Fountain en

The Italian word malinconia was very commonly used in the nineteenth century as a title for melancholy pieces. Yet the idea of malinconia covered a myriad of romantic notions, so that simply translating it as "melancholy" does not do it justice. It subsumes many other emotional states as well - all kinds of dejection, gloom, unknown sadness, desperation, depression and even frustration. Each language has evolved its own terms, and interpretations of the word itself also differ from region to region. Malinconia in sunny Italy or Spain is quite different from melancholy in Norway and in Finland, where the winters are harsh and long. The Nordic variant is expressed here in various musical examples; words alone are anyway inadequate.

In 1957, the bop was a "Hot teen-age dance". Ray Conniff had been making waves with his new style of music for a couple of years. It's too bad that "DANCE TO THE BOP" didn't make it big when it was first released by COLUMBIA RECORDS, but this re-issue is better than I remember. This swingin' collection is still very danceable and it's obvious that Conniff got his inspiration from Country, Rock'n Roll and Rhythm and blues of the era. Ray's trombone is heard throughout the arrangements and he can be heard (on a couple of cuts) singing with his own playing. This effect produced a new and fascinating tonal color for the era that is still very vivid today. This CD also included Conniff "En Espanol". This album was recorded in Mexico in 1966. It's fun to hear "Days Of Wine And Roses" in Spanish. What sells this CD are the first 12 cuts. I recommend this CD highly to anyone that loved the early Conniff sound.
- By Ken Rogers-

GRAMMY® Award-nominated multi-platinum alternative pop maverick Halsey returns with her anxiously awaited second full-length album, hopeless fountain kingdom [Astralwerks], which she executive produced alongside Benny Blanco, Greg Kurstin, Lido and Ricky Reed. Her brand new single, 'Now Or Never', is the first taste of what fans can expect from her new album, a track with a soulful refrain over dystopic, shuddering synths. The vocals segue from a delicate croon into an R&B-style bridge, highlighting her impressive range.

Decca/London introduced Phase 4 Stereo in 1961. For classical music, the Phase 4 approach was based on miking every orchestra section individually, along with mics for selected instruments – up to a maximum of 20 channels, which were then mixed via a recording console. This resulted in a dynamic, in your face sound with relatively little hall ambience. The quality of the sound mostly depended on how skillfully the recording engineer balanced each channel – and the results were not always consistent. Thus, the Phase 4 sound was the antithesis of the minimally miked, “simplicity is wisdom” approach of the RCA’s early Living Stereo and Mercury’s Living Presence recordings, along with Telarc’s early digital recordings.

Fritz Reiner was one of the foremost conductors of his time. Crowning his long career in Europe and America was the decade from 1954 to 1963 as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – an illustrious partnership that ranks along such other historical tenures as Karajan’s in Berlin, Szell’s in Cleveland and Bernstein’s in New York.