This CD combines two excellent Epic albums from 1960-61. The first six tracks comprise Rouse's "Yeah!" album with Billy Gardneer, Peck Morrison and Dave Bailey. "We Paid Our Dues" occupies the last six tracks. Rouse is heard on tracks 8, 10 & 12 with Gildo Mahones, Reggie Workman and Art Taylor. Another great and underrated tenor player Seldon Powel is featured on tracks 7, 9 & 11 with Lloyd Mayers, Peck Morrison and Denzil Best.
The word is often used to describe the compositions of Christopher Rouse (b. 1949), whose String Quartets No. 1 and 2 and “Compline” are pressed to CD here for the first time. The Pulitzer- and Grammy- winning composer refers to his first String Quartet as “17 minutes of rage.” The initial unison D notes are stabbed mercilessly with jagged shards of Shostakovichian dissonance, while savage rhythms evoke an execution chamber. With exacting choreography of Rouse’s ruthless writing, the Calder Quartet confirms its place as one of the most fearlessly dexterous ensembles today.
Reissue with latest 2014 DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. Charlie Rouse? Wasn't he the one that played with Theloniious Monk ? Well, yes. And certainly there's an argument that his recordings with Monk are his best work - probably the combination of intriguing compositions with the opportunity to work them over and over to find something new and equally satisfying in the each time - but Rouse was also a leader in his own right. Take, for example, his work with Julius Watkins (french horn) in Les Jazz Modes, the "Takin' Care of Business" album (issued on CD by OJC) and as co-leader of Sphere (not the Monk-tribute band it seems to have gone down in history as being).
Among the young British instrumentalists vying to pick up the mantles of the great soloists of a generation ago, flutist Katherine Bryan seems among the most promising, and she takes a major step forward with this, her second release. Her startlingly clear, bright articulation in the upper register is pleasing on its own, yet the real attraction here is that she approaches a repertory intelligently and brings fresh perspectives to it. The Flute Concerto (1993) of Christopher Rouse only seems to be the odd item in the set; Rouse's instrumental writing, with its intricate grasp of texture and register, is truly a descendant of the French (and French-Swiss) music on the rest of the album, and it was an inspired choice in terms of showcasing Bryan's technique as well. The three central movements have a memorial tone, with flute solos woven into Rouse's characteristically spacious chords, and Bryan has the stamina to stick with the long line here. Ibert's delightful Concerto for flute and orchestra (1934) receives an absolutely crackling performance from Bryan.
Before she’s truly freed from the shackles of EMI, Joss Stone must endure one final indignity: that standard end-of-contract ploy, a greatest-hits album, covering her six years with the label. Every one of her 12 singles for the label is here, with the Jamie Hartman duet “Stalemate” – originally released on Ben’s Brother’s 2009 album – added as a concluding track. If this doesn’t dig deep, it nevertheless hits all the highlights – her White Stripes cover “Fell in Love with a Boy,” her Top Ten U.K. hit “You Had Me,” “Don’t Cha Wanna Ride,” her only charting U.S. single “Tell Me 'Bout It,” the Common duet “Tell Me What We’re Gonna Do Now” – drawing a picture of the decade when Stone was always on the cusp of stardom yet never quite truly there. As introductions go, it’s a solid one, capturing her potential and promise, alternating between singles frustrating and fun.