The Pretty Reckless

In recent times, I’ve gained a reputation for not liking power metal.1 This is simply inaccurate. It’s not that I don’t like power metal as a genre, it’s more that I have rather specific tastes. Serenity is an Austrian symphonic power metal band that has met my standards with 2016’s Codex Atlanticus. That record was solid, yes, but I was surprised by the band’s newest record landing in my inbox a year after its release. More concerning than surprising, however, is that the record is a concept album about Richard the Lion-Hearted. A solid record a year later is an ask for most bands, but do-able. A solid concept album in the same time is simply a reach. So, is Serenity‘s Lionheart a good album? And, more importantly, is it a good concept album?

It's been a long time since that late May, 2013 week in Luleå, Sweden, where pianist Django Bates and his Belovèd Trio first collaborated with the renowned Norrbotten Big Band. Fully documented in the All About Jazz article Django Bates: From Zero to Sixty in Five Days, Bates, bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Peter Bruun, along with other non-Norrbotteners, including guitarist Markus Pesonen, tubaist Daniel Herskedal and trombonist/vocalist Ashley Slater, made the lengthy trek to this small coastal town, located just 100 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle (and already experiencing 22 hours of daylight), to collaborate with Norrbotten for an appearance at the first edition of Luleå's New Music Festival. The objective was for Bates and his band mates to bring a brand new book of music to life, the pianist largely expanding arrangements of Belovèd's existing repertoire, but also including a commissioned new work from the festival.

A STYLISH 8CD BOXSET, FEATURING 14 GROUNDBREAKING CRIME JAZZ SCORES, FROM THE ICONIC 50 S & 60 S AMERICAN DETECTIVE SERIES. REMASTERED & COLLECTED HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR ENTIRITY. WITH SOME SCORES ON CD FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! RELEASED IN A LUXURY CLAMSHELL, 8CD CARD WALLETS & A STUNNING 80 PAGE PERFECT BOUND COLOUR BOOKLET Crime jazz captured the mood not only of our post-war cities, but of a character as distinctly American as the cowboy that soulful, solitary seeker of justice, the private eye. This Unique and rare collection showcases some of the finest music and memorable U.S TV shows of a generation… The 1950 s a new style of musical score was introduced to film soundtracks & T.V… Previously, film music meant sweeping orchestral themes or traditional Broadway-style musicals. With the growing popularity of bebop and hard bop as the sound of urban cool, studios began latching onto the now beat as a way to make their movies seem gritty.

Dave Van Ronk epitomized the "folksinger's folksinger" apprenticing through immersion in the folk music revival's epicenter of Washington Square, mentoring musicians such as Bob Dylan, Suzanne Vega, and many more. Drawing from unreleased recordings as well as from the Smithsonian Folkways vault, Down on Washington Square paints a musical mosaic of Van Ronk's artistry from his first Folkways album to his final concert in 2001. It keeps alive the genius of a consummate folk performer who inspired audiences, musicians, and a motion picture - Inside Llewyn Davis, directed by Joel & Ethan Coen.