Naxos
American Classics - Brubeck: Nocturnes / John Salmon
$19.99
Details
- Composer
- BRUBECK
- Artist
- John Salmon
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Naxos
- Released
- Aug 29, 2006
- Catalog #
- 8559301
- UPC
- 636943930120
About
This is Salmon’s second Brubeck disc for Naxos. Here he presents what are termed twenty-six Nocturnes though that’s something of a misnomer. They’re short character studies, mainly played straight with three notable exceptions where Salmon allows himself the luxury of some explicit improvisation – Recuerdo, Bluette and Koto Song. A number of the songs are also from recent albums and many have personal associations for Brubeck – family, travel, touring, special people and an air of nostalgia.
Whatever they may or may not be these are all engaging and often wistful examples of Brubeck’s art. Since he recently announced that he won’t make any more European tours due to the fatigue of the travelling it’s a moment for those of us here to reflect on his more intimate and reflective moments. They’re captured with real understanding and affection by Salmon who’s made something of a study in things Brubeckian.
So we can admire the compression but affirmative lyricism of the charming ballad Strange Meadowlark. Similarly – and how craftily programmed it is – we can enjoy the Bachian Mexicana, or should that be Mexican Bachiana of Recuerdo, which as already noted is one of the few places where Salmon has some improvisatory leeway. He brings out its suspensions nicely as indeed he does in adducing a little Erroll Garner to its veritable charms. I enjoyed the antique air of Softly, William, Softly, which derives from a never completed opera. As its title suggests Bluette is a laid back mini blues opus. And as with so many songs of his we can hear how Quiet As The Moon aspires to the condition of song. Brubeck is a wonderfully “vocal” composer.
Home Without Iola (his wife) is imbued with tristesse but another tribute to her - (I Still Am In Love With) A Girl Named Oli – has more than its share of earthy, funky Garneresque moments. There’s a touching tribute to Audrey Hepburn as well, and a trademark waltz, Viennese style, to add variety both rhythmic and thematic to the programming. Rather odd though that his Fats Waller tribute – Mr. Fats – should be in the form of a boogie; perhaps Harlem Stride was too much Fats’s thing for Brubeck to insist upon it. The range of his classical enthusiasms and interests can be gauged by his Satie homage, the roguishly titled I See, Satie.
This is another well-judged tribute to a still vital talent. There’s warmth here and wit and the kind of miniaturised impressionism that keeps Brubeck so interesting and rewarding a figure.
-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
Whatever they may or may not be these are all engaging and often wistful examples of Brubeck’s art. Since he recently announced that he won’t make any more European tours due to the fatigue of the travelling it’s a moment for those of us here to reflect on his more intimate and reflective moments. They’re captured with real understanding and affection by Salmon who’s made something of a study in things Brubeckian.
So we can admire the compression but affirmative lyricism of the charming ballad Strange Meadowlark. Similarly – and how craftily programmed it is – we can enjoy the Bachian Mexicana, or should that be Mexican Bachiana of Recuerdo, which as already noted is one of the few places where Salmon has some improvisatory leeway. He brings out its suspensions nicely as indeed he does in adducing a little Erroll Garner to its veritable charms. I enjoyed the antique air of Softly, William, Softly, which derives from a never completed opera. As its title suggests Bluette is a laid back mini blues opus. And as with so many songs of his we can hear how Quiet As The Moon aspires to the condition of song. Brubeck is a wonderfully “vocal” composer.
Home Without Iola (his wife) is imbued with tristesse but another tribute to her - (I Still Am In Love With) A Girl Named Oli – has more than its share of earthy, funky Garneresque moments. There’s a touching tribute to Audrey Hepburn as well, and a trademark waltz, Viennese style, to add variety both rhythmic and thematic to the programming. Rather odd though that his Fats Waller tribute – Mr. Fats – should be in the form of a boogie; perhaps Harlem Stride was too much Fats’s thing for Brubeck to insist upon it. The range of his classical enthusiasms and interests can be gauged by his Satie homage, the roguishly titled I See, Satie.
This is another well-judged tribute to a still vital talent. There’s warmth here and wit and the kind of miniaturised impressionism that keeps Brubeck so interesting and rewarding a figure.
-- Jonathan Woolf, MusicWeb International
Tracklist 26 tracks
-
1 No. 1. Blue Lake Tahoe 00:52
- Track
- 1
- Title
- No. 1. Blue Lake Tahoe
- Duration
- 00:52
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
2 No. 2. Looking at a Rainbow 02:01
- Track
- 2
- Title
- No. 2. Looking at a Rainbow
- Duration
- 02:01
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
3 No. 3. Nostalgia de Mexico 01:13
- Track
- 3
- Title
- No. 3. Nostalgia de Mexico
- Duration
- 01:13
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
4 No. 4. Strange Meadowlark 02:29
- Track
- 4
- Title
- No. 4. Strange Meadowlark
- Duration
- 02:29
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
5 No. 5. Recuerdo 04:54
- Track
- 5
- Title
- No. 5. Recuerdo
- Duration
- 04:54
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
6 No. 6. Softly, William, Softly 02:07
- Track
- 6
- Title
- No. 6. Softly, William, Softly
- Duration
- 02:07
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
7 No. 7. Study in Fourths 01:14
- Track
- 7
- Title
- No. 7. Study in Fourths
- Duration
- 01:14
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
8 No. 8. Chorale 03:56
- Track
- 8
- Title
- No. 8. Chorale
- Duration
- 03:56
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
9 No. 9. Upstage Rhumba 01:24
- Track
- 9
- Title
- No. 9. Upstage Rhumba
- Duration
- 01:24
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
10 No. 10. Bluette 03:15
- Track
- 10
- Title
- No. 10. Bluette
- Duration
- 03:15
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
11 No. 11. Quiet as the Moon 01:58
- Track
- 11
- Title
- No. 11. Quiet as the Moon
- Duration
- 01:58
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
12 No. 12. Lost Waltz 01:09
- Track
- 12
- Title
- No. 12. Lost Waltz
- Duration
- 01:09
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
13 No. 13. The Desert and the Parched Land 01:28
- Track
- 13
- Title
- No. 13. The Desert and the Parched Land
- Duration
- 01:28
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
14 No. 14. Five for Ten Small Fingers 02:29
- Track
- 14
- Title
- No. 14. Five for Ten Small Fingers
- Duration
- 02:29
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
15 No. 15. Soaring 00:57
- Track
- 15
- Title
- No. 15. Soaring
- Duration
- 00:57
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
16 No. 16. Lullaby 01:47
- Track
- 16
- Title
- No. 16. Lullaby
- Duration
- 01:47
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
17 No. 17. Home Without Iola 01:47
- Track
- 17
- Title
- No. 17. Home Without Iola
- Duration
- 01:47
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
18 (I Still am in Love with) A Girl Named Oli 01:34
- Track
- 18
- Title
- (I Still am in Love with) A Girl Named Oli
- Duration
- 01:34
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
- Performer
- John Salmon
-
19 No. 18. Joshua Redman 01:57
- Track
- 19
- Title
- No. 18. Joshua Redman
- Duration
- 01:57
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
20 No. 19. Audrey 01:38
- Track
- 20
- Title
- No. 19. Audrey
- Duration
- 01:38
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
21 No. 20. Memories of a Viennese Park 01:42
- Track
- 21
- Title
- No. 20. Memories of a Viennese Park
- Duration
- 01:42
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
22 No. 21. Koto Song 05:31
- Track
- 22
- Title
- No. 21. Koto Song
- Duration
- 05:31
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
23 Mr. Fats 02:04
- Track
- 23
- Title
- Mr. Fats
- Duration
- 02:04
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
- Performer
- John Salmon
-
24 No. 22. A Misty Morning 02:15
- Track
- 24
- Title
- No. 22. A Misty Morning
- Duration
- 02:15
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
25 No. 23. I See, Satie 01:45
- Track
- 25
- Title
- No. 23. I See, Satie
- Duration
- 01:45
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck
-
26 No. 24. Going To Sleep 01:25
- Track
- 26
- Title
- No. 24. Going To Sleep
- Duration
- 01:25
- Composer
- Dave Brubeck