Reid Anderson Quartet Dirty Sh

External Combustion – the second album and first as band leader of the Dirty Knobs – is proof that lightning can strike twice. His first record, Wreckless Abandon, was released in November 2020 to a great reception, gaining attention from Broken Record, Vulture, WTF with Marc Maron podcast, LA Times, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter, Billboard and many more. The Dirty Knobs made External Combustion in three weeks over the summer of 2021, and "The band became this spontaneous type of combustion”, Campbell recalled, recounting how the band became more intuitive the longer they played. Campbell claims he was never offered a solo deal in his four decades with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, despite also writing and producing for artists like Roy Orbison and Don Henley. "I wouldn't have known what to do with it," he adds quickly. "I was Tom's partner. Lyrics and singing – he could always do it much better. But I was writing and recording more music than Tom could deal with. That's when I got the Dirty Knobs, which gave me a chance to try singing. So I started woodshedding. And then when my life changed (with Petty's death in October 2017) it was, 'Time to do this now.'"

This seeks to be a good-time record while maintaining the musical intelligence that listeners should expect from Anderson. "Putting the cookies on a lower shelf" can be dangerous if the artists are too busy worrying about public taste to do any real cooking, but it's obvious from the start that the players (Amina Claudine Myers, organ, piano; Jerome Harris, guitar; Lonnie Plaxico, bass; Tommy Campbell, drums) are having a blast themselves. I can't imagine any complaints about anyone's contributions instrumentally. The rhythm team swings, Anderson sounds just great, Myers and Harris shine throughout, and the trombone-organ-guitar ensembles are downright dangerous. The four vocal tracks feature Myers and Anderson solo and in tandem: gutsy, extroverted performances of intelligent lyrics by Jackie Raven. This music is hard to describe but it's natural and infectious, somewhat comparable to Mose Allison, but hotter.

Ravello Records presents SOPRANO SUMMIT from revered saxophonist Paul Cohen. Alongside his work as a performer, Cohen is known for his passionate scholarship, rediscovering long-forgotten saxophone works as well as arranging related music for the instrument. In this, his latest contribution, Cohen presents an album of music for the soprano saxophone in chamber and solo settings. The range and diversity of the soprano saxophone is stunning, from Cohen’s arrangement of Percy Grainger’s Arrival Platform Humlet (solo soprano saxophone) to Amanda Harberg’s first piece for saxophone, Feathers and Sax, (soprano saxophone and piano) and Jeff Scott’s new work The Gift of Life (piccolo, soprano/alto saxophone and piano). SOPRANO SUMMIT is both a celebration of the soprano saxophone as a concert instrument and a revelation of new, lost, revived, and beloved works.

Alban Berg Quartet - The Complete Recordings [62CDs Box Set] (2020)
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks) | Run Time: 61:07:20 | 15.13 Gb
Genre: Classical | Label: WARNER CLASSICS

Spanning repertoire from the Classical to the contemporary and some 30 years of the Alban Berg Quartett's career, these recordings evince the achievement of an ensemble whose very name honours both the tradition and innovative musical spirit of its home city, Vienna. Founded in 1970, it soon became recognised as one of the defining quartets of the 20th century and went on to make two landmark recordings of the complete Beethoven cycle, the first in the studio, the second live at Vienna's Konzerthaus (presented here in both CD and DVD versions). This 70-disc set, which in addition features DVDs of Schubert and a live performance in St Petersburg, also documents the Alban Berg Quartett's collaborations with such artists as Sabine Meyer, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alfred Brendel, Rudolf Buchbinder and Philippe Entremont.