Digital Sat

Martha Argerich has been described as “unquestionably one of the greatest pianists of all time”. She recorded a Chopin recital for EMI (now Warner Classics) in 1965, shortly after her victory in the prestigious Chopin Competition, but it only became available in 1999, when it appeared on CD. For Argerich's 75th birthday on 5 June, it finally sees its first release on LP, the format originally intended.

The sleeve tells you so much about the process. It's a picture of a lone figure. Suited up and immersed in interplanetary protective gear, he walks out across unmapped terrain. In the distance, a mountain range towers over the roughly gridded sand he's striding. This is very much a solo mission - giant steps into the unknown. Inside the helmet, there's all the uncertainty and madness that such a pursuit brings.

With an inherited musical talent, and a professional recording career going back over thirty years, vocalist Vaneese Thomas has appropriately titled her latest release The Long Journey Home, home being her Memphis roots of blues, gospel, and soul. Her last release Blues For My Father, (2014 Segue Records) was an emotional tribute to her father, legendary soul man Rufus Thomas, and this new record continues the family legacy bestowed upon her. Composing eleven of twelve songs, ascertaining she is very much a modern woman with her own story to tell, Thomas delivers a dazzling repertoire, and gives a master class on how this music should be performed.

In early May of 1946, the King Cole Trio, with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Johnny Miller, was appearing at The Trocadero in Hollywood. One night after the last set, a then 21-year-old Mel Torme came up to the bandstand and told Nat Cole that he had a new song that he was eager for him to hear. After the last few customers left, Mel sat down at the piano and performed “The Christmas Song” for Nat and the guys. Nat loved it immediately and he sat down at the piano and ran it down a couple of times. Years later, Nat told me that it was that very night that Oscar Moore played the “Jingle Bells” coda. Interestingly, Nat used this same ending every time he recorded the song.

Inside the package of music there is nothing to suggest standard, instead the songs written by Jorn and Ole Johannes Aleskaer add deep introspection to the pop culture the band inhabits, it is enough to feel the tension of expanding the horizon in what could be described as a sequel, but one in which takes a darker, yet illuminating, turn. The album also benefits greatly with the collective reading of Everything But The Girl’s Tracey Thorn’s poetic journey of By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down And Wept. It is with this inclusion embedded into the Loch Ness Mouse psyche that songs such as Dee C. Lee, Hayland, Simple Song For A Suzuki, Unwarranted and Evelyn reach out and touch the listener, searching for an ear that knows that the artist must have integrity to succeed.