This third CD from the dynamic piano trio of Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith is a delightful surprise-and one of Zorn's greatest achievements. Exploring a wide variety of tempi, moods, and feelings the compositions dive deeply into the parameters of melody, harmony, hythm, and texture, stretching the ballade format to it's limits and beyond. The trio, three essential members of Zorn's inner circle, performs with passion, imagination, virtuosity, and a telepathic improvisational interplay at the very highest level. A stunning collection of modern Ballades performed by three of the greatest young musicians in the Downtown scene. Essential! 1. Ballade Nr. 1 2. Ballade Nr. 2 3. Ballade Nr. 3 4. Ballade Nr. 4 5. Ballade Nr. 5 6. Ballade Nr. 6 7. Ballade Nr. 7 8. Ballade Nr. 8 9. Ballade Nr. 9 10. Ballade Nr. 10 11. Ballade Nr. 11
Vinyl LP pressing. Ballads is a jazz album by John Coltrane. It was recorded in December 1961 and 1962. Critic Gene Lees stated that the quartet had never played the tunes before. "They arrived with music-store sheet music of the songs" and just before the recordings, they "would discuss each tune, write out copies of the changes they'd use, semi-rehearse for a half hour and then do it". Each piece was recorded in one take, except for "All or Nothing at All".
Audiophile reviews rave about saxophone master John Coltrane's immortal Impulse! Records, A Love Supreme (1964) and Ballads (1963). Ballads is an album that will never go out of style and never be unwelcome on any jazz lover's turntable. You're about to experience Ballads at it's peak of vinyl perfection - in UHQR format on Clarity Vinyl, with the added bonus of a double 45 RPM cut by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound. Ryan's cut has his characteristic clarity and transparency all set against Quality Record Pressing's usual noiseless backgrounds on 200-gram flawless records. Each UHQR will be packaged in a deluxe box and will include a booklet detailing the entire process of making a UHQR along with a hand-signed certificate of inspection. This will be a truly deluxe, collectible product. For this 45 RPM 2LP edition you'll also receive a 12' x 12' 12-page booklet featuring liner notes by Ashley Kahn and recording session images by Jim Marshall. The intense passionate Coltrane interpretation of standards such as 'All Or Nothing At All, ' 'What's New, ' 'It's Easy To Remember' and the Sinatra classic 'Nancy (With The Laughing Face)' are the essence of Ballads. When asked why attempt such an undertaking, Coltrane replied 'Variety.' While it may have been a short detour by Trane before he exploded off into the nether regions of jazz music a few years later, it is still a fantastic document of one of the premier jazz groups of the 1960s. Recorded December 21, 1961 and September 18 & November 13, 1962 at Rudy Van Gelder Studios. * Analogue Productions' UHQR, the pinnacle of high-quality vinyl! * 45 RPM Ultra High Quality Record release limited to 5, 000 copies * Mastered from the original tape by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound * Pressed at Quality Record Pressings using Clarity Vinyl® * Includes a 12' x 12' 12-page booklet featuring liner notes by Ashley Kahn and recording session images by Jim Marshall Tracks: Side 1 Say It (Over And Over Again) (4:15) You Don't Know What Love Is (5:11) Side 2 Too Young To Go Steady (4:20) All Or Nothing At All (3:35) Side 3 I Wish I Knew (4:54) What's New (3:43) Side 4 It's Easy To Remember (2:45) Nancy (With The Laughing Face) 3:09)
MACHAUT 11 Ballades • Lucien Kandel, dir; Ens Musica Nova • AEON AECD 0982 (75:17 Text and Translation)
De Fortune. Dame se vous m’estes. Esperance. Phyton le mervilleus. Se quanque amours. De triste cuer/Quant vrais/Certes. Il m’est avis. Sans cuer m’en vois/Amis dolens/Dame par vous. Amours me fait desirer. Quant Theseus/Ne quier. Je ne cuit pas. Hoquetus David ANON Pour vous revoir. Sois tard tempre
We have never had a collection devoted only to Machaut’s ballades on a disc until now. While the motets have had more attention recently than any other form, including a set of discs by this same ensemble on another label (Fanfare 28:1), there are fewer of them than the 42 ballades, the longest list of Machaut’s compositions in any form. (He wrote 235 ballades, the rest not set to music.) Only four of them remain to be recorded, and while that short list has not been further reduced here, the program does give us a few works that needed more satisfactory versions. Only Amours me fait desirer and Quant Theseus (along with the instrumental hocket, which is not a ballade) have been much recorded in the past, and both of them, along with Esperance, have been recorded very nicely on an Ensemble Gilles Binchois disc (not reviewed here). De Fortune, Se quanque amours, and Je ne cuit pas are all on a superb Orlando Consort disc (22:5). Dame se vous m’estes is on the recent Gothic Voices disc (30:4), while Il m’est avis is on a fine Ferrara Ensemble disc (also not reviewed here). The disc concludes with two anonymous virelais (one instrumental) that show Machaut’s influence on the next generation of composers.
So apart from these pieces, there are still three ballades that needed these new interpretations. The four singers and four players render this collection in varied ways. Set for two to four voices, some use a solo voice with instruments on the other parts, others are a cappella vocal renditions, and still others are vocal performance with instrumental doubling. All of the ballades are given with all three strophes. Phyton, sung by a cappella voices, is a notable gain, replacing David Munrow’s incomplete version with one voice and two crumhorns. The other two that are marked improvements over anything up to now are both triple-texted ballades, a different text in each voice. Both are given elegant a cappella performances.
The last decade or so has seen one Machaut disc after another receiving favorable reviews. This is partly due to the performances that preceded those that we hear in this new era, a range that too often dipped sadly below an acceptable level of interpretation. It is also due to the exceptional level that current interpreters have attained. At the rate we are going, it will be some years before we have the complete Machaut, but perhaps it will eventually be satisfactory as well as complete.
This classic album has been newly re-mastered from the original master tapes house in a digipak packaging re-creating the original LP design. Includes such tracks as "You don't Know What Love Is," "Too Young to Go Steady," "All Or Nothing at All," and more!
At the age of 88, composer and legendary jazz musician Ahmad Jamal presents Ballades, an album that sees him returning to his roots in a transcendent journey. Jamal comes from the closely-knit club of the great masters of jazz. That is why, in the manner of Coltrane and Miles, he goes back to his past as a way to overcome it. At its heart, Ballades is a solo piano album - something Jamal has never done before (double-bass player James Cammack is featured on three tracks). The music is art in its purest form, ranging from the iconic ''Poinciana'' to the symbolic ''Marseille.'' Ballades is a new masterpiece in this artist's long and distinguished career.
