le Phonograph

Three 20th-century orchestral scores, Bartók’s Two Pictures, Debussy’s Jeux and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, all dating from 1910-13 and all linked (as the detailed CD booklet explains), are brought to life in the hands of two exceptional French pianists. The central interest is the ballet Jeux. One of the world’s outstanding Debussy interpreters, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet has added to his complete Chandos recordings with his own transcription for two pianos. Written late in Debussy’s life for Nijinsky, Jeux involves an emotionally erotic and harmonically daring game of tennis. Bavouzet and his well-matched partner, François-Fréderic Guy, play with nimble grace, capturing the works wit and mystery. This gripping album is dedicated to Pierre Boulez, guru and enabler, for his 90th birthday.

Willie Lewis invaded Europe in 1925 as a member of Sam Wooding's explosive jazz orchestra, making hot records and stunning audiences throughout Berlin, Barcelona, and Paris. When Wooding's organization disintegrated, Lewis returned to New York in 1931 and assembled a group of musicians for the purpose of a brief European tour the following year. Willie Lewis & His Entertainers played the Merry Grill in Brussels, and made one wild phonograph recording. A 13-piece orchestra composed almost entirely of European musicians and augmented with a vaudevillian vocal quartet (including Lewis himself) presents "Who Taught You That?" This is funny stuff, something like the frantic singing heard on certain records by Sam Wooding, Fats Waller & His Buddies, or Bix Beiderbecke with Paul Whiteman…