Monthly Archive: April 2016
Audio News for April 29. 2016
Audiophile-grade Streaming From Auralic Aries Mini – For about $550 the Chinese-made AURALiC Aries Mini comes in black plastic or white, hooks up to an existing DAC or amp and pulls music from the cloud or home-based data storage. There’s an optional low-noise linear PSU for $299 additional. The Aires Mini is also free to work with Bluetooth or Airplay. It is a Wi-Fi-cable NAS drive and plays lossless hi-res streaming from Qobuz and Tidal. Tidal Hifi is even an added free bonus for U.S. buyers for a year. John H. Darko in REVIEWSSOURCES thinks it’s analog outputs even sound better than the much more expensive Sonos system. See his review if you have an iPhone or iPad and are into hi-res streaming. Onkyo Has New DP-X1 Hi-Res Audio Player – It follows the Android system, sports separate DACs and amps for each channel, handles up to DSD and the new MQA formats and is only $899. It has 32GB built-in storage and can support up to 432GB. You have access to the Google Play Story and can plug into most any hi-res streaming system out there, including Tidal and Onkyo’s own OnkyoMusic. The main difference from a typical smartphone […]
Melissa Aldana – Back Home – Word of Mouth
Family, friendship, love; saxophonist Melissa Aldana knows it’s all a part of home. Melissa Aldana – Back Home [TrackList follows] Word of Mouth Music WOM0006, 52:40 [3/11/16] ****: (Melissa Aldana – tenor saxophone; Pablo Menares – bass; Jochen Rueckert – drums) If you don’t know tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana you should. In 2013, she became the first female instrumentalist—and the first South American—to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition. She has won accolades from other jazz circles, and was bestowed the Altazor Award, a significant prize given out in her home country, Chile. Her earlier recording, 2014’s Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio (on the Concord label) got lavish reviews and notice. She previously apprenticed with Greg Osby and George Coleman. Aldana’s new nearly hour-long album, Back Home, is her fourth release as a leader and second in a trio format. Over the course of nine tracks she, bassist Pablo Menares and drummer Jochen Rueckert evoke feelings of departures and arrival; of saying goodbye to loved ones and conveying joy for people who have influenced her life; and the importance of family and cultural bonds. Several tunes are tributes to individuals who have been or continue to be […]
BOYER: Symphony No. 1 and Fanfares and Overtures – London Phil./ Boyer – Naxos
BOYER: Symphony No. 1 and Fanfares and Overtures (TrackList follows) – London Philharmonic Orchestra/ Peter Boyer – Guest Leader: Simon Blends – Naxos 8.559769 – TT: 55:14 (2/25/14) ****: Interesting contemporary music well played and nicely recorded. Peter Boyer is one of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers of our current milieu. Among his notable works is his Grammy-nominated Ellis Island: The Dream of America. About this disc, Boyer has written:“The five works included on this recording represent a cross-section of my orchestral music. Three Olympians reflects my interest in mythology and history. Often I have received invitations to compose music for celebratory concerts, and three of the works included here—Silver Fanfare, Festivities and Celebration Overture—were created for such occasions.” The disc also contains Boyer’s Symphony No. 1. Boyer has made a career in composition, and he has been prolific in films and televisions. The fanfares that open the disc are fine, but I think musically fall into Boyer’s ‘sound’ for his radio and TV compositions. The Symphony No. 1 is quite a bit more interesting, and is dedicated to the memory of Leonard Bernstein. The Symphony has an ‘American’ sound to it, it is a very assured composition, […]
Life From Buenos Aires = SCHUMANN, DEBUSSY & BARTOK – Argerich & Barenboim – DGG
The music that emanates from the Buenos Aires Festival de Musica y Reflexion means to dazzle us and test our limits, artistic and emotional. Live From Buenos Aires = SCHUMANN: Six Studies in Canon Form, Op. 56; DEBUSSY: En Blanc et Noir; BARTOK: Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion – Martha Argerich & Daniel Barenboim, pianos/ Pedro Manuel Torrejon Gonzalez & Lev Loftus, percussion – DGG 479 5563, 59:02 (3/11/16) [Distr. by Universal] ****: Musical friends since their childhood, Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim returned to their native city, Buenos Aires, in 2015 for a concert at the Teatro Colon, 26 July. Their Festival de Musica y Reflexion means to maintain and revitalize the cultural community of Buenos Aires in the Teatro Colon, reputed for having “the best acoustic in the world.” The two-piano recital opens with Robert Schumann’s 1845 Six Studies in Canon Form for Pedal Piano. Shortly after having moved to Dresden, Schumann began teaching his wife Clara counterpoint. The couple had also just acquired a pedal-piano attachment for working on their organ playing. Dating back to the 18th century, the rare instrument came equipped with a pedal-board like that found on an organ, either with its […]
Where to Invade Next, Blu-ray (2016)
May be the best Michael Moore film yet; quite subversive in its message. Where to Invade Next, Blu-ray (2016) Director & main cast: Michael Moore Studio: Anchor Bay (5/10/16) Video: 1.78:1 for 16:9 widescreen, 1080p HD color Audio: English & other languages with subtitles, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Subtitles: Where needed, Spanish Length: 120 min. Rating: ***** The Oscar-winning director who has sometimes put his heavy frame too conspicuously in some of his films, here deals with some of the most pressing issues facing Americans today and finds solutions in the most unlikely countries, where he symbolically plants the American flag as though he is a one-man invasion to steal their ideas. This is an unusual call to arms to re-capture ideas which America often originated but have been forgotten in this country while used to great effect in other countries. The police in Portugal (where drug use is all legal) say that America must get rid of capital punishment as a first step. Even the poorest grade schools in France have a special nutritious menu and the chef of one showed five different cheeses that he served. In Finland they have the highest education rate and the high schoolers who […]
Freddy Cole – He Was The King – HighNote
Freddy Cole – He Was The King – HighNote HCD 7286 58:18 ****: A heartfelt tribute from the most reliant interpreter of the Nat Cole songbook. (Freddy Cole – vocals, piano (tracks 6,7); Houston Person – tenor saxophone (tracks 1,2,5,8); John di Martino – piano (tracks 4,9,11); Randy Napoleon – guitar; Harry Allen – tenor saxophone; Joe Magnarelli – trumpet; Josh Brown – trombone; Elias Bailey – bass; Quentin Baxter – drums) Lineage is an uncertain commodity when it comes to the arts, sports, and business. The success of one individual in a particular generation does not guarantee that either siblings or progeny will carry that gene along with them. In the case of the Cole clan, it has more or less worked out. Freddy Cole is the younger brother of Nat and the uncle of Natalie and while Nat may have been the most successful, both Freddy and Natalie made prominent names for themselves in their own right. In terms of longevity, Freddy is the last of this family still in show business, and at eighty-five, pays homage to his older brother with the album He Was The King. In deciding to tackle this project, Cole surrounded himself with […]
MAX REGER: “The Chorale Fantasies”; HEINRICH REIMANN: Chorale Fantasy – Balázs Szabó, org. – MDG (2 discs)
MAX REGER: “The Chorale Fantasies”; HEINRICH REIMANN: Chorale Fantasy, Op. 25 – Balázs Szabó, organ – MDG 920 1945-6, (2 multichannel SACDs) [Distr. by E1], TT: 150:15 (2/26/16) [also 2+2+2] ***: Dedicated performances appeal mostly to a niche market, I think. Max Reger (1873-1916) was a composer who came to some prominence after Brahms and at the same time as such ‘larger-than-life’ figures as Wagner and Mahler. It is the very nature of his music and, by some accounts, his personality to be trapped in a hard to define niche somewhere in between all the other names and sounds surrounding him. Not that Reger was not an innovator, perhaps even a genius, for some of his melodic flow and harmonic progressions are quite daring; even hard to follow and murky in places. Just a listen to most of the swirling chromatic undercarriage in the Opus 27 Fantasy on Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott or the similarly structured Opus 40, Straf mich nicht un deinem Zorn, are good examples. Like most church organists and composers writing for that medium, Reger takes his inspiration from some of the great Lutheran hymns of the post-Reformation. (Almost all listeners would recognize ‘A Mighty […]
LINDBERG: Al Largo; Cello Concerto No. 2 – Era-Anssi Karttunen, cello – Finnish Radio Sym. Orch./ Hannu Lintu – Ondine
Brilliantly-orchestrated modern tonal music from Finnish master Magnus Lindberg. MAGNUS LINDBERG: Al Largo; Cello Concerto No. 2 – Era-Anssi Karttunen, cello – Finnish Radio Sym. Orch./ Hannu Lintu – Ondine multichannel SACD ODE 12118-5, 66:28 [Distr. by Naxos] *****: If you’re looking for orchestral music that’s dramatic, harmonically lucid, gloriously colorful, exuberant and powerfully immediate, this disc is for you. Finnish composer, conductor and pianist Magnus Lindberg (b. 1958) has written music of enormous stylistic diversity in his 37-year career. The music on this CD is a far cry from his avant-garde beginning. Although all Finnish composers bear the imprint of Jean Sibelius, Lindberg absorbed the influence of the European avant-garde (Stockhausen) as well as Finnish composers Rautavaara and Heininen at the Sibelius Academy. In 1980 he founded the avant-garde Ears Open Society with colleagues Esa Pekka Salonen, Kaija Saariaho and others and wrote the influential Kraft, (1983-85), a large orchestral work that included percussion on scrap metal and spoken word. Later works included aspects of minimalism, free jazz, progressive rock and East Asian music. His most popular work was the Clarinet Concerto (2002), a folk-inspired work that demonstrates his virtuosic and opulent orchestral skills. He believes that the orchestra […]
CHOPIN: Four Ballades; Berceuse in D-flat Major; Four Mazurkas – Yundi Li, piano – DGG
Yundi’s Chopin recital surveys the epic, the poetic, and the intimate with grace and stylistic security. CHOPIN: Four Ballades; Berceuse in D-flat Major, Op. 57; Four Mazurkas, Op. 17 – Yundi Li, piano – DGG 481 2443, 56:00 (2/26/16) [Distr. by Universal] ****: Having become the first Chinese performer ever to win the prestigious Chopin Competition in 2000, Yundi Li (b. 1982) has gleaned a reputation more for poetic sensitivity than for sheer bravura and flamboyant foppishness, in the manner of Lang Lang. Yundi (at eighteen) became the youngest winner in the history of the event, and the first player in fifteen years to be granted first prize. Yundi has already recorded the Preludes as part of his ongoing Chopin Project. Yundi here (rec. December 2015) turns to the four Chopin Ballades, 1835-1843, the composer’s subjective response to the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz, wherein many of the musical impulses assume a direct connection to the verse conceits of the narratives. From the outset of the dynamic Ballade No. 1 in g minor, Op. 23, Yundi demonstrates a combination of virile strength and flexible, poetic introspection. The rubato Yundi employs enhances the lyric ebb and flow of the melodic, vocal line, […]
Backtrack, Blu-ray (2016)
Basically a horror film, but without the demons and gore. Well done. Backtrack, Blu-ray (2016) Cast: Adrien Brody, Sam Neill, Robin McLeavy Director: Michael Petroni Studio: Lionsgate (4/26/16) Video: 2.40:1 for 16:9 screens, 1080p HD color Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, DD 5.1 Subtitles: English, Spanish Extra: “The Psychology of Backtrack” featurette Length: 89 minutes Rating: ***** This is a very well-developed and directed paranormal mystery film with a suspenseful plot twist near the end. I didn’t realize until I saw one of the Amazon reviews that the older psychiatrist (Sam Neil) for the star, Adrien Brody, was also a ghost and referred his patients to Brody. This film really hits on the “I can see ghosts” bit of Sixth Sense, and Brody does a great job of playing the nervous, gloomy and put-upon man whose young daughter had been killed a year earlier in a bicycle accident when he looked away briefly in a store window. A new young patient who doesn’t talk appears in Brody’s psychiatric office, and she appears and disappears suddenly. It turns out that all of Brody’s patients are ghosts, and all have one thing in common, which is the wreck of a train near […]
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 in d; Four Ballades – Paul Lewis, p./ Swedish Radio Sym. Orch./ Daniel Harding – Harmonia mundi
Power and poetry infuse every measure of the Brahms works including a gripping version of the Concerto. BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1 in d, Op. 15; Four Ballades, Op. 10 – Paul Lewis, p./ Swedish Radio Sym. Orch./ Daniel Harding – Harmonia mundi HMC 902191, 72:12 (4/15/16) ****: “A concerto that has quite enraptured me with its grandeur and the fervor of its melodies,” commented Clara Schumann in 1856 on the evolving First Concerto of Johannes Brahms. A massive combination of sonata and symphonic form, the work fuses the keyboard part so intimately with the orchestral fabric that, besides the tumultuous character of the Maestoso first movement, critics at the 1859 Gewandhaus premiere and the second Leipzig performance condemned the piano’s role as an obbligato component. Obviously, the work’s acceptance and recorded history have long justified its contribution to the repertory, constituting as it does a complete denial of the Mendelssohn or Weber tradition of the fleet, virtuoso vehicle for superficial display. Paul Lewis and Daniel Harding (rec. May 2014) collaborate in a gripping, seriously expansive approach to this music, in which even the outset – a huge chord and kettledrum roll – sets a fateful tone for the remainder […]
Kenny Barron Trio – Book Of Intuition – Impulse!
Kenny Barron Trio – Book Of Intuition – Impulse! B0024648-02, 58.23 ****: A master class in taste, swing, and imagination. (Kenny Barron – piano; Kiyoshi Kitagawa – doublebass; Johnathan Blake – drums) Kenny Barron is one of those pianists who is “beyond category” as it relates to taste, swing, and imagination, along with the likes of other now departed luminaries such as Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, and Cedar Walton. In this latest release entitled Book Of Intuition, Barron uses his own compositional repertoire as the foundation of the session, with a couple of Thelonious Monk’s more obtuse themes, plus a delightful Charlie Haden number. Working with his long time compatriots bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and drummer Johnathan Blake, Barron uses sympathy and understanding from his band-mates to provide an elegant and smart mainstream session. “Magic Dance” sets the pace with a lively swinging Brazilian-styled excursion that has all the elements needed to engage the participants. As the name implies, “Bud Like” has Bud Powell written all over it from the strong single-note lines and blistering pace to the Powell phrasing. Barron takes advantage of Blake’s rhythmic drumming to both “walk the walk” and “talk the talk”. In 2010, the film Another […]
Audio News for April 22, 2016
New Google Chromecast – The new Chromecast is much smaller than the old one. It is meant for audio and video streaming and works on both iOS and Android platforms. You only need a speaker with the proper connectivity ports. The Chromecast also needs constant power so keeping it close to a laptop or TV is recommended. Your smartphone and Chromecast have to be on the same Wi-Fi network. You can download the Chromecast app from the Google Play store or Apple store. The app shows several supported applications, including Wynk and Saavn for music streaming. You can also mirror music from an Android phone or tablet. You launch the app, choose the Devices tab and tap on the Chromecast. It will then prompt you to connect it to your Wi-Fi network and plays a test tone to alert that the device has been successfully connected. A new feature is the Guest mode, which allows friends to stream to your speakers without using your Wi-Fi network. After you get it set up it works fluidly. There is lesser power drain from the smartphone and wider coverage than you get with Bluetooth-enabled speakers. You can also work on other application on […]
Norm of the North, Blu-ray (2016)
A delightful family animation feature with a specially-talented polar bear who can twerk. Norm of the North, Blu-ray (2016) Voice-overs: Rob Schneider, Heather Graham, Bill Nighy, Zachary Gordon Director: Trevor Wall Studio: telegasi/ Lionsgate (4/19/16) (2 discs) Video: for 16:9 widescreen, 1080p HD color Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Extras: Deleted scenes, “Do the Arctic Shake,” “That’s Funny,” Best jokes & one-liners, Arctic Challenge trivia game, Ultraviolet Length: 90 min. Rating: **** The unusual talents of the polar bear of this animation is that he can talk in English like humans. He also has a heart as big as the icy outdoors. It opens with his chase of a seal to eat him and his final decision not to because he’s a nice polar bear. A dastardly developer is beginning to build model homes in his Arctic backyard and together with his three accompanying indestructable lemmings, he goes to New York City on a mission to pretend he is a spokesman for the housing development but hopes in the end to stop the development. Lots of challenges to that come up but in the end Norm triumphs and becomes the new king in the Arctic. Everyone except the little daughter […]
ELGAR: Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major – Staatskapelle Berlin/ Daniel Barenboim – Decca
Daniel Barenboim revisits the Elgar Symphony No. 1 with fertile and heroic results. ELGAR: Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major, Op. 55 – Staatskapelle Berlin/ Daniel Barenboim – Decca 478 9353, 51:26 (3/11/16) [Distr. by Universal] ****: Sometimes lauded as “England’s first symphony,” the 1908 Symphony No. 1 in A-flat Major of Sir Edward Elgar found an early acolyte in conductor Hans Richter, who saw in the music a more cosmopolitan voice than had been the wont of similar efforts from Stanford, Sullivan and Parry. For Elgar himself, the model of Brahms – especially his F Major Symphony – stood as a pinnacle of excellence in ‘absolute music,’ a genre specifically avoiding any sense of a ‘program’ in the manner of Richard Strauss. It seems small wonder that for Barenboim – who has traversed this music prior with different orchestras – should have been influenced by his own Brahms experience – having collaborated with that other Elgar maestro, Sir John Barbirolli, in their Brahms concertos inscribed for EMI. The present recording of the Elgar First Symphony (19-21 September 2015) finds Barenboim and ensemble in an expansive, luxurious mode, opening the famous “noble and simple” motto theme – the germ cell […]
“Zukerman” – Works of VAUGHAN WILLIAMS & ELGAR – Pinchas Zukerman, violin & cond. with the Royal Philharmonic – Decca
“Zukerman” – Works of VAUGHAN WILLIAMS & ELGAR [TrackList follows] – Pinchas Zukerman, violin & cond. with the Royal Philharmonic – Decca CD 478 9386, TT: 71:00 (2/26/16) [Distr. by Universal] ****: Lovely and memorable renderings of English classics by Pinchas Zukerman and the RPO. Do we need yet another collection of the English music of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar? If the violin soloist is Pinchas Zukerman and the orchestra is the Royal Philharmonic the answer is a decisive yes. Zukerman, talking about The Lark Ascending which leads off this disc has said “Everything I ever wanted to do on the fiddle I could do in this music. I just felt so completely at home, in every sense… Starting to conduct this music was even more amazing”. Zukerman plays and conducts a definitive CD of some of the best in English music: Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia and Elgar’s Introduction & Allegro and Serenade for Strings frame shorter works such as Salut d amour, Chanson de Matin and Chanson de Nuit. The disc also features the world premiere recording of In Moonlight: an arrangement for solo viola, strings and harp of Elgar’s famous Canto Popolare. Zukerman has long had […]
Fourplay – Silver – Heads Up
Fourplay – Silver – Heads Up Int. HUI 36688-02, 59:01 ****: Veteran jazz quartet celebrates a quarter century with fresh music. (Bob James – piano, Rhodes, synthesizers; Nathan East – bass, vocals; Chick Loeb – acoustic, electric guitars, synthesizers; Harvey Mason – drums, percussion, vibes, synthesizers; Larry Carlton – guitar; Lee Ritenour – guitar; Kirk Whalum – tenor saxophone; Chris Wells – background vocals; John Beasley – keyboards; Mitch Forman – organ; Tom Keane – synthesizer) Fourplay is celebrating their 25th year as a band with their latest release, Silver. Amazingly, the band has kept much of its core members, Bob James, Nathan East and Harvey Mason. The only non-original band mate is guitarist Chuck Loeb. But this special celebration includes former guitarists Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour. And the 13th Fourplay album delivers the melodic grooves that define the band. The opening track, “Quicksilver” (and nearly all of the titles reflect the “silver” theme) is set up by James’ piano hooks, Loeb’s clean-cut guitar lines and a joyful solo by James. East and Mason amalgamate the tempo with their steady rhythm play. Additional synthesizers and “Brazilian-like’ vocalese create a resonant touch. Breaking away from the “metal” theme is a […]
TANEYEV: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 4 = Quartet No. 9; Quartet No. 6 – Carpe Diem String Q. – Naxos
The Carpe Diem String Quartet extends its gratifying traversal of Sergey Taneyev’s chamber music. TANEYEV: Complete String Quartets, Vol. 4 = Quartet No. 9 in A Major; Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, Op. 19 – Carpe Diem String Quartet – Naxos 8.573470, 65:42 (12/11/15) ****: The Carpe Diem String Quartet – Charles Wetherbee and Amy Galluzzo, violins; Korina Fujiwara, viola; Carol Ou, cello – continue (rec. December 2013 – May 2014) their survey of the quartets of Sergey Taneyev (1856-1915), whom Tchaikovsky referred to as “the Russian Bach” in homage to Taneyev’s mastery of polyphonic procedures. No less evident, Taneyev’s control of his materials in sonata-form makes him an outstanding exponent of Classical style. From the outset of the 1883 Quartet No. 9 in A Major, we feel the spirit of Tchaikovsky behind the lush harmonizations of melodies in Russian folk idioms, set in A Major and E Major. Charles Wetherbee’s first violin remains quite active, as does Ms. Ou’s cello, which imparts the main theme in an affecting a minor to begin the development section. The key of E Major opens the Andante movement, a 6/8 tender lullaby whose middle section modulates to c-sharp minor, permitting violaist Korine […]
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead – The Story of the National Lampoon, Blu-ray (2016)
Documentary on an amazing monthly magazine and it’s extremely unusual staff. Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead – The Story of the National Lampoon, Blu-ray (2016) Cast: Chevy Chase, Judd Aptow, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Doug Kenny, Kevin Bacon, Christopher Guest Director: Douglas Tirola Studio: History Films/ Magnolia Home Ent. 10947 [4/19/16] Video: for 16:9 screens, 1080p HD color Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Subtitles: English, Spanish Dubbed: French Extras: Bonus Interviews (over an hour), John Goodman reads Doug Kenny, Thoughts on Animal House, Drugs in the office, Thoughts on SNL, Working in NYC, “Jaws,” “Reading John Hughes,” Favorite Nat. Lampoon Pieces, Artists of Nat. Lampoon, Chevy Chase bit, more… Length: 95 min. Rating: **** From the 1970s thru the 1990s, the most outrageous comedy in print was the National Lampoon. It really pushed the limits of good taste and acceptability and branched out into radio shows, stage presentations, records and even movies such as Animal House and National Lampoon’s Vacation. I personally love John Belushi’s take-off on Joe Cocker and while he doesn’t wear a bumble-bee outfit in this one, that cracks me up every time. The office was a wild and free party all the time, with plenty […]
“Skylark” Crossing Over = Choral works by DANIEL ELDER, JOHN TAVENER, NICOLAI KEDROV, JON LEIFS, ROBERT VUICHARD, WILLIAM SCHUMAN and ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR – Sono Luminus
“Skylark” Crossing Over = Choral works by DANIEL ELDER, JOHN TAVENER, NICOLAI KEDROV, JON LEIFS, ROBERT VUICHARD, WILLIAM SCHUMAN and ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR – Sono Luminus DSL 92200 audi-only Blu-ray disc with 5.1 DTS-HD MA, 2.0 PCM, 9.1 Auro-3D, a separate standard CD and downloadable FLAC and MP3 files. TT: 52:53 (3/25/16) ****: A capella choral music performed and recorded beautifully. What a beautiful recording and program from Sono Luminus, with a unique idea to tie the music together. Crossing Over is comprised of compositions that depict the dream state at the end of life. Featuring unique voices in choral composition from around the world, and including several world premiere recordings, Crossing Over to my ear was neither depressing or overly solemn, but beautiful music that lifts the spirits and creates a calm environment perfect for meditation or reflection. I don’t want to get too new-agey here. This is lovely music, and there are enough world premier performances here to get most music lovers interested. The a cappella vocal ensemble Skylark commemorates British composer Sir John Tavener with the first US commercial recording of Butterfly Dreams, an 8-movement piece composed in 2003. It’s a compelling piece of music, and each movement […]
Bill Evans – Some Other Time – Resonance (2 CD set)
Bill Evans – Some Other Time – Resonance HCD-2019, 93:06 (2-CD set) [now 1/17] ***** (the release date has been delayed): A rare 1968 Bill Evans recording is another brilliant achievement. (Bill Evans – piano; Eddie Gomez – double bass; Jack DeJohnette – drums) Resonance Records has uncovered a terrific unreleased recording of legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans. Some Other Time – The Lost Sessions From The Black Forest was recorded on June 20, 1968, five days after Bill Evans appeared at Montreux. There are primarily duo and trio performances that examine yet another exceptionally creative period. The opening track, “You Go To My Head” (previously recorded by the pianist in 1962) quickly adopts the “percussive poet” as the trio swings. Evan’s playing is assured and up-tempo, choosing to emphasize the rhythmic dynamics and brisk solo runs. Gomez’ extended bass solo is extraordinary. DeJohnette’s nimble, cohesive drumming brings the trio together. This recording leans heavily on American Songbook material. “My Funny Valentine” (Rodgers/Hart) has become a jazz staple over the years. Evans combination of lyrical finesse and finger-snapping cool is revelatory. There is a late crescendo that is wonderful. From Kismet, “Baubles Bangles And Beads” has a medium-swing waltz groove […]
Audio News for April 19, 2016
FCC Proposal Re: TV Set-Top Boxes – The FCC has approved a proposal letting consumers swap their pricey cable boxes for cheaper devices and apps, to boost competition in the $20 billin TV set-top box market while delivering a blow to the major cable companies. Customers can obtain video services from providers such as Apple, Tivo and Alphabet Inc. instead of the cable and satellite providers. The FCC is allowing cable and satellite providers a 60-day comment period. If implemented, the industry would then have two years to comply. The cable and TV companies could lose billions of dollars in rental fees for set-top boxes. A counsel for Dish Network said “It is really not clear to us that any new regulation is needed to encourage innovation and in fact would actually hinder it.” They claim the video marketplace is already evolving with more customers replacing pay TV services with streaming Internet video. The FCC said 99% of American customers now much get their boxes from their cable or satellite providers and pay on average $231 a year to lease the devices. Rental fees for set-top boxes have risen 185% since 1994. The proposed rule would also require the cable […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
