Cathy Swain Bates

For more than 25 years, Anouar Brahem has taken his oud all over far off lands. A melodic impressionist and a for ever inspired improvisor, the Tunisian musician has above all toppled the barriers which separate genres…

Django Bates, a colorful and often humorous British jazz musician who plays piano, keyboards, and Eb horn, won the prestigious Jazzpar Prize in 1997. This CD, which teams him on various tracks with the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra and a large band called Delightful Precipice, was recorded in Denmark when Bates was receiving the prize. With the exception of a witty remaking of "New York, New York," all of the selections are Bates originals, including such colorful titles as "The Loneliness of Being Right," "The Importance of Boiling Water," "Peculiar Terms or Physical Intimacy," and "Nights at the Circus." In addition to Bates, key soloists include Iain Ballamy on alto and soprano, tenor-saxophonist Tomas Franck, and guitarist Chico Lindvall. Well worth checking out.

François Couperin's 'Leçons de Ténèbres' (c. 1713-17), a setting of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, fused devotional expression with a dramatic performing style embodied here by sopranos Lucy Crowe and Elizabeth Watts. Two Trio Sonatas and a 'Stabat Mater' by Sébastien de Brossard round out this luminous programme. La Nuova Musica was founded by its artistic director David Bates in 2007 whilst in residency at Snape Maltings and was hailed by BBC Radio 3 as “one of the most exciting consorts in the early music field”.