Monthly Archive: October 2011
Quintette 7 Plays the Music of Raymond Scott – Presented by the West Point Band
Excellent performances of the quirky chamber pop/jazz created by the late Raymond Scott.
The Verdehr Trio – American Images Vol. 4 – Works of LORENZ, PUTS, THOMAS, HOIBY, FREUND – Crystal The Verdehr Trio – American Images Vol. 5 – Works of BROUWER, SIERRA, WOLFGANG, WALLACE – Crystal
Two more volumes of terrific music in this groundbreaking series!
CHOPIN: 24 Preludes – Gunther Rost, organ – Oehms Classics
Finely played, sumptuously recorded music that really has no place on the organ.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas (complete) – Peter Takacs, piano – Cambria (11 discs)
No revelations here except for the sound, but some solid and highly-evocative pianism with a real point of view.
BRAHMS: 7 Fantasien; 3 Intermezzi; 2 Rhapsodies; Variations and Fugue on Theme of Handel – Peter Katin, p. – Divine Art
Katin recorded these Brahms solo piano works in Norway in 1990.
MOZART Symphonies Vol. 3 – Nos. 9, 10, 11, KV 95, 97, 81, 84 – Adam Fischer – Dacapo
If you want the early symphonies on modern instruments, this is about as good as it gets.
Arild Anderson, doublebass; Vassilis Tsabropoulos, piano; John Marshall, drums – The Triangle – ECM
It strikes me as the best piano trio release I’ve heard all year.
Jason Kao Hwang & Edge – Crossroads Unseen – Euonymus
Violinist Jason Kao Hwang breaks assumptions of what to expect with stringed instruments.
James Carter Organ Trio – At The Crossroads – Emarcy
James Carter gets down and dirty with his organ trio.
* Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass Live – Works of WALTON, BACH, G. GABRIELI, GRAINGER, REVUELTAS, PROKOFIEV – CSO Resound
******** MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH ********
Jimmy Smith, B-3 – Back at the Chicken Shack – Blue Note/EMI/Analogue Productions
May be the best album ever by the quintessential B-3 player Jimmy Smith.
Trumpet Sounds / Michael Chunn Recital – Two former trumpet LPs now on one CD – Crystal Records
Two surveys of French chamber music for trumpet and cornet. Savor the first, sample the second, and you’ll have an enjoyable experience.
Pulp Fiction, Blu-ray (1994/2011)
A wild and almost exhausting blend of low-rent crime, comedy, corruption, drama, thriller, violence, and an inventive mix of various short pulp fictionish stories.
Audio News for October 17, 2011
Star Wars and Thor 3D Push Up Blu-ray Sales; New D/A/D Gadget for Improved Digital Sound; Classical Music News
MOZART Concertos Nos. 6, 8 & 9 – Angela Hewitt with orch. – Hyperion
Fluent and infectiously flamboyant, these performances of Mozart’s burgeoning concerto-style prove Angela Hewitt a Mozartean of the first order.
BACEWICZ: Violin Concertos 2, 4, and 5 – Joanna Kurkowicz, v./ Polish Radio Symphony Orch./ Lukasz Borowicz – Chandos
Good to have these three concertos; all of Bacewicz’s seven such are good.
TRP (The Reese Project) – Evening in Vermont – Rhombus
Miles Davis and Danny Elfman? The Beatles and Stephen Foster? The connection is The Reese Project.
Alan Pasqua, pianos – Twin Bill – Two-Piano Music of Bill Evans – BFM Jazz
Alan Pasqua hits a home run.
Paul Motian/Bill Frisell/Petra Haden/Thomas Morgan – The Windmills of Your Mind – Winter & Winter
A birthday present which is much more fulfilling and filling than a candled cake.
Eileen Joyce, piano: The Complete Parlophone and Columbia Solo Recordings – APR (5 CDs)
A superlative assemblage of Eileen Joyce shellacs, which taken as a whole reveal a potent virtuoso of the first order, to whom poetry and fire came naturally.
Audio News for October 14, 2011
Netflix Dumps Qwikster Idea; Pioneer Adds More Apps for Their AppRadio; Parents and Children Adjust to Taking Home Electronics and iPads; Sony Hoping to Buy Ericsson’s Stake in Sony Ericsson; Bose New Line of Audio Products
Bob James & Keiko Matsui (piano 4 hands) – Altair & Vega – Tappan Zee Records (CD + DVD)
This is a rare, skillful and intimate musical experience and an exemplary use of the CD + DVD format.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
