sound Archive
Jeff RUPERT & Richard DREXLER – Imagination – MediaRupe
Jeff RUPERT & Richard DREXLER – Imagination – MediaRupe 016 CD, 57:52 (1/2/17) ****: (Jeff Rupert; tenor sax/ Richard Drexler; piano) Two University of Central Florida instructors go deep into a mid-80s Stan Getz bag. It was John Coltrane himself who famously said of his contemporary/rival Stan Getz, “Let’s face it. We would all sound like that if we could.” As it turned out, Coltrane had the more numerous imitators and followers, yet the Getz sound has not lost its magic, nor has the critical esteem for his supreme lyrical gifts waned. They represent nearly unattainable ideals within the jazz tradition. Thus, it is all the more surprising to come upon an Orlando-based musician who has mastered down to the details this style and can pass for a persuasive facsimile of Mr. Getz himself on “Imagination,” a duet with fellow University of Central Florida music program instructor Richard Drexler. The live performance takes place at the White House, an Orlando institution founded by Cirque du Soleil musical director Benoit Glazer. In front of an appreciative crowd, Rupert steps up to the mike and delivers a most exacting personification of Getz at his best on “Without a Song.” Sustained notes contain […]
Leo Genovese – Argentinosaurus – Newvelle vinyl
Leo Genovese – Argentinosaurus – Newvelle NV006LP vinyl, 37:12 ****: An intricate jazz pianist is captured on high quality vinyl! (Leo Genovese – piano; Esperanza Spalding – double bass, vocals; Jack DeJohnette – drums, melodica) Jazz fans are known for their purist dedication to high-quality audio recording. The surge of vinyl records in the last few years supports this context. Jazz pianist Elan Mehler (with his business partner Jean-Christophe Morisseau) has taken this business model a step further. Jazz fans can buy 6 albums, exclusively by subscription, for $400. This “crowdfunding” approach is unique. The music is recorded digitally (at East Side Sound Studios) at 24-bit 88.2 kHz and then mixed to vinyl with analog consoles. The 180-gram vinyl pressing is done in France (MPO). The Kickstart label has released albums every two months and feature Frank Kimbrough, Jack DeJohnette, Don Friedman, Ben Allison, Noah Preminger and Leo Genovese. Argentinosaurus is Genovese’s contribution to the Newvelle subscription series. It is an eclectic, complex assortment of musical interpretations that pushes the constraints of jazz genres. Side A opens with an original composition (“Chacarera Y Mas”) that features some vocals by Esperanza Spalding. After her ethereal singing, the complex integration of these […]
“French Music” – works of CHAUSSON: Sym. in B-flat; Poeme de L’Amour; DEBUSSY: Printemps – Praga Digitals
The colorful, Symbolist scores of Ernest Chausson receive classic accounts by Munch and Barbirolli. French Music = CHAUSSON: Symphony in B-flat Major, Op. 20; Poeme de L’Amour et de la Mer, Op .19; DEBUSSY: Printemps – Symphonic Suite – Kathleen Ferrier, contr./ Halle Orch./ Sir John Barbirolli/ Boston Sym. Orch./ Charles Munch (Chausson Symphony and Debussy) – Praga Digitals PRD 250 345, 74:58 (11/25/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: Artur Nikisch conducted Ernest Chausson’s Symphonie in 1897, earning the work the epithet “masterpiece” in Paris, Brussels and Barcelona, on a par with Beethoven’s or Schumann’s symphonies. My own first exposure to this scintillating, exciting work came via Dimitri Mitropoulos and the Minneapolis Symphony on CBS (ML 4141), then soon after, with Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony on Bluebird LP (LBC 1056). The Symphony (1890) owes many debts to Cesar Franck in terms of structure and its cyclic arrangement of themes. Charles Munch directs a performance from Boston 26 February 1962. The Chausson Symphony enjoys from Munch and his responsive BSO a spacious and ominous opening Lent, whose motivic elements will return at the work’s conclusion to bring cyclic closure to the composition. The horn and bassoon apply the melody […]
GLAZUNOV: Sym. 4 & 5; Seasons ballet (excerpts) – Praga Digitals
Why stereo SACD for such poor Soviet recordings, when standard CD would have been fine? GLAZUNOV: Sym. 4 & 5; Seasons ballet (excerpts) – Praga Digitals stereo-only hi-res SACD PRD/DSD 350 129, 79:23 (11/4/16) [Distr. by Naxos] ***: While these are truly great performances conducted by the great Mravinsky, these original Soviet recordings date from 1948 thru 1969 and are uniformly terrible, as most Russian recordings of this period are. Praga Digitals seem to have mostly given up on their SACDs of great past performances and are releasing them generally on standard CD, so why this one is on SACD I do not know. Glazunov was a rather conservative Russian composer, music teacher and conductor. He was director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1905-1928, and Shostakovich was his most famous student. These are certainly fine performances of the two symphonies, but the poor sound is a strong vote against them. Mravinsky opted to conduct the conservative Glazunov works, but he preferred to do “banned works” such as those by Prokofiev and the young Stravinsky. The full subtitle of the album is “Tribute to Glazunov in his Native St. Petersburg During the Soviet Period.” The Seasons ballet of 1900 is […]
Pyramid – The Modern Jazz Quartet (1959-60) – HDTT DVD-Audio and Atlantic CD
Terrific fidelity for Modern Jazz Quartet lovers but a short program. Pyramid – The Modern Jazz Quartet (1959-60) [TrackList follows] – HDTT DVD-Audio (10/25/90) and Atlantic (LP1325) ****: HDTT began by making very high-quality transfers to DVD-Audios of two-track tapes (which also play on most DVD decks). Then they moved into 4-track tapes, and this one is from an Atlantic 4-track tape played on highly advanced gear. Lately they have even moved into transfers of original stereo LPs as well as multichannel Blu-rays and downloads. Their site search failed to find their cover for this 192K/24-bit DVD-A disc, so the cover here is of the original Atlantic CD, which Amazon does have, and which is different. It also has seven additional tracks that this disc lacks, as indicated below. The personnel are the same thruout, and the MJQ has long been one of my favorite jazz groups for their unusual John Lewis-originated music and their stage presence of formal rigor – just like a classical quartet. They were a reference point that widened the world of jazz, to be accepted even in conservatories. The long title number is in 3/4 time and all the music is terrific. There have been […]
HAYDN: Piano Sonatas Nos. 31, 33, 47 & 59 – Enrique Bagaria, p. – Eudora
JOSEPH HAYDN: Piano Sonatas Nos. 31, 33, 47 & 59 – Enrique Bagaria, p. – Eudora multichannel SACD-1601 (4/1/16) *****: (Enrique Bagaria – piano) A buoyant Haydn recital acts as a corrective to dampened spirits. As strife and gloom stalk the land, I find myself retreating into an ever-smaller enclosure until I realize that it has become a dark cell. Call it the “miserable self.” The desolation is mirrored in the faces of my artistic friends. One states, “We need our music more than ever.” But another, the skeptic, ripostes. “If philosophy couldn’t show Wittgenstein’s fly the way out of the bottle, we shouldn’t expect music to persuade the forces of darkness.” On the grim edge of history, we need far more than cheering up, but perhaps an immediate affirmation of the permanently beautiful would not be a bad place to start. This affirmation appears in the form of a disc from Spain, Enrique Bagaria Plays Haydn Piano Sonatas. What can this well-chosen music deliver? I have already encountered this Madrid-based label Eudora, and my review of the Bach Cello Suites played by Petrit Ceku can be found on this site. That high-resolution recording was nothing less than astounding in […]
The Marx Brothers = The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup – Blu-ray (3)
A Silver Screen Blu-ray collection of the first five (and funniest) Marx Bros. movies. The Marx Brothers = The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, Duck Soup – Blu-ray (3) (1929-1933/2016) Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont Directors: Victor Heerman, Norman Z. McLeod, Joseph Santley, Robert Florey, Leo McCarey Studio: Paramount/ Universal Studios Home Ent. 61181320 (10/18/16) Video: 1:33 for 4:3 B&W Audio: English mono PCM Subtitles: English SDH, French Extras: See below Length: TT: 408 min. Rating: ***** At least three of the four Marx Brothers are the reigning kings of comedy on film and they remain one of the most iconic comic teams of all time. And these – their first five films for Paramount – are the most hilarious of all their work – the later ones for MGM get more serious are are not filled with comedy sketches, witty dialogue and plenty of gags like these five. The first one, from 1929, was actually the first all-talking and music sound film – The Jazz Singer only has a part with sync sound. And this was when many films had the sound on separate discs that had to be synced […]
“Encores: BACH, HANDEL, TELEMANN, MOZART” – Polish Ch. Orch. /Jerzy Maksymiuk – MD&G
“Encores: BACH, HANDEL, TELEMANN, MOZART” – Polish Chamber Orchestra /Jerzy Maksymiuk – MD&G 3210181-2, 50:01 [Dist. by E1] (9/30/16) ***: Some of this CD makes a good demo. B01IG479L4 Just making it onto the US market, this MD&G from 1984 features the great Polish Chamber Orchestra under its legendary conductor Jerzy Maksymiuk in early digital sound that was already being tamed by the Detmold Tonmeisters. It’s not true of all the tracks, but there are moments when you understand MD&G’s reputation for making music and sound indivisible: at the beginning of the slow movement of CPE Bach’s Cello Concerto in A Major Wq 172, in what sounds like an well-upholstered, pre-Urtext edition, when the strings have almost a two-minute introduction, you can hear such sculpted detail, especially in the middle and lower strings, that when Ewa Wasiotka enters with that famous melody, so beautiful (and an octave higher than usually played) the contrast is breathtaking. On the other hand, they use a phantasmagoric edition for Handel’s Queen of Sheba Sinfonia that is so deliriously filled with re-orchestrations, added trills and ornaments, and recorded in hi-res surround with such spectacular brilliance, that it should become an iconic demo track. The rest of […]
“Trios from Our Homelands” = REBECCA CLARKE: Piano Trio; ARNO BABAJANIAN: Piano Trio; MARTIN: Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises – Lincoln Trio – Cedille
A lovely disc of neglected and highly worthy trios. “Trios from our Homelands” = REBECCA CLARKE: Piano Trio; ARNO BABAJANIAN: Piano Trio in f-sharp; FRANK MARTIN: Trio sur des mélodies populaires irlandaises – Lincoln Trio – Cedille 90000 165, 1:04:08 (8/12/16) [Distr. by Naxos] *****: The three members of the Lincoln Trio are using their varied ethnic backgrounds as the premise for this superb collection of little-known but outstanding piano trios. None will be very well-known to most people, though the Trio on Popular Irish Melodies, an early work of no little importance, will be recognized by some. Martin is a greatly underrated, underestimated, and certainly underperformed composer whose music is always rewarding. For those put off by some of the later, more complex works, this Trio is a grand place to start, an open invitation to a sound world that would increasingly develop in sophistication and melodic imagination as time went on. Most astute listeners know the name of Rebecca Clarke even though they can’t name one piece by her that they have heard. This 1922 Trio is remarkable for its vigorous technical difficulties, couched in a mélange of on-the-fence late romantic harmonies and nicely-crafted melodic lines. Though British, […]
BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique – Royal Concertgebouw Orch. /Daniele Gatti – RCO
BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 (1830) – Royal Concertgebouw Orch. /Daniele Gatti – rec. live, April 1 & 3, 2016 – RCO multichannel SACD RCO16006, 57:30 (9/9/16) [Dist. by Naxos] ** 1/2: Not the fire I would expect from Gatti and Berlioz. Daniele Gatti has been helming the Concertgebouw for two years, replacing Mariss Jansons who stepped down after 11 years. Jensons’ years there were generally considered a bit too laid back by many critics, who felt the orchestra was idling in neutral. Gatti’s appointment as Chief Conductor was widely applauded. He’s a consummate musician, and has brought some fresh thinking to many classical works. That said, this recording of the Berlioz Symphony fantastique is a bit of a puzzlement. The performance seems subdued, and not a pure reflection of the excitement Berlioz designed for the work. It’s clinical, and a polar opposite to the famous (infamous) Leonard Bernstein performance from 1963 that may be one of the best known recordings of the symphony. My favorite interpretation was Colin Davis who led the Concertbouw in 1974 and it’s still available on a remastered Decca CD. Certainly, Gatti gets the details right, and he’s in complete control of the orchestra, but […]
“Latino Ladino – Songs of Exile & Passion From Spain” – Ensemble Barrocade/ Ensemble NAYA – Naxos
“Latino Ladino – Songs of Exile & Passion From Spain” – Ensemble Barrocade/ Ensemble NAYA – Naxos 8.2, 66:54 (7-8-16) *****: Unusual folkish music and poetry of Sephardic and other cultures of the 17th century. Extraordinary stuff here, achingly personal and exquisitely lyrical. It’s music and poetry of numerous persecuted and exiled minority cultures that flourished throughout the Mediterranean and South America during the 17th century, the experience of these displaced communities retaining powerful resonance today. What makes this recording of these ancient reflections on beauty, love, joy and sorrow so profoundly expressive of basic human feelings and needs is the haunting voice and vulnerable phrasing of Yaniv d’Or’s haunting countertenor, backed by a folkish Baroque instrumental backdrop that suggests a Fellini fantasy. Singing a deeply moving succession of the ancient story-telling songs linked to European ballad tradition called romancas, the narratives on cultural traditions such as holidays, food and scriptural stories, called coplas; and love songs in the lyric tradition called cantigas, d’Or shows why he has established an international reputation in music from Cavalli and Gluck to Henze and John Wolf Brennan. The outstanding backing musicians, virtuosos steeped in history, represent an international polyglot: The Ensemble NAYA was […]
Esperanza Spalding – Emily’s D+Evolution – Concord
Esperanza Spalding – Emily’s D+Evolution [TrackList follows] – Concord CRE-38265-02, 45:29 (3/04/16) ****: Enter stage right: Esperanza’s artistic evolution! While jazz is predominantly the style you’ll hear emit from her work, Esperanza Spalding transcends the genre on her new full-length album, Emily’s D+Evolution, which shows many alternative and rock-influenced styles, with a passionate theatrical element to the sound. Spalding worked closely with producer Tony Visconti, David Bowie’s primary producer, on several tracks on the album – which could have helped give her this edge. Lyrically, the album pays tribute to her journey by telling the story of Emily, which is Esperanza’s middle name, but also the spirit-muse whose story unfolds throughout this incredibly complex album. At first listen, I initially was unsure of allowing the music to guide my ear on the journey – as it was difficult to define what I was hearing! What pulled me in was giving my attention to the vocals, which have a beautiful unfettered quality displaying her intuitive confidence in every track. Emily sings from the heart. Whether singing as more of a melodic accompaniment, or stealing the stage with her a cappella speak-acting – you can tell that there is not one regretful […]
FRANCK: Piano Quintet in f minor; DEBUSSY: String Quartet – Takacs Quartet/ Marc-Andre Hamelin, p. – Hyperion
Wonderful performances of some lesser heard masterworks. CÉSAR FRANCK: Piano Quintet in f minor; CLAUDE DEBUSSY: String Quartet in g minor – Takacs Quartet/ Marc-Andre Hamelin, p. – Hyperion CDA68061, 62:25 (5/22/16) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****: While Debussy and his music are widely known, his string quartet – an immensely lovely sole work of its type – is certainly less familiar than his orchestral works and much of his piano music. Countryman César Franck is, regrettably, a much less familiar composer save the Symphony in D minor or, perhaps, his orchestral poem Le Chausseur Maudit (“The Accursed Huntsman”.) So, this simply beautiful paring is very welcome and, for me, especially having the Franck Piano Quintet. The amazing Takacs Quartet has recorded for Hyperion before and often in this combination of a piano quintet work and a similarly-styled string quartet. The Franck is a big, beautiful and passionate work; one that actually earned the composer a lot of vilification at the time for its sweeping Romanticism – simply not “French” enough, it seemed. The piano truly controls the opening movement, and Marc-Andre Hamelin’s sensitivity to the style bolsters the sensual nature of Franck’s writing. The Takács Quartet becomes equally engaged […]
Van Morrison – It’s Too Late to Stop Now – Sony /Exile/Legacy (2 vinyls)
Whetting the appetite for more Van… Van Morrison – It’s Too Late to Stop Now – Sony /Exile/Legacy 88985323261 – two vinyl LPs (1973/2016) ***1/2: (Van Morrison – vocals; Jeff Labes – piano and organ; John Platania – guitar; David Hayes – bass; Dahaud Shaar – drums; Jack Schroer – saxophones; Bill Atwood – trumpet; Nathan Rubin, Tim Kovatch, Tom Halpin – violins; Nancy Ellis – viola; Terry Adams – cello) B01EMP3X20 Recorded in the Summer of 1973 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Civic Center, and the Rainbow Theater in London, Van Morrison was in the prime of his life (not like he has lost much over the years), and had one of his most potent backing bands, the 11 piece Caledonia Soul Orchestra in tow. The horns were tight, the string backing was professional and Van had already recorded Astral Weeks and Moondance. Eight sets from tour performances were used, recorded on two-inch 16-track analog tapes. There were no overdubs or studio induced “sweeteners” applied. Legacy Recordings has recently re-released the two LPs in remastered 24 bit hi-res sound (also in 2 CDs) as an enticement for their three volume CD/ single DVD of unreleased […]
BRAHMS: Clarinet Quintet in b; Hindemith: Clarinet Quintet – Raphael Severe, clar./ Quatour Prazak – Mirare
Two German clarinet quintets from opposed aesthetics find brilliant realization in these performances from Prague. BRAHMS: Clarinet Quintet in b, Op. 115; Hindemith: Clarinet Quintet, Op. 30 – Raphael Severe, clarinet/ Quatour Prazak – Mirare MIR 282, 58:00 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****: Recorded February and May 2015, these two German clarinet quintets in diametrically opposing styles feature the young French clarinet virtuoso Raphael Severe, who has already gained prestige for his mellifluous talent. The 1891 Brahms Clarinet Quintet remains his most glorious autumnal work, the expression of a man who had already “dismissed” his creative energy, only to have found renewal in his meeting with Richard Muehfeld of the Meiningen Orchestra. Romantic in content and classical in its form, the Brahms Quintet takes its cue from the works of Mozart and Weber in the same format. The emotional constituent remains primarily nostalgia, tinted by hints of gypsy influence and Mozart’s penchant for variations. After two idyllic movements, the third reveals – as in the Symphony No. 1 – the composer’s taste for five-bar phrases and a more spacious sonority. The fourth movement, a series of variants, allows each member of the string quartet, besides the solo clarinet, to participate […]
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Leonard Bernstein – DGG (2 vinyls)
MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 – Vienna Philharmonic Orch./ Leonard Bernstein – Deutsche Grammophon 479580-7, 64 mins. remastered vinyl (2 discs), (3/25/16) *****: Mahler’s Fifth spread over two 33 vinyls… If you’re a vinyl freak and need massive orchestral recordings to show how loud you can play without exploding your portion of the known universe, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is a good place to start. And Leonard Bernstein’s live performance with the Vienna Philharmonic in September 1987, which was always like mainlining the whole Mahler experience in just over an hour, is even more so a mind-bending experience now that the grooves have expanded onto two 180g vinyl LPs. Everything is bigger than life, dynamic range is wider, textures are denser and more Technicolor, and in the pivotal first movement, the terrifying Funeral March with the trumpet of death playing what Tom Morgan’s excellent liner notes call “a repeated tattoo,” Bernstein is two to three minutes slower than any of the competition, like a beast slouching from the Opera House in Frankfurt am Main, where the performance took place. It is immense. Curiously, Bernstein’s speeds, first movement apart, and general joyous yet angst-ridden demeanor match the essential outlines if not the heavyweight […]
********** Ben Webster – The Warm Moods ********** With orch. arr. & cond. by Johnny Richards – Reprise/Pure Pleasure vinyl
A wonderful long and intimate vinyl session with Ben Webster. * Ben Webster – The Warm Moods [TrackList follows] – With orch. arr. & cond. by Johnny Richards – Reprise (also Discovery) R9-2001 (1960)/ Pure Pleasure (2015) [11/6/15] *****: What a sound! I had thought Stan Getz was my favorite saxist, but now I’m sure it’s Ben Webster. Having just spent nearly an hour with my best headphones, lying down and listening to this album, I feel there is no better sax player ever than Webster. The way he brings a warm and full sound to each and every note is unsurpassed by anyone. The unique breathy tone he achieves is like no other, and can be immediately identified as Ben Webster. The fine arrangements and conducting by Johnny Richards also make this a winning album in any form, and especially on this superb 180-gram vinyl pressing from Pure Pleasure, which has absolutely no hint of surface noise, even on headphones. It’s interesting and very odd that the liner notes on the original release by Nat Hentoff don’t make the slightest mention of Johnny Richards. There are a couple paragraphs at the end which do list the personnel on the session and […]
********* MULTICHANNEL DISC OF THE MONTH ********* Under the Wing of the Rock – Music by BRITTEN, BEAMISH, KRAGGERUD, NORDHEIM AND THOMMESSEN – 2L
Infrequently heard music beautifully recorded.
“Patagon” = CINDY COX: Elegy for Solo Violin; Columba aspexit; Patagon – Alexander String Q. – Foghorn Classics
An enlivening release by an enlightened composer sets the stage for some great listening.
What’s Going On/Taste – Live at Isle Of Wight – Blu-ray (2015)
The last show by a top rock group and great guitarist, Rory Gallagher.
Stan Getz — Captain Marvel – Columbia /Pure Pleasure – vinyl
A fine Getz session, in which the reissue is identical to the original.
WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman, Blu-ray (2015)
The modernist liberties with the set design are really strange.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
