Johann Nepomuk Hummel was one of the finest composers bridging the gap between the Classical and Romantic eras. His teachers included Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, and Hummel learned his lessons very well. His music is notable for its harmonious treatments, expert architecture and never-ending string of attractive melodies.
Two CD collection. When Purple Records was first set up in 1971, it was by no means a mere vanity label to release Deep Purple product, from Machine Head until the end of the decade; it also set out to nurture and discover raw talent too. The label would eventually become home to debut solo releases from Jon Lord, Roger Glover, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes, as well as early releases from Yvonne Elliman and Ronnie James Dio with Elf. One of their earliest signings was a hard rock band called Bullet, featuring guitarist John Du Cann and drummer Paul Hammond, both formerly of Atomic Rooster, having played on Death Walks Behind You (1970), and In The Hearing Of (1971). They were joined by Quatermass bassist John Gustafson. After only one single, they discovered a US band already called Bullet, swiftly changing their name to Hard Stuff.
This is a very rare gathering of American piano trios, each of which significantly adds to the repertoire of 20th-century chamber music. Rorem's Spring Music (1990) is an intimate yet energetic encounter with both tonality and atonality, affectionately played by the Beaux Arts group. Baker's Roots II (1992) is a five-movement suite with hints of the composer's African musical roots: here you will find intimations of jazz, blues, ragtime, spirituals, calypso, field hollers, and work songs. Rochberg's Summer 1990 is his Piano Trio No. 3
The Odeon Trio go for gold. Unlike either the Beaux Arts (Philips) or the Fontenay (Teldec), they use three CDs to include everything by Brahms that could possibly be called a piano trio, not forgetting the Op. 114 and Op. 40 wind trios, whose wind parts can well be rendered by strings. They decide, too, that the original 1853 version of the B major Trio is for them, rather than the revised version of 1889 which is more generally favoured.
Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio—or as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3—specialize in the lost art of “feel good music.” The ingredients of this intoxicating cocktail include a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkles Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. It’s a soul-jazz concoction that goes straight to your heart and head makes your body break out in a sweat.
"Double-tracked with a ghostly haze of background fuzz, Hedvig’s lightning-rod guitar blazes a trail that comes in the wake of the heaviest guitar giants – there’s Hendrix, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and Led Zep’s Jimmy Page swirling around the cauldron, but also the exploratory, disciplined freeplay of Pete Cosey, John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana buzzing out of her fingertips. Born in the Norwegian town of Ålesund in the early 80s, Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen has been steeped in the guitar since fooling around with her mother’s nylon-strung acoustic at the age of ten."