ENESCU: Symphonies Nos. 1-3. Romanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2 / Orchestre National de France; Cristian Măcelaru, cond / Deutsche Grammophon 0028948657377 When I saw this album pop up on the Naxos Music Library and discovered that it was a recent release, I was quite excited to listen to it, for here were George Enescu’s three symphonies and two Romanian Rhapsodies conducted by a Romanian-born conductor. Surely, I thought, this will be an improvement on the set I had of the symphonies and rhapsodies led by Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky with the BBC Philharmonic. And my first sampl ..read more

SEABOURNE: My Song in October: 19 Album Leaves Caught in the Wind. September, Just Septembers: 9 Songs to Words of Emily Dickenson* / Michael Bell, pno *&Karen Radcliffe, sop / Sheva Contemporary SH326 This newest release of Peter Seabourne’s music includes the 19 short piano works from Mu Song in October, which is Vol. 8 in his series of short pieces called Steps, and from the very first note of the opening piece, “Komorebi,” one is immersed in a rhythmically vital but harmonically subtle sound world. Tonality mixes with modality, using some extended chord positions to create tension but ..read more

JUST FOUND JOY / People Will Say We’re in Love (Rodgers-Hammerstein). Sweet Lorraine (Cliff Burwell). King Porter Stomp (Jelly Roll Morton). Promenade (Ricky Alexander). It Had to Be You (Jones-Kahn). High Society (Porter Steele). Fine and Dandy (Kay Swift-Paul James). Don’t Blame Me (McHugh-Fields). Spring is Here (Rodgers-Hart). The Touch of Your Lips (Ray Noble). Rubber Plant Rag (George Cobb) / Ricky Alexander, sop-sax/cl/voc; Jon-Erik Kellso, tp; Brennen Ernst, gt; Dalton Ridenhour, Jon Thomas, pno; Bob Adkins, bs; Kevin Dorn, dm; Vanisha Gould, voc / Turtle Bay Records (no number) I kne ..read more

DUOLOGUES 1: TURNING POINT / 7 Improvisations / Ivo Perelman, t-sax; Tom Rainey, dm / Ibeji Music, no number Considering the extraordinary number of recordings that Ivo Perelman has made over the years, which seems to me to be one album every two months every year of his life, I have come to the conclusion that more than half of his performing time takes place in recording studios. Even more curious is the wide number of labels that have issued these discs. I am informed that Ibecji Music is his own label, so somehow or other he has managed to produce his own recordings in addition to those a ..read more

NØRGÄRD: Gilgamesh / Björn Haugan, ten (Gilgamesh); Helge Lannerback, bar (Enkido); Britt-Marie Aruhn, sop (Aruru); Jørgen Hviid, ten (Huwawa); Ranveig Eckhoff, sop (Siduri); Merete Bækkelund, alto (Ishtar); Birger Eriksson, bar (Utnapishtim); Solwig Grippe, alto (Utnapishtim’s mother); Rolf Leanderson, bar (Priest); Monika Hagelin, sop (Citizen 1); Eva Larsson, sop (Citizen 2); Erik Backman, ten (Citizen 3); Dieter Schlee, bass (Citizen 4); Karl-Robert Lindgren, bass-bar (Citizen 5); Richard Berg, bar (Citizen 6); Swedish Radio Chorus & Orch.; Tamas Vetö, cond / Voyage into the Golden Sc ..read more

SORABJI: Toccata Terza /Abel Sánchez-Aguilera, pno / Piano Classics PCL-10304 Imagine my surprise to discover this album on the Naxos New Release list! One of my favorite 20th-century composers, in a massive work for piano (did he write any other kind?) hitherto unknown. How did such a thing come about? The full story is just as incredible as the piece itself, for on this recording we hear Abel Sánchez-Aguilera who, less than 15 years ago, was not a professional pianist but a Biochemist studying stem cell research and leukemia in Madrid, Boston and my home town of Cincinnati. Thus it is under ..read more

ANCESTRAL NUMBERS 1 / Second House. Malachi. Potentiality. Remembering Water. Roots and Routes. Waltensaw. Vestibule. Ancestral Numbers-alt (J. Robinson) / Jason Robinson, t-sax/a-sax/a-fl; Michael Dessen, tb; Joshua White, pno; Drew Gress, bs; Ches Smith, dm/glock / Playscape Recordings PSR 082323 Jazz saxist-composer Jason Robinson describes this album thus: Ancestral Numbers is a sound meditation on genealogy and family history comprising an ongoing series of compositions for varying instrumentation…I began composing the Ancestral Numbers series shortly after the passing of my grandmother ..read more

J.S. BACH: Cello Suite No. 1 in G. BRITTEN: Cello Suite No. 3, Op. 97. KODÁLY: Solo Cello Sonata in B min., Op. 8 / Colin Carr, cel / available for free streaming on YouTube by clicking HERE. I’ve written about the amazing cellist Colin Carr previously on this blog, and so was delighted to see him post a link to this concert, given on April 14 for the benefit of his scholarship fund for underprivileged cello students, on Facebook. Carr is the cello professor at Stony Brook College in New York, and although I’m very happy for him to have a steady gig I am, as usual, a bit dismayed that he is r ..read more

TRIO NUEVO / These Times. August. One Look. Baby Melon. December. Three Views of Bach. Gone (Dave Bass). As Time Goes By (Herman Hupfeld). Sandino (Charlie Haden). Offshore Breeze (Denny Zeitlin). Duplicity (Andrew Hill) / Trio Nuevo: Dave Bass, pno; Tyler Miles, bs; Steve Helfand, dm / Dave Bass Music 004 Veteran pianist Dave Bass has been around for decades (he’s six months older than I am), yet this is only his seventh album and fourth as leader. He was described in the promo sheet for this CD as one who has long been fascinated by Latin jazz, yet what attracted me to this album was that t ..read more

VLADIMIR KASTORSKY: TCHAIKOVSKY: At the Ball. Serenade. I Bless You, Forests. Eugene Onegin: Prince Gremin’s aria. GOUNOD: Faust: Le veau d’or. ARENSKY:  Broken Vase. GLINKA: A Life for the Czar: They guess the truth. Ruslan und Lyudmila: Farlaf’s rondo. The Midnight Review. MOZART: Don Giovanni: Madamina. Deh’ vieni alla finestra. WAGNER: Tannhäuser: O du mein holder Abendstern. Die Walküre: Wotan’s farewell. KALINNIKOV: On the Burial Mound. SEROV: Judith: Holofernes’ battle cry. DARGOMYZHSKY: In the Wild North (w/Maria Michailova, sop; Alexander Davidov, ten). The Golden Cloud Rested ..read more