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- Roswell Rudd: Keep Your Heart Right
- Ray Anderson: Marching on, Blues for John Lewis
- Ellington: Just Squeeze Me
- Ray Anderson: Early Morning in the Andersonorious Jungle
- Coltrane: Equinox
- Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain, Pierre Norman: You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me
- Ray Anderson: Choppers
- Ray Anderson: The Sisyphus Effect
- Mancini, H: Moon River
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The Scarlatti Book (feat. Fabrizio Cassol, Stéphane Galland)
The intrepid experimental jazz trio Aka Moon has represented an approach to jazz that has seen them collaborate with a multitude of artists from different backgrounds in their richly filled career. Their new collection ‘The Scarlatti Book’ is devoted to the music of Italian Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti. (Outhere)
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Constellations Box [20 CDs] / Aka Moon
Since 1992, the year Aka Moon was formed, a series of albums has marked the history of the legendary jazz trio, which this set of twenty albums now gives you a chance to relive. To discover or rediscover this unique music is a very special experience, an inexhaustible source of inspiration. The twentieth album in the box is a previously unreleased recording: Light Ship Trio. (Outhere)
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WHITE RABBIT - CALIFORNIA DREAMING
OUT OF THE WHITE
Martinu: Songs, Vol. 4 – The White Dove
White
Marching On / Ray Anderson
A trombone solo album is not exactly an everyday commodity, because the instrument is considered somewhat bulky, unwieldy and grumpy. In the hand of a master like Ray Anderson, however, one wonders how these prejudices could have come about, because he simply makes music with the trombone. "I've had this idea in my head since I started playing solo concerts in 1982," Ray Anderson recalled. "Anthony Braxton recorded the solo record ‘For Alto’ in 1969, where the challenge of playing an instrument alone without accompaniment is particularly interesting. So why not on the trombone too? Albert Mangelsdorff has recorded beautiful solo albums, and that by George Lewis is also very inspiring.”
CONTENTS:
REVIEW:
Trombonist Ray Anderson draws on New Orleans parade traditions, Chicago street smarts, New York assertiveness and a lifetime of often challenging experiences to provide this enriching album.
-- Downbeat
Time Was Now
Marcus Klossek is one of the growing number of guitarists who perform Jazz on a Fender Telecaster, the archetype of the electric guitar. A class of musicians that consists of many extraordinary artists; from Jimmy Bryant to Ed Bickert, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Jim Campilongo or Jakob Bro, just to name a few. An established name within the Berlin jazz scene who knows how to get to the point with his Electric Trio. A guitar, bass and drums; that's all it takes to make the songs of Marcus Klossek sound great! His brand new album "Time Was Now", the 8th release as a bandleader and the first one for Double Moon/Challenge Records, is another proof of exceptional storytelling composing skills which go far beyond the average guitar release. The Marcus Klossek Electric Trio has toured countless European clubs and festivals since releasing their first album "Now & Again" in 2012.
NOW PRESENTS 12 INCH 80S: VOL 2 1983-1984 / VAR
Inner Tide
After Anette von Eichel opened a small window for the audience in 2001 with her debut release "Welcome To My World" to let people discover a previously unknown vocal talent, the spectacular and official start of her career was in 2004 with the release of "Get Out Now" in the beginnings of Jazz thing Next Generation. She has been teaching at the Academy of Music and Dance in Cologne as a professor of jazz singing since 2010. Nevertheless, she realigns her musical parameters and surprises with releases that stand out from the enormous sea of sound recording media in a pleasantly unpretentious way. After "Golightly" (Double Moon DMCHR 71106) from 2012, a duo album in 2017 and a Mingus project in 2019, "Inner Tide" is now her next work. The album unites a top-class instrumental combo with pianist Sebastian Sternal, bassist Henning Sieverts, drummer Jonas Burgwinkel and saxophonist Jonas Blom, in which the names alone prove that they cannot be reduced to mere accompanists. "This is exactly where I am now," Anettevon Eichel described the core statement of the nine titles of "Inner Tide". For her, it is a sign of the way, as always, when the singer, after a supposedly quieter public phase, comes out into the open again, deeply authentic, prominently, the field staked out with the "Eichel" brand. Or as she puts it laughingly: "Pure Me." Her older albums always featured pieces by others that fit her well. "Now, for the first time everything comes from me, not only the lyrics, but also the entire music. This is a big and important step for me, almost a new phase of my identity. And the result really makes me very, very happy!"
Johnson: Gentle Flame - Selected Choral Works
OCCULT CONCERT - WHITE
Regimental Marches Of The British Army Vol 1 / Sharpe
1 The Life Guards 1:12
2 (a) Grand March from Aida, (b)The Royals 1:56
3 (a) Radetsky March, (b) Rusty Buckles 1:29
4 The 3rd. DG's 2:18
5 Light Cavalry 1:17
6 God Bless the Prince of Wales 0:54
7 Royal Sussex 0:53
8 The White Lancers 1:00
9 My Boy Willie 1:11
10 Duchess of Kent 1:13
11 Begone Dull Care 1:11
12 (a) The British Grenadiers, (b) Hielan Laddie, (c) St Patrick's Day, (d) The Rising Of The Lark, (e) Milanollo 3:34
13 Dumbarton's Drums 0:37
14 Blue Bonnet's Over the Border 0:47
15 The Thin red Line 2:38
16 The Soldiers of the Queen 1:12
17 (a) Rule Britannia, (b) Speed the Plough 1:16
18 (a) John Peel, (b) Corn Riggs 1:18
19 (a) Ca Ira, (b) The Yorkshire Lass 1:29
20 Bonnie English Rose 0:55
21 (a) Widecombe Fair, (b) We've Lived and Loved Together, (c) The Maid of Glenconnel 1:17
22 The Kinnegad Slashers 0:29
23 Farmers Boy 0:40
24 Young May Moon 0:37
25 Light Infantry 1:45
26 (a) Huntsman's Chorus, (b) Italian Song 1:12
27 Ride of the Valkyries 1:02
28 Fare Ye Well Inniskilling 2:11
29 Light of Foot 1:57
30 (a) The Bold King's Hussars, (b) Haste to the Wedding 1:10
31 Scarlet and Green 1:31
32 (a) Scotland for Ever, (b) Cameron Men 0:59
33 New Fusilier 1:45
34 (a) The Attack, (b) The Rose 1:11
35 The Wellesley 0:42
36 The Hampshire 1:27
37 (a) Come Lasses and Lads, (b) The Days We Went A Gipsying 1:03
38 Men of Harlech 0:55
39 Lutzow's Wild Hunt 0:48
40 Marche Des Parachutistes Belges 3:03
41 Trumpet Voluntary 2:34
Sowerby: The Paul Whiteman Commissions & Other Early Works
This is a delightful, even astonishing release... A valuable missing piece in the early discourse between jazz and classical music.
Evoking the Roaring Twenties, Chicago composer Leo Sowerby’s engaging and ingenious Synconata (1924) and Symphony for Jazz Orchestra (“Monotony”) (1925), critically praised for their distinctive harmony, counterpoint, and humor, receive world-premiere recordings by Chicago bandleader-trombonist Andrew Baker and his Andy Baker Orchestra, making their Cedille Records debuts. Sowerby was among the leading young American classical composers commissioned by celebrity bandleader Paul Whiteman to create fresh repertoire for his landmark series of “symphonic jazz” concerts — a roster that also included George Gershwin, Ferde Grofé, and Zez Confrey. The same Jazz Age concerts that saw the premieres of Sowerby’s Synconata and Symphony for Jazz Orchestra also launched Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue into America’s consciousness. The program also includes Sowerby chamber works from the same period: his Serenade for String Quartet and the world-premiere recordings of his String Quartet in D minor and Tramping Tune for piano and strings, all performed by the Avalon String Quartet, an ensemble “prizing grace, charm and elegance” (WQXR Radio). Joining the Avalon in Tramping Tune are pianist Winston Choi, head of the piano program at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, and Alexander Hanna, principal double-bassist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The album was recorded by the Grammy Award-winning team of producer James Ginsburg and engineer Bill Maylone.
REVIEWS:
This is a delightful, even astonishing release. It contains early works by Leo Sowerby, the most popular composer of church music in the 20th century USA. The two largest items here were composed for Paul Whiteman’s (of Rhapsody in Blue fame) jazz band. They are extraordinarily appealing. The first, called Synconata, is a single movement “overture” full of memorable ideas. It may not be as melodically distinctive as Gershwin, who was a great song-writer first and foremost, but it certainly passes the time entertainingly.
This is even more the case with the Symphony for Jazz Orchestra, given the eyebrow-raising title “Monotony” (!). Don’t worry. The music is anything but. The title comes from the original circumstances of its first performances, as a sort of theatrical art piece featuring a huge metronome front and center. Both of these scores had to be reconstructed by Andy Baker for the present disc, and he inspires his musicians to give loving, dedicated interpretations, captured in perfectly balanced, tactile sonics. Even without the other pieces on the disc–all but one world premieres–this would be worth acquiring.
However, the remaining items are much more than mere makeweights. Sowerby’s First String Quartet is a substantial work in three movements. The idiom is self-consciously “American,” full of modal, folk-like themes and zesty rhythms. Although the movements get longer as the work progresses, the music becomes increasingly lively and the entire structure, however unconventional, works extremely well. The Avalon String Quartet had to work just as hard as Any Baker to bring the piece to performance, but the effort was certainly worth it. The two additional works, Tramping Tune for quartet, piano and double bass, and the charmingly lyrical serenade for string quartet, round out this compelling and beautifully assembled collection. Truly a major discovery.
– ClassicsToday.com (10/10; David Hurwitz)
The “main event” here, so to speak, is Sowerby’s jazz symphony Monotony. This is an utterly fascinating piece, more classical than jazz despite its use of muted trumpets, banjo and the like, at least in structure. Sowerby builds the first movement around a little sliding chromatic figure played by the trombones in their low range, which is then transformed a bit and moved up to the saxophones as the music develops. Suddenly, a bright little clarinet tune pops up (probably played by Ross Gorman, Whiteman’s virtuoso clarinetist at the time who created the upward opening glissando in Rhapsody in Blue), before the strings and brass get in on the fun. Once again, the syncopations are much closer to ragtime than to real jazz of the era (for examples of this, listen to contemporary recordings by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band and The Wolverines with Beiderbecke on cornet), but Sowerby’s composition skills kept him and the piece going.
Overall, this is a very interesting album. Kudos all around, to the performers for doing such a good job on the music as well as to Çedille Records for recording and releasing it. This is a valuable missing piece in the early discourse between jazz and classical music.
– The Art Music Lounge
NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL THE 70'S / VARIOUS
Integrale - Jazz & Bossa Nova 1955-1962
Birth of the Cool: Music from an Inspired Film by Stanley Nelson
2020 collection, the definitive audio companion to the critically-acclaimed new documentary directed and produced by Stanley Nelson. The soundtrack is an essential Miles Davis playlist for seasoned fans and new listeners alike, lovingly curated by the director and paired with short audio excerpts from the film for a unique listening experience. It brings together recordings and performances spanning labels and the artist's musical evolution-from "Donna Lee" to "Moon Dreams" from the groundbreaking 1949 Capitol sessions that were ultimately collected on the album Birth of the Cool, through the seminal 1950s pieces for Columbia that revolutionized the worlds of jazz and popular music. The album also highlights Miles's evolution in the 1960s with tracks from Sketches of Spain and Someday My Prince Will Come to his iconoclastic invention of electric jazz/fusion. Finally, it documents his triumphant mid 1980s comeback, while premiering a brand-new track, "Hail To The Real Chief." The new track features unreleased Miles Davis studio trumpet performances combined with music written by Lenny White, produced by White and Vince Wilburn, Jr and featuring an all-star collection of Miles band alumni and acolytes including White, Wilburn, Marcus Miller, Emilio Modeste, Jeremy Pelt, Antoine Roney, John Scofield, Bernard Wright, and Quinton Zoto.
Handel: Tamerlano / Domingo, Bacelli, Mingardo
TAMERLANO
Bajazet – Plácido Domingo
Tamerlano – Monica Bacelli
Asteria – Ingela Bohlin
Andronico – Sara Mingardo
Irene – Jennifer Holloway
Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra, Madrid
Paul McCreesh, conductor
Graham Vick, stage director
Recorded live at Teatro Real, Madrid on 29 March, 1 and 4 April 2008.
Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis and cast gallery
- Interview with Paul McCreesh
Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (all regions)
Menu Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 241 mins
No. of DVDs: 3
Teatro Real's majestic production of Handel's vivid tragedy, Tamerlano, stars a Lear-like Plácido Domingo as the Turkish Sultan Bajazet, caught between pride, love and loyalty. Displaying the uniquely heroic quality of his voice, Domingo heads a superb cast, including Sara Mingardo, Monica Bacelli and Ingela Bohlin, all magnificently responsive to Paul McCreesh's authentic and luminous interpretation of the score. The stunning theatrical staging by Graham Vick provides a splendid setting for the characters and for designer Richard Hudson's extravagant Baroque-Islamic costumes, emphasising the brilliance of one of Handel's finest dramatic achievements.
FULL REVIEW
Probably one of the best Handel operatic productions presently available...
If Handel’s two other great operas, Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda, are well known then this third of the trio of ‘greats’ should certainly join them. This production will do much to underline that.
For some years now the phrase ‘director’s opera’ has had a pejorative ring – sometimes with justification. This production has Graham Vick written all over it. Further, the music director James McCreesh concedes that that extends to choice of versions of scenes. “What do you mean, ‘choice of versions of scenes’? An opera is an opera is an opera.” Sorry but it is not: that is what we have come to expect today but Handel and very many composers re-wrote scenes or omitted, added or replaced arias according to the ability of the available singers. And Tamerlano is no exception. No, I do not intend to bore you with a detailed analysis. One example will suffice: death or coronation in the last scene? Well, here you get both.
What of the plot? The psychopathic Tamerlano has captured Ottoman leader Badajet and daughter Asteria. Tamerlano’s Greek buddy Andronico falls for Asteria. Meanwhile, Irene, princess of Trebizond, is on her way for her nuptials with Tamerlano. Tamerlano then decides that he will marry Asteria and palms Irene off on Andronico. Asteria’s two failed attempts on Tamerlano’s life and then Bajazet’s suicide persuade Tamerlano to revert to the original marital arrangement. Thus, theoretically, all ends happily but the music suggests otherwise, as it has throughout. This is ‘dark’ opera: Handel at his compelling best with some remarkable conventional da capo arias. There are three sections ABA where the singer is allowed free rein in the third which was much to the point of Handel’s operas when first produced: an opportunity for florid vocal display. And if you ever thought that da capo arias are repetitiously dull and boring then watch and listen. Further watch and listen carefully to the last scene where Handel almost ignored the musical conventions.
In Handel’s day productions were virtually static: singers stood and delivered and then frequently left the stage to applause hence, called, the exit aria. Curiously McCreesh describes this production as “quite still”. Maybe: in comparison with other operatic productions. However, for me, Vick instils this one with wholly appropriate body and facial movement. I cannot pretend that I understand all of the symbolism, particularly of the silent ‘groupies’ who accompany some of the singing: and just occasionally distract attention from it – an example is during the only aria given to Leone - Tamerlano’s henchman. That aside, the acting here is first class, capturing Tamerlano’s almost demonic personality, Badajet’s decline and his reciprocated love for Asteria and also Andronico’s constancy.
We expect no less. This is Monica Bacelli, the proven exciting Handelian in the title trouser role and the ‘imported’ Plácido Domingo as Badajet; ‘imported’ because this is his first Handel part in over a hundred roles and it is perfectly suited for him: a truly dramatic tenor.
Bacelli is in excellent form displaying a neurotic vibrancy through very expressive movements. This is not ‘stand and deliver’ and nor is it a general-distraction cavort about the stage: but it is movement to encompass the stage and engage the audience in her characterful playing. Yes, and she sings too. Whilst her smaller voice contrasts with Domingo’s power she never loses her strong focus or line and elegant phrasing. Not a pitch out of place, not a run slurred; most arias at a faster pace with opportunity for colouring and strong tones that she never misses.
Domingo is equally splendid portraying the beaten leader. Dramatic singing throughout. If I have a slight hesitation it would be about vocal flexibility in the quicker aria Ciel e terra (disc 1 track 15) – hardly surprising in a singer of his years which generally show no sign of catching up with him. But here I am being ‘nit-picky’. His is vocal drama which makes us empathize with a fallen leader of the Ottoman Empire and renders understandable the taking of his own life. That is no mean feat when his beloved daughter Asteria still lives. Domingo gives a master class in diction, dynamics and phrasing. His final aria is magnificently delivered as he leaves the stage backwards into the darkness.
The Swedish soprano Ingela Bohlin effortlessly despatches the role of Asteria, or so she makes it appear. This high-lying soprano role does not trouble her. In her splendid aria Cor di padre (disc 2 track 24) at the end of Act 2 she vocally wanders about at the top of and above the stave, occasionally leaping there with total accuracy. In her aria Se non mi vuol amor (disc 1 track 13) she leaves high notes just hanging exquisitely in the air. She has a very secure vibrato - and that is not an oxymoron - and a gentle trill which adds much to aria meaning and audience enjoyment.
Sara Mingardo is a true contralto but noticeably of smaller voice. Bearing in mind how responsive McCreesh is with the orchestra for the forte and piano of the roles for Bacelli and Domingo, it is disappointing that he does not at all times afford Mingardo that same facility/kindness/support. Mingardo has wonderful vocal flexibility with quite remarkable beauty of tone. No applause for her act 1 aria Bella Asteria (disc 1 track9) which I would have expected to lead to sustained applause. Her timbre balances extremely well with both Bacelli and Bohlin to produce some delightful sounds.
Jennifer Holloway, as Irene arrives on stage aloft by some three metres on a gorgeous blue elephant on wheels. Could it be that the slightly irregular jumbo traverse of the stage contributes to her occasional lack of smoothness and steadiness of note in her opening aria? Certainly when back on stage terra firma her smooth clarity of note returns and when singing piano there is great beauty of tone.
De Donato, as Leone, is afforded one aria. Here it is the act 2 Amor dà guerra (disc 2 track 10) as opposed to the act 3 option of Nel mondo e nell’ abisso. Apart from a slight hint of effort when on serious high he sings clearly with a firm line. His problem, or rather our problem, is to concentrate on him while three pairs of ‘supporters’ perform a variety of symbolic mimes. Despite watching it several times I remain convinced that I do not fully understand all the symbolism.
That applies also to movements that take place on the balcony which goes around the semi-circular stage where the ‘groupies’ perform various mimes in slow motion around it or small blue elephants move equally slowly. That leaves a bare stage over which hangs the celebrated foot on the globe (no prizes for guessing that piece of symbolism) variously pushed up by Badajet or crushing him or Asteria. It also ascends and descends almost imperceptibly as appropriate to the stage action. In act 2 in what is almost a coup de théâtre it revolves through 180° to reveal its hollow back with gold lining and a seat that becomes Tamerlano’s throne.
The only stage prop which doesn’t seem to me to be particularly effective is the long bench protruding from the back stage in the first part of act 3 which serves at Tamerlano’s throne. Otherwise, the stage effects together with the matching half moons near stage front that move together to form another circle and become a prop in their own right, are spectacularly effective.
Colours are also fundamental. The stage is white, the costumes black and/or white except for the splendid Act 2 vivid lime green for Tamerlano and later a brilliant cerise. Irene has similarly strongly coloured costume when on her elephant. As you can see above Badajet and daughter are in white and remain so throughout. Symbolism in colours? I think so.
All that said there is a fault: but not with the production. It is the subtitles: too frequently the translation leaves a great deal to be desired. It is not idiomatic; indeed occasionally it is archaic if not arcane. Rely on them and from time to time you might struggle to follow the plot. Any such problem is overcome by the synopsis - one of the extra features. There is also a helpful commentary in the accompanying booklet.
-- Robert McKechnie, MusicWeb International
