Joe Morris & Elliott Sharp Realism (2025)

It would have been better, of course, if this 1984 production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, or at least its title role, had been filmed 20 years earlier, when Joan Sutherland's voice was in its spectacular prime. But like her Canadian Opera Norma, dating from 1981, this is a better-late-than-never documentation of one of the most remarkable voices of the 20th century.

Pieces by nine very different composers make up this fascinating collection of works for string quartet entitled Short Stories, performed by the Kronos Quartet. Elliott Sharp's Digital (1986) is a hard-edged rhythmic study using the instrument bodies as drums, with objects inserted in the strings to create rattling, shaker, and tambourine-like sounds. Steve Mackey's arrangement (1989) of the classic Chicago blues tune "Spoonful" (1960), by the prolific Willie Dixon, exaggerates the gestures of the song and employs complex harmonies and modernistic devices like string crunches, etc. John Oswald's Spectre (1990) opens with the naive sound of the quartet tuning up.

Once upon a time, for a few years at the dawn of the 21st century, Avenue C in New York City's East Village had its own Zubin Mehta, its own Herbert Von Karajan, its own Daniel Barenboim. He was a veteran of both the Vietnam War and, even more heroically, NYC's avant-garde jazz scene. His name was Lawrence "Butch" Morris and he was a well-established legend. The orchestra he conducted and the repertoire they played differed considerably from those employed by the above-named gentlemen in style, substance, tools and content. It was a motley crew of musicians from a wide array of backgrounds, styles, disciplines and genres, and the music he drew out of them, far from a set-in-stone catalog of well-established pieces from the European classical tradition, was informed by jazz improvisation, feeding off of the electricity of the streets around them and spontaneously creating the sound of NOW, on the fly and out of thin air, brought to life by each exacting stroke of Butch's baton. Each performance was a unique moment never to be repeated and there were no "hits" you were guaranteed to hear.

?Who Stole the Polka? is the second volume of pieces that accordionist Guy Klucevsek commissioned from composers ranging widely over the contemporary new music scene in the mid-'80s. For pure wicked fun, it contains several absolute classics of the admittedly obscure genre. Fred Frith, allowing that he had little idea of what a polka actually was, contributes the deliciously awkward "Disinformation Polka," full of stop-starts and hesitant shouts of "Hey!" There's even an example of that rare breed, the hardcore punk polka, propelled frenziedly by Elliott Sharp.

This CD represents a compilation of what a listener might hear at any FIRST AVENUE Concert - a sort of "First Avenue Concentrate". And, since improvisation is a spontaneous act of composition, you are hearing democracy in action. Each player contributes her or his own flavor to the overall flow, sometimes coming to the fore to insert a new qesture or confirm (or deny) the direction of the improv, sometimes melting into the crowd.

The only real downside of this record is its length. But everyone is ON, right on, and the energy is remarkable. For Kaiser fans this will be a revelation. He's channeling Cosey, McLaughlin, and Sharrock (each of whom shaped Miles's sound from this period), but also doing his own Kaiser-effects. And they don't sound out of place! Smith sounds much closer to Miles than I would have expected. This isn't a bad thing of course. The other players here are fantastic, too, especially the bass clarinetist Oluyemi Thomas. John Medeski, the ROVA quartet, Greg Goodman, and Nels Cline are also here. It's a fine group of musicians lovingly indulging in the many sounds of Miles's 1970–1975 performances.

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Daniele Gatti
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 296 MB, 3% recovery | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Complete scans | RS links
Publisher: RCA Red Seal/BMG | Recorded: 1997 | Published: 1998

It is a reading with a uniquely radiant atmosphere and one that I would urge you to add to your collection even if your instinct is to trust to grander symphonic visions and bigger names. - DSG, The Gramophone
It is a worthy contender and I recommend it. - Tony Duggan

The musical roots of Big Joe Shelton, a 2012 Blues Music Award Nominee, run deep in the rich, dark, rich, soil of the Black Prairies of Northeast Mississippi; the same region that spawned the likes of blues icons Howlin’ Wolf, Big Joe Williams and Bukka White. As a young man Shelton was fortunate in befriending Williams and this friendship greatly influenced his musical sensibility. Big Joe has performed at numerous festivals and clubs throughout the southeastern United States including: King Biscuit Blues Festival, Howlin’ Wolf Memorial Blues Festival, Freedom Creek Blues Festival and the Beal Street Mess Around. He has also toured England, France, Belgium, Bulgaria and the Netherlands. He has played with blues legends Big Joe Williams, Furry Lewis, Son Thomas, Junior Kimbrough, Fenton Robinson and BMA / Handy Award nominees Willie King, Blind Mississippi Morris, R. L. Burnside and Johnny Rawls as well as Daniel “Slick” Ballinger, the 2007 BMA Best New Artist and 2009 Grammy nominee Elvin Bishop.

Joe Lynn Turner (JLT) never ceases to amaze at the number of projects he puts out on a yearly basis. Besides his comrade, Glenn Hughes, Joe must be one of the hardest working vocalists in Rock. Since 1977, Joe has appeared on no less than 94 albums! His most famous work, of course, is as front man for the band Rainbow in the early 80’s. Besides that daunting task, Joe has since then managed to front Deep Purple (2004), put out a multitude of solo albums, combined projects (Yngwie Malmsteen, Glenn Hughes, Mother’s Army, etc.) and a mile long list of tribute albums.