Rzewski

Pianist/composer Conrad Tao's third Warner Classics album, entitled American Rage, traces the roots of rebellion from the 1930s Harlan County labor disputes, through the trauma of 9/11, to the deep divisions of the present day. Bookended by two expansive works by Frederic Rzewski - Which Side Are You On?, based on Florence Reece’s 1931 protest song, and Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues, an industrial folk song that reflects the unjust factory working conditions - the album centres on Julia Wolfe's Compassion, written in the wake of 9/11, and Aaron Copland's elegiac Piano Sonata.

Frederic Rzewski was one of the essential contemporary US composers whose death anniversary is approaching for the first time. The German pianist Benyamin Nuss presents three of the most famous works on his new CD "UNITE!". Nuss starts the album with the four movements of the "North American Ballads" and takes you directly into the composer's sound universe. These pieces tell of the nation's workers, the downtrodden and oppressed, and illustrate Rzewski's view of the United States of his time.

Following his landmark recordings, "Beethoven - The Late Piano Sonatas" and "Bach - Partitas", both of which has won him international acclaim, Igor Levit is now tackling another three major works: Bach's Goldberg Variations, Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, and Frederic Rzewski's Variations on "The People United Will Never Be Defeated".
It is testament to Igor Levit's invention and the command of his repertoire that in one release he is able to combine arguably two of history’s greatest sets of variations for the keyboard, complete alongside a classic of late 20th century piano music by contemporary composer Frederic Rzewski.

*Premiere Recording* Never stop or falter, always play loud. Stay together as long as you can, but if you get lost, stay lost. Do not try to find your way back into the fold. Thats the instruction legendary composer Frederic Rzewski gave for his 1968 piece Les Moutons de Panurge. Songs of Insurrection (2016) is Rzewskis sequel to his masterwork "The People United Will Never Be Defeated".

In tribute to her longtime mentor and friend Frederic Rzewski, the intrepid, iconoclastic and politically active pianist-composer who passed away in 2021, pianist Lisa Moore presents five poignant performances of his most lyrical work. Taking its title from the vibrant, lush and melody-rich No Place to Go But Around (composed in 1974), the recording is of a piece with Moore's wide-ranging 2016 Cantaloupe release "The Stone People" (the digital version of which featured a bonus track of Rzewski's Piano Piece No. 4, re-recorded in a new performance for this collection), and finds her once again embracing an adventurist streak as she digs deep into the nuances of Rzewski’s timeless music.

The present release is a mind-blowing rendition of a contemporary classic by amazing Ukrainian pianist, past winner of Van Cliburn competition. “Recordings usually start to live their own lives after their release. However, this one happened to be very special since it acquired its very meaning long before getting to the publishing phase. Recorded in September 2021, this project survived February 24, 2022 - the date marking for me the end of a fragile balance between humanity and medieval darkness. This recording is dedicated to the people of a free and independent Ukraine, whose unshakable spirit will never be defeated.”

Anthony Braxton - The Complete Arista Recordings Of Anthony Braxton (2008) {8CD Set Mosaic MD8-242}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.46 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.29 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 376 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24-bit remaster
© 2008 Mosaic Records / Arista / Sony BMG | MD8-242
Jazz / Avant-Garde Jazz / Creative Orchestra / Experimental Big Band

Since he released the completely solo For Alto in 1968, the accepted image of Anthony Braxton has been that he is more a theoretician and art music composer than a jazz musician. Therefore, it might seem strange that Mosaic Records is giving his Complete Arista Recordings one of their fabled box set treatments. But Braxton is both – and much more. This set – as well as the original Arista recordings – were produced by Michael Cuscuna, Mosaic/Blue Note label head. The sheer scope of these recordings is staggering. What we get in this amazingly detailed collection is the weightiest argument yet for Braxton's range and depth of field as a musical thinker and his role as a pillar of modern jazz.