Lives of The Musicians: Good Times

Alexander Vedernikov and a large cast of musicians, soloists and chorus singers from the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow deliver Glinka's masterpiece Ruslan and Lyudmila in the original authorial version. This triple album was recorded live in Moscow over four nights in April 2003, the live performances and now this recording garnering international acclaim.

This watershed release represents the life’s work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South.
William Ferris was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1942. Growing up on a working farm, Ferris began at a young age documenting the artwork, music, and lives of the people on the farm and in his local community. The archive of recordings that he created and the documentary films that he had a hand in producing have served as powerful tools in institutions of higher learning for decades. It is with great excitement that we present these films and recordings. Our hope is that the enjoyment and educational value that has been received by Ferris’s students over the years will be transmitted to listeners around the world and further the understanding of Southern culture.

This watershed release represents the life’s work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South.

This watershed release represents the life’s work of William Ferris, an audio recordist, filmmaker, folklorist, and teacher with an unwavering commitment to establish and to expand the study of the American South. William Ferris was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1942. Growing up on a working farm, Ferris began at a young age documenting the artwork, music, and lives of the people on the farm and in his local community. The archive of recordings that he created and the documentary films that he had a hand in producing have served as powerful tools in institutions of higher learning for decades. It is with great excitement that we present these films and recordings. Our hope is that the enjoyment and educational value that has been received by Ferris’s students over the years will be transmitted to listeners around the world and further the understanding of Southern culture.

In 2014, something unusual happened. On the strength of their breakthrough album Too Many Roads, Denmark's Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado went global. Now it's one thing for an artist from Copenhagen to enjoy success at home and in a few adjacent countries. But the release of Too Many Roads saw the seven-piece combo fronted by singer and guitarist Risager gaining widespread notoriety in the U.S. and being invited to play in locales as far away as Mumbai, India. The album took home the Danish Music Award as the Top Blues Album of 2014 and also earned Germany's illustrious "Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik," but perhaps even more impressively, it was selected as one the year's best by Britain's influential The Blues magazine, right alongside international stars like Robert Cray, Walter Trout and Joe Bonamassa. Clearly, Risager and his mates had taken their exhilarating mix of blues, soul and rock 'n' roll to the next level. Early in 2015, Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado celebrated that triumph by returning to one of their favorite nightspots - the Harmonie in Bonn, Germany. They would treat local fans to a one-of-a-kind spectacle, hitting the stage as a ten-piece mini-orchestra.

Bebop lives in the hands of these four musicians dedicated to the American musical traditions of the 1940s and 50s. Recorded live off-the-floor in a Toronto studio, this recording demonstrates that spontaneity and creativity can easily materialize when fine musicians with shared sensibilities join forces on a fertile set of traditionally-based material. Reminiscent of Barney Kessel's work with Hampton Hawes or Jimmy Raney's output with Sonny Clark, Scott focuses largely on single-note lines placed over a swinging piano trio for impressive results.

Award-winning Trombonist-arranger-composer Rob McConnell and his Boss Brass big band was a fixture on the Canadian jazz scene. The group was composed of Canada’s premiere jazz musicians, and many of their over two dozen albums have become collectors’ items for big band enthusiasts world-wide. Tribute was the second of three albums released by MPS.