String Trio

The group was founded in 1977 by bassist John Lindberg, violinist Billy Bang, and guitarist James Emery. Though they initially worked on improvisational playing and on their own compositions, they eventually began taking on commissions, as well as doing arrangements of other jazz musicians' works…

Featuring world premiere recordings of trios by Sally Beamish and Hugh Wood bookended by seldom heard works by Moeran and Finzi, showcases the sheer wealth of string trio repertoire by British composers.

This a gorgeous version of this difficult and, in my opinion, normally elusive piece. Shemer makes the harpsichord sing, dance, laugh, cry and meditate. Having his instrument tuned to A=392 and recorded in a church certainly helps the contemplative aspect of this work, and the sound is rich and never metallic, as with many versions. If ever there was a case for throwing piano versions into the bin of history, Shemer is your best advocate.

The Amsterdam String Trio's chamber jazz album Winter Theme was recorded at Villa-Medici Giulini Studios in Briosco, Italy in November 1999 and released in 2000 by the Munich-based record label Winter & Winter. Its 16 pieces range from protracted tonal washes to spontaneous interactive essays. Each realization blends the advanced creative sensibilities of three master improvisers. Classically trained composer and violist Maurice Horsthuis and bassist Ernst Glerum are longstanding associates of Han Bennink, Misha Mengelberg, and the Instant Composers Pool Orchestra. Composer and cellist Ernst Reijseger, who has collaborated extensively with filmmaker Werner Herzog, brings his own special magic to every project that involves him, and has recorded with the group Groove Lélé for Winter & Winter…

With the proliferation of more and more recording labels and still more ensembles getting the opportunity to record their work, it is obviously increasingly difficult to bring anything truly original when performing works from the standard repertoire. Unfortunately, this fact may lead to some questionable performance decisions in striving for originality. Such seems to be the case with the Leopold String Trio and Marc-André Hamelin and their performance of the Brahms piano quartets.