Peg Leg is an album by jazz bassist Ron Carter, originally released on LP in 1978. It was recorded in November 1977 and prominently features Carter on piccolo bass. Often carrying the melody the instrument is a focus of 3 of the albums 6 tracks, while fellow bass player Buster Williams performs the conventional role of the instrument on those tracks. The rhythm section is completed by piano and percussion (on all but 1 track), and guitar on 4 tracks. The standard jazz-ensemble is further augmented, on all 6 tracks, by woodwinds.
The Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven is a piano trio completed in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the Archduke Trio, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of twelve children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf was an amateur pianist and a patron, friend, and composition student of Beethoven. Beethoven dedicated about a dozen compositions to him. The Archduke Trio was written late in Beethoven's so-called "middle period". He sketched out the draft for it in the summer of 1810 and completed the composition in March 1811. It follows the traditional four movement structure with sonata form in the first and rondo sonata form in the last movement. It also allows for a more prominent part for the piano than previous compositions.
One of the most well-known rock groups from Continental Europe, Denmark's Savage Rose recorded a wealth of intriguing and eclectic progressive rock in the late '60s and '70s. In their early work, one hears faint echoes of the Airplane, Doors, Pink Floyd, and other psychedelic heavyweights combined with classical jazz and Danish-Euro folk elements…
Immediately, Houston Person's saxophone and Ron Carter's bass meld so fluidly and effortlessly - and create such a complete picture - that it's easy to forget that they are the only two musicians playing. Drums are not missed, nor are piano, horns, or anything else: Person and Carter's communication skills here, as on their previous outings together, are never in doubt; they're "always" in perfect sync. They take on the standards here, and though most of these ten tracks have been recorded to death by other jazz artists, the duo's approach is original and honest enough that the songs sound fresh. "Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?)" is smooth, soft, and sexy; Irving Berlin's "Always" swings even if it never quite reaches swing tempo; and "Blueberry Hill" is playful and sweet…
Anna Vinnitskaya celebrates dance, or rather the dances of composers from very different periods and styles: Ravel, Shostakovich and Widmann. ‘In all these works, you can feel in some way transported to the world of childhood. Because I believe the childhoods of each of these three composers are reflected there’, says the pianist. In his Valses nobles et sentimentales , Ravel paid tribute to Schubert. A few years later, he transcribed for solo piano his ballet score La Valse , in which ‘billowing clouds part from time to time, allowing us to glimpse waltzing couples’. Shostakovich’s Dances of the Dolls make me think of the Soviet cartoons of my childhood’, says Anna Vinnitskaya. ‘They also remind me of Mozart: they are as bright as diamonds, sincere and beautiful.’ The Zirkustänze (Circus Dances) composed by Jörg Widmann in 2012, a brilliant kaleidoscope of emotions and parodies, round off the programme.
In the 1980s, tenor saxophonist Houston Person and bassist Ron Carter recorded a pair of unlikely but successful duo albums. Person, who has mostly been heard through the years with organ groups, piano trios, and accompanying the late singer Etta Jones, has a large tone worthy of Gene Ammons, while Ron Carter (who has played with everyone) clearly had a good time interacting with Person in the sparse format. In 2000, Person and Carter recorded their third duet album, and the results are at least as rewarding as their first two collaborations. On such songs as "Doxy," "Dear Old Stockholm," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and "Mack the Knife," Person and Carter swing hard and sound at their most playful and creative in each other's company…
Les Explorateurs is a chamber ensemble based around pianist Joanna Ławrynowicz, with guest musicians coming in according to the requirements of works at hand. Ławrynowicz has recorded over thirty CDs for Acte Préalable (AP) spanning more than a decade, and was apparently the first Pole to record the complete works of Chopin - also for AP. For these two new releases she and cellist Łukasz Tudzierz combine in genial, committed performances to reveal to the world another batch of forgotten gems from seriously neglected composers. The Dobrzyński disc in particular is outstanding in every respect - perhaps AP's finest to date.
Ukrainian violinist Bohdan Luts unveils his debut album in collaboration with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, recorded after winning first prize in the violin category of the Carl Nielsen International Competition in 2022 at just 17 years old. The new album features Antonin Dvorak's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor, Carl Nielsen's Op.2 Romance, and Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy-a collection of late romantic works that prominently showcase the violin. For his first major recording, Luts has chosen three works which feature wonderfully lyrical writing for his instrument, combined with passionate virtuosity.