George Dyson (1883-1964) studied with Charles Villiers Stanford at the Royal College of Music and Dyson's own compositions tend to reflect the kind of romanticism of both Stanford and Perry or the era just before Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and William Walton. His music is always lyrical if a bit modest,or perhaps understated is a better word after all, leggiero means "lack of pomp or pretention or prolixity." In this, he resembles Frederick Delius. The works on this disc come from Dyson's later years 1949 to 1951 which were his most creative.
Dubbed the ‘King of Ragtime’, Scott Joplin (c. 1868-1917) was one of the most important and influential composers at the turn of the 20th century. He was born in Texarkana, Texas and grew up in a musical family. At age seven, he discovered a piano in a neighbour’s house and began experimenting with it by ear. His father soon bought a second-hand piano, and by age eleven Joplin’s gifts were the talk of the community.
Ronnie Dyson was a Broadway star before making records. He was born in Washington D.C., but grew up in New York, taking to the stage in 1960s and ultimately voicing one of the decade's best known show tunes, Aquarius. He was just 18 when he joined the cast of Hair with a lead role in the show. Ronnie also featured in a movie Putney Swope in 1969 before signing to Columbia Records the following year. The albums we present here were Ronnie's third and fourth for the label and represent the complete set of songs recorded by the artist produced by Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy.
It’s been almost a decade since Australian singer-songwriter Mia Dyson decamped to America and started carving out a foothold in that toughest of landscapes. Now she’s doubled down on her long-held fascination with the States’ rich musical heritage by recording her sixth album at Portside Sound in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and roping in not only Alabama Shakes keyboardist Ben Tanner to produce (alongside Dyson’s longstanding drummer Erin Sidney) but also figures like legendary local bassist David Hood and former The Civil Wars mainstay John Paul White to bring her vision to life.
Like so many British composers Dyson, even before he died in 1962, suffered neglect through writing in a conservative idiom that critics were all too ready to label 'out of date'. Originally written for the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford in 1939, its first performance was-cancelled because of the outbreak of war, and it was only given its premiere in Hereford a decade later.
Electric bassist David Dyson has made his mark as a sideman with Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Pieces of a Dream, and the band (which also included Bob Belden) featured on Tim Hagans' Animation - Imagination. On his solo debut, Dyson handles just about everything by himself, including bass, keyboards, drum programming, sampling, and assorted spoken word vocal spots. There are a couple of guest keyboardists and saxophonists, and John Stoddart sings well on "Spin Cycle." But Dyson's bass is the dominant presence, deployed often via overdubs as a melody and chording instrument. His tracks lean heavily toward funk, R&B, and dance beats, and this, together with the electric bass emphasis, makes Dyson's music somewhat similar to Marcus Miller's. Jazz listeners might find it a bit commercial overall, although Dyson crafts some edgy harmonic progressions, hard grooves, and intelligent songs.