Let's George Masso

Let's face it: so many, perhaps too many, piano trio jazz CDs are released every month, and it's not every day when you find something special. But this CD - originally released in the Czech Republic and became a huge hit in Japan - has that special quality, the one that lets you know that it's a good record within the first 10 seconds. Pianist Jan Knop (b. 1972), who began to spell his name backwards as Najponk, is one of the greatest stars of his generation. He was connected to George Mraz (b. 1944), the most famous Czech bassist in the world, through drummer and jazz impressario Martin Sulc (b. 1961). The representatives of three different generations are connected by the strong unifying force of the post-bop mainstream…

George Strait may have landed his first number one in 1982, making him an "overnight sensation," but he'd been working for it since 1976. Strait From the Heart boasts "Fool-Hearted Memory," a perfect slow two-step that raged in all the dancehalls in America for half a year and sent folks to the bins in droves seeking out Strait's records. What they found was a singer of uncommon vitality who could sing honky tonk, countrypolitan, and the new traditional sounds that were just beginning to assert themselves after the first wave of "new country." The new Strait fans were interested in the ballads such as "Marina del Rey" and "A Fire I Can't Put Out," but they are hardly the best cuts on the set. In fact, when Strait lets it get on the raw side is when he is at his best. Tracks such as "Honky Tonk Crazy," his cover of Guy Clark's "Heartbroke," the Western swing of his original "I Can't See Texas From Here," and the strutting barroom anthem "The Steal of the Night" offer a portrait of Strait as a man who can do it all.

French soprano Sandrine Piau, despite her frequent appearances on Baroque recordings, may not seem a first choice for the sheer athleticism of Handel, but wait until you hear her. Piau substitutes grace, precision, and sheer beauty for brawn, and the results are astonishing. She chooses arias ideally suited to her talents. "Rejoice greatly," from Messiah, is full of spiky flash, and lengthy pieces like "Prophetic raptures swell my breast" (track 12), from Joseph and His Brethren, are beautifully developed, with Piau sliding with impossible smoothness into high notes in the later stages. Passagework in faster pieces is a shower of bright sparks, while in "Sweet bird," from L'allegro, il penseroso, ed il moderato (track 16), you will become deliciously disoriented after a while as to whether it is Piau or one of the instruments providing the bird effects.

Richard Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28; Don Juan, Op. 20; Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24 -
The Cleveland Orchestra; George Szell, conductor
Classical | 1 CD | EAC Rip | 260 Mb | FLAC+LOG+M3U+Cue | Full scans | 2 RS links
Publisher: CBS Records Masterworks; 1985

One of the very best records The Cleveland Orchestra made with late George Szell… marvelous orchestral playing and exhilarating excitement – The Gramophone

Inspired by a guest spot in a Carnegie Hall Jazz Band tribute to Rodgers and Hart, Coleman organized an entire album around the theme - with a touch of Hammerstein too. It's a mostly mainstream hard bop session, with Coleman's slightly dry, plain-spoken tone on all three of his instruments - soprano, alto and tenor - lending an appropriately lyrical bend to the collection of well-known Rodgers standards; well, its mostly hard bop, "My Favorite Things" is cast perhaps inevitably in the modal Coltrane mold, with Coleman on soprano for good measure, and once in a great while, Coleman lets fly outside the changes…