2.russell, S.j

The Collector's Edition - Celebrating a groundbreaking label - The true legacy of a legendary label. Long hailed as an audiophile's label, Mercury represents an important milestone in the history of classical recordings. A s The New York Times described, 'One feels oneself in the living presence of the orchestra'. 60 years after the landmark first recording, Mercury Living Presence: The Collector's Edition celebrates this special anniversary.

This disc is intended to introduce a collection of keyboard instruments in Edinburgh, Scotland, but actually it accomplishes much more. The instruments featured here were built all over Europe, with the majority from the British Isles or France. They date from between 1586 and 1810, with the first example being an Italian virginal and the final one a fortepiano. Along the way come harpsichords of various kinds, a clavichord, and a small organ. Brief but relevant and engaging histories are given for each instrument.

It's a shame this and the earlier Classics collection split up the bandleader's prime 1930 recordings, but such is the way of a strictly chronological series. Those wanting just one disc that covers most of Russell's best work will want to pick up JSP's Savoy Shout disc, which includes 22 cuts from 1929-1930. But for collectors in need of all of the recordings Russell cut before Louis Armstrong practically swallowed up his band whole in 1934, the two Classics discs will certainly do the trick. And while this later disc pales a bit to the 1926-1930 collection, its first half does feature classic work from Russell's band and its spin-off combo, J.C. Higginbotham and His Six Hicks. Along with Higginbotham's own irrepressible trombone work, these sides also offer a wealth of solo treats from such band standouts as trumpeter Henry Allen and saxophonists Charlie Holmes and Albert Nicholas. The later 1931 and 1934 recordings might not match up to earlier classics like "Panama" and "Song of the Swanee," but they still include enough fine performances amongst the filler to keep the quality level up. A worthwhile disc, but one that's probably best suited for Russell completists.

Considered by many to be the finest jazz trombonist of all time, J.J. Johnson somehow transferred the innovations of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to his more awkward instrument, playing with such speed and deceptive ease that at one time some listeners assumed he was playing valve (rather than slide) trombone. Johnson toured with the territory bands of Clarence Love and Snookum Russell during 1941-1942, and then spent 1942-1945 with Benny Carter's big band. He made his recording debut with Carter (taking a solo on "Love for Sale" in 1943), and played at the first JATP concert (1944)…

Philip Glass' 1987 album Songs from the Trilogy is made up of brief selections from his three portrait operas, Einstein on the Beach (1976), Satyagraha (1980), and Akhnaten (1983). It gives a good idea of what the music from the operas sounds like, but at the same time it misrepresents what the music is actually about. In developing his "music with repetitive structures" (the description he preferred over "minimalism"), Glass was creating a new kind of experience, one in which the traditional temporal expectations of a piece of music are overturned, where changes happen incrementally and very slowly over a long (sometimes a very long) span of time.