Solacium

Avid Jazz here presents four classic and some hard to find or expensive Tommy Flanagan albums including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered and low priced double CD.
Never the most high profile or highly regarded jazz pianist, possibly because of his undynamic approach, self effacement and modesty, Tommy Flanagan is however highly regarded amongst his fellow musicians. He has been the pianist of choice for many classic jazz albums including Coltranes “Giant Steps” and Sonny Rollins’ “Saxophone Colossus”.
“For Jazz… It’s Magic”, recorded in 1957 when Tommy was just 27 years old he is joined by a fine group of up and coming musicians. Curtis Fuller on trombone, Sonny Redd on alto, George Tucker on bass and Louis Hayes on drums…

Threni (1957-58) is his longest, most ambitious and complex dodecaphonic score, and probably one of its summits. A work like the Requiem Canticles (1966) goes even further in this direction: the composer’s last masterpiece, it seems to summarise in itself the evolution of an entire lifetime, combining elements from the different stylistic periods that punctuated his career – whilst marking a highpoint in the spiritual quest that became increasingly important in Stravinsky’s life. In this major album, Philippe Herreweghe reveals with conviction his love for the composer’s music, and under his sure, inspired direction, the Collegium Vocale Gent and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic reveal their pure poetry.

During Vladimir Jurowski’s tenure as Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Stravinsky’s music was often a focus of his concert programming. This culminated in a year-long festival, ‘Changing Faces’, in 2018, which traced Stravinsky’s metamorphosis as a composer progressively evolving his musical language, making him a key figure in 20th-century music. Pulcinella marked the beginning of the composer’s middle ‘neoclassical’ period and, like the Symphony in C, demonstrated his playful updating of Classical forms. Jurowski takes listeners on Stravinsky’s exploration of serialism, to his last substantial work, the Requiem Canticles: sometimes spare in texture and austere in expression, yet a movingly sincere restatement of Stravinsky’s Christian faith.