Vocal Command

These songs were recorded at sessions in Taupo. Morrinsville and Hamilton during the last five years and are all Chris' compositions apart from the lyric poems The Donkey (by G.K. Chesterton) and When I am Dead(by Christina Rossetti).

From the onset, the music in Das Lied von der Erde is permeated by a special mood. Even the texts, based on Far Eastern poetry, are more mood than content. Mahler repeatedly abandons the words’ meaning, but the mood remains. The music implies so much more than the words! For instance, the third poem evokes the reflection of a mirror image in water, but I don’t see those images anywhere in the music. Mahler is not concerned with helping us understand every syllable. If the voice, in its anguish, is drowned out by the orchestra, that is what the music is trying to achieve. Throughout a great number of passages, “beautiful tone” is not what is important. To the contrary. In Das Lied von der Erde, the singers are likewise required to declaim, cry, and shriek. I think that even those concertgoers who have no command of the German language have no problem in gaining a quite precise grasp of what is going on…

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When Lucas Schmid, producer of the WDR Big Band, first mentioned his interest in a program of music from the Christmas Oratorio of J.S. Bach, arranged to feature this ensemble in combination with the King’s Singers, I was immediately interested and excited. Having collaborated several times with this group of uniquely gifted vocalists, including the WDR Big Band’s Bach 2000 project, I knew there was an opportunity to create something very special indeed. Bach composed the work between 1734 and 1735. Since each of the six cantatas that make up the Christmas Oratorio was originally intended for a particular Sunday in the liturgical year, the sheer quantity of music is far too much for a single performance. The first major part of my work, then, would be the musical selection.

April starts the recording by highlighting her love of the blues with her original “April Blues”, performed with a mature delivery and phrasings that are in lock step with bassist Reuben Rogers’ beat.

YES, the most successful and influential progressive rock band in the world, will celebrate its prolific tenure at Atlantic Records with the Hi-Res of the studio albums they recorded with the label…

In the spring of 1982, English rockers Roxy Music's farewell album Avalon was released. The album was the band's only studio album they would record for Warner Bros. here in the States and the first since original drummer Paul Thompson left. He was replaced by studio ace Andy Newmark. The three remaining original members(vocalist Bryan Ferry, guitarist Phil Manzanera and woodwind expert Andy Mackay) crafted together a masterpiece. The album was produced by the band and Rhett Davies and engineered by Bob Clearmountain (Bryan Adams, The Rolling Stones, etc.). The single More Than This is an absolutely gorgeous start to Roxy Music's version of Abbey Road. This was the song that sent me looking for this album after watching VH1 Classic a few weeks ago. I have had the new SACD version since late April and I listen to this album constantly. The Space Between follows and is not that awful Dave Matthews song but is the ultimate break up song. The title cut is one of the best ballads I ever heard and the female backing vocalist is superb at the end and Bryan's crooning is superb. India is a great instrumental and was used as the entrance music during the Avalon tour. While My Heart is Still Beating is a great song as well. To Turn You On is excellent and features Paul Carrack on keyboards. The closing Tara is a beautiful coda to end this album which was the band's biggest seller in the US as it is their only Gold and Platinum album in the States. The CD sounds superb thanks to Bob Ludwig's painstaking remaster of this classic. Bob Clearmountain and original co-producer Rhett Davies give us this great 5.1 remix of Avalon which makes you feel like the band is actually playing in front of you. Also, the remastering that Bob Ludwig did on this Hybrid SACD demolished the previous edition by a longshot! Highly recommended! – Terrence J Reardon