Bruno Nardo Metodologia

One of the most 'hidden' and sought after releases of all times is finally getting a due repress: a work of epic proportions, Ennio Morricone's and Bruno Nicolai's "Dimensioni Sonore" has been eluding collectors and affectionate listeners for about 50 years.

Some of the Italian musicians who came to London to ‘make their fortunes’ found themselves influenced by the Celtic lands and their rich tradition of folk music. They were in their turn admired and sometimes even copied by their counterparts in the British Isles. This recording shows the outcome of that encounter. Lorenzo Bocchi was probably the first Italian cellist to settle in Edinburgh, in 1720. Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) arrived in Dublin in 1733. Since 1714 he had been resident in London, where he performed with Handel, but his passion for art dealing landed him in prison. The Earl of Essex then took him under his protection in Dublin, where he swiftly acquired a high reputation. In 1749 he published in London a collection of songs and tunes arranged as sonatas for several instruments combined with a treatise that gives us much useful information on how to play this music.

This set restores to circulation Bruno Walter's New York Philharmonic versions of the mature Mozart symphonies (35-41). These were recorded in decent mono during the early LP era (1953-1956). Listeners familiar with his stereo versions of these works with the Columbia Symphony (an ad hoc ensemble formed largely for the sake of Walter's Indian Summer recording projects) will note some marked interpretative differences in the earlier recordings. The NYPO provides leaner textures and more alert playing, and Walter's conducting conveys greater vitality, than in the plusher and sometimes too languid Columbia Symphony recordings.

Bruno Philippe conceives Bach’s Suites for solo cello as a veritable existential journey, from life to death and resurrection. Forgoing metal strings for their historical gut equivalents, the young French artist offers us an inward, deeply moving reading of this monument of instrumental music.

It was in the second half of the sixteenth century that the guitar became fashionable in France: it was the instrument of the people, whereas the lute was associated with the intellectuals and the nobility. Henry Grenerin became a page (choirboy) in the Musique du Roi in 1641 and went on to invent a new way of playing the instrument and offer it music full of ‘freedom, mystery and ardour’, says Bruno Helstroffer. In the very first recording devoted to Grenerin’s music, Bruno revives this unjustly forgotten composer and makes the most of his long experience as both Baroque musician and exponent of today’s music. He became fascinated by this seventeenth-century composer, and his investigations led him to the Left Bank of the Seine, opposite the Louvre Palace, where Henry’s grandfather was a fisherman, hence the punning title L’âme-son [French hameçon = ‘fish-hook’, âme-son = ‘soul of sound’]. A saga that has also generated a book and a stage show about Grenerin – the first in the line of ‘guitar heroes’ that was to lead to Django Reinhardt and Jimi Hendrix!

This set restores to circulation Bruno Walter's New York Philharmonic versions of the mature Mozart symphonies (35-41). These were recorded in decent mono during the early LP era (1953-1956). Listeners familiar with his stereo versions of these works with the Columbia Symphony (an ad hoc ensemble formed largely for the sake of Walter's Indian Summer recording projects) will note some marked interpretative differences in the earlier recordings. The NYPO provides leaner textures and more alert playing, and Walter's conducting conveys greater vitality, than in the plusher and sometimes too languid Columbia Symphony recordings.

Bruno Sanfilippo is a classically trained musician and composer. He graduated from the Galvani Conservatory, Buenos Aires, with a degree in musical composition (piano). His focus alternates between the exploration of minimalist piano concepts and electro-acoustic music. He is obsessed with the search for new and unique qualities in music, the magical and the deep. In dreams, there’s no imagined thing that’s too absurd, too strange, and Bruno Sanfilippo’s music comes from that inexhaustible and shameless source.

Sonate a Quattro are the brilliant compositions from Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, written during the summer of 1804 at the young age of 12. These works, at the time, were commonly performed by wind quartet and it wasn’t until 1954 when the original manuscripts were discovered in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. showing their original arrangement for string quartet.

In something of a departure, guitarist Jimmy Bruno leaves straight bebop largely behind on this release, cultivating a more funk-oriented, electric sound instead. He is joined by the well-regarded fusion bassist Gerald Veasley, as well as pianist Dave Hartl (who doubles on Rhodes and Hammond organ), saxophonist Ron Kerber, and drummer Marc Dicciani. Bruno's intention was to get away from playing standards, although he opens with a retooled "Secret Love" and ends the session with "Perdido," "Stella by Starlight," and "Impressions." The bulk of the remaining material is written either by Bruno or Kerber, with Veasley contributing the straight-up funky "Philly Joe." Some of the music strongly recalls early George Benson and Pat Martino, although the chorus-treated sound that Bruno uses on several tracks has him sounding a bit like John Abercrombie or Vic Juris…

The Concord Jazz Guitar Collective was a 1995 project that united Howard Alden with fellow guitarists and Concord artists Jimmy Bruno and Frank Vignola. For Concord, a three-guitar date was hardly unprecedented; back in 1974, the label had brought Barney Kessel, Charlie Byrd, and Herb Ellis together as the Great Guitars. Despite the fact that they all play the same instrument, Alden, Bruno, and Vignola prove compatible on this outing, which also employs Jim Hughart on upright bass and Colin Bailey on drums. Although Bruno tends to be more aggressive and forceful than Alden, he can be quite lyrical when he wants to; and while Alden isn't as hard a player as Bruno, he definitely swings. The two have a strong rapport on uptempo numbers like Charlie Parker's "Ornithology," Sam Jones' "Bittersweet," and Benny Goodman's "Seven Come Eleven," as well as on more relaxed performances like Django Reinhardt's "Song D'Autumne"…