Katie Mitchell

A gorgeously rendered holiday-themed effort, In Winter finds singer/songwriter Katie Melua backed by the 25-member Gori Women's Choir. The album is Melua's seventh studio production and first since parting ways with longtime collaborator Mike Batt. Recorded in her native country of Georgia (Melua left with her parents at age nine), In Winter is a lushly produced, thoughtfully conceived album featuring arrangements by esteemed choral composer Bob Chilcott. An acclaimed institution, the Gori Women's Choir are famous for their haunting classical harmonies. They prove a superb match for Melua, who both sings along with the choir and frames herself against its angelic, delicately layered harmonies.

With Kent's Songwriter Series well established as a regular feature of the Ace catalogue, they felt it was time to salute more great tunesmiths whose success as writers has been largely confined to the soul/R&B market. Few are more deserving than Phillip Mitchell a cult hero to many soul fans as a writer and a singer, and a man whose catalogue of songs is as consistently good as it is prolific. His songs have been recorded by some of the biggest names in soul particularly during the 1970s, when his name appeared under the title of many high-profile 45s. A quick perusal of the artists featured here will demonstrate how highly Phillip's songs were rated by his peers. It was not easy to whittle the mountain of great versions of Mitchell songs down to a representative 23 and there s plenty of scope for a follow up if this one sells as well as Kent expect. In-depth annotation, copious illustrations and a value-for-money, near 80 minutes worth of music will make this a must for every serious soul enthusiast.

Philippe Jaroussky as Ruggiero is in thrall to Patricia Petibon as the sorceress Alcina in Katie Mitchell’s virtuosic production of Handel’s opera from the 2015 Aix-en-Provence Festival, described by Bachtrack as “a night of a thousand delights”. Conducted by Andrea Marcon, this was, in the words of Opera News, “musically … a performance of the highest festival level”. The production of Alcina, by the British director Katie Mitchell, was welcomed by the Financial Times as “meticulously executed …, rich in detail, consummately polished”. Like Mitchell’s Aix-en-Provence staging of George Benjamin’s hugely successful Written on Skin (first seen in 2012), it offers simultaneous action in multiple zones of the stage, with Alcina’s elegant boudoir taking pride of place. As the New York Times wrote: “It involves a huge sorcery machine for turning people into animals (or whatever). And Ms. Mitchell works magic of her own onstage, constantly showing the enchantresses Alcina and Morgana alternating between glamorous public personas and their ‘real life’, older, private selves …There are also bits of simulated sex, mingling genders and suggesting, among other things, inventive new ways to hit high notes.”

A Pouting Grimace is the audacious new release from pianist/composer Matt Mitchell, whose prior release Vista Accumulation (Pi 2015) The New York Times calls “a bold signature” that “simmers with deep intensity.” Not only is he one of the most in-demand pianists in jazz – Mitchell plays in bands such as Tim Berne’s Snakeoil, Steve Coleman’s Natal Eclipse, the Dave Douglas Quintet, John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, Jonathan Finlayson’s Sicilian Defense, Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Birdcalls, and David Binney’s Quartet — he has established himself as a composer of bold distinction. Substantial in scope, the album, which features twelve musicians: five woodwinds, four percussionists, harp, bass, and the leader on piano, Prophet 6, and electronics, weaves an intricate web of off-kilter rhythms and logical frenzy. Produced by the acclaimed guitarist/composer David Torn, the work is completely beyond genre, a daring tour de force that headily mines the interstice between precision-plotted compositions and the thrill of improvisation.

Diana Damrau’s reputation as the world’s leading coloratura soprano has been built on her extraordinary technical virtuosity, her sensitive musicianship and her acute psychological insight. In Katie Mitchell’s sometimes radical production of Lucia di Lammermoor from the Royal Opera House, she is, as the Financial Times wrote, 'brilliantly convincing'. Award winning director Katie Mitchell took a revisionist approach to the drama, updating the action to the mid-19th century and applying a feminist slant as she added new and unexpected elements. Mitchell also made extensive use of a ‘split screen’ effect on the stage, counterpointing two different pieces of action at key moments.

In Winter is a truly unique collection of songs centered around the theme of winter, performed by multi-award-winning recording artist Katie Melua, and featuring the astounding voices of Gori Women’s Choir. Hailing from the city of Gori, Georgia (Melua’s country of birth), this distinctive 24-piece vocal orchestra brings unparalleled magic and warmth to ten festive and deeply personal songs, meticulously curated by Melua. Ranging from original works inspired by Melua’s childhood in Georgia, to new interpretations of traditional carols, the album features the arrangements of world-renowned choral arranger Bob Chilcott. In Winter opens with the traditional Ukrainian Carol introduced to the West as Carol of the Bells, and closes with a show-stopping rendition of O Holy Night. The album also features 4 brand new songs written by Melua, as well as a truly magnificent cover-version of Joni Mitchell’s festive classic, River.