Antwerp

Joseph Holbrooke, an all-star ensemble from the mid-1960s dedicated to free improvisation, brought together three of the most influential British improvisers: guitarist Derek Bailey, bassist Gavin Bryars, and drummer/percussionist Tony Oxley. Though their recorded legacy is sparse, the group briefly reunited in 1998, leading to the acclaimed The Moat Recordings. Last Live 2001 captures their final performance, recorded in Antwerp in January 2001, and stands as a newly unearthed gem from Gavin Bryars’ archives. This release is both a document of the trio’s fearless musical dialogue and a moving tribute to Bailey and Oxley.

Concertos for cor anglais are few and far between, and harp concertos aren’t very common either. In combining the two, Kalevi Aho has come up with a true rarity – possibly the only double concerto in existence for these two instruments. Composed in 2014, the work was commissioned by the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra for two of its solo players: Anneleen Lenaerts and Dimitri Mestdag, who also perform it here. The work is characteristically eclectic, making the most of the sonic possibilities of the solo instruments, but also of the orchestral palette. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra is no newcomer to Aho’s music, having previously recorded his concertos for trombone and trumpet.