Saturday, October 31, 2009

TCHAIKOVSKY Complete Piano Works Vol. VII

I am trying really hard to remember how this album ended up in my hands but I can't...was it a shot in the dark? Did I even notice the "Vol. VII" when I picked it? Questions, questions, questions which don't matter in the end anyway, do they?All I know is that I enjoy listening to parts of this every now and then...I remember parts of it playing during a few mornings and a few sunsets at Πελαγινοί...enjoy.

Album: TCHAIKOVSKY Complete Piano Works Vol. VII
Year: 1992
Label: Erato

Personnel:
Viktoria Postnikova: Piano

Track List:

  1. Pieces Op.72 : Impromptu
  2. Pieces Op.72 : Berceuse
  3. Pieces Op.72 : Tendres reproches
  4. Pieces Op.72 : Danse caracteristique
  5. Pieces Op.72 : Meditation
  6. Pieces Op.72 : Mazurque pour danser
  7. Pieces Op.72 : Polacca de concert
  8. Pieces Op.72 : Dialogue
  9. Pieces Op.72 : Un poco di Schumann
  10. Pieces Op.72 : Scherzo-Fantaisie
  11. Pieces Op.72 : Valse bluette
  12. Pieces Op.72 : L'espiègle
  13. Pieces Op.72 : Echo rustique
  14. Pieces Op.72 : Chanson Elegiaque
  15. Pieces Op.72 : Un poco di Chopin
  16. Pieces Op.72 : Valse à 5 temps
  17. Pieces Op.72 : Passé lointain
  18. Pieces Op.72 : Scène dansante : Invitation au Trépak
  19. Impromptu (momento lirico)


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Sunday, October 18, 2009

Reunion

In 1989, 34 years after the formation of the somewhat unique Chico Hamilton Quintet, the original members (with one exception) reunited for a tour and this Soul Note recording. In addition to drummer Hamilton, Buddy Collette (heard on flute, clarinet and alto), cellist Fred Katz, bassist Carson Smith, and guitarist John Pisano (Jim Hall's first replacement) complete the group. This studio session only includes one standard remake of "I Want to Be Happy" and is comprised of then-recent originals by band members, with two selections ("Brushing with B" and "Conversation") being freely improvised duets by Collette and Hamilton. So, rather than merely being an exercise in nostalgia, this excellent set features the Quintet members as they sounded in the late '80s, creating new music for their classic sound.

~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide


Artist: Chico Hamilton Quintet
Album: Reunion
Year: 1989
Label: Soul Note

Personnel:
Buddy Collette: Flute, Clarinet, Alto Saxophone
Fred Katz: Cello
John Pisano: Guitar
Carson Smith: Bass
Chico Hamilton: Drums, Vocal

Track List:
  1. I Want To Be Happy
  2. Delightful, Charming And Cool
  3. Brushing With B
  4. Ain't Nobody Calling Me
  5. Magali
  6. Shirley
  7. Conversation
  8. These Are The Dues
  9. Dreams Of Youth
  10. Five Friends
  11. Reunion

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Friday, October 16, 2009

The Falcon and The Snowman (OST)

Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays lent their trademark sound to the sweeping (occasionally orchestral) score of this original soundtrack. David Bowie's vocals are featured on "This Is Not America."

~ Scott Bultman, All Music Guide


Album: The Falcon And The Snowman (OST)
Year: 1985
Label: EMI MANHATTAN RECORDS

Personnel:
Pat Metheny Group:
Pat Metheny: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Lyle Mays: Synthesizer, Piano
Steve Rodby: Bass, Double Bass, Conductor on Tracks 1, 6, 7 ,8
Paul Wertico: Drums, Percussion
National Philarmonic Orchestra: Orchestra (duh...) on Tracks 1, 6, 7 ,8
Pedro Aznar: Vocals on Tracks 2, 4

David Bowie: Vocals on Track 5


Track List:
  1. Psalm 121/Flight Of The Falcon

  2. Daulton Lee

  3. Chris

  4. The Falcon

  5. This Is Not America

  6. Extent Of The Lie

  7. The Level Of Deception

  8. Capture

  9. Epilogue (Psalm 121)


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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Officium

Fearlessly searching for new conceptions of sound and not caring where he found them, Garbarek joined hands with the classical early-music movement, improvising around the four male voices of the Hilliard Ensemble. Now here was a radical idea guaranteed to infuriate both hardcore jazz buffs and the even more pristine more-authentic-than-thou folk in early music circles. Yet this unlikely fusion works stunningly well -- and even more hearteningly, went over the heads of the purists and became a hit album at a time (1994) when Gregorian chants were a hot item. Chants, early polyphonic music, and Renaissance motets by composers like Morales and Dufay form the basic material, bringing forth a cool yet moving spirituality in Garbarek's work. Recorded in a heavily reverberant Austrian monastery, the voices sometimes develop in overwhelming waves, and Garbarek rides their crest, his soprano sax soaring in the monastery acoustic, or he underscores the voices almost unobtrusively, echoing the voices, finding ample room to move around the modal harmonies yet applying his sound sparingly. Those with nervous metabolisms may become impatient with this undefinable music, but if you give it a chance, it will seduce you, too.

~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide


Artist: Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble
Album: Officium
Year: 1994
Label: ECM

Personnel:
The Hilliard Ensemble:
David James: Countertenor
Rogers Covey-Crump: Tenor
John Potter: Tenor
Gordon Jones: Baritone

Jan Garbarek: Soprano and Tenor Saxophones


Track List:
  1. Parce Mihi Domine
  2. Primo Tempore
  3. Sanctus
  4. Regnantem Sempiterna
  5. O Salutaris Hostia
  6. Procedentem Sponsum
  7. Pulcherrima Rosa
  8. Parce Mihi Domine
  9. Beata Viscera
  10. De Spineto Nata Rosa
  11. Credo
  12. Ave Maris Stella
  13. Virgo Flagellatur
  14. Oratio Ieremiae
  15. Parce Mihi Domine


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Thursday, October 08, 2009

Je T'aime Je T'aime

No review this time, guys. Sorry. :D


Artist: Bang Bang
Album: Je T'Aime Je T'Aime
Year: 1999
Label: Yellow

Personnel:
Patrick Woodcock: Guitar (6,7)
Chris Hayward: Flute (6)
Bang Bang: Fender Rhodes, Fender Jazz Bass, Wurlitzer, Solina String Ensemble, Piano, Jupiter 8, Jx & Kawai Synths, Drums & Percussions.


Track List:

  1. Two Fingers (Featuring Jay-Jay Johanson)
  2. Pom Pom Girl
  3. Je t'aime je t'aime
  4. Believe (Featuring Garry Christian)
  5. Murmur (Featuring Athena Constantine)
  6. The Prisoner (Featuring Margeaux Lampley)
  7. Bye Bye Blues
  8. Without You (Featuring Mary Gallagher)
  9. Tchin Tchin
  10. Sacré coeur


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The Body & The Soul

At age 25, Freddie Hubbard made inroads into modern jazz most trumpeters could not imagine, much less come through with. As a soloist, one of Hubbard's crowning achievements in his early period was this recording on which he teamed with Wayne Shorter, marginally as a performer but prominent in the role of arranger/conductor for his first time ever. Utilizing a septet, 16-piece big band, and orchestra plus stings to play concise, tight tunes, Shorter provides the backdrop to employ Hubbard's bold toned trumpet and all of its devices in a full display of his powerful melodic talents. Yeoman Reggie Workman plays bass on all selections, with drummer Louis Hayes in the seven-piece combo, and great work from Philly Joe Jones in the larger bands. Interestingly enough, the three tracks with the smaller ensemble are the most interesting, due to the presence of Eric Dolphy, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, and Shorter on the front line. "Clarence's Place" is a post-bop jewel with spiky brass accents and Dolphy's ribald and outre alto sax solo contrasting Shorter's relatively reserved tenor, "Dedicated to You" is a wisp of a tune, while "Body & Soul," an atypical choice for the opening selection, is a straight read of the classic ballad with a chart that sounds larger than the small horn section, and a wavering flute via Dolphy. The big band does an unusual soul-jazz treatment of the Brazilian number "Manha de Carnaval" flavored by Robert Northern's French horn, while "Aries" is a hard bop show stopper with two-note accents buoying Hubbard's great lyrical lines, and goes further into hard bop with "Thermo" as the horns demand attention with the trumpeter as an afterthought. The string section, ten pieces strong, joins the big band on the film noir type Duke Ellington piece "Chocolate Shake," the stock "I Got It Bad," and "Skylark," with its soft clarion intro bubbling underneath with the violins, violas, and cellos. The manner in which this recording is programmed is thoughtful in that it lends to the diversity of the project, but is seamless from track to track. Dan Morgenstern's hefty liner notes also explain the concept behind this ambitious project, one which did not compare to any of Hubbard's other recordings in his career. Therefore it stands alone as one of the most unique productions in his substantive discography, and a quite credible initial go-round for Shorter as an orchestrator. Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide

~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide


Artist: Freddie Hubbard
Album: The Body & The Soul
Year: March 8, 11 and May 2, 1963
Label: Impulse

Personnel on # 1, 4, 5
Freddie Hubbard: Trumpet
Curtis Fuller: Trombone
Eric Dolphy: Alto Saxophone, Flute
Wayne Shorter: Tenor Saxophone
Cedar Walton: Piano
Reggie Workman: Bass
Louis Hayes: Drums

Personnel on # 2, 6, 9
Freddie Hubbard, Al DeRisi, Ernie Royal, Clark Terry: Trumpets
Melba Liston, Curtis Fuller: Trombones
Bob Northern: French Horn
Robert Powell: Tuba
Eric Dolphy: Alto Saxophone, Flute
Seldon Powell, Jerome Richardson: Tenor Saxophones
Charles Davis: Baritone Saxophone
Cedar Walton: Piano
Reggie Workman: Bass
Philly Joe Jones: Drums
Wayne Shorter: Arranger, Conductor

Personnel on # 3, 7, 8
Freddie Hubbard, Ed Armour, Richard Williams: Trumpets
Melba Liston, Curtis Fuller: Trombones
Bob Northern, Julius Watkins: French Horns
Eric Dolphy: Alto Saxophone, Flute
Jerome Richardson: Baritone Saxophone
Cedar Walton: Piano
Reggie Workman: Bass
Philly Joe Jones: Drums
Harry Cykman, Morris Stonzek, Arnold Eidus, Sol Shapiro, Charles McCracken, Harry Katzman, Harry Lookofsky, Gene Orloff, Julius Held, Raoul Poliakin: Strings
Wayne Shorter: Arranger Conductor

Track List:

  1. Body And Soul

  2. Carnival (Manha De Carnaval)

  3. Chocolate Shake

  4. Dedicated To You

  5. Clarence's Place

  6. Aries

  7. Skylark

  8. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)

  9. Thermo


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Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Crime Of The Century

Supertramp came into their own on their third album, 1974's Crime of the Century, as their lineup gelled but, more importantly, so did their sound. The group still betrayed a heavy Pink Floyd influence, particularly in its expansive art rock arrangements graced by saxophones, but Supertramp isn't nearly as spooky as Floyd -- they're snarky collegiate elitists, an art rock variation on Steely Dan or perhaps a less difficult 10cc, filled with cutting jokes and allusions, best heard on "Bloody Well Right." This streak would later flourish on Breakfast in America, but it's present enough to give them their own character. Also present is a slight sentimental streak and a heavy fondness for pop, heard on "Dreamer," a soaring piece of art pop that became their first big hit. That and "Bloody Well Right" are the concise pop moments on the record; the rest of Crime of the Century is atmospheric like Dark Side of the Moon, but with a lighter feel and a Beatles bent. At times the album floats off into its own world, with an effect more tedious than hypnotic, but it's still a huge leap forward for the group and their most consistent album outside of that 1979 masterwork, Breakfast in America.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Artist: Supertramp
Album: Crime Of The Century
Year: 1974
Label: A&M Records

Personnel:
Bob C. Benberg: Drums Percussion
Roger Hodgson: Vocals, Guitar, Pianos
John Anthony Helliwell: Saxophones, Clarinet, Vocals
Dougie Thomson: Bass
Richard Davies: Vocals, Keyboards, Harmonica


Track List:

  1. School
  2. Bloody Well Right
  3. Hide In Your Shell
  4. Asylum
  5. Dreamer
  6. Rudy
  7. If Everyone Was Listening
  8. Crime Of The Century


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L'homme À Tête De Chou

Even tolerant music fans shudder inwardly at the mention of the concept album, a largely prog rock genre that spawned many of the greatest aesthetic indiscretions of the '70s. L'Homme à Tête de Chou (The Man with the Cabbage Head) is a concept album and shares some of prog's general characteristics, but it's unlike anything emanating from rock's beardy depths. In the spirit of his 1971 masterpieceHistoire de Melody Nelson, Gainsbourg sets this album's brief tale amid a widescreen musical canvas. WhereasMelody Nelson was provocative without being explicit, the gravel-voiced Gallic lecher goes X-rated here -- albeit without sacrificing his poetic élan. In this morbidly comic song cycle the narrator's muse is Marilou, a black shampoo girl: during their ill-fated fling, he descends into unhinged obsession, beats her to death with a fire extinguisher and ends up in a psychiatric hospital (convinced his head has turned into a cabbage). Although the title track retains something of Melody Nelson's cool Baroque pop gravitas, Chou doesn't replicate that earlier record's alternately brooding and soaring melodic grandeur. Instead, it draws on an adventurously varied palette, spanning rock, country, disco, jazz, reggae, and funk. In places, the shifting styles match the different images or situations that Gainsbourg presents, sometimes without concern for subtlety: "Marilou Reggae" finds Marilou grooving to Caribbean sounds, while tribal rhythms on "Transit à Marilou" heavy-handedly signify her exotic sexuality. The songs are most satisfying when the relationship between lyrics and music is less literal, more evocative -- especially "Lunatic Asylum," where tympani, didgeridoo-like drones, dramatic organ, and insistent percussion soundtrack the protagonist's insanity. Elsewhere, subject matter and sound are divorced completely, the cheery funk of "Ma Lou Marilou" contrasting with the narrator's murderous thoughts.L'Homme à Tête de Chou is an underrated Gainsbourg album. Notwithstanding some dubious synth coloring, it's his second-best '70s release, ranking among his finest recordings.

~ Wilson Neate, All Music Guide All Music Guide


Artist: Serge Gainsbourg
Album: L'homme À Tête De Chou
Year: 1976
Label: PHILIPS

Personnel:
Serge Gainsbourg
Alan Hawkshaw: Keyboards, Synthesizer
Alan Parker: Lead Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Judd Proctor: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Brian Odgers: Bass Guitar
Dougie Wright: Drums
Jim Lawless: Percussions
Claire Torry, Kay Garner, Jean Hawker: Vocals

Track List:

  1. L'homme À Tête De Chou
  2. Chez Max Coiffeur Pour Hommes
  3. Marilou Reggae
  4. Transit À Marilou
  5. Flash Forward
  6. Aéroplanes
  7. Premiers Symptômes
  8. Ma Lou Marilou
  9. Variations Sur Marilou
  10. Meurtre À L'Extincteur
  11. Marilou Sous La Neige
  12. Lunatic Asylum


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Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Besieged (OST)

Composer Alessio Vlad brings his romantic, transcultural sound to the score of Bernardo Bertolucci's Besieged. The movie's emotional impact is reflected in Vlad's moving, intricate compositions.
~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide

Artist: Various
Album: Besieged (OST)
Year: 1998
Label: Milan


Track List:

  1. Ostinato
  2. Africa
  3. Nyumbani
  4. Fantasy In D Minor K 397
  5. Prelude In E Flat Minor (from the well tempered Clavier)
  6. Maria Valencia
  7. Le Voyageur
  8. Mambote Na Nje
  9. Sina
  10. Diaraby
  11. Full Option
  12. Arpeggio
  13. Etude Op 8 No 12 In D Sharp Minor
  14. Titoli Di Coda


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Luxor To Isna

Not so much a record, more like an adventure in sound.

January 1990

Press review from: Q Magazine (UK)

This album captures powerful and eerie melodies which can be traced back to the time of the Pharaohs. 10 December 1989

Press review from: The Observer (UK)

...a wonderfully strange record...

December 1992/January 1993

Press review from: Dirty Linen (USA)

Intoxicating, uniquely Egyptian blend of string and reeded instruments, percussion and occasionally street scenes, superbly recorded at the effective Real World Studios.

17 November 1989

Press review from: The Guardian (UK)


Artist: Musicians Of The Nile
Album: Luxor To Isna
Year: 1989
Label: REAL WORLD RECORDS LTD.

Personnel:
Metqal Qenawi Metqal: Rababah
Shamandi Tewfiq Metqal: Epic Singing and Rababah
Mohamed Murad Medjali: Rababah
Alain Weber: Rababah
Mustafah 'Abd Al' Aziz: Arghul and Doholah
Hanafi Mohamed 'Ali: Tablah
Mohamed Abu Haradji: Mizmar
Ramdan 'Ata: Mizmar
Mohamed Isma'il: Mizmar
Djad Al Rab Mahmud: Tablah Baladi


Track List:
  1. Al Bahr Al Gharam Wasah (Love Is As Vast As A River)
  2. Zahrafat Al Sa'id (Rejoicing In Upper Egypt)
  3. Ya Tir 'Ala Shadjarah (Oh Bird Upon The Tree)
  4. Horse Steps
  5. Al Nahla Al 'Ali (The Tall Palm Tree)
  6. Kol Elle Qalboh Ankawa (Everyone Has Had A Broken Heart)
  7. Yunes Wa 'Azizah (Yunes And Azizah)
  8. Lovers - Al-Aqsur-Isna (From Luxor To Isna)
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