Introducing an amazing blues album filled with the raw blues spirit. This is the strongest blues album of 1997 by the indomitable Carter Brothers, who perfectly expressed the enthusiasm of 1960s Southern blues in the modern era. Thirty years after their 60's Jewel Records work, which became a hot topic when it was first released as an LP on P-Vine, they have finally returned. This long-awaited work is a worldwide event. The power of Roman Carter's hard vocals and the heavy movement of the sound and beat are absolutely amazing!
This electric blues act with a soul bent recorded for Jewel Records, among other labels. Roman Carter (lead vocals, bass), Albert Carter (guitar), and Jerry Carter (vocals, piano) came from Garland, AL, and began recording in 1964 for producer/songwriter Duke Coleman's local label. Stan Lewis' Jewel Records…
The story goes that composer Carter Burwell owes his fortuitous, ongoing collaboration with the filmmaking's Brothers Coen to one crucial requirement: he worked cheap. But the Coens' low-budget film noir debut, Blood Simple (which also launched the career of cinematographer-turned-director Barry Sonnenfeld), certainly got the best of the bargain, a wonderfully less-is-more score highlighted by a compelling solo piano theme. For the Coens' next film, Raising Arizona, a darkly goofy kidnapping-themed comic vehicle for Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter, Burwell veered bravely into the ozone, mixing heavily Gothic organ, soaring sopranos, bluegrass banjo, whistlers, synths, yodelers, and samples of what sounds like a tin can being kicked down the longest hill in the world into a delightfully heady farrago that recalls Morricone at his most mischievous.
The Classical Jazz Quartet Kenny Barron on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Stefon Harris on vibraphone and marimba, and Lewis Nash on drums seems to begin where the Modern Jazz Quartet of the 1950s left off, right down to the CJQ initials that seem to evoke memories of the earlier group. Bach was the staple of the classical-music treatments the MJQ released.
Guitarist Greg Skaff assembles a masterful trio with bassist Ron Carter and drummer Albert "Tootie" Health, two NEA Jazz Masters for this rewarding set. Well-known for his work with soul jazz legends and with groups based around the Hammond B-3 organ, this date is surprisingly Skaff's first recording in the past 30+ years leading a guitar trio alone without piano or organ. It's also special set for the legendary reunion of Carter and Heath who worked together with history making results in the early 60s on landmark recordings by pianist Bobby Timmons and by guitarist Wes Montgomery. But, they have collaborated only once since. Skaff takes full advantage of this moment delivering an album all three are immensely proud of.
In drama as well as in musical theater, the monologue is often used to express and illustrate the smallest nuances of emotions - even those that cannot or should not be expressed. In this recording, mezzo-soprano Anna Bonitatibus and her piano accompanist Adele D'Aronzo devote themselves to this very interesting aspect of opera and song culture. Using selected works by Donizetti, Respighi, Rossini, Zingarelli, Viardot and Wagner as examples, the diverse narrative and expressive approaches of the monologue are exemplified.
After three acclaimed solo piano programmes for the label, here Anna Gourari widens the instrumental spectrum with the Lugano-based Orchestra della Svizzera italiana under Markus Poschner’s direction in striking performances of Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra and Paul Hindemith’s The Four Temperaments. Gourari’s pianistic command is one of “virtuoso polish and with flawless action”, to quote the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, and her holistic, wide-reaching grasp of the instrument is on full display in Schnittke’s shape-bending polystylistic concerto. The orchestra furthermore shines in a powerful interpretation of Hindemith’s Symphony Mathis der Maler. Contrasts emerge not only through the juxtaposition of the three works but from within the pieces, which have fiery temperaments and technically demanding scores in common. Recorded at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano in December 2021, the album was produced by Manfred Eicher.
Alba Records julkaisee Ilari Laakson sävellyksiä pianolle ja sopraanolle pianisti Anna Laakson ja sopraano Pia Freundin tulkitsemina. Julkaisun sävellykset tutkivat perheen, katoavuuden sekä kielen merkityksiä. “Runous on minulle läheisin kirjallisuuden laji. Ajatusten ja tunnetilojen kiteyttäminen muutamiin sanoihin ja sanaryhmiin on taito sui generis.”, Ilari Laakso toteaa.
In a fascinating musical interplay, the young, highly acclaimed pianist Anna Khomichko presents works from the 18th century on her debut CD in cooperation with SWR (Southwest Broadcasting). Mozart meets Bach's sons Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christian, as well as the supposed rival and contemporary piano star Muzio Clementi. In the supple and clear piano playing of this critically acclaimed artist, the differences and similarities between the works, the personalities of the composers, and the tastes of the time emerge clearly. Khomichko, who is also a successful classical music blogger, thus takes up the cause for a wide-ranging, sensuous repertoire that is absolutely worth discovering.
Ron Carter's Uptown Conversation may very well be the most intriguing, challenging, and resonant statement of many he has made over the years as a leader. As a prelude to his funkier electric efforts for CTI and the wonderful dates for Milestone Records, where he emphasized the piccolo bass, these selections showcase Carter with unlikely partners in early creative improvised settings, a hint of R&B, and some of the hard-charging straight-ahead music that he is most well known for. Flute master Hubert Laws takes a prominent role on several tracks, including the title cut with its funky but not outdated style, where he works in tandem with Carter's basslines. On "R.J.," the short hard bop phrasings of Laws and Carter are peppy and brisk, but not clipped…