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Thumbscrew – Convallaria – Cuneiform

Thumbscrew – Convallaria – Cuneiform

by | Apr 8, 2017 | Jazz CD Reviews

Thumbscrew – Convallaria – Cuneiform – Rune 415, 72:58 ***: An album of music that is demanding and forceful. (Mary Halvorson – guitar; Michael Formanek – doublebass; Toma Fujiwara – drums) Even after several listenings of Thumbscrew’s most recent release Convallaria, it is still a challenge to find a way to begin the review of this most eclectic album. Avant-garde jazz does not lend itself easily to interpretation, and consequently finding descriptors for the music is taxing. In medieval Europe, a thumbscrew was a torture instrument designed to crush a victim’s thumbs and fingers. The relationship of that device to the name of this trio is hard to divine unless both Halvorson and Formanek believe that playing a guitar and a bass is some form of finger torture. Certainly these two instruments can play havoc with a player’s fingers and thumbs, so perhaps there is some form of allegory here. As for the music, it might be best to start with the title track “Convallaria” and work out from there. The unhelpful liner notes offer no assistance on such essential things such as track listing, compositional accreditation, or heaven forbid, some discussion of the musical intent of the performers. Perhaps there was no money in the recording budget […]

Nick Sanders & Logan Strosahl – Janus – Sunnyside Communications

Nick Sanders & Logan Strosahl – Janus – Sunnyside Communications

by | Nov 10, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Nick Sanders & Logan Strosahl – Janus – Sunnyside Communications SSC1469, 41:40 ***: An intriguing release.  (Nick Sanders – piano; Logan Strosahl – alto & tenor saxophone) You have to give credit to Nick Sanders and Logan Strosahl for getting this album entitled Janus released. Imagine, if you will, the pitch meeting with Sunnyside Communications wherein the duo wanted to record a disc that would feature their interpretations of music from medieval, Baroque and contemporary classics, as well as bebop and modern jazz. Clearly the individuals in charge of the label thought it was worth the risk. Was it ? Both Sanders and Strosahl are first class musicians having graduated from Boston’s New England Conservatory. This is where they first encountered each other and started playing together. Clearly, they are like-minded and highly accomplished collaborators as evidenced by the first track entitled “Sigma”. This original composition by Nick Sanders flits along the jagged edges of classical/free jazz at a confident pace. Diving into jazz’s oblique territory with Thelonious Monk’s “Thelonious,” the duo demonstrates their comfort with the number as they tackle Monk’s stylistic intricacies. Another number that falls into this category is the composition “Be-Bop Tune” by the two principals, […]

RESPIGHI: Sinfonia Drammatica; Belfagor Ov. ‒ Orch. Philharmonique Royal de Liège / John Neschling ‒ BIS

RESPIGHI: Sinfonia Drammatica; Belfagor Ov. ‒ Orch. Philharmonique Royal de Liège / John Neschling ‒ BIS

by | Sep 27, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

RESPIGHI: Sinfonia Drammatica; Belfagor Ov. ‒ Orch. Philharmonique Royal de Liège / John Neschling ‒ BIS multichannel SACD BIS-2210; 70:03 (7/8/16) ****: Respighi off the beaten track. Stimulating and enjoyable. Jean-Pascal Vachon’s useful notes to this recording lay out the complex history of Ottorino Respighi’s musical education by way of explaining why this great big Sinfonia Drammatica sounds so unlike what we’ve come to think of as Respighi’s musical language. It’s easy to hear the influence of Respighi’s teacher Rimsky-Korsakov in his highly colorful and effective orchestration. In the numerous pieces based on medieval and Renaissance music (Ancient Airs and Dances, Concerto Gregoriano. Concerto in modo misolidio, The Birds, Church Windows, Metamorphosen), Respighi pays tribute to his teacher Luigi Torchi, a musicologist and expert on ancient music. In the Roman Trilogy, Respighi’s best-known works, we note that as his musical language matured, the composer took his lead increasingly from France and specifically Claude Debussy. However, the composer also studied with Giuseppe Martucci—whose music reflects the influence of his musical heroes, Schumann and Brahms—and with the echt German Romantic Max Bruch. Martucci happened also to be one of the first champions of Wagner in Italy. Small wonder, then, that early in […]

Music for Henry V and the House of Lancaster – The Binchois Consort/ Andrew Kirkman – Hyperion

Music for Henry V and the House of Lancaster – The Binchois Consort/ Andrew Kirkman – Hyperion

by | Nov 12, 2011 | Classical CD Reviews

Music for Henry V and the House of Lancaster – The Binchois Consort/ Andrew Kirkman – Hyperion 67868, 72:47 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] *****: We are here offered a tour of the musical dynasties of Henry V and Henry VI through the graces of the Wollaton Antiphonal, a collection of medieval manuscripts that are properly the property of the St. Leonard parish, but kept in the family library of Wollaton Hall from the mid-sixteenth century until 1924. It is miraculous that it did indeed escape the ravages of the Reformation. The book itself is an elaborate service manual (illuminated of course—aren’t they all?) most likely East Anglian in origin, for Sir Thomas Chatsworth, a nobleman in the East Midlands who had connections to the Plantagenet-Lancasters, and who had even fought with Henry V at Agincourt. Because of this Lancaster connection he was consequently devoted to St. John of Bridlington, essentially the patron saint of the House of Lancaster and the last English saint to be canonized before the Reformation, and Henry himself was almost fanatically attached to the religious and nationalistic-cultural associations with him as well. The music here gathered presents us with a very in-depth look at the services […]