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American First Sonatas – Sonatas by REINAGLE, MACDOWELL, GRIFFES & SIEGMEISTER – Cecile Licad, p. – Danacord

American First Sonatas – Sonatas by REINAGLE, MACDOWELL, GRIFFES & SIEGMEISTER – Cecile Licad, p. – Danacord

by | Dec 20, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

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 […]

Bryan Nichols (solo piano) – Looking North – Shifting Paradigm

Bryan Nichols (solo piano) – Looking North – Shifting Paradigm

by | Aug 8, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Pianist Bryan Nichols takes listeners northward. Bryan Nichols (solo piano) – Looking North [TrackList follows] – Shifting Paradigm SP-119 46:20 [5/27/16] ****: The American upper-Midwest is a location of placid beauty: wintery landscapes, warm summer nights, windswept countryside, and lonely rural roads; forests, lakes, towns, and families. Minnesota is the place which permeates Bryan Nichols’ first solo piano album, the aptly titled Looking North. Nichols grew up in what is known as the Star of the North, spent time in Iowa and Chicago, and then returned home. The ten tracks on Looking North (eight originals and two regional cover tunes) form a centralized narrative which surveys raising children and being married; living amid nature; and the act of musical creation. Minneapolis-St. Paul and the surrounding Minnesota area isn’t widely acknowledged by outsiders as having a thriving jazz community, but in reality Nichols is part of a first-rate jazz fellowship. The Bad Plus is probably the most recognized jazz group from Minneapolis. Nichols is friends with Bad Plus drummer Dave King, who is also active in the less-familiar Minnesota jazz trio, Happy Apple. Happy Apple’s 1997 debut had an important impact on Nichols as a teen discovering jazz, so when Nichols […]

Denny Zeitlin, solo piano – Early Wayne – Sunnyside Communications

Denny Zeitlin, solo piano – Early Wayne – Sunnyside Communications

by | Aug 2, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Denny Zeitlin, solo piano – Early Wayne –  Sunnyside Communications SSC1456, 69:59 ****: A dynamic, percussive, pianist with a gift for illuminating modern jazz that is harmonically articulate. In 1978, the late American psychiatrist M. Scott Peck published a book entitled The Road Less Travelled which purports to be a description of the attributes that make for a fulfilled human being. This is not meant to suggest that pianist/psychiatrist Denny Zeitlin does not have a fulfilled life. But rather it propounds that he has successfully developed his career on his own terms, following a path that is free of the shibboleths that might constrain his creative ideas. His current release Solo Piano: Early Wayne is a continuation of this voyage. A number of  Wayne Shorter’s compositions featured here, were written during the period  from 1964 to 1970, when he was a member of The Miles Davis Quintet. His compositions were intricately structured with meandering contours that allowed for a variety of interpretations which Denny Zeitlin has embraced. “Speak No Evil”is a perfect introduction to this recital, as Zetlin demonstrates his eloquent flexibility and dependable curiosity. Wayne Shorter, who is now eighty-two years old, and has achieved iconic status, continues to […]

Frank Kimbrough – Meantime – Newvelle (vinyl)

Frank Kimbrough – Meantime – Newvelle (vinyl)

by | May 4, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

Tasty prix fixe jazz… Frank Kimbrough – Meantime – Newvelle NV001LP – vinyl ***1/2: (Frank Kimbrough – piano; Andrew Zimmerman – tenor sax; Riley Mulherkar – trumpet; Chris Van Vorst Van Beest – bass; RJ Miller – drums) There are those that love the best life has to offer. (Within reasonable limits) they pursue fine food, fine wine, and aural treats as well. For audiophiles, 180 gm vinyl has always fit the bill, even in times when digital releases smothered the market. There is a warmth and presence that a well-recorded and pressed analog LP has always claimed. A new marketing strategy by Newvelle Records will appeal to this market. They are offering a subscription series (beginning at $350) for six audiophile 180 gm LPs to be issued bi-monthly over the next year. Newvelle’s goal is to keep the signal chain short and clean utilizing vintage and tube microphones. Promising the best acoustics, recorded at East Side Sound in NYC, and pressed at MPO in France, the subscription features six intriguing titles. Besides the initial Frank Kimbrough issue, they include a solo piano recording by Jack DeJohnette, a Don Friedman Trio tribute to Booker Little, and Ben Allison Trio’s homage […]