Earl Hines moved to Chicago in 1926 at the age of 21 and began his association with Louis Armstrong, with whom he recorded. Hines is recognized as a major innovator in the development of jazz piano, and he was also a major band leader performing at, and broadcasting from, the Grand Terrace Ballroom in Chicago from 1928-43. He moved to the S.F. Bay Area in 1956 & lived there until he passed in 1983. This live sextet performance was recorded May 13, 1970 in San Francisco.
Piano-Drums Duos are the preferred playing arrangement of pianist Irene Schweizer. Her mastery of duets with important drummers of contemporary jazz are documented on numerous Intakt CDs. Han Bennink, Pierre Favre, Louis Moholo, Gu¨nter Baby Sommer, Andrew Cyrille and Joey Baron among them. The Chicago drummer Hamid Drake, born in 1955, and Irene Schweizer, born in 1941, have performed together on numerous occasions both in Europe and Chicago. Together they have appeared on the Intakt CD "Irene Schweizer-Fred Anderson-Hamid Drake". At the 40th anniversary festival "Kontrontationen in Nickelsdorf" (Austria), Schweizer and Drake were the highlight of the event. A celebration of the moment and a declaration of love to South African songs along with their thrilling energy and rhythmic lightness produced a firework of improvisation. A parade of successful interplay. The CD Celebration is released on the occasion of Irene Schweizer's 80th birthday (2. Juni), accompanied by a catalogue of the pianist's works on Intakt Records.
Filmed at the Teatro del Silenzio (Theatre of Silence) in Lajatico over 3 nights in 2024 and marking his 30th year as an artist, this once-in-a-lifetime event sees classical star Andrea Bocelli appear in his home of Tuscany with a star-studded lineup of special guests performing songs that have been the pillars of his career. This 2-disc Blu-ray package features two shows - "The Celebration" and "30 Years of Musical Inspiration" and over 4 and a half hours of performances. With incredible staging, including a stunning sundial centerpiece in the middle of a lake, and 500 drones which lift into the sky in 3 breathtaking moments, Bocelli is joined by an 80-piece orchestra, a cast of over 200 musicians and family and friends including Ed Sheeran, Jon Batiste, Shania Twain, Brian May and more. It's a night that transforms both the landscape and beautiful Tuscan sky into something totally spectacular. The result: a mesmerizing and truly unforgettable concert. Digipak with 20-page booklet.
Both sides of Rufus Reid, the jazz one and the classical one, come togeth er on this album; in fact, it's like two albums for the price of one. The six tracks on which his trio is joined by the internationally acclaimed Sirius Quartet show off his facility for writing daring, memorable string arrange ments that draw equally from jazz and Western classical music. (Two of the six are by Allee, also a sophisticated composer whose musical interests are as broad as Rufus's.) Forming a delightful counterweight to these hybrid, chamber-jazz enterprises are five tunes that feature just piano, bass and drums: three blues-based excursions, a tender ballad and a jazz samba. The blurring of the lines between jazz and classical musicians - en couraged by the conservatories where both genres are increasingly part of the curriculum - is vividly demonstrated throughout the album, and especially in the title track. Recruiting the Sirius Quartet for this project proves to be an inspired choice - they are as celebrated for their facility with improvisation as they are for their adventurous repertoire. They play with precision and fire throughout, as demonstrated in the title track, which includes dazzling improvised solos by violinist Gre gor Huebner and cellist Jeremy Harman. Eschewing false dichotomies, Rufus insists on bringing both sides of his musical personality to bear.
