Monthly Archive: February 2017
Graves – Season One (2016)
A fine TV series about an ex-president who is having second thoughts about his time in The White House. Graves – Season One (2016) Actors: Nick Nolte, Sela Ward, Skylar Astin, Helen Yorke, Chris Loewll Directors: Joshua M. Stern, Bob Balaban, Robert Weide, Iain B. MacDonald, Frank Coraci Studio: Kingsgate/ Lionsgate (2/7/17) [3 discs] Video: 1.78:1 for 16:9 screens, color Audio: English 5.1 DD Subtitles: English SDHExtras: : ”What Fresh Hell Is This?!”: Making Graves Season One, Family Dynamics: The Acting Ensemble, Gag Reel Length: Approx. five hours Rating: ****1/2 Nick Nolte does a terrific job (one of the nominees for Best TV Actor in the current Academy Awards) portraying a former two-term conservative president who embarks on a Don Quixote-like quest to right some of the wrongs of his administration and to reclaim his legacy 25 years after he was out of the White House. One of the writers said they tried to put Nolte somewhere in between George Bush and Clinton. He and his wife live on a compound in New Mexico, where most of the ten-episode film series was shot. Living with them are Graves’ right-hand young man Isiah, and an older daughter and a son who […]
GODOWSKY: Transcriptions of works by CHOPIN, BACH, SCHUBERT, SCHUMANN, ALBENIZ, ETC. – Laurent Wagschall, p. – Evidence
A varied selection of Godowsky transcriptions makes for a potent demonstration of pianist Wagschal’s gifts. GODOWSKY: Transcriptions = CHOPIN: Study No. 5 for the left hand on Etude in E, Op. 10, No. 3; Study No. 13 for the left hand on Etude, Op. 10, No. 6; Study No. 34 on Etude, OP. 25, No. 5; Study No. 45 on Etude No. 2 of Trois nouvelles etudes; BACH: Violin Sonata in g, BWV 1001; SCHUBERT: Heidenroeslein; Wiegenlied; Moment musical No. 3 in f; Morgengruss; Ballet excerpt from Rosamunde; Gute Nacht; SCHUMANN: Du bist wie eine Blume; J. STRAUSS II: Metamorphosis on motifs from Wein, Weib und Gesang; ALBENIZ: Tango, Op. 165, No. 2; SAINT-SAENS: Le cygnet; SMITH: The Star-Spangled Banner – Laurent Wagschal, p. – Evidence EVCD026, 76:03 (10/21/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****: Any pianist competent and confident enough to address the many – some 400 – transcriptions (1893-1914) by the Polish pedagogue Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) has much to offer, especially when you consider the degree of “originality” that lies in Godowsky’s virtuosic restatements of the masters’ music. Laurent Wagschal (rec. 10-13 July 2015) performs nineteen such arrangements, and they convey the vertically, harmonically daring adjustments Godowsky made to […]
Oded TZUR – Like a Great River – Enja
Oded TZUR – Like a Great River – Enja 7754, 39:37 (9/4/16) ****: (Oded Tzur; alto saxophone/ Petros Klampanis; bass/ Shai Maestro; piano/ Ziv Ravitz; drums) An innovative Israeli saxophonist working on a concept inspired by the Indian Classical bansuri master Hariprasad Chaurasia. Israel has been profligate in its production and export of jazz musicians. The new generation tends to fall into two categories; either they have stupendous technical gifts (Gilad Hekselman, Avishai Cohen), or they have an original concept/stylistic affiliation (Oran Etkin with his Malian collaborators, Anat Cohen with her chorinho trio). Yet another Tel Aviv expat, alto saxophonist Oded Tzur, falls into the second category. In his liner notes, he cites just one influence, the supreme master of the classical Indian bansuri, Hariprasad Chaurasia. This is quite a name to conjure with, as it represents the acme of an improvisational art form, older and deeper than jazz. One wonders what kind of connection could be made, given that the Indian system of raga is based on melodic and rhythmic organization rather than harmony. As it turns out, Tzur has found a grand inspiration in this music and translated it persuasively into a fresh jazz style. First, what he […]
WEINBERG: Chamber Symphonies 1, 2, 3 & 4; Piano Quintet – Gidon Kremer, v./ Yulianna Avdeeva, p./ Mate Bekavac, clarinet / Kremerata Baltica/Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla – ECM New Series
A major Russian composer emerges in these scintillating chamber works. WEINBERG: Chamber Symphonies 1, 2, 3 & 4; Piano Quintet – Gidon Kremer, v./ Yulianna Avdeeva, p./ Mate Bekavac, clarinet / Kremerata Baltica/Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla – ECM New Series 2538/39, 79:45, 79:40, *****: It’s hard to imagine how difficult it was to be a Polish Jew in the mid-twentieth century. Mieczyslaw Weinberg (1919-1996) was an accomplished pianist and had written one string quartet by the age of 20 when Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939 forced him to flee to Minsk, Russia. Two years later he learned that the Nazis had burned his mother and sister. In 1943, the German invasion of Russia forced him to flee to Tashkent, in present day Uzbekistan. He had the confidence to send his First Symphony to Dmitri Shostakovich, who arranged for him to move to Moscow. They became close friends and Weinberg lived there for the rest of his life as a freelance composer and pianist. While he never formally studied with Shostakovich, Weinberg said of his colleague, “I count myself as his pupil, his flesh and blood.” Although Weinberg’s music was known and performed in Russia (Kogan, Oistrakh, Gilels, Rostropovich and the Borodin […]
JANÁCEK: Orchestral Suites – Prague Radio Sym. Orch. / Tomas Netopil – Supraphon
JANÁCEK: Orchestral Suites – Prague Radio Sym. Orch. / Tomas Netopil – Supraphon SU4194-2, 52:00 (10/14/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ***: Janácek’s opera melodies reborn as orchestral suites. We know the music of Janácek best perhaps for his Sinfonietta. But the talented Czech composer was most often writing operas, and in truth, he didn’t leave us a great deal of straight orchestral music. This album from Supraphon and imported by Naxos remedies that, by offering three orchestral suites that were assembled from music the composer wrote for his large scale operas. The suites are from Jenufa, Kata Kabanova and Fate. Jenufa was the first opera to be set to a prose text. The globally celebrated piece reflected the sorrow Janácek felt after the death of his two beloved children and gave rise to a deep personal crisis. Katya Kabanova is one of the greatest Janácek works and one of the most beautiful lyric operas of the twentieth century and beyond. Fate was written in 1905, and wasn’t staged until 30 years after Janácek’s death. The adaptation heard here is by Frantisek Jilek, a fine Czech composer in his own right. Jenufa was adapted by Manfred Honeck, while Kata Kabanova was brought […]
Audio News for February 14, 2017
Dolby Atmos Soundbars – Since a vast majority of households are thining of home theater in terms of a TV display plus a soundbar, the era of Dolby Atmos soundbars is upon us. Systems from LG, Sony, Onkyo, Samsung, Yamaha, Pioneer, Philips and Creative create a choice for consumers. Some of them support DTS:X as well. It can be remarkable what reflected sound can do for a soundbar. For example, the Yamaha YSP models reflect beams of sound off the walls to create surround efffects. Samsung’s K950 soundbar is the only soundbar to provide 5.1.4 Atmos experience using wireless surround speakers. The systems’ satellites feature integrated Amos-enabled upfiring capability. It turns out that height effects add ambience and a sense of space to make up for the lack of traditional surround sound. The PC gaming audio X-Fi Sonic Carrier boasts 1000 watts of power into an 11.2.4 speaker configuration compatible with Dolby Atmos; plus you can add wireless subwoofers for more bass. Home Audio Market Future Analysis for 2019 – Customers buy home entertainment products mainly due to the rise in disposable incomes of families and better quality products. Systems that can perform AV switching and play and stream audio stored […]
SAINT-SAENS: Piano Concerto No. 2; RAVEL: Piano Concerto; GERSHWIN: Second Rhapsody; MASSENET: Meditation – Andrew von Oeyen, p./ Prague Philharmonia/ Emmanuel Villaume – Warner Classics
Pianist Andrew von Oeyen embraces his twin cultural loyalties with brilliant elan. SAINT-SAENS: Piano Concerto No. 2 in g minor, Op. 22; RAVEL: Piano Concerto in G Major; GERSHWIN: Second Rhapsody; MASSENET: Meditation from Thais (trans. Oeyen) – Andrew von Oeyen, p./ Prague Philharmonia/ Emmanuel Villaume – Warner Classics 019029508485, 66:05 (1/13/17) ****: Pianist Andrew von Oeyen (b. 1979) considers himself a Parisian-American, so little wonder that his debut album for Warner Classics (rec. 21-25 August 2015) embraces compositions – rather flashy and jazzy in their own respect – from both musical cultures. That Oeyen finds a natural, virtuoso vehicle in the 1868 Concerto No. 2 by Saint-Saens comes as little surprise – Andre Watts did much the same in early days when I heard him at Lewisohn Stadium in New York. Oeyen plays with requisite strength and optimism, dashing through the Bach prelude evolves into a lovely theme attributed to Gabriel Faure. The breadth of musical line and the plastic contours from the orchestra suggest that the several Artur Rubinstein renditions of the work served as models for the present reading. The second movement Allegro scherzando relies much on Saint-Saens’ great fondness for the fourth of the Chopin scherzos. […]
The Dave Liebman Group – Expansions Live – Whaling City Sound
A double dose of Dave. The Dave Liebman Group – Expansions Live [TrackList follows] – Whaling City Sound WCS 088 (2-CDs), 62:36, 60:22 [Distr. by Naxos] [10/14/16] ****: (Dave Liebman – soprano sax, C flute, co-producer; Matt Vashlishan – alto sax, clarinet, C flute, straw, co-producer, mixer; Bobby Avey – piano, keyboard; Tony Marino – acoustic and electric bass; Alex Ritz – drums, frame drum) Saxophonist Dave Liebman and his quintet bring out the dynamism on the double album, Expansions Live, which has over two hours of music, split between an acoustic side and an electric side, taped at three venues from 2014 through 2016. The personnel on these concert pieces comprises Liebman on soprano sax and flute; longtime collaborator Tony Marino on acoustic and electric bass; Matt Vashlishan on alto saxophone, clarinet and flute; Bobby Avey on piano and electric keyboards; and drummer Alex Ritz. Liebman fans will appreciate the opportunity to contrast and compare the live renditions of tunes from prior Liebman studio releases, plus a few new compositions, as well as the chance to hear the group run through jazz standards by Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Tadd Dameron and others. CD 1 has 62 minutes of material […]
“Works for Violin & Orchestra” = Music by TCHAIKOVSKY – Moonkyung Lee, v./London Sym. Orch./ Miran Vaupoticthe – Navona
“Works for Violin & Orchestra” = Music by TCHAIKOVSKY – Moonkyung Lee, v./London Sym. Orch./ Miran Vaupoticthe – Navona CD NV 6079, 57:40 (2/10/17) * 1/2: Excellent violin performances but with a mediocre recording. Navona Records has given us a very fine performance marred by a substandard recording. Soloist Moonkyung Lee gives her all in an enthralling violin performance with the London Symphony under the baton of Miran Vaupotic. Ms. Lee performs extensively across Europe, the United States, and Korea. She has performed under the baton of Maxim Shostakovich, with Mischa Maisky on Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Austrian composer Ignaz Pleyel. She has studied at New England Conservatory, Yale University, and New York University. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Seoul. I very much like her interpretation of this familiar Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, but the recording, in a word, (or three), is not very good. High frequencies seem constricted, blunting the sonorities of the violin and the rest of the orchestra. Frankly, I’ve heard recordings from the fifties that far exceed the quality of this disc. It’s a disappointment because the […]
Horace Andy – Straight To Hell – Fe True Records – 45 rpm
Horace Andy – Straight To Hell – Fe True Records – 45 r.p.m. stereo vinyl (20 min.) ****: Jamaican homage to The Clash remains topical. (Featuring Horace Andy and Big Youth; The Welders; Eric Blowtorch – guitar; Michael Dr. “Bassie” Bell – bass; Cecelia Negron Jr. – drums; Robin Pluer – organ) When the Clash burst on the scene, punk rock was shoving nearly every other pop music form aside. In addition to the social anger, political resentment was being voiced. At the same time, reggae music was influencing both British and American bands. Despite the joyful grooves, a darker political message was being transmitted by the likes of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Third World. Jamaican singer Horace Andy started out as a hit maker with songs like “Skylarking”, “You Are my Angel” and “Money Is The Root Of All Evil”. Years later, he recorded with “trip-hop” purveyor, Massive Attack. On a global scale reggae, punk rock and hip-hop was fused. Fe True Records has released a four-song 45 r.p.m., Straight To Hell. Horace Andy had previously collaborated with Joe Strummer in 1999, The two musicians shared a mutual admiration that dated back even further. Thirty-four years after its […]
Ken Fowser, sax – Now Hear This – PosiTone
Keeping it real… Ken Fowser, sax – Now Hear This – PosiTone PR8163, 55:21 ****: (Ken Fowser – tenor sax; Josh Bruneau – trumpet/Flugelhorn; Rick Germanson – piano; Paul Gill – bass; Jason Tiemann – drums) Last year, when we reviewed Ken Fowser’s initial CD as band leader, (his previous issues for PosiTone shared the limelight with co-leader Behn Gillece) Standing Tall, (https://www.audaud.com/ken-fowser-standing-tall-posi-tone/) our conclusion was that Fowser was spot on in bringing hard bop fans a solid set of free wheeling jazz with a swagger. He once again shares the front line with trumpeter, Josh Bruneau, and their blend continues to impress. Once more, Fowser has written all the compositions, and there is a maturity and a polished sheen from the get-go. “Blast Off” does just that, and Fowser makes his solo choruses pop in an effortless manner that keeps your attention and swings mightily. When Bruneau joins in, it recalls the Blue Note issues when tenor and trumpet highlighted hard bop’s appeal throughout the late ‘50s into the late ‘60s. Its appeal remains intoxicating. That attraction demanded a strong piano presence, and Rick Germanson is back again to fill that bill ably. His sparkling lines provide the sound stage […]
ELGAR & TCHAIKOVSKY: Cello Concerto; Variations on a Rococo Theme – Johannes Moser, cello/ Orch. de la Suisse Romande/ Andrew Manze – Pentatone
ELGAR & TCHAIKOVSKY: Cello Concerto; Variations on a Rococo Theme – Johannes Moser, cello/ Orch. de la Suisse Romande/ Andrew Manze – Pentatone multichannel SACD 5186 570, 64:46 (2/3/17) *****: A compelling pairing of two works by like-minded composers, delivered in stunning super-audio format. With a little imagination and modest time travel, it is possible to witness the following encounter. A man, elegantly dressed with cane and boater, enters a pub. His rigid posture of self-composure contrasts with the look of utter despondency on his face. Peering about, he spies a solitary figure in a shadowy corner. The beard looks familiar and upon approach, it turns out to be Peter Tchaikovsky, slumped over a pint of ale, his face a picture of forlorn melancholy. Sir Edward acknowledges the fellow sufferer and takes a seat. Soon the two composers are commiserating over their personal troubles, their shared feeling of grief and disillusionment. Edward, recently widowed, finds himself in artistic doldrums, unable to stir the sources of his once fertile creativity. His wider points of reference include the ruin of the Great War, which has cast every human value into doubt. Peter, for his part, has a litany of complaints: fractured relationships, […]
SCRIABIN: The Ten Piano Sonatas; Fantasy in b – Garrick Ohlsson, p. – Bridge (2-CDs)
Garrick Ohlsson surveys the whole of the Scriabin sonata cycle. SCRIABIN: The Ten Piano Sonatas; Fantasy in b minor, Op. 28 – Garrick Ohlsson, p. – Bridge 9468A/B (2-CDs) (12/9/16) 76:23, 71:23 [Distr. by Albany] ****: Having met and interviewed pianist Garrick Ohlsson (b. 1948), I find him to be somewhat eccentric in his musical tastes, his having excoriated Schumann as a composer too self-involved and self-referencing, but turning to the even more solipsistic Alexander Scriabin as a source of musical enlightenment. [But then they were all three a bit off mentally speaking, Scriabin included…Ed.] The Scriabin sonata-cycle (rec. 27-29 August 2014; 21-23 April 2015; and May 2015), embraces a musical progression between 1892-1913, tracing an arch Romantic’s response to Chopin and Liszt and evolving a personal sense of rapture that, like the paintings of J.W.N. Turner, become ever infused with light and a desire for a compressed moment of spiritual radiance. The First Sonata in F Minor, Op. 6 bears a stentorian, aggressive cast, especially as it rages against Scriabin’s own physical limits set by an accident to his right hand caused by excessive practice – curiously, a Schumann experience. Gloomy and reflexive, the general mood looks to the […]
Emmet Cohen (p.) featuring Jimmy Cobb (dr.) – Masters Legacy Vol. 1 – CellarLive
Emmet Cohen (p.) featuring Jimmy Cobb (dr.) – Masters Legacy Series Vol. 1 – CellarLive CL 031616, 55:06 ****: A stellar start to a promising series. (Emmet Cohen – piano; Jimmy Cobb – drums; Yasushi Nakamura – acoustic bass; Godwin Louis – alto saxophone tracks 5 & 10 ) Jimmy Cobb is the epitome of a hard-bop drummer, as he symbolizes that particular genre with his canny balance of tastefulness and forcefulness. While at eighty-eight, he is not the oldest living drummer of that style. (Roy Haynes retains that honor at ninety), he is the only surviving member of the Miles Davis band that recorded the seminal album Kind Of Blue in 1959. Thanks to Canadian jazz impresario and tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds, Cobb’s prominence is being kept alive with this concert release under the rubric of a Masters Legacy Series which was recorded in New York City on March 16, 2016. Emmet Cohen is a prodigious young pianist with a stellar musical education, who in addition to working with his own trio, conceived the idea of the Masters Legacy Series as a way to honor those jazz greats who paved the way for young musicians such as himself. Furthermore, […]
Giaches DE WERT: Divine Theater: Sacred Motets – Stile Antico – Harmonia mundi
Giaches DE WERT: Divine Theater: Sacred Motets – Stile Antico – Harmonia mundi SACD 807620, 67:19 (2/ 24/ 17) [Distr. by PIAS] ****: (Helen Ashby, Kate Ashby, Rebecca Hickey, (sopranos) Eleanor Harries, Kate Schofield, Emma Ashby, (altos) Jim Clements, Andrew Griffiths, Benedict Hymas, Ashley Turnell, (tenors) Will Dawes, Thomas Flint Matthew O’Donovan (basses)) Late Renaissance Polyphony from the Court of Mantua performed by the radiant Stile Antico ensemble. There are a number of first-rate a capella vocal groups specializing in Renaissance polyphony. Their virtues are the same: balance, purity of voice, the finest feeling for drama. The groups are supported by deep scholarship (evidenced in this recording by the substantial liner-notes, a veritable treatise on the late Renaissance) as well as superb sound engineering. Stile Antico is without doubt among the very best of our generation in this genre, having delivered a flawless series of polyphonic masterpieces in interesting programs. They differ from their peers in one attractive feature: they have no conductor. The picture on the disc back shows a group of 12 (one to take the picture?) in a circle, the emblem of completeness and balance. The sonics of all Stile Antico Super-Audio recordings place the listener inside […]
The Mark MASTERS Ensemble – Blue Skylight – Capri
The Mark MASTERS Ensemble – Blue Skylight – Capri 74143-2, 48:33 (2/17/17) ****½: (Gary Foster; alto sax/ Jerry Pinter; tenor and soprano sax/ Gene Cipriano; tenor sax/ Adam Schroeder; baritone sax/ Ron Stout; trumpet/ Les Benedict; trombone/ Ed Czach; piano/ Putter Smith; doublebass/ Kendall Kay; drums ) Outstanding small concert-band arrangements of Monk and Mulligan compositions played by the American Jazz Institute house band. Mark Masters is the president of the American Jazz Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting jazz. The Pasadena-based group maintains an orchestra as well, featuring veteran West Coast players. Perhaps their most vital work, though, is related to archiving the rich lore of jazz composition and promoting new works for performance. What we have in this recording is a collection of tunes by Monk and Mulligan, arranged by Mark Masters himself, and performed by an ensemble under his name. In effect these tunes, are newly-realized pieces rather than gussied up standards. However, plenty of the musical character of the original composers comes through as well, even as the charts are reassembled. On the opening track, Monk, Bunk, and Vice Versa, a lesser known Mingus tune, the head is subjected to polyphonic elaboration. It stops just short […]
Al Muirhead – Northern Adventures – The Canada Sessions Vol. 1 – Chronograph
Al Muirhead – Northern Adventures – The Canada Sessions Vol. 1 (TrackList follows) – Chronograph CRO 46, 57:58 [1/27/17] ***: A Canadian excursion into the Great American Songbook. (Al Muirhead – trumpet, Flugelhorn & bass trumpet; Tommy Banks – piano 2/6/10; Guido Basso – Flugelhorn 2/6/10; Mike Murley – tenor saxophone 4/9; Chris Andrew – piano 4/9; Campbell Ryga – soprano/ 5 & alto saxophone /11; Mike Rud – guitar 5/11; Don Thompson – piano 1/12, & doublebass/ 7; Reg Schwager – guitar 1/7/12; Laila Biali – vocals 3/8, piano /3; Ben Whitman – percussion /3; Kodi Hutchinson – doublebass 1/3/8) Given Canada’s population of slightly over 36 million inhabitants (California has close to 39 million), it is quite commendable that there are four independent record labels that are jazz-oriented namely: JustinTime from Montreal, Cornerstone from Toronto, CellarLive from Vancouver and Chronograph from Calgary. The latter label has recently released Northern Adventures which features the multi-talented brass-horn-player Al Muirhead. He has surrounded himself with a cross-section of well-known Canadian jazz artists to deliver a session constructed with compositions from the Great American Songbook. This group of consummate professionals does not break any new musical grounds, but does deliver a well-executed […]
“Dreaming Awake” = Music by PHILIP GLASS – Bruce Levingston (piano)/ Ethan Hawke (narration) – Sono Luminus (2-CDs)
“Dreaming Awake” = Music by PHILIP GLASS – Bruce Levingston (piano)/ Ethan Hawke (narration) – Sono Luminus 2-CD set DSL 92205 TT: 109:44 (9/30/16) ***1/2: A fine survey of Glass’s music for piano and narrator. This is a Sono Luminus release of Bruce Levingston’s new album Dreaming Awake. Levingston, an acclaimed concert pianist and recording artist whose last album, “Heavy Sleep“, was named one the “Best Recordings of the 2015” by The New York Times, pays tribute to Philip Glass with an exploration of his works that spans the length of the composer’s career. The recording includes the world premiere of The Illusionist Suite, ten of the composer’s dramatic and deeply moving etudes, as well as the richly-colored tone poems Dreaming Awake, Metamorphosis No. 2 and Wichita Vortex Sutra featuring actor Ethan Hawke as guest artist reading the Allen Ginsberg poem. Glass is a love/hate kind of composer. Derided by some as ‘silly and repetitive’, while others are fully on board with his musical explorations. On balance, Glass is revered for his film scores, classical compositions, and operas. This CD is a very fine tribute to the composer’s career with some familiar Glass, the aforementioned world premier, and the interesting […]
Mumford & Sons – Live From South Africa: Dust And Thunder, Blu-ray (2017)
Mumford & Sons – Live From South Africa: Dust And Thunder, Blu-ray (2017) British quartet impresses South African audience. Cast: Ted Dwane; Ben Lovett; Winston Marshall; Marcus Mumford; Chris Haas; Tom Hobden; Dave Williamson; Nick Etwell, Baaba Mal; Mamadou Sarre; The Brother Moves On; The Very Best; Beatenberg Studio: Eagle Rock Entertainment EVB335619 [2/3/1017] Director: Dick Carruthers Audio: Dolby Atmos 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, PCM 2.0 Video: 16×9 for 1080i HD, color Length: 94 minutes TrackList: Snake Eyes; I Will Wait; Below My Feet; Wilder Mind; Awake My Soul; Lover Of The Light; Tompkins Square Park; Believe; Ghosts That We Knew; The Cave; Ditmas; Dust Bowl Dance; Bona; Lampenda; There Will Be time; Little Lion Man; The Wolf Ratings: Audio: ***1/2 Video: **** Overall: **** Mumford & Sons formed their band in 2007. Despite having recorded only three studio albums (Sigh No More, Babel and Wilder Mind), they are beloved by their fans. Their genre-defying music takes advantage of the group’s multi-instrumental expertise. The combination of electric and bluegrass instrumentation envelopes literary contexts to create a unique musical expression. In 2016, they collaborated on an EP titled Johannesburg. Eagle Rock Entertainment has released […]
TOD DOCKSTADER: From the Archives – Starkland
An interesting compilation of later works by one of the great electronic/tape music composers. TOD DOCKSTADER: From the Archives (TrackList follows) – Starkland ST-226, 65:50 [11/18/16] ****: Dockstader died a couple years ago and was a key figure in the development of electronic music. As a child, before tape recording, he was fascinated by the sounds of shortwave radio. He began working with wire recording, and as an adult worked at various sound studios. He was a maverick who created amazing musique concrete works on tape on a shoestring budget. His last album, 2006, was thought to be his final statement, but he was productive up until the end of his life, and these selections were culled from 4200 sound files recently discovered on his computer. His daughter encouraged a devoted enthusiast to sift thru the extensive material. Starkland’s Thomas Steenland worked with Dockstader and promoted his music, and carefully reduced about 50 selected sound files to the final 15 on this CD. The 15 short selections display the full sonic and emotional range of Dockstader. He stayed relentlessly modern and innovative, pushing into new sonic territories, and his works still sound fresh today. The tracks that seem least interesting […]
Audio News for February 10, 2017
New Astell&Kern AK70 Supports aptX HD Hi-Res Streaming – The hi-res digital audio player is an improvement over the AKJr. iPod nano-like digital music player which had a sluggish user interface and Spartan feature set. Now they have an almost perfect price-performance champ that is not their flagship player, but seems to right from every angle, and is $600. The 3.3-inch touchscreen user interface is slick and fluid. There’s a large numerical prompt of the volume, so you are never confused by it. The track you are playing is displayed with all the information on it. It weighs only 132 grams and is natural to hold in your hand. But if you also purchase their own leather-style case, you will have a hard time swiping the top of the screen accurately or cleanly. It is also obviously designed for right-handed users. Cinegy Introduces Cinescore Video Encoding Benchmark – Up to now there has not been a relevant way to measure video encoding performance for commonly used broadcast and professional video formats for SD, HD or UHD. Now Cinescore has free software on their website at cinegy.com. The commercial-off-the-shelf technology uses CPU-accelerated and graphic-card-equipped commodity machines, powered by Intel processors. A […]
Joey DeFrancesco (B-3) + The People – Project Freedom – Mack Ave.
Joey DeFrancesco + The People – Project Freedom – Mack Avenue MAC 1121, 64:20 [3/10/17] ****1/2: B-3 master shows a lot of heart in debut for new label. (Joey DeFrancesco – organ, keyboards, trumpet; Jason Brown – drums; Troy Roberts – tenor sax, soprano sax; Dan Wilson – guitar) Joey DeFrancesco has always been proud of his Philadelphia roots. As a teenager, this emerging B-3 organist garnered praise from the likes of Hank Mobley and Philly Joe Jones. This led to a gig with Miles Davis that got his career off to a fast start. Recently, he returned to his hometown to receive a star on the Philadelphia Music Walk Of Fame. He joined jazz luminaries including John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone. Like many other Philadelphia musicians, Joey has embraced the “heart and soul” aspects of his instrumental prowess. There is no organist who is regarded by his peers and critics to such a degree. (He has been voted best organist 11 of the last 15 years in Downbeat Magazine.) As a sideman, he has played with Diana Krall, George Benson, Jimmy Cobb, Ray Charles, Bobby Hutchinson, Larry Coryell, David Sanborn, James Moody and Nancy Wilson to name […]
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
