Kline Michael

Soli for Tuba, Zheng, Horn with Percussion is percussionist Robert McCormicks tenth album with PARMA Recordings. On their latest album, the Robert McCormick Percussion Group performs five compositions from four distinct composers, each of whom contributes striking works that range from personal to global inspiration. The album opens with Loam, a concerto for tuba and percussion ensemble composed by Tyler Kline. Much of the concerto is texture-based in order to convey the idea of loam, or soil, with some parts of the music reflecting the sound of the earth being tilled.

Soli for Tuba, Zheng, Horn with Percussion is percussionist Robert McCormicks tenth album with PARMA Recordings. On their latest album, the Robert McCormick Percussion Group performs five compositions from four distinct composers, each of whom contributes striking works that range from personal to global inspiration. The album opens with Loam, a concerto for tuba and percussion ensemble composed by Tyler Kline. Much of the concerto is texture-based in order to convey the idea of loam, or soil, with some parts of the music reflecting the sound of the earth being tilled. The general arc of the concerto is cyclical, a metaphor for being born from the earth and returning to the earth after death.

Featuring Appalachia's leading scholars and activists, Written in Blood offers an accurate and uncensored understanding of coal mining history. Combining new revelations from the past with sketches of a sane path forward, this collection considers our past, present, and future. Sociologist Wess Harris further documents the infamous Esau scrip system for women, suggesting an institutionalized practice of forced sexual servitude that was part of coal company policy.

Anthony de Mare's choice of pioneering new music for piano typically pays off with critical appreciation for his performances and recordings. On this album he's pays tribute to Stephen Sondheim in a fascinating project. De Mare invited composers from a broad variety of genres from Sondheims own world of musical theater to jazz, classical, pop, film and beyond to re-imagine a Sondheim song of their choice as a solo piano piece.