Chord Archive
HOLST: The Planets; R. STRAUSS: Also sprach Zarathustra – National Youth Orch. of Great Britain; CBSO Youth Chor./ Edward Gardner – Chandos
HOLST: The Planets; R. STRAUSS: Also sprach Zarathustra – National Youth Orch. of Great Britain; CBSO Youth Chor./ Edward Gardner – Chandos multichannel SACD Chan 5179, 79:53 (2/17/17) ****: A fresh look at two popular works, in a superb, life-like recording. One is never quite sure what to expect when one hears a ‘youth orchestra’. Often it’s effort over musical proficiency. Not so in this new thrilling recording from Chandos, which features The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and the CBSO Youth Chorus, under the baton of Edward Gardner. The disc contains fine renditions of Also sprach Zarathustra and The Planets by Gustav Holst. You might say it is a ‘space age pairing’ because the Strauss has been permanently branded as sci-fi music due to its inclusion in 2001- A Space Odyssey. The Strauss opens with a very deep bass of the C Major chord from a pipe organ, and as the opening unfolds the sound is excellent, as good a Zarathustra as I’ve heard in terms of audio quality. With all that praise, I have to say the Holst is even better. It’s an exciting and detailed performance of The Planets, and the young players negotiate this difficult […]
Ron Boustead – Unlikely Valentine – Art-Rock Music
Ron Boustead – Unlikely Valentine – Art-Rock Music, 43:56 ***: A tasty treat. (Ron Boustead – vocals; Bill Cunliffe – piano, Fender Rhodes; Hammond B-3; Mitchel Forman – piano, Fender Rhodes, Hammond B-3, accordion; John Leftwich – acoustic bass; Jake Reed – drums, percussion; Pat Kelley – acoustic & electric guitar; Bob Sheppard – saxes, flute; Bob McChesney – trombone; Ron Stout – Flugelhorn; Fabiana Passoni – vocal track 5) Who was Ron Boustead’s Unlikely Valentine? A review of the set list from his latest release does not provide any clues. Nevertheless, Boustead’s lively vocals through both the covers and original compositions from this album will be welcomed by his devotees. Backed by a full-throated stylish band, Boustead dives into the tunes with an uncanny reflection of singer Mark Murphy. The opening title track “Unlikely Valentine” was written by pianist Bill Cunliffe based on the chord changes of My Funny Valentine with lyrics from Ron Boustead. It is a rousing bebop styled number, with a husky vocals from the artist. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller began their song-writing careers in Los Angeles and eventually became one of popular music’s songwriting legends. “Love Potion No. 9” was originally recorded in 1959 […]
American First Sonatas – Sonatas by REINAGLE, MACDOWELL, GRIFFES & SIEGMEISTER – Cecile Licad, p. – Danacord
Cecile Licad embarks on a fine tour of first American piano sonatas, our home-spun answer to European models. American First Sonatas – REINAGLE: Philadelphia Sonata No. 1 in D Major; MACDOWELL: Piano Sonata No. 1 in g, Op. 45 “Tragica”; GRIFFES: Sonata for Piano; SIEGMEISTER: American Sonata (No. 1) – Cecile Licad, p. – Danacord DACOCD 774, 71:04 (6/6/16) [Distr. by Albany] *****: Danacord has initiated “The Anthology of American Piano Music,” a series designed “to show the stylistic breadth, high musical quality and great originality of the best American piano works. The series contains underrated, neglected or forgotten masterworks of the American literature for solo piano…selected primarily for their musical worth.” Philippines-born Cecile Licad (b. 1961), a pupil at the Curtis Institute of such luminaries as Rudolf Serkin, Seymour Lipkin, and Mieczyslaw Horszowski, employs her prodigious gifts (rec. 1-3 July 2015) in the service of four such neglected works, of which the Sonata in D by Alexander Reinagle constitutes the first piano sonata to be composed in North America (1786). Reinagle (1856-1809) shares a birth year with Mozart and the year of his death coincides with that of Haydn. Educated in music at Edinburgh, Scotland, he became a member […]
Dizzy Gillespie & Friends – Concert Of The Century – Justin Time
Dizzy Gillespie & Friends – Concert Of The Century – Justin Time Just 259-2, 60:12 ****: A singular aggregation in top-flight form. (Dizzy Gillespie – trumpet/ Ray Brown – bass/ Milt Jackson – vibes/ Hank Jones – piano/ James Moody – tenor sax & flute/ Philly Joe Jones – drums) For a time after World War II until the mid ‘50s, there was a vibrant jazz scene in Montreal Canada. Clubs like the Alberta Lounge, Café St Michel, Chez Parée, Rockheads Paradise, and the Latin Quarter flourished, thus attracting major international jazz players. Additionally Montreal’s fame grew when artists like Oscar Peterson, Paul Bley, Maynard Ferguson and Oliver Jones, each of whom had been born there, gained recognition in the jazz world. After this terrific period, jazz seemed to lose its way, and Montreal its lustre, due in no small measure to the anti-corruption crackdown that took place in the city which closed the clubs and most other night-life. This phase lasted until Expo 67 launched in the city. But it was not until the mid ‘70s however, when an immigrant from French Guiana named Rouè-Doudou Boicel, opened a jazz club called The Rising Sun Celebrity Jazz Club, that the […]
George Cables – The George Cables Songbook – HighNote
George Cables – The George Cables Songbook – HighNote HCD7292, 72:47 ****: A consistently inventive pianist informed by his own compositions. (George Cables – piano; Essiet Essiet – bass tracks 1-11; Victor Lewis – drums tracks 1-11; Sarah Elizabeth Charles – vocals tracks 3/4/6//7/8/11 ; Craig Handy – saxophones & flute tracks 3/4/6/8 ; Steven Kroon – percussion tracks 3/4/8) There is an old English expression that runs along the lines: “good things come to those that wait”. Accordingly George Cables has passed this test and his current release The George Cables Songbook is a fitting testament to the worthiness exemplified by those words. George Cables recently turned 72 years old, and while his career is almost equally divided between acting as a leader or a sideman, most of his significant recognition came in the latter category, especially the period he spent with Art Pepper from 1979 to 1982. Since age has its privileges, Cables brings his elevated level of creativity to eleven of his own compositions, capably assisted by a group of creative partners. The session opens with “Traveling Lady” which is an inventive 6/8 tempo trio excursion which reaches back to a seemingly flamenco lilt. “AKA Reggie” has […]
Bronislaw Huberman, v./ Ignaz Friedman, p. in works of BEETHOVEN, BACH, SCHUBERT, ELGAR, CHOPIN, BRAHMS & BRUCH – Pristine Audio
Mark Obert-Thorn restores the classic recording of the 1930 Kreutzer Sonata by Huberman and Friedman. BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47 “Kreutzer”; BACH: Andante from Solo Sonata No. 2 in a minor, BWV 1003; Sarabande and Double from Solo Partita No. 1 in b minor, BWV 1002; Chorale Prelude: “Nun komm der Heiden Heiland,” BWV 62; Air from Orchestral Suite No. 2 in D, BWV 1068; SCHUBERT: Ave Maria, D. 839; Moment Musical in f minor, D. 780, No. 3; CHOPIN: Waltz in c-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2; Waltz in G-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1; Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2; BRAHMS: Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 39, No. 15; BRUCH: Kol Nidrei, Op. 47; ELGAR: La capricieuse, Op. 17 – Bronislaw Huberman, v./ Ignaz Friedman, p. (Beethoven)/ Siegfried Schultze, p. – Pristine Audio PACM 102, 78:06 [avail. in var. formats (incl. a successful ambient stereo) from pristineclassical.com] ****: The art of violin virtuoso Bronislaw Huberman (1882-1947) remains fascinating and problematic to our ears, unaccustomed to his idiosyncratic style of continuous vibrato and sudden shifts of tempo. But the sincerity and ardent fervor of his performances warrants our attention; and often, […]
The Fred Hersch Trio – Sunday Night At The Vanguard – Palmetto
The Fred Hersch Trio – Sunday Night At The Vanguard – Palmetto PM2183, 68:00 ****: Fred Hersch is a painter of musical portraits that are infused with tonal color and harmonic depth. (Fred Hersch – piano; John Hébert – bass; Eric McPherson – drums) Pianist Fred Hersch is a painter of musical portraits that are infused with tonal color and harmonic depth, all presented within a frame of originality, sophistication, and virtuosity. His latest trio recording, Sunday Night At The Vanguard continues to demonstrate his commitment to these traits. As pointed out by Fred Hersch in the brief liner notes, the chosen numbers were derived from the entire first set in order as performed at the club, with the other two tunes coming from the second set. The opening number “A Cockeyed Optimist” was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein in 1949 for the Broadway musical South Pacific. After a run-through of the melody, Hersch and the band embark on an exposition of the number that says they are going to be steadfast inventive partners with smart interplay and proficient fluency. “Serpentine” begins a series of Hersch original compositions, each of which carves out a textured approach to the music that […]
Audio News for June 14, 2016
Pandora Adds Classical Music – Pandora has added classical music to the Music Genome Project, which places it ahead in this respect over other online music services. Pandora is known for its ability to figure out what listeners like based on a musical genetic code for each tune. Nowhere is a song’s musical genetic code more relevant to figuring out what you like than in the complexities of classically-composed music. Pandora Classical includes a collection of over 10,000 recordings by more than 500 composers spanning all classical music genres. In additions to their own stations based on one artist, listeners can listen to one movement in a piece and build a station recommending other similar music pieces by other artists. The founder of Pandora said “…we hope to make classical music more accessible and relevant to everyone.” Over a Million Monthly VR Users Now – The VR market, which didn’t exist less than six months ago, has been taken by Oculus, Samsung and others to a growing ecosystem of games and content. Seven of the top ten apps for Gear VR are video content, and nearly 80% of users watch video content with the device. The Oculus Home Gear VR […]
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 […]
Horenstein conducts BERG and SCHOENBERG = BERG: Altenberglieder; SCHOENBERG: Verklaerte Nacht; Kammersymphonie No. 1 – Irma Kolassi, mezzo-sop./ Orch. Nat. de la Radiodiffusion Francaise (Berg)/ Orch. of SW German Radio/ Jascha Horenstein – Pristine Audio
Pristine restores the historic appearance of Berg’s Altenberglieder in their original, complete performance.
Joshua Breakstone – 2nd Avenue – The Return Of The Cello-Quartet – Capri
The album offers variety and inquisitiveness.
Lennie Tristano – Chicago, April 1951 – Uptown
A thrilling musical dialogue among musicians who are at their improvisational best.
Duke Jordan Trio – So Nice Duke – TBM Records (1982)/ MasterMusic (2014) xrcd24
Hi-res digital recording reinvigorates a thirty-year-old jazz set.
![Steve Lehman Octet – Mise en Abême [TrackList follows] – Pi Recordings](https://www.audaud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Lehman.jpg)
Steve Lehman Octet – Mise en Abême [TrackList follows] – Pi Recordings
Music which is a mirror on itself, simultaneously showing a brainy side and an engaging side.
Fred Hersch Trio – Floating – Palmetto Records
This is an eloquent trio with an extensive inventiveness.
Matt Newton – Within Reach – FTM
A harmonically interesting and stylishly nimble release.
Rob Derke and the NYJAZZ Quartet – Blue Divide – Zoho
A jazz journey which stretches from social unrest to personal growth; and from present-day conflict to hopeful future.
BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 3 = Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, “Pastorale”; Piano Sonata No. 16 in G Major; Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, “Waldstein” – Jonathan Biss, p. – Onyx
Jonathan Biss extends his persuasive grasp of the Beethoven sonatas with three works from Beethoven’s “new path” period.
Audio News for July 26, 2013
British Hi-Fi Makers Into Audio’s New High End; Huge Increase in Internet Video Streaming; Three Reasons Digital Video Needs to Rethink Its Advertising; New Orleans Trumpeter Still Going Strong at 102
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
