Onone Max

The combination of drummer Max Roach's regular group (which includes trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, tenor saxophonist Odean Pope and electric bassist Tyrone Brown) with the Uptown String Quartet to form his Double Quartet works extremely well. Because the strings get to improvise and are not restricted to the background, the interplay between the two groups is a special highlight of this particularly strong outing. In addition to works by Pope and Brown (the latter contributed "Tribute to Duke and Mingus"), The Double Quartet interprets Steve Turre's "Double Delight," Randy Weston's "Hi Fly" and Roland Kirk's happy "Bright Moments." A frequently exquisite yet adventurous album, highly recommended.

When Max Richter’s Recomposed first exploded into our collective ears almost a decade ago, a 59-minutes-28-seconds sonic starburst, the effect for so many people was total. We hadn’t heard anything like that, ever. Experiencing it felt as though we were being catapulted onto another plane, reverberated through the cosmos by this epiphanic soundworld. In this “alternative rendering”, Chineke!, the groundbreaking British ensemble consisting of majority Black, Asian and ethnically diverse musicians, and the brilliant soloist, Elena Urioste, are playing on gut strings and period instruments: the sort that Vivaldi would have heard, and played, in his own time.

After listening to this inspired oratorio, it’s clear why Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf was recognized in his day as Franz Joseph Haydn’s primary competitor. It’s a lovely work, loaded with drama, style, and expertly crafted instrumental and vocal writing. From the dramatic dotted rhythms and churning string sequences of the overture to the resounding spirited choral fugue finale, Dittersdorf’s music masterfully propels his grandiose subject matter, commanding attention more profoundly than any recorded vocal/choral work in recent memory (and this one’s more than two and a half hours long!).