An innovative tenor saxophonist and composer who was also proficient on the electric piano and organ, Chicago based musician Eddie Harris was best known for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone and for his composition "Freedom Jazz Dance," recorded and popularized by Miles Davis in 1966. In 1961, his own jazz arrangement of Ernest Gold's theme from the movie Exodus became the first jazz record ever to be certified gold. One of the first musicians to successfully blend funk and jazz, Harris' 1967 album, "The Electrifying Eddie Harris," reached the number 2 spot on the R&B charts. Presented here is Eddie's vintage 1970 album "Smokin,'" a classic collection of mostly original compositions that once again blurred the lines between funk and jazz. All selections have been newly remastered.
Recorded live in January 1966 at the famed jazz club The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California, jazz drumming legend Art Blakey leads an astounding lineup of Jazz Messengers through a brilliant live set. The band features Art Blakey (drums); Chuck Mangione (trumpet); Frank Mitchell (tenor saxophone); Keith Jarrett (piano) and Reggie Workman (bass). Both Mangione and Jarrett would go on to become jazz superstars, as so many others that have passed through the tutelage of Blakey and his Jazz Messengers groups since the early 1950’s. All selections have been newly remastered.
One of the true giants of American jazz, Thelonious Monk was widely revered for his idiosyncratic style and highly individualistic compositions. Recorded in Paris on June 7th, 1954, this classic recording features Monk alone at the piano, performing some of his best loved pieces. All selections newly remastered.
One of the best combinations in the history of jazz, superstar vocalist Tony Bennett performing with the amazing Count Basie Big Band. This historic recording features a beautiful set of jazz standards performed with style and panache by Mr. Bennett, aided and abetted by one of the greatest bands in the history of jazz. All selections newly remastered.
Perhaps the greatest gift that Jazz bestowed upon the world was the great Louis Armstrong. The collection focuses on rare, mostly live recordings from the 1950's featuring Armstrong performing fan favorites such as "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street". All selections newly remastered.
The Greatest Classical Masterpieces! Features a carefully picked selection of the world's most popular classical compositions including works by Pachelbel, Bizet, Brahms, Chopin, Dvorak, Berlioz, Debussy, Vivaldi, Dorati, Rossini, Borodin, Khachaturian, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Dinicu, Albinoni and Rimsky-Korsakov. Featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York, the Symphony Orchestra of Turino de la Radio Televisione Italiana, and I Solisti di Zagreb. All selections newly remastered.
Hawk Talk is a superbly rich and lush album. Hawkins displays a real sensitivity to classical music and, perhaps more than any other album, displays a variety of musical timbres. Highlights include the melancholic ballad "Lonely Tenor" and the sultry "Whisper to Me".
Directly after World War II, the great Duke Ellington recorded his most ambitious and experimental works. The selections here all hail from that glorious period and feature one of the best line-ups of his famed orchestra including Ray Nance on violin and trumpet, vocalist Kay Davis, who positively shines on "The Beautiful Indians"; Harry Carney's baritone sax is featured on "Golden Feather" and the golden alto sax of Johnny Hodges features on "Magenta Haze". All selections newly remastered.
Possibly the greatest orchestra of the 1930's swing era, the Count Basie Orchestra remained strong throughout the following decades, even beyond their leader's death in 1984. Winner of 17 Grammy awards, Basie's orchestra remains one of the most popular big bands in the world. The classic collection presented here was recorded in Chicago on October 20, 1969 and features Count Basie (piano), Freddie Green (guitar), Norman Keenan (bass), Harold Jones (drums), Gene Coe, Oscar Brasher, Sonny Cohn, Waymon Reed (trumpet), Grover Mitchell, Mel Wanzo (trombone), Bill Hughes (bass trombone), Eric Dixon, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (tenor sax), Marshall Royal, Bobby Plater (alto sax), Charlie Fawlkes (baritone sax). All selections newly remastered.
Here Joseph Haydn's music is revealed as the perfect expression of truth. And the Auryn's performance of his string quartets is exactly as it should be: vigorous, beautiful to listen to, and full of feeling. A rediscovery both of sheer beauty and intellectual development.'
Composer: Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)
Performers: Matthias Lingenfelder, violin Jens Oppermann, violin Stewart Eaton, viola Andreas Arndt, violoncello
Track Listing: 1. String quartet op. 17 no. 1, Hob. III:25 in E major Moderato 2. Menuet 3. Adagio 4. Finale. Presto 5. String quartet op. 17 no. 2, Hob. III:26 in F major Moderato 6. Menuet. Poco allegretto 7. Adagio 8. Finale. Allegro di molto 9. String quartet op. 17 no. 3, Hob. III:27 in E flat major Andante grazioso 10. Menuet. Allegretto 11. Adagio 12. (Finale). Allegro di molto 13. String quartet op. 17 no. 4, Hob. III:28 in C minor Moderato 14. Menuet. Allegretto 15. Adagio. Cantabile 16. Finale. Allegro 17. String quartet op. 17 no. 5, Hob. III:29 in G major Moderato 18. Menuet. Allegretto 19. Adagio 20. Finale. Presto 21. String quartet op. 17 no. 6, Hob. III:30 in D major Presto 22. Menuet 23. Largo 24. Finale. Allegro
Ullén and Bis stick to their last with the seriousness of purpose that goes with eminence and invincible confidence in Sorabji’s music. That confidence is securely placed. Sorabji drank deep of that confidence in calling these pieces Transcendental in the first place.
Ullén, with a loftiness and fantasy that recalls Busoni and Godowsky, shoots the kaleidoscopic rapids of Sorabji’s Transcendental Etudes. The shifting veils of lapidary complexity in No. 44 are played with intoxicating fluency – not mere technical proficiency. After such refulgent hyper-Szymanowskian writing we come to the angrily dissonant No. 45 which in its volleys of notes recalls Nancarrow. The galloping articulated ruthlessness of Nos. 46, 48, 51, 53, 62 55, 60 and 62 is blended with humour (55) and in 60 there’s Mussorgskian macabre alongside romantic afflatus. The sprinting Volante continues into the Vivace (49). After breathtaking display comes a more Apollonian mood in No. 50. A Medtnerian spirit is alive in No. 52. The jewelled veils shift delightfully in an Aeolian wind whispering through the pages of No 54. Romance plays high cards in the Moderato. No. 58 in its episodic flurries contrasts with the knowing Cyril Scott meditations of the Quasi fantasia (59).
This disc is the very acceptable sequel to the 100 Transcendental Etudes nos 1-25 by Fredrik Ullén on BIS 1373. Studies 26-43 are on BIS-CD-1533. Volume 1 was reviewed by me in 2006; Volume 2 in January 2010.
Presumably there are two more CDs to come after this. Can we hope that Bis will then have moved on to his six reputedly elaborate piano concertos and the truly epic symphonic and choral pieces by then? They will be an expensive proposition.
Ullen’s commentary on the Studies can be found at the Sorabji Archive.
Other notable Sorabji recordings have been reviewed here: Opus Clavicembalisticum (Geoffrey Douglas Madge), Transcriptions (Michael Habermann) and an extremely desirable three CD collection of Michael Habermann’s performances on the BMS label.
Elegance and power personified in these Transcendental Studies.
