Playing With Movement

After his acclaimed recording of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, for Onyx Classics, and current Gramophone CD of the Month [on Chandos], James Ehnes once again collaborates with Vladimir Ashkenazy for a Tchaikovsky programme, recorded live in Sydney. This CD contains Tchaikovsky’s complete works for violin and orchestra, plus a delightful bonus of the 'Souvenir d’un lieu cher' accompanied by Ashkenazy on piano.

Primarily known as an avant-garde jazz drummer, Tyshawn Sorey is also an adept classical composer whose music doesn't so much straddle genres as leap over them. Whether playing with his own groups, like his trio with pianist Kris Davis and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, or with such luminaries as trumpeter Dave Douglas and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, Sorey has proven himself a mutative player with a sympathetic ear for highly impressionistic group interplay. So sympathetic, in fact, that he often melds so deeply into the overall group sound that you're left with less a sense of Sorey's own playing than of the group's.

The JamPlay Artist Series features lessons taught by progressive guitarists from all styles of music. These lessons focus on each artist's particular style, and are taught by either the artist himself(found under "Artists"), or a qualified instructor familiar with that artist's playing style ("In The Style Of").

Pyotr Ilyitch Tcahikovsky: Symphony No. 1 in G minor Op. 13 “Winter Daydreams” ; Symphony No 6 in B minor, Op. 74, “Pathétique” -
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Vladimir Jurowski
Classical | 2 CDs | EAC Rip | 425 MB (3% recovery) | FLAC+LOG+Cue | Complete scans | FP & RS links
Publisher: London Philharmonic Orchestra | Recorded: 2008 | Published: 2009

It’s a tribute to Vladimir Jurowski’s achievement here that there’s less difference in quality between the First and Sixth symphonies than often is the case. But if you heard his “Manfred” Symphony, then you already know that he’s one of the great Tchaikovsky conductors working today, and he has the LPO playing with a commitment and intensity that the orchestra has often lacked under its previous music directors… If you love Tchaikovsky, then you’ll love this release. It’s hot–really hot. - David Hurwitz; www.classicstoday.com

This album was written by Composer Joshua Cusack in late 2018 to celebrate his graduation from his undergraduate degree at the Western Australian Academy of Performing arts. The concept of the album was to write a modern jazz album for large ensemble heavily featuring free improvisation as well as electronics.
"The outcome was dark brooding and like no large ensemble jazz I have heard before." - Joshua Cusack, Composer arranger.
"His willingness to take risks, go for ideas, and break the rules which makes this project an ambitious and exciting first recording for someone who will no doubt go on to producing interesting and creative music in the future. Congratulations Josh and welcome to the large ensemble club, we've been expecting you." - Mace Francis

This remarkable set, culled from the archives of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the early years in which Glenn Gould emerged as a major classical pianist (1951–55), packages together five discs previously issued singly between 1994 and 1999. The only new CD in the collection is the second Bach disc, which features typically scintillating performances of the Partita No. 5, Three-Part Inventions, Italian Concerto , and the Concerto in D Minor. Of the various discs here, the only one to contain works not issued commercially by Columbia-CBS-Sony is the second Beethoven CD (originally released in 1997 as CBC 2013).

Is there a better trio than the Florestan playing today? All three members are consummate artists, outstanding instrumentalists, and ensemble players to the manner born, but it’s the playing of pianist Susan Tomes that carries these performances to their greatest heights. Since the ensemble is perfectly judged by all concerned, it may seem unjust to single out the playing of one member for special comment, but such is the extreme sophistication, the extraordinary subtlety and the expressive range of this artist that I can see no alternative. The tonal control, the exquisite shaping of phrases, the rhythmical suppleness and structural backbone are of an order seldom encountered in the playing even of many famous soloists. But what renders her playing here still more remarkable is the exemplary precision with which it’s matched to the different sonorities and qualities of attack, so-called, of the string players. And what players they are. For all of the above this is not a pianist-dominated performance, except insofar as Schubert wrote the piece that way.