Noren & Crossley

Nathan Shubert has been a fixture in the local music scene for years, working in bands as a side player for popular artists like No Sinner, David Newberry, and Jody Glenham, but the Vancouver-based pianist is now poised to take centre stage himself with a debut solo album of modern classical music for piano.

The amazing thing isn't that violinist Arthur Grumiaux was such a splendid technician, although his technique was as flawless as Heifetz's. Nor is the amazing thing that Grumiaux was such a distinctive stylist, although one could always tell his performances by the cool intensity of his tone and the passionate restraint of his interpretations.

The Poulenc Violin Sonata is still a relative rarity on record. I'm baffled by this, as it is one of Poulenc's most unique and musically rewarding works. This performance by Lin and Crossley is excellent; indeed they nearly match the superlative recording made by Kolja Blacher and Eric Le Sage for RCA. The brighter, more lively RCA recording adds a little extra sparkle and energy to the latter. However, in both instances, each violinist has the benefit of being joined by pianists who have made a specialty of Poulenc.

Melvyn Price - Rhythm And Blues (1974) {Wax Poetics WPR004 rel 2008}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 231 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 82 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1974, 2008 Wax Poetics Records | WPR004
Jazz / Jazz Funk / Soul Jazz / Congas

Michigan expatriate musician Melvyn Price recorded three records in the early 1970s in his adopted home of Sweden that have become classics in their own right. Price, a trombonist and conguero, recorded two rhythm albums for ballet dancers called Jazzbalettrytmer (Jazz Ballet Rhythm) in 1970 and Rhytmer II in 1971. They were quite popular in Sweden – despite being orchestrated by primarily rhythm instruments. Encouraged, he attended Stockholm's University College for music education where he studied composition.

The subtitle of "A Bridge of Dreams," a 2011 album with Ars Nova Copenhagen and Paul Hillier, is "a cappella Music from the Pacific Rim," and it includes the works of composers from Australia, New Zealand, California, and China, all of which draws in part, if not entirely, on non-Western musical traditions. Lou Harrison left the accompaniment for his Mass for Saint Cecilia's Day open-ended and here Andrew Lawrence-King provides a discreet undergirding using medieval harp, psaltery, and hurdy-gurdy. It bears a strong resemblance to Medieval plainchant mass in its predominantly monophonic, melismatic writing, and its modal character. The modes, though, are Harrison's own, based on traditional Indonesian and Chinese scales. The mass is a beautifully expressive, immediately engaging piece that reveals a fresh facet of the composer's brilliantly expansive imagination.