German baritone saxophonist and composer Kira Linn presents her latest work Illusion, alongside her six-piece band – the Linntett. The album moves in genres ranging from pop to jazz and indie to electro, neo-soul and R&B, played by three saxophones (Linn on baritone, Nino Wenger on alto and Christoper Kunz on tenor) as well as Rhodes (Lukas Großmann), electric bass (Lukas Keller) and drums (Johannes Koch).
Although they never enjoyed the national fame, Linn County was one of the most musically sound, in-demand and highly admired outfits in the Bay area. To trace the roots of Linn County's genealogy, one must venture back to their early days to the home state of Iowa when they were known as the Prophets. An unusual late-'60s band that combined horn-embellished soul-rock with more interesting material utilizing jazz-colored arrangements and somewhat spacy songwriting. There were few parallels for this kind of thing at the time, other than perhaps the only slightly less obscure Insect Trust.
In 1968, the band signed with Mercury Records, moved to San Francisco, California, and changed its name to Linn County…
Mute and Spoon are pleased to announce the release of VILLA WUNDERBAR, on 4 November 2013, a 2CD set, compiling the work of Can founder Irmin Schmidt’s solo and soundtrack work, including two unreleased Can remixes and a collection of soundtrack pieces personally compiled by long-term collaborator Wim Wenders. CD1 is a compilation of Irmin Schmidt’s extensive work as a solo artist over the past 30 years, whilst CD2 – selected and presented by the filmmaker Wim Wenders – is an insight into Schmidt’s vast work as a composer for film and television for which Wenders has written extensive sleeve notes. The two CD compilation includes tracks such as Villa Wunderbar, Kick On The Floods and Bohemian Step, alongside unreleased remixes by Schmidt of two Can tracks, Alice and Last Night Sleep.
This German version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, with set and costumes by Ita Maximowna, dates from the year 1967. The Hamburg State Opera Choir and the Philharmonic State Orchestra of Hamburg are conducted by Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, who worked as the opera company’s first conductor between 1935 and 1942 as well as from 1945 to 1971 and was chief conductor of the North German Radio Orchestra, which he had personally been responsible for reorganizing in the post-war years. It may come as a surprise to learn that the singers, all of whom are now international stars, were drawn exclusively from the Hamburg State Opera ensemble - further proof of Rolf Liebermann’s skill in identifying up-and-coming musicians!
Polish trumpeter / composer Piotr Schmidt returns, undeterred by the pandemic that is changing the face of our globe, to share with us some joyful moments inspired by the music we love so much.
inexplicably, both these Quintets by Bruckner and Schmidt are rarely performed and recorded. One demands to know why these magnificent works are not part of the standard repertoire. Here the scores are given performances of the strongest advocacy by the Vienna Philharmonia Quintet. The recordings were made for Decca over thirty years ago and they remain among the finest examples of late-Romantic chamber music on record.
I became sceptical when I noted that such a young singer had chosen to record at once these two late sets by Brahms and Wolf. They ought to be the province of baritones and basses (preferably the latter) of mature years, who have garnered the vocal and emotional experience to make the most of two of the profoundest compositions in all the field of Lieder. My scepticism was all too readily confirmed in listening to Schmidt tackle each.
“In conversations about Franz Schmidt the recurring theme emerging for many is that listening to a performance of his music at a young age became the turning point in their lives the realization of how powerful music can be,” says Jonathan Berman, whose longtime love of Franz Schmidt’s work has its origins in a performance preparation for his Fourth Symphony.