Marianne

Marianne Muller - fierce player of viola da gamba, recently applauded for her outstanding interpretation of Folies d’Espagne of Marin Marais on Zig-Zag Territoires - brings us solo and consort pieces of Tobias Hume - captain and eccentric English composer of XVIIe century. Committed to her instrument, Marianne Muller commissions to contemporary composers new pieces for viola di gamba… Eric Fischer created a piece dedicated to Tobias Hume.

This concert was recorded in Hollywood in Spring 2005. It features tracks from her most recent album, 2004's Before The Poison, along with hits such as Ballad Of Lucy Jordan and As Tears Go By, and classic tracks like Sister Morphine and Broken English…

This best-of basically covers the years 1979 to 1994, though it reaches back to 1964 for Marianne Faithfull's first recording and first hit, "As Tears Go By," and includes "She," slated for the upcoming 1995 album A Secret Life. Five of the 11 songs are drawn from Faithfull's strongest album, 1979's Broken English, including the bitter title track and "Why'd Ya Do It." Otherwise, compiler Chris Blackwell makes little attempt to present a balance among Faithfull's recordings – there is nothing at all from Dangerous Acquaintances or A Child's Adventure, and only one track each from Strange Weather and Blazing Away. But there is a good newly recorded cover of Patti Smith's "Ghost Dance" co-produced by Keith Richards and featuring other members of the Rolling Stones, and Blackwell rescues Faithfull's rendition of the title theme for the movie Trouble in Mind from the soundtrack album. It adds up to an excellent compilation that highlights Faithfull's strengths as a singer.

A veteran of Jordi Savall's Hespèrion XX and XXI, gambaist Marianne Muller makes her Zig Zag Territories debut with this disc of music by the great French Baroque composer Marin Marais. The repertoire is daunting: the ingenious and evocative Le Labyrinthe, the 32 virtuoso variations on Les Folies d'Espagne, and the 12-movement Suite in E minor from Marais' Second Book of Pièces de viole. These are works that require not just virtuosity, stamina, intense expressivity, and soulful beauty of tone.

The just-announced benefit album The Faithful: A Tribute to Marianne Faithfull, featuring Iggy Pop, Cat Power, Shirley Manson, Tanya Donelly and Peaches, is on Bandbox exclusive pink + white hand poured vinyl! The Faithful sports 19 spirited selections from Marianne's songbook, including Tracy Bonham's take on 1964 chart-topper "As Tears Go By," a duet of her arrangement of "Working Class Hero" between Cat Power and Iggy Pop plus Shirley Manson (Garbage) and Peaches' cover of 1979's "Why D'Ya Do It." The project's first single, "This Little Bird" by Tanya Donelly (Belly, Throwing Muses) and the Parkington Sisters, is now streaming.

The Very Best of Marianne Faithfull' is a particularly strong collection of Marianne's earliest recordings made for Decca between 1964 to 1968. This album contains every one of her singles which made the charts both in Britain and America during those fruitful four years.