Victoria Monet Smoke

LA-based bluesman Eric Hirshberg, who has been steadily building a reputation for his emotionally-charged style in recent years, returns with his latest album ‘Second Hand Smoke’. Following the success of his 2021 release ‘Spare Room’, Hirshberg has continued to mesmerise with a series of poignant releases, with his latest offering being no exception. With ‘Second Hand Smoke’, he reaffirms his place as a standout figure in contemporary blues, blending raw emotion with impeccable musicianship.

Sky Lantern Records is happy to be releasing a limited, hand-numbered, single-run cassette edition of the new studio album from The Myrrors, also available on LP and CD through Beyond Beyond Is Beyond. Here's what Ryan Muldoon over at that label has to say: If you turn your eyes to gaze even momentarily at the current state of our shared human environment, you’ll be forgiven for thinking it may be an unusual time to spend much time in consideration of “victory.” The forces that seek to stall progress and the forces that seek to pollute progress are intertwined, the path to progress choked, gasping for the breath of new ideas. It’s against this backdrop that we reconnect with the The Myrrors, and their beautiful, bewildering new album, Hasta La Victoria.

There is a long tradition of "saxophone battles" in jazz with duos such as Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray or Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane performing together in a kind of sporting joust of abilities, a gentleman's contest for who is the better player. On the 2012 concert album Friendly Fire: Live at Smoke, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander and alto saxophonist Vincent Herring join in this tradition with a swinging, passionate set of standards recorded live at the respected N.Y.C. venue. The album is actually a re-pairing of the duo, who first sparred on 2005's Battle: Live at Smoke. This time around they spar over such numbers as Hank Mobley's "Pat 'N' Chat," McCoy Tyner's "Inception," the standard "You've Changed," as well as Herring's own "Timothy," among others. Backing the saxophonists here are pianist Mike LeDonne, bassist John Webber, and drummer Carl Allen. This is a lively and exciting session of adventurous and old-school straight-ahead jazz.

Tómas Luis de Victoria (1548–1611) - Sacred Works - Ensemble Plus Ultra, Michael Noone (2011) {10CD Set Deutsche Grammophon}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 2.86 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.56 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi -> 28 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2011 Deutsche Grammophon / ARCHIV Produktion | 0289 477 9747
Classical / Renaissance / Choral

Although the large box and the Sacred Works title might lead you to expect a complete collection of Tomás Luis de Victoria's sacred music, that's not what it is, and in fact some famous pieces, such as the Requiem in six parts, are not included. Instead, conductor Michael Noone lists the criteria for inclusion as follows: the collection focuses on works Victoria composed in Madrid, works that are preserved in manuscripts, works or versions of works that have never been recorded, and works involving an organ or winds, or written in sections that alternate with chant.

While it would be ridiculous to say that Henry Mancini produced no better score than this one, it's certainly true that his collaborations with writer/director Blake Edwards generated some of Mancini's greatest compositions. Victor/Victoria is merely a wonderful score, with fun performances from Julie Andrews and Robert Preston. [An expanded edition by GNP/Crescendo offered some newly released material, mostly sweetly jazzy instrumental material, although there's one very real gem as well – Robert Preston's show-stopping performance of "The Shady Dame from Seville," the peak point of the movie itself, and now certainly the peak point of this charming and delightful reissue.]

Victoria was the greatest Spanish composer of the late Renaissance. Compared with the prolific Palestrina the number of his works is not great; compared with Byrd, Victoria’s music is not so varied or wide ranging. Indeed, placed beside the enormous output of Lassus, Victoria’s achievement seems to be very restricted; there is none of the dazzling virtuosity and broad culture, none of the extraordinary diversity. Yet, in its narrow specialization in strictly liturgical or devotional function, Victoria’s music is not only the most perfectly suited to its purpose, but the most perfectly styled and fashioned of its kind, its emotional heart perfectly in accord with Roman Catholic liturgical ceremony in the Tridentine Rite. Even more than Palestrina’s, Victoria’s art is an expression of Catholicism as defined by the Council of Trent.