Montreal Bslakirev

For the last batch of our Iannis Xenakis retrospective, we have remastered important recordings from the late 60s that had never been re-issued since their original LP version. The works here conducted by Marius Constant include the Polytope de Montréal, composed for an installation Xenakis made in the French pavilion of the 1967 World Fair, including a sensational light show. It has never been recorded otherwise! Also included are the ballet Kraanerg, number-theory-inspired Syrmos, and mythological works Medea (also an absolute premiere) and Oresteia (probably his stage masterpiece).

Bassist Charlie Haden has done a tremendous amount of playing in duo contexts (very little of it on the ECM label, however). This live recording with the remarkable pianist/guitarist Egberto Gismonti is a fine addition to his duo resume. Recorded at The Montreal Jazz Festival in 1989 and released over a decade later, the album mostly features noted works by Gismonti, although two of Haden's pieces also appear. Gismonti plays guitar rather than piano on Haden's "First Song," making for an interesting comparison with the version that graced Beyond the Missouri Sky, Haden's 1997 duet record with Pat Metheny.

Le Nouvel Opéra and Les Boréades de Montréal have assembled an exceptional group of artists for the first-ever recording of Nicandro e Fileno, a pastoral opera by Paolo Lorenzani (1640-1713) first performed in 1681 before Louis XIV at the palace of Fontainebleau.
The manuscript is conserved in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris. Canadian musicologist Albert La France prepared the critical edition of Nicandro e Fileno for the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles. Thanks to the initiative of Suzie LeBlanc and Francis Colpron, this opera was restored to life for this recording and for the 2017 performance in Montreal, with stage direction by Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière.

"Canada's Sweetheart of Swing" sings the traditional hot jazz of the 1920s, 30s and 40s making the music of the past captivatingly present,"possessed by the coltish spirit of a young Mildred Bailey or Ella Fitzgerald".
The Montreal Gazette writes, “In Alex Pangman's musical world, hot tunes flow like bathtub gin in a back-alley speakeasy. She roars through a repertoire of vintage swing and blues, possessed by the coltish spirit of a young Mildred Bailey or Ella Fitzgerald. There are champagne bubbles in Pangman's voice as she growls, sighs and wears her heart on her sleeve. There's a lot of nudging and winking with today's neo-trad jazz stylists. Not Pangman. She plays it straight and she plays for keeps."
Known as “Canada’s Sweetheart of Swing”, here is a lively set by Alex Pangman and her band of lions, The Alleycats. Recorded live by Canada's National Broadcaster the CBC and in front of an enthusiastic Montreal audience, this disc features live versions of songs from her previous studio recordings.

Pergolesi's Stabat mater and his C minor Salve Regina were coupled earlier on the Hogwood (L'Oiseau-Lyre) recording, highly praised by NA. The addition of another Salve Regina, this one attributed not quite conclusively to Scarlatti as a late work, provides the new record with a further attraction both on the piece's own merit (irrespective of authorship) and in its affinity with the Stabat mater. Another attraction for many will lie in the identity of the two singers and the conductor.

This new band is comprised of highly experienced musicians, Merovitz Project is a Jewish music experiment based in Montreal, that reflects perfectly the diversity of origins and trajectories of musicians in this multicultural city; Quebecers, English Canadian, French. Jewish and non-Jewish; klezmer, jazz or world music specialists. We gather under the musical directorship of Henri Oppenheim and the cultural knowledge of Allan Merovitz. We offer an authentic, daring and joyful musical feast, just like the Jewish soul. Backed up by powerful brass and rhythm sections, the expression is exquisitely anchored in time. Merovitz Project flies between a sensitive take on eternal human themes and a rockin'love of life.

Miles Davis - Live in Montreal (2002) [DVD5]
DVD-5 -> 3.47 Gb | All Regions | NTSC 4:3 | Dolby Digital 5.1 / 24-bit 2 ch stereo | ~ 59:00 | ISO Image | Artwork
© 2002 DVD Call | FDVD888
Jazz / Fusion / Trumpet

Jazz legend Miles Davis is captured performing in Montreal on this video. The man performs a half dozen songs including "One Phone Call", "Human Nature", "Something's on Your Mind", "Time After Time", "Code M.D.", and "Jean Pierre". The DVD release of the concert includes a biographical timeline of the artist's life.