two songs apiece from pianist D.D. Jackson's quintet, trumpeter Dave Douglas' quartet, timbales player Ralph Irizarry and Timbalaye, the Jimmy Greene/Darren Barrett quintet, and guitarist Peter Bernstein's non-organ quartet. Jackson leads off the record in a spiritual mood on "Easy," and follows up with the hot bopper "For Monk's Sake," which features the heart-tugging violin of Christian Howes, the shining star of this entire showcase. The Douglas quartet offers a bluesy "Driftwood" and the slow, dour "The Frisell Dream." Greene and Barrett recall Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers on the hard-charging "Half-Steps," and go easy on the steadiest cut of the disc, "Re-Affirmation." The hottest and most innovative band here is Timbalaye, with its riddle-laden charts and atypical Afro-Cuban grooves. The Oriente Lopez composition "Rampa Arriba" finds this septet using a deep bass and piano line from Waldo Chavez and Luis Perdomo as a thrust for saxophonist Tony Malaby, trombonist Joseph Fiedler, trumpeter Richard Nant, and conga player Robert Quintero. Timbalaye's take on Bob Franceschini's "Piesotes (Giant Feet)" is a sweet, jiving chart featuring a piano montuno and a spontaneous solo by Irizarry. Bernstein is steadily earning a reputation as one of the best young jazz guitarists, as evidenced by his supersonic bopper "Jet Stream" and the midtempo swing of "Booker's Little Blues." Certainly, more can be heard from each of these leaders on their own recordings, but this CD brings them all together in one, nice package. A fine example of the modern jazz movement. ~ Michael G. Nastos

Produced by George Korngold, Recording Engineer: Kenneth Wilkinson
Recorded November 18-19, 1974 at Kingsway Hall, London

"This collection of CFS for Errol Flynn is a rouser, opening with a dazzling suite from The Adventures of Don Juan, with the more sensitive side of Steiner displayed in They Died With Their Boots On and Dodge City. The crowning gem in this compilation is an extended suite from Korngold's magnificent score for The Adventures of Robin Hood." -- Robert Benson, Classical CD Review

Placido Domingo Sings Caruso

Personnel includes: Louis Armstrong (vocals, trumpet); Jack Teagarden (vocals, trombone); Bobby Hackett (cornet); Kid Ory (trombone); Peanuts Hucko, Barney Bigard (clarinet); Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington (piano);
Sid Catlett (drums).
Recorded in New York, New York and Los Angeles, California between 1946 and 1947. Includes liner notes by Emily King.
Digitally remastered by James Nichols (BMG Studios, New York, New York).
This is part of RCA Victor's Falling In Love With series.
Hung on the premise of a collection of romantic, down-tempo jazz, this compilation of Louis Armstrong sides taken from throughout the legendary musician's career is both more varied and more interesting than its remit would suggest. There's a pairing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra on "Blues Are Brewin'," duets with the trombonist and bandleader Jack Teagarden, and exemplary playing from musicians of the caliber of the clarinetist Barney Bigard. An ideal accompaniment to a romantic evening and a snapshot of a consummate jazz musician in his prime, this entry in the RCA series is both entertaining and instructive.

Full performer name: Frank Sinatra/Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.
Personnel includes: Frank Sinatra (vocals); Tommy Dorsey Orchestra; Axel Stordahl (arranger, conductor); The Pied Pipers.
Recorded in New York, New York and Hollywood, California between 1940 and 1942. Includes liner notes by Will Friedwald.
In 1939, Frank Sinatra scored his very first success, "All Or Nothing At All," with trumpeter Harry James' Orchestra. The following year the young singer began an extraordinary two year apprenticeship with the much classier Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, a regimen which taught him everything he needed to know about musical taste and judgement if not popular adulation. Make no mistake, however; from the beginning, through sheer dint of will, Sinatra managed to make his time with the master trombonist and bandleader a collaboration of musical equals.
Milestone recordings like "Stardust," "I'll Be Seeing You," "I'll Never Smile Again," "Everything Happens To Me" et al are both big band classics and the beginning of a new age of romantic popular singing. No male singer had ever gone as far as Sinatra did in exploring the tender feelings expressed in these songs, in identifying so completely with a given song's meaning. It was a revolution in popular sensibility that we are still living through several decades later.

Track Listing
1. Don't Be That Way - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
2. In the Mood - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra
3. Opus One - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
4. Cherokee - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra
5. Non Stop Flight - Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
6. Casa Loma Stomp - Glen Gray & His Orchestra
7. Take the "A" Train - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
8. Marie - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
9. Minnie the Moocher - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra
10. American Patrol - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra
11. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm - Bunny Berigan & His Orchestra
12. Back Bay Shuffle - Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
13. Cotton Tail - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
14. String of Pearls, A - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra
15. Boogie Woogie - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
16. Swingin' Uptown - Jimmie Lunceford & His Orchestra
17. Mary Had a Little Lamb - Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
18. Flying Home - Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra
19. Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) Parts 1 & 2 / Christopher Columbus - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra

Recorded between 1933 and 1944.

The Fabulous Swing Collection offers 19 classic swing hits from the likes of Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Barnet, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw. There's nothing rare on the compilation, so it's not necessary for collectors, but it's not a bad sampler for casual listeners who want these hits on one disc. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Full performer name: Woody Herman & His New Thundering Herd/Buddy Rich & His Orchestra.

Includes liner notes by John Snyder and Bill Kirchner.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

This is part of RCA Victor's Battle Of The Bands series.

WOODY HERMAN:

Woody Herman & His New Thundering Herd includes: Woody Herman (alto saxophone, clarinet); Flip Phillips, Stan Getz, Al Cohn, Jimmy Giuffre, Zoot Sims (tenor saxophone); Pete Candoli, Conte Candoli (trumpet); Jim Pugh, Phil Wilson (trombone); Jimmy Rowles, Ralph Burns (piano); Don Lamond, Jake Hanna (drums).

Recorded live at Carnegie Hall, New York, New York on November 20, 1976. Originally released on RCA (6878).

BUDDY RICH:

Buddy Rich & His Orchestra includes: Buddy Rich (drums); Pat LaBarbera, Don Englert, Bob Mintzer, Steve Marcus (tenor saxophone); Jeff Stout, Ross Konikoff, Dean Pratt (trumpet); Bruce Paulson, Rick Stepton (trombone); Bob Dogan (piano); Paul Kondziela (electric bass).

Recorded live at Ronnie Scott's Club, London, England in December 1971; RCA Studio C, New York, New York on August 16, 1971; RCA Studios, New York, New York in February 1977. Originally released on RCA (4666, 1090, 2273).

Battle of the Bands is a rather odd compilation, matching bandleaders Woody Herman and Buddy Rich in an every-other-track notation, briefly skipping through '70s-era recordings by both jazzmen. The music is enjoyable throughout, but the collection makes little sense from an artistic standpoint.

-- John Bush, AllMusic.com

A delectable program. If you want to know what Bowles was all about, this CD is the one to have.

This delectable program was originally issued by BMG back in 1996 to commemorate the 1995 visit to New York of expatriate Paul Bowles (1910-99) to New York after several decades of self-chosen exile in Morocco. It is now being rereleased, and apparently it was never reviewed in Fanfare, although a couple of other overlapping Bowles collections (on the Koch and Largo labels) were covered quite favorably in these pages at that time.

Of these three, this is the most orchestrally plentiful and probably the most authentic, because Jonathan Sheffer, founder and conductor of The Eos Orchestra of New York, has long been associated with Bowles's music and was the guiding light behind the week-long celebration of the composer that took place back in September 1995. In fact, several of the works on this disc were recorded shortly after being performed in Alice Tully Hall.

It is customary to contrast the relatively lighthearted character of Bowles's compositions (most of them written before he devoted all of his attentions to literature) with the rather grim and stark existentialism of his exotic culture-clash novels and short stories, for which he is more universally acclaimed. All this writer is prepared to observe on the matter is the likelihood that his music may have been unfairly underrated to the extent that his fiction has been overrated; in any case, suffice it to underline that listening to the music is a lot more fun than reading the books!

The Suite for Small Orchestra of 1932-33 is the earliest orchestral work of Bowles to be recorded, and its three brief movements (Pastorale, Havanaise, and Divertimento) are all that is left of a projected "symphony." Although the idiom is a bit more dissonant and jagged than the theater-based music he wrote in the 40s (Bowles made a reputation for his incidental scores and ballets), its understated amiability—and populist overtones—are typical of the kind of spare and deliberately unpretentious manner and deadpan humor he cultivated in later years. Although the example of Virgil Thomson is germane here, the actual music sounds like a panoptic fusion of folk idioms stretching from Mexico to Spain, with divagations to New York and Tangiers. Perhaps a blend of Milhaud's Saudades do Brasil and Copland's El salón Mexico with a Jean Françaix-like personality best situates its stylistic profile.

Pastorela is drawn from a 1947 ballet with a Hispanic setting similar to the "zarzuela" mini-opera The Wind Remains after Lorca (once available on an MGM LP but here heard in a new version prepared especially by Sheffer). This relatively ambitious work—which comprises a quick succession of songs, instrumental interludes, and underscoring—is somewhat more low-key when compared to Bowles's masterpiece, the utterly nonpareil Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra of 1946—47. This irrepressibly jaunty, jaundiced, yet at times delicately sentimental four-movement quarter-hour montage features the most wonderfully wacky juxtapositions and discontinuities while brilliantly exploiting the sonorities of a percussion-heavy chamber orchestra. The best way to describe its spirit is as a kind of "concerto-in-drag." This careful but carefree performance brings out more felicitous details than the helter-skelter premiere recording by the work's commissioners and dedicatees—Gold and Fizdale—on an ancient 10-inch Columbia LP (which should be reissued along with their several other Columbia recordings of two-piano works). The program closes with a set of six elusive but evocative songs to poems by Bowles, his wife, the novelist and playwright Jane Bowles, and a single mock-valentine by Gertrude Stein. These highly melodic and occasionally bluesy settings reveal a tenderly lyrical aspect of Bowles that compares favorably with Barber's great Hermit Songs and indicate that he would have been capable of writing a musical comedy in the popular American vein. They bring a comprehensive musical portrait to a perfect finish.

Excellent and dedicated performances and a top-drawer annotation by K. Robert Schwarz, plus full texts. If you want to know what Bowles was all about, this CD is the one to buy.

-- Paul A. Snook, FANFARE [9/2000]