SHAKESPEARE, W.: Romeo and Juliet (Unabridged)

Classical Music

Pianist and Professor Emeritus of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at Arizona State University Chuck Marohnic (b. 1941) has an impressive background having played with Ira Sullivan, Eddie Jefferson & Richie Cole, Bill Hardman, Junior Cook, Chet Baker, Buddy Rich to mention a few. Marohnic was in Denmark in the summer of 1981 in European tour. He recorded this intriguing solo album in Copenhagen. “The eight performances here are bright and absorbing examples of what Marohnic means when he says that awareness of the harmonic permutations of a tune gives a musician great freedom....” (Chris Sheridan)

Teddy Edwards (April 26, 1924 – April 20, 2003) was born in Jackson, MS. He started to play alto sax as a child and later changed to tenor when he was invited to join Howard McGhee’s group in the late 1940s. Since 1945 he has been living in Los Angeles, where he has played and recorded with the bands led by Benny Carter and Gerald Wilson. Edwards is also known for his scores for TV and radio. Edwards toured in Europe frequently in the 70’s and 80’s. This recording was made late 1980 for SteepleChase. Although the pianist Kenny Drew and Edwards have long known each other, this is the only recording the two friends made together. “Edwards is a wonderful and distinctive tenor player, with a smooth tone in the middle and lower register, a bit brassier in the upper, and a great sense of swing. His work is replete with melodic ideas, a gestural sense of variation in dynamics, and a lot of freedom with the beat — here relaxed and behind, there right on top of it or a little ahead.” (Larry Koenigsberg – AAJ) “His sole SteepleChase outing found Teddy in his prime and in excellent company. The outcome was among his finest quartet sets - no hokum but simply pure jazz all the way.” (Mark Gardner)

Recorded in NYC in the midst of Dexter’s great come back to the USA Biting The Apple was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque Diamant of 1978 by the Montreux Jazz Festival. “Biting The Apple being recorded around the same time as his “Homecoming” (CBS) album sounds much better with strong backing by pianist Barry Harris, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Al Foster.” (Oakland Tribune) 180g Audiophile Vinyl

Catalan pianist Vincente Tete Montoliu (b. March 28, 1933 in Barcelona) “swings like no other pianist in Europe”, once remarked Ben Webster. Jazz Journal confirmed Ben’s opinion in reviewing this album, “...he could blow most contemporary pianists into the ground technically...”. And Radio Free Jazz of USA (the predecessor of JazzTimes) concluded, “...This is the best piano record in many years and one that will certainly rank with the best of any era.” 180g Audiophile Vinyl

“...a serious meditation in the Parker universe: Shepp accompanied only by the extraordinary bass of intuitive Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen... The two musicians here in this Parker revisited, however, do not get lost in the immense shadow of the idol...” (Télérama) 180g Audiophile Vinyl