On Ruination, once again, Virgil brings together extraordinary young talent from all parts of the globe, that delivers intensely searing, heartfelt music. Blurring the boundaries between fusion and progressive, instrumental and vocal, Virgil's most recent touring band is featured on this record - Andre Nieri guitar, Junior Braguinha bass, Chris Clark keys, along with many special guests, including Anton Davidyants and Evan Marien on bass, Julian Lage, Marco Sfogli, Carl Mörner Ringström, and Matteo Mancuso on guitar, Steve Hunt (Allan Holdsworth), Alex Argento, and a reunion of sorts, Joe Chindamo (Loose Change) on keys, and vocalist/guitarist Irwin Thomas, aka Jack Jones (Southern Sons).
With haunting, memorable melodies, the combination of writer Haruki Murakami's influence and bassist Fumi Tomita's compositions is a bold statement of Asian-American identity. "The Elephant Vanishes" interprets seven short stories by the Japanese author that draw on themes of despair, loneliness, disconnection, and self-discovery. Equally prominent are the Western pop culture references and magical elements that decorate each story. Along with saxophonist Jason Rigby, guitarist Mike Baggetta, pianist Art Hirahara and drummer Mark Micklethwaite, Tomita reimagines Murakami's literary themes, transforming them into rich musical landscapes. Active in New York City for fifteen years, Tomita is currently on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
This recording of Beethoven's 33 Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli in C major, Op. 120, by British pianist Imogen Cooper was a strong seller when it appeared in March 2019, and there appear to be several reasons why. One is the introduction of the program with the Bagatelles, Op. 119, which are not so often heard and make a fine lead-in. Cooper almost runs the bagatelles together, which one might question: each one is a distinct entity, and playing them as Cooper does loses the strangeness of, say, the 15-second Allegramente bagatelle. But Cooper seems to be asserting the unity of the set, which is reasonable even though Beethoven wrote the works at different times; some are early works, and some were newly composed for publication in 1822.
With Ninna Nanna the haunting tones, dramatic intensity and richly characterized singing of Pino De Vittorio once again grace a recording project led by Franco Pavan. Call it Wiegenlied, berceuse, nana, ninna nanna – or countless other terms from around the world – the lullaby, with the rocking of the child’s cradle, is possessed of a captivating charm, all neatly captured in this new collection with the lulling of De Vittorio’s hypnotic voice.