“But remember that song is a most powerful imitator of all things. It imitates the intentions and passions of the soul as well as words…By the same power, when it imitates the celestials, it also wonderfully arouses our spirit upwards to the celestial influence and the celestial influence downwards to our spirit.” Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life (1489), Book 3, Chapter XXI
Composed in 1718, Handel's Acis & Galatea is based on a Greek love story retold in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Acis loves Galatea, a sea nymph, incurring the wrath of a powerful rival, the Cyclops Polyphemus. Polyphemus kills Acis and the young man is turned into a river.What makes this particular performance interesting is the effort to attain the elusive ideal of authenticity.
Released in 2010, Jazz Genius: The Flamingo Era is the ideal sequel to Proper's Little Giant, which examined saxophonist Tubby Hayes' recording activity as sideman and leader during the years 1954-1956. Jazz Genius follows his progress from 1956 through 1961, an exciting period during which he enlarged upon the Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/James Moody influences by continuing to absorb what was in the air while tapping into his own intuitive gifts, branching out from tenor and baritone saxes to demonstrate a developing facility on both vibraphone and flute. Drawn from six different albums, these 41 selections were originally recorded for the Ember label which was operated by Jeff Kruger, owner of the Flamingo Club in Soho.
The Welsh composer Gareth Walters (1928–2012) studied with Jean Rivier and Olivier Messiaen in Paris in the early 1950s, inheriting a formal elegance which characterised his music ever after, enhanced on this disc by a nocturnal, serenade-like quality. The two song-cycles on this disc – Cân y galon (‘Song of the Heart’), set in Welsh, on aspects of love, and Poésies du soir, which evoke the calm of summer evenings – share the song-writing clarity of Britten, whose early encouragement ….
Released in 2010, Jazz Genius: The Flamingo Era is the ideal sequel to Proper's Little Giant, which examined saxophonist Tubby Hayes' recording activity as sideman and leader during the years 1954-1956. Jazz Genius follows his progress from 1956 through 1961, an exciting period during which he enlarged upon the Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/James Moody influences by continuing to absorb what was in the air while tapping into his own intuitive gifts, branching out from tenor and baritone saxes to demonstrate a developing facility on both vibraphone and flute. Drawn from six different albums, these 41 selections were originally recorded for the Ember label which was operated by Jeff Kruger, owner of the Flamingo Club in Soho.