Essentials 2016

Sweet Creep includes the lyricism of prior release Dad Country with an added air of hopefulness. Recorded in Jim James' (of My Morning Jacket) makeshift hilltop studio in Montecito Heights, Sweet Creep reverberates with the feeling of sunny vistas. From album opener Are You Thirsty to the summer-crushy 'Humidifier', Sweet Creep is a freshly-signed lease on life. Jonny throws himself into the new album by stripping things down to the essentials. He gathered Nashville's Joshua Hedley and Dawes' Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith and recorded the whole album in three days. The fresh air, freedom from studio pressures, and strong cups of tea all mix into the music, with ATVs briefly heard in the background and two senior tortoises listening at Hedley's feet as he fiddles away.

Without a doubt, The Cure is one of the most essentials bands from the 80s with an iconic image that is on pair with superstars of that time such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran and Boy George. Surging as part of the post punk and dark-rock movement, The Cure and especially their leader, Robert Smith, had the cunning ability to create -within their large catalog- multiple hit songs that have become absolute pop classics, without compromising its credibility. The Many Faces Of The Cure showcases the parallel paths of the band members, some of Robert Smith collaborations with other artists, the mostly unknown post-Cure projects by the band’s drummer / keyboardist Lol Tolhurst and by bassist Simon Gallup and of course, their songs, both performed by the band itself and by a large number of artists who have respectfully created fantastic new versions.

On Nov 24th, 1980, Dizzy Gillespie invited 5 jazz legends - Milt Jackson, James Moody, Hank Jones, Ray Brown & Philly Joe Jones - to join him onstage in Montreal to play tribute to the legendary Charlie Parker. A limited quantity bootleg LP of the concert soon appeared and then disappeared from the marketplace and the tapes lay dormant for over 30 years. The pristinely restored “Concert of the Century” is now available on audiophile 180 gram 2LP vinyl and CD via the Justin Time Essentials Collection.

Florent Nagel - Livre pour Piano (2018) {Azur Classical AZC 158}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44.1kHz - Official Digital Download (qobuz.com) -> 185 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 132 Mb
Full Artwork (jpg+pdf) -> 5 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2018 Azur Classical | AZC 158
Classical / Contemporary Classical / Piano Solo

This isn't my first encounter with the music of Florent Nagal. Last year I reviewed his Alice in Wonderland for two pianos and narrator, a highly original piece transporting the listener on an imaginary journey. Nagal was born in 1979 and studied at the Conservatory in Lille, France. Later he took tuition from Vladimir Soultanov at the Moscow Conservatory and Christine Sieffert-Marchais at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, picking up prizes along the way. He works as a composer, pianist and teacher.