Valerie Pierce

Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers Big Band - Live At Montreux and Northsea (1980) {2015 Japan Timeless Jazz Master Collection Series CDSOL-6305}
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© 1980, 2015 Timeless Records / Solid Records Japan / Ultra-Vibe | CDSOL-6305
Jazz / Hard Bop

Reissue with the latest remastering. Features original cover artwork. Comes with a descripton in Japanese. A beautiful big band set from the great Art Blakey – but one that's got all the sharp focus of his small group sides by the Jazz Messengers! The lineup here is a great one – that very vibrant early 80s version of Blakey's group with Bobby Watson on alto sax, Bill Pierce on tenor, and James Williams on piano – augmented by Kevin Eubanks on guitar, Valerie Ponomarev on trumpet, and the Marsalis brothers rounding out the set with some extra horn work! The sound is strong and proud, and handled by Blakey with a tightness that's similar to his smaller group work of the time – but with a power that's simply incredible – especially when Watson's presence is made known on his tunes "Wheel Within A Wheel", "Linwood", and "Bit A Bittadose". Also features a take on Williams' "Minor Thesis".

Karyn White's third album is one of the better R&B albums of the 90's. Way before TLC entered their mega-successful stage of career with "CrazySexyCool" Karyn White had released this gem, that easily ranks as the singer's very best effort. With production duties from Terry Lewis, Jimmy Jam (well tried duo responsible for mega-success of Janet Jackson) and Babyface (probably the 90's most successful R&B songwriter and producer) "Make Him Do Right" sounds almost like "Greatest Hits" album, because every single song has hit written all over it. "Can I Stay With You" could have been huge #1 hit in tradition of other Babyface-penned ballads, but her record label slept on it. The same can be said of "Here Comes The Pain Again" and "Nobody But My Baby".

Werther is one of Rolando Villazón's signature roles and it's easy to see why; he brings both intensity and vulnerable sensitivity to the part of the anguished poet, and he's a terrifically nuanced singing actor. All of the elements of the live 2011 performance from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in fact, are so strong that this recording easily takes a place among the most effective and affecting accounts of the opera. Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House, draws impassioned playing and sumptuous, sensual tone from the orchestra. The group responds beautifully to Pappano's subtly inflected and dramatically charged vision of the score.