Valleyheart Justin Rutledge

Following his First Prize at the Bruges Competition and his first album, devoted to the Forqueray family (Choc of the Year in Classica, Editor’s Choice in Gramophone, Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles Cros), the Franco American harpsichordist Justin Taylor has recently been awarded the Révélation Musicale Prize of the French Critics’ Circle. His career has developed rapidly, both as soloist (harpsichordist and also fortepianist) and as director of his ensemble, the Taylor Consort, with which Alpha will soon be recording… For his second recital, Justin Taylor juxtaposes Scarlatti and Ligeti, two composers whose periods and universes seem so remote from each other, yet who show numerous affinities: in their inventiveness, the virtuosity of their respective languages and their common urge to push the keyboard to its very limits. Continuum builds a bridgehead between these two hypersensitive composers by intertwining Ligeti’s three emblematic (and spectacular!) pieces for solo harpsichord with sonatas by Scarlatti.

Paul Bley & Sonny Greenwich - Outside In (1994) {Justin Time Just 69-2}
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© 1995 Justin Time Records | Just 69-2
Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano / Guitar

RIP Paul Bley. In memory of Paul Bley. Paul Bley, a jazz pianist whose thoughtful but intuitive commitment to advanced improvisation became widely influential, died of natural causes Sunday. He was 83. This duet set by pianist Paul Bley and guitarist Sonny Greenwich, after two melodic solos by Greenwich and Bley's feature on "Arrival," becomes a loose bop session. "Meandering" is a blues and, in the tradition of Lennie Tristano, the origins of the originals "Willow" and "You Are" are not too difficult to figure out. The music does meander a bit but mostly swings in a floating way. Although there are some freer moments, this is as straight as Paul Bley has played on records in years and Sonny Greenwich also sounds fairly conservative, at least if one does not listen too closely. It's a relaxed and very interesting set.

Before he went on to direct the smash-hit films La La Land and Whiplash, Damien Chazelle began his career with Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench. A jazz musical film written and directed by Chazelle while he attended Harvard, Guy and Madeline tells the story of a young couple, an up-and-coming trumpeter and an aimless introvert, whose relationship falls apart as the glow of their new love fades. Heartbreak, hope and regret follow as the two try to find meaning in their new lives apart from one another. Chazelle was steadfast that a film so focused on the world of jazz and tap would need an excellent score. Luckily fellow Harvard student Justin Hurwitz was recruited to the challenge of composing Guy and Madeline, which he flourished at. Hurwitz meshes the classic big band sound of early 20th century jazz sensibilities with smaller progressive ensemble pieces and lyrics written by Chazelle to delightful results. Now available for the first time, Guy and Madeline shows the early genesis of a Hollywood partnership that would be responsible for multiple modern classics.

The Saint Of Lost Causes is the 8th album from American roots troubadour, Justin Townes Earle. Earles latest album finds a songwriter and artist who is unflinching and unequivocal in his truth. When writing this album, Earle focused on a different Americathe disenfranchised and the downtrodden, the oppressed and the oppressors, the hopeful and the hopeless. Theres the drugstore-cowboy-turned-cop-killer praying for forgiveness (Appalachian Nightmare) and the common Michiganders persevering through economic and industrial devastation (Flint City Shake It); the stuck mother dreaming of a better life on the right side of the California tracks (Over Alameda) and the Cuban man in New York City weighed down by a world of regret (Ahi Esta Mi Nina); the used up soul desperate to get to New Orleans (Aint Got No Money) and the sons of bitches in West Virginia poisoning the land and sea (Dont Drink the Water). These are individuals and communities in every corner of the country, struggling through the ordinaryand sometimes extraordinarycircumstances of everyday life.