Given that John Williams has his pick of much of the $80-million, thrill-packed boilerplate that comes clanging out of Hollywood every summer and fall, it's especially noteworthy (and often gratifying) when he doesn't exercise his option. In scoring Alan Parker's adaptation of Frank McCourt's Pulitzer-winning memoirs of his dire Irish upbringing in the 1930s and '40s, Williams has produced a graceful, autumnal work of compelling, though decidedly delicate, emotional power. Using spare piano and solo woodwind melodies filled with longing eloquence, Williams effectively punctuates a sweeping, largely string and wind ensemble. As he did to great effect in The Phantom Menace, the veteran leans heavily on his classical moonlighting duties for inspiration. Interspersed throughout (and also effectively underscored by his music) are concise, telling excerpts of the film's narration read by Alan Bennett.
Set of Fremeaux’s definitive Integrale Django Reinhardt collection. Mastered by Daniel Nevers, there are 20 volumes of these, and each volume has 2 CDs – 40 CDs total. Each volume also comes with a fairly thick booklet with discography and notes. And the booklets and inserts have very nice B&W pictures of Django. Une réédition d’exception ! Depuis quelques années maintenant, les éditions Frémeaux ont entrepris la publication d’une intégrale des enregistrements de Django Reinhardt.
In 1970, Louis Armstrong went to the Newport Jazz Festival as a special guest to perform his own set, but also to be honored by friends and admirers on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Louis Armstrong: Good Evening Ev'rybody is a document of that event, a collection of interviews, backstage rehearsal footage, and performances. It's footage that had remained unreleased until now. The concert film is an amazing discovery, a surprising time capsule that needed to be unearthed.
Trumpeter-singer Brian Newman will release Showboat, his first album for the famed Verve label, on 16 November. It features his close friend Lady Gaga on a version of the Animals’ much-covered ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.’
Avid Jazz presents three classic Stan Getz albums - plus, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered double CD. 'Stan Getz & The Oscar Peterson Trio', 'Hamp & Getz' and 'Jazz Giants '58' plus four additional tracks from Getz and Peterson and an outtake from the Hamp- Getz album. We guess you could say that this collection of classic albums follows the theme of our super-group idea with the recent Lionel Hampton release. For our first selection, the meeting of the cool Stan Getz and the perhaps more traditional Oscar Peterson Trio would certainly rate as a meeting of jazz superstars, take a listen and find out! The old meets the new with our next album as Stan Getz joins Lionel Hampton following a meeting of the two during sessions for the Benny Goodman Movie soundtrack…
AVID Jazz presents three classic Stan Getz albums - plus, including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD. 'Stan Getz & The Oscar Peterson Trio', 'Hamp & Getz' and 'Jazz Giants' plus four additional tracks from Getz and Peterson and an outtake from the Hamp- Getz album. We guess you could say that this collection of classic albums follows the theme of our super-group idea with the recent Lionel Hampton release. ~ Amazon
Biloxi Blues was the second of playwright Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical trilogy (number one was Brighton Beach Memoirs; number three, Broadway Bound). Matthew Broderick stars as Simon's alter ego Eugene Morris Jerome, who is drafted and shipped off to boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi in the waning days of World War II. Eugene is at the mercy of near-psychotic drill sergeant Toomey (Christopher Walken), who seems to have a personal vendetta against the poor schlemiel (Toomey also has all the film's best lines). While sweating out basic training, Eugene is indoctrinated into manhood by local prostitute Rowena (Park Overall). The film version of Biloxi Blues retains the wit and poignancy of the theatrical original–except towards the end, which pointlessly emphasizes a showdown between Eugene and Toomey.