o Lion

André Grétry's Richard Coeur de Lion, or Richard the Lionhearted, lay neglected until 2019 when a production by the Opéra Royal de Versailles was mounted. This album is taken from that performance, and it's very well recorded indeed. The opera was quite well known in its time and was even performed in the young U.S. (in Boston, in 1796), and it's a great find, a real crowd-pleaser as much today as at the end of the 18th century. The story is based on a probably imaginary tale of an episode during Richard's return from the Crusades, when he was imprisoned in Linz, Austria. A trouvère singer named Blondel who serves the king realizes his predicament, sneaks into the prison disguised as a blind fiddler, and touches off an action-packed sequence of events with a romance involving the prison governor, a grand party, and a visiting Flemish countess whose troops rescue Richard in the end.

Gretry's "Richard Coeur De Lion" (1784), a rousing tale about the rescue of the crusader king Richard the Lionheart by his faithful troubadour Blondel, is a minor masterpiece, the greatest French opera comique of the Ancien Regime. Gretry wasn't an eighteenth century composer of the calibre of Mozart, Rameau or his contemporary Gluck, but his music seduced audiences with its charm and tunefulness and in this opera he provided a great deal more. Blondel's stirring aria of loyalty to his king, "O Richard, oh mon roi", was so powerful it was used as an anthem by the royalists in the 1790s and promptly banned by the revolutionary authorities.

Willie "The Lion" Smith, Luckey Roberts, and James P. Johnson were Fats Waller's mentors and musical role models. While Roberts made far too few recordings in general and Johnson didn't lead full-blown studio swing sessions until the late 1930s, Waller & His Rhythm practically defined the genre of small group swing beginning in 1934. Willie "The Lion" Smith made his first recordings as a leader during the years 1935-1937 with a little group identified on the Decca label as His Cubs. The approach was somewhat similar to Waller's, and the Cubs do handle a Waller cover in the form of "There's Gonna Be the Devil to Pay," as well as a Waller original, "I Can See You all Over the Place," better known as "Squeeze Me" …

Mal Waldron - Blues For Lady Day (1972) {Black Lion BLCD760193 rel 1993}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 359 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 169 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 13 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1972, 1993 Black Lion | BLCD760193
Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Pianist Mal Waldron was Billie Holiday's final regular accompanist and has recorded several tributes to Lady Day through the years. This CD brings back a nine-song solo tribute that consists of eight songs associated with Holiday (including "Don't Blame Me," "You're My Thrill," "Strange Fruit" and "Mean to Me") plus Waldron's "Blues for Lady Day"; the emphasis is on thoughtful (and sometimes a bit downbeat) interpretations at ballad tempoes. The reissue adds two lengthy and unrelated trio improvisations with bassist Henk Haverhoek and drummer Pierre Courbois ("A Little Bit of Miles" and "Here, There and Everywhere") that actually have nothing to do with Lady Day but do feature Mal Waldron coming up with some interesting and fresh ideas.

Some of the connections with Venice may be a little tenuous, and this particular Winged Lion even circles over Spain clutching a Venetian guitar. The Palladian Ensemble's debut disc was called An Excess of Pleasure; the sequal offers nothing less! From two gutsy Vivaldi concertos via the dashing caprice of Santiago de Murcia's La Jota to a canzon by Cavalli which discharges itself in a haunting echo of Monteverdi's Lamento della Ninfa, the programme continually surprises and enchants. The playing too.

Hellbound Train is the eighth album by the band Savoy Brown. It was released by Parrot in 1972. "Shot in the Head," the slide guitar showcase that opens this solid set, became a staple of this veteran English band's live act. In his only full-time stint as singer for demanding bandleader Kim Simmonds, Dave Walker proves a serviceable. Besides their own tunes, the lads cover Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter.