Classical Music

Red Priest Recordings are proud to present an entirely new departure - and a bold new concept in the worlds of classical crossover and electronic relaxation music - with the release of Bach Side of the Moon. Recorder player Piers Adams, known worldwide for his flamboyant virtuosity in his performances and recordings with his group Red Priest, has long harbored an ambition to explore slower, quieter realms, inspired by the timeless beauty of adagios by baroque masters. An interest too in the burgeoning world of 'new age' synth music in the 1980s led him on a quest to create a perfect synthesis between old and new. A fortuitous meeting with producer and sound artist Larry Lush, who had held similar aspirations of mixing the classics with modern sound technology, finally allowed this dream to come to fruition some 30 years after the original inspiration. The result is a celebration for the digital age of the sheer beauty of the baroque, in which sublime adagios by Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Albinoni, Gluck, Purcell and Sammartini are reimagined in a seamless, dream-like journey through futuristic realms. A combination of the expressive power of Adams' recorders - from the throbbing woodiness of the bass to the ethereal keening of the sopranino - with Lush's evocative, pulsing, synthesized soundscapes, creates music which is both deeply relaxing and profoundly moving, equally appealing to lovers of baroque, ambient, electronic, film and meditation music. Bach Side of the Moon is set to introduce a whole new audience to the music of the past, as 18th century masters are freed at last from court and cloister... and find a surprisingly natural new home in the 21st century chill-out lounge!

A dynamic presentation of music by the greatest genius of the baroque era, performed with Red Priest's legendary blend of creativity, wit, and virtuosity! The program includes epic transcriptions of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and the great Toccata and Fugue in D minor, alongside a host of dazzling allegros, whirling dances, and some of the most sublime adagios ever composed.

Classical Music

Red Priest is the only early music group in the world to have been compared to the Rolling Stones, Jackson Pollock, the Marx Brothers, Spike Jones, and Cirque du Soleil. This extraordinary acoustic foursome has been described by music critics as "visionary and heretical" with a "break-all-rules, rock-chamber concert approach to early music." Founded in 1997 and named after flame-haired priest Antonio Vivaldi, Red Priest has given over a thousand concerts in many of the world's most prestigious festivals.

Red Priest's Priest on the Run was it's first album, released in 1998 on Dorian Records with harpsichordist Julian Rhodes as a member of the group. Red Priest has since taken on it's own destiny in terms of recordings and has released several discs, and this reissue of Priest on the Run occupies the first catalog number on it's own label, Red Priest Recordings. Several things have happened in the interim: first, Rhodes tragically succumbed to cancer at age 36 in 2001, and the Dorian label went belly up soon after that. It is certainly worthwhile to have this album back in circulation again, and the cover image is far stronger than that on the original Dorian album, which was an image of Vivaldi standing in the foreground. The only problem was that it made you think it was an album devoted to Vivaldi, which it is not, although his Chamber Concerto in D, RV 92, subtitled "Priest on the Run," is included and provides the collection with it's heading. However, the album does establish Red Priest's basic approach; the group's take on Baroque music is highly energetic, involved, and popularly oriented; playing at very high speeds or bursting into passages of improvised music is not anathema to them and to entertain appears to be their main guiding principle, not wonky matters of historical correctness. The group does not assemble programs according to historical relationships between composers or works; the effect of the program is the main motivating factor: whether a piece is edgy, exciting, or can be made to rock out, though it does play slower movements with sensitivity. This being it's first album, it is not perhaps perfect; between the sparklingly eccentric Castello Sonata terza, the effervescent Telemann "Gypsy" Sonata, and the hyperactive Vivaldi title work there are occasional moments that seem to sag under uncertain tempo choices and other vagaries, but not many. The sheer bravery of the group in taking Baroque music as far as it can is in itself impressive, and Red Priest Recordings' Priest on the Run is well worth the time of both those into the Baroque and others who are just wondering why you can't find classical music that you can shake your booty to; with this album, there are parts where you almost can.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Wild Men of the Seicento presents seventeenth century music for harpsichord and recorder. Piers Adams is featured on the recorder in this album. The Washington Post has described him as ‘superhuman’. His sensitivity and understanding of the instrument has led to his acclaim as one of the leading recorderists of our day. Adams is accompanied on the harpsichord by David Wright.

Classical Music