Bird Coloration

The life story of the American composer and pianist George Antheil is the tale of a multiple taming. Almost a hundred years ago the young Antheil set out to conquer Europe with his 'ultramodern' piano compositions and soon came to regard himself as the enfant terrible of contemporary music. His early concerts created sensational public scandals; audience members laughed and exchanged blows when he performed, and the press corps polarized the public. The present production follows the winding path taken by this composer with four standout works exemplifying his various creative periods. Golden Bird (1921), an exotically instrumented miniature of »Chinese coloration,« is followed by the iridescent music for the ballet Dreams (1934), which Antheil wrote in response to a commission from the famous choreographer George Balanchine. The two Serenades (1947-48) show us a composer of digestible and easily graspable music who was searching for a genuine 'American tone' and during the course of his life learned that modesty can be a key to success.

Cannonball Adderley - Sophisticated Swing (1957) {2013 Japan Jazz The Best Series 24-bit Remaster UCCU-9960}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 187 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 86 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (png) -> 119 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster | Mono
© 1957, 2013 EmArcy / Mercury / Verve / Universal Japan | UCCU-9960
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Swing / Saxophone

Sophisticated Swing is the fifth album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and his fourth released on the EmArcy label, featuring performances with Nat Adderley, Junior Mance, Sam Jones, and Jimmy Cobb. A couple of decades ago Sophisicated Swing was the title of an instrumental tune - by Will Hudson, if our memory holds up - and the music that corresponded with it had a certain sleekness that probably justified the title by the standards of that era. But today sophistication in jazz has a somewhat deeper meaning. The true jazz sophisticate has absorbed the lessons of a new musical generation, one that brought with it great advances in harmonic, melodic and rhythmic subtlety. The word "swing", too, has acquired a significance mare far-reaching than any of us could have imagined in the days of monotonous four-to-the-bar rhythm sections and comparatively limited and unimaginative syncopation.