There's a tendency on the part of some performers to play Beethoven's First and Second Piano Concertos as if they were really by Mozart–all elegance, poise, and refinement. Happily, Boris Berezovsky finds the Beethovenian fire burning beneath the Mozartian surface. Right from his vibrant entrance in Concerto No. 1, Berezovsky plays with fierce energy (despite his generally light touch) and a clearly discernible enjoyment. This is matched Thomas Dausgaard's equally electric reading of the orchestral part, which in many ways reminds me of the classic Szell/Fleisher recording. Of course the small-scale sound of the 38-member Swedish Chamber Orchestra cannot possibly equal the full sonority of the Cleveland Orchestra in its heyday, but it's remarkable how Szell's clear textures and crisp articulation match Dausgaard's, who, by the way, is using the new Barenreiter editions. Berezovsky seems to be of like mind with Fleisher, at least terms of his singing tone and mercurial style.
Like it or not, Public Image Limited's First Issue (aka Public Image) was an album that helped set the pace for what eventually became known as post-punk. In England a vacuum had opened up in the wake of the breakup of the Sex Pistols in January 1978, and many punk fans and rival groups were impatient to see what ex-Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon aka "Johnny Rotten" was going to roll out next…
UK band Section IV was formed in January 2011. The band comprises of J. Ruddock on bass, Rob Harrop on guitar, Stewie Robertson on drums, Richard Lockett on keys and Sam Linay on vocals, all of them experienced musicians, both on the stage and in the studio. Their stated aim is to make progressive music accessible to the masses, which so far have resulted in their debut album "Superhuman", which was released in the spring of 2015…
Country music icon Kenny Rogers offers up his first Christmas collection since 1998's Christmas from the Heart. His sixth holiday-themed album overall, Once Again It's Christmas features a number of guest performers including Alison Krauss, Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles, vocal group Home Free, pianist Jim Brickman, and country-pop duo Winfield's Locket. The festive collection marks Rogers' return to recording holiday music, a genre he's been quite close to over the years both sentimentally and commercially.
An excellent collection of rare material by this fantastic modernist piano player! The record compiles rare recordings from the years 1951 to 1966, including a few excellent solo recordings that stand as essential gems from his underrecorded career. Titles include "Ju Ju", "Pastime", "Stretch", "Dream: Paris 1965", and "Descent Into The Maelstrom". (Great Japanese pressing!) This hard-to-find LP starts off with the utterly unique title cut. On this completely atonal track (which predates Cecil Taylor by a few years), Lennie Tristano overdubbed several pianos and created picturesque and extremely intense music.
Jerry Williams Jr. reinvented himself in the late ‘60s as Swamp Dogg, releasing the landmark 1970 album Total Destruction to Your Mind; it introduced the world to a smart, funny artist who wrote poignant, profound songs about the world around him. The man himself considers this set to be that landmark album’s spiritual equal. Whether he’s singing about nuances of race and racism in the title track or on “Prejudice Is Alive and Well,” asking what happened to a soul music superstar on “Where Is Sly,” or working through Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” and a few other covers, this is pure timeless Swamp Dogg–styled R&B, soul, and funk.