|
|||
CONCORD
GERALD ALBRIGHT/Sax for Stax: Total no brainer. Take an ace sax player, let him loose on Stax classics and you get an album that should have been perfect for soccer moms waiting for their lattes. Hey, do you think the collapse of Starbucks music initiative was impatient bitches that abandoned the lobby for the drive thru and stopped looking at cds while waiting for their frap? Something to think about.. Drawing on Johnnie Taylor as much as Isaac Hayes, this is a review proof no brainer and a much better choice for sax fans that ersatz soul from Kenny G. Certainly a very nice way to bring classics into the present.
DIVERSIONS
ALICJA FIDERKIEWICZ/Plays Chopin: Smart interpretations of Chopin going through dark and darker moods, this is a dignified and tuneful take on later works by Chopin when he was in his exile from Poland. The “Polonaise” played here is not his famous one and you get a feel for his sadness right thought the joyfulness of his dance pieces. The album is well played and up front in it’s simplicity being a nice find for the classical piano fancier.
24129
LSO LIVE
BERLIOZ/Benventto Cellini: So you think Colin Davis and LSO would let you down, especially after taking the trouble to serve up this double disc in pristine sounding SACD that is pristine in sound quality only? A lively work that Davis delivers in full blooded fashion, this is sure bet for symphony fans that want the full throttle effort of a symphony doing an opera in full regalia. The kind of recording major labels have abandoned as too expensive, this set proves that sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. A nice respite from warhorse chestnuts, it’s a wonderful ear opener for jaded classical ears.
623
MAXJAZZ
JEREMY PELT/November: Another amazing chapter in the development of this young lion. Giving trumpet a new lease on life, Pelt delivers yet again with a diverse, blistering performance that keeps him right in the forefront and well deserving of all his recognition and praise. Do yourself a favor and be a jazzbo in the know if you aren’t already and pick this up. Hot stuff.
SARGASSO
JOSEPH ANDERSON/Epiphanie Sequence: Whew, if this was made in America 30 years ago, this would have been the stuff arts councils of the time loved to fund. Contemporary classical with a leading dada edge, this sounds like Frank Zappa pushing a minimalist envelop with echoes of his early Varese admiration phase. Art Ensemble of Chicago meets Carla Bley at the edge of their version of down tempo, this is purely for the avant gardist riding the tip.
28056
JONATHAN HARVEY/Other Presences: Art house material in tribute to Stockhausen. If you don’t know what you’re getting into before you get here, you deserve what hits you over the head. A must for cutting edge avant gardists that want to hear variations on a theme and the attendant remixes that flow. Everyone else will probably be scratching their heads wondering what’s going on.
28057
Volume 31/Number 243
June 30, 2008
MIDWEST RECORD
830 W. Route 22 #144
Lake Zurich, IL., 60047
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
©2008 Midwest Record
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI