December's End Thirst For Rain (2010)

French composers had taken little interest in the cello until the 1870s when three wonderful masterpieces were written. Orchestre National de Lyon led by Emmanuel Krivine accompanies the magnificent, Anne Gastinel in performances of cello works by Saint-Saëns, Lalo and Fauré. The vigour, elegance and charm of Saint-Saëns, the expressiveness, imagination and exotic touch of Lalo, the humanity, feeling and depth of Fauré: these three works sum up the spirit of French music.

Frank Bungarten has taken on a significant task: an entire album of works by legendary Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. The composer's music is lush, complex, and richly textured, which is not a surprise given that Villa-Lobos was classically trained. But Villa-Lobos also incorporated inspiration from music of native Brazilian peoples and African cultures, so one cannot consider him purely a formal art music composer. Thus it takes a very skilled musician to be able to technically master the music and to convey the emotion and rhythms. Bungarten is perhaps most successful in the first set of works, Suite populaire brésilienne, which is a set of five dances.

That music is close to the heart of Swedish world class trombonist Nils Landgren can be heard in every single note of his playing - whether with his Funk Unit, his duos with Esbjörn Svensson or his ballad albums.
His band Funk Unit soon get into to a rootsy, raw groove with kicking tracks such as "Funk For Life" and "Finish What You Started". Tightly honed funk nuggets have been lovingly crafted by this gifted bunch of scandinavian souleros, it's all here blistering trombone, deep in the pocket drumming, crisp and choice guitar melded together by floaty keyboards.
Nils voice sounds on it too and the vocal harmonies that weave in and out of his compositions really add a touch of class to this already funk enflamed flagship. Highlight for me is "Matutu" the dirty synth, reminiscent of funkadelic really steals the show and Nils treated trombone just adds its own special flava to this bangin' broth!

French composers had taken little interest in the cello until the 1870s when three wonderful masterpieces were written. Orchestre National de Lyon led by Emmanuel Krivine accompanies the magnificent, Anne Gastinel in performances of cello works by Saint-Saëns, Lalo and Fauré. The vigour, elegance and charm of Saint-Saëns, the expressiveness, imagination and exotic touch of Lalo, the humanity, feeling and depth of Fauré: these three works sum up the spirit of French music.