Danny Elfman delivers Bigger. Messier., an ambitious double-album collection of remixed and reimagined tracks from his highly acclaimed Big Mess album.This sprawling, 23 track collection features tracks reworked by some of the most groundbreaking and subversive artists around today.
This is the definitive collection: all 711 master recordings as released during Elvis’ lifetime, mastered from the original analog master tapes where available. Each recording has been carefully restored to achieve the best sound reproduction ever without compromising the audio quality of the original master. The collection also contains 103 additional rare recordings and a 240-page hardbound book featuring an annotated discography, original album artwork, rare and classic photos, a complete song index and an essay by Peter Guralnick. Housed in a beautiful, limited edition display case, THE COMPLETE ELVIS PRESLEY MASTERS is an indispensable piece of music history and the one collection no true connoisseur should be without.
With A Romantic Songbook, Thomas Quasthoff attempts to re-create the spirit of a live recital in a studio recording. It certainly looks like a recital program: an assortment of lieder composers, each represented by a handful of favorite songs, with a few unfamiliar numbers thrown in to keep things interesting. There's even an encore – the traditional "Danny Boy." With the exception of Schumann's Belsatzar, the bass-baritone hasn't recorded any of these songs before, and, in fact, this is his first recording to include any songs by Mendelssohn, Carl Loewe, or Richard Strauss. This stylistic variety gives the album a breezy, cheerful disposition that matches Quasthoff's personality.
All the Ben Webster fans should try to get a hold of this jewell! First of all, there are three televised performances from the 60s (some live, some in studio), featuring, among others, Teddy Wilson, Kenny Drew and the young but quite brilliant Danish bass wonder - Niels Hanning Oersted Pedersen…
And then there is a beautiful TV documentary from 1971, containing, among other things, few scenes from Ben's eveyday life in Denmark, some strings and two spirited club performances with Charlie Shavers, a spectacular (and musically very witty) trumpet player, another old friend of Ben's.