Michael Matthews

Music lovers in the US can be forgiven for wondering whether Canada has ever produced any important composers, since very little Canadian music is heard down here. This disc provide a small sample of what is actually a large body of significant work waiting to be discovered.
First of all, don't be misled by the "chamber orchestra" designation here: these are all big, extroverted pieces in which sonic spectacle plays a big part. Andrew MacDonald's Violin Concerto is in the 19th-Century virtuoso tradition, pitting the soloist against a busy, brass- and percussion-laden orchestra in a real stamina contest. The solo part sounds flatly impossible, but hearing is believing–thanks to Lord knows how much ………

Fred Granlund @ Amazon.com

The American critic Robert Reilly described the music on Volume One of this cycle of the complete string quartets of David Matthews (b. 1943) as ‘some of the most concentrated, penetrating writing for this medium in the past 30 years or more. It is musical thinking of the highest order and quartet writing in the great tradition of Beethoven, Bartók, Britten, and Tippett’. Matthews’ three most recent quartets call in a wide range of references. Birdsong – heard in Nos. 13 and 14 – is a standard Matthews topos; and the fugal No. 15 seems to find a middle ground between late Beethoven and folk-music. No. 13 presents the biggest surprise: it introduces four solo voices, siting the work somewhere between Berg’s Lyric Suite and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music. Some touching arrangements and two canons for two Michaels – Tippett and Berkeley – complete the programme.

David Matthews presents Grand Cross - Grand Cross (1981) {Japan Electric Bird The Best 1000 Series KICJ-2373 rel 2014}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 263 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 100 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 18 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remastering
© 1981, 2014 Electric Bird / King Record Japan | KICJ-2373
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Fusion / Soul Jazz

Reissue with the latest 24-bit remastering. Features original cover artwork. Comes with a descripton in Japanese. Mid-'80s big band recordings featuring the arrangements and compositions of David Matthews, mixing swing, bop, soul-jazz, and fusion influences. There's a blend between acoustic and electric, standards and originals, and tightly crafted ensemble-dominated arrangements and straight blowing material.