Pianist/composer Stu Goldberg performed alongside some of the most daring artists of the mid-'70s fusion era as part of John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra and later embarked on a successful solo career that included film and TV scores as well as albums. Born in Malden, MA, and raised in Seattle, WA, the pianist began his career at a young age, notably performing as a keyboard soloist at the Monterey Jazz Festival at age 17. He then went on to graduate magna cum laude from the University of Utah in composition and piano. Following graduation he joined the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the mid-'70s and remained a member for five years, during which time he performed alongside such legendary fusionists as Al DiMeola, Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Billy Cobham, Jack Bruce, Larry Coryell, Alphonse Mouzon, and more…
Always the iconoclast, here pianist Bley applies her keen musical skill on baroque and chamber styles with tongue firmly in cheek and a fine string section to set the mood. The opening track, "Wolfgang Tango," is a brooding romantic excursion with humorous undertones. "The End of Vienna" features subtle keyboard work by Bley in a beautiful panoramic melody. But the trickster in Bley can't help but mix things up with the more challenging angles of "Tigers in Training." The closing track, a moving and rather creepy "JonBenet," is presumably an homage to the murdered child beauty queen.
How much do you like Leonard Bernstein? Carnegie Hall is betting you like him a lot as it has collaborated with Sony to prepare this 10-CD set, The Original Jacket Collection: Bernstein Conducts Bernstein. It contains every album Bernstein made of his own music for CBS Records, beginning with his 1950 recording of the Symphony No. 2, "The Age of Anxiety" – predating his tenure with the New York Philharmonic by nearly a decade – to the ballet Dybbuk in 1974, recorded with the New York City Ballet Orchestra several years after his departure.