Clarion 2.2.2

When recording Bach's 199 sacred cantatas, various strategies have been employed to impose meaningful order on them. There's the "everything from BWV 1 to BWV 199" approach, the "everything in the church year" approach, and the less frequently employed "everything in chronological order" approach, adopted here by the Purcell Quartet. In this the second volume in the series, the four works come from Bach's Weimar period, specifically from 1714 and 1715: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12 (Weeping, sighing, sorrowing, crying); Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt, BWV 18 (For as the rain and snow fall down from heaven); Nun Komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61 (Now come, the heathen's Savior); and Komm, du süsse Todesstunde, BWV 161 (Come, sweet hour of my death).

Philippe Pierlot and the Ricercar Consort's 2006 recording of Bach's Magnificat brings back the glory days of historically informed performances, those halcyon days in the 1980s when musicians, empowered by scholarship and energized by virtuosity, were recording the Baroque repertoire with the zeal of the newly converted. Though Pierlot and his musicians are of a younger generation, they bring a missionary fervor to the music, a program of Bach's Magnificat, BWV 243, and Missa Brevis, BWV 235, interspersed with two well-chosen organ works, the Fuga sopra il Magnificat, BWV 733, and the Präludium und Fuga, BWV 541. Pierlot's textures are clean, his rhythms buoyant, his colors bright, and tempos brisk, but not rushed in the fast movements, and contemplative but not moribund in the slow movements.

Cecil Taylor - The Owner of the River Bank (2003) {Enja Records ENJ-9465 2 rec 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 356 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 145 Mb
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© 2000, 2003 Enja Records | ENJ-9465 2
Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Piano

The single piece by Cecil Taylor lasts an hour. It was recorded during the second of two concerts given to celebrate the first ten years of the Italian Instabile Orchestra. This was part of the Talos Festival in Ruvo di Puglia, in Southern Italy, on September 10, 2000. From the sounds of an orchestra warming up, to a subdued conclusion that rumbles deeply and insignificantly, Taylor’s piece takes his audience on a journey through scenery that changes gradually and often. Indistinct human voices can be heard along the way; so can the sounds of trumpet valves clacking, saxophone keys tapping, reed mouthpieces chattering, brass mouthpieces kissing, and tympani rolling along.

RevOla compilation from recordings from end of 40ties and early 50ties with front cover of jazz suite from 1952. This Second Suite is marked by distinctively darker colours right at the onset of the first movement. The five trumpets heed the clarion calling of the three trombones, while the bongos keep the pulse of the piece going…

Eddy Louiss - Sentimental Feeling (1999) {Dreyfus Jazz FDM 36600-2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 358 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 139 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 16 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1999 Dreyfus Jazz | FDM 36600-2
Jazz / Post Bop / Hard Bop / Organ

French national Louiss is well known in Europe as a premier organist. It's unlikely that anyone has attempted what he's done here, save for Fleetwood Mac and the U.S.C. Trojan Marching Band on "Tusk." He combines his trio with a 40 member horn band he calls Fanfare. Perhaps bizarre for those used to the standard organ combo set-up, nonetheless it is a stylistically unique sound and approach.