EL ASTRO DE LOS DISCOS

Master and Everyone

Bonnie "Prince" Billy, a.k.a. Will Oldham, is no ordinary bard. His writing, which can call to mind 19th-century American poets like Walt Whitman, has won him a cult of fans that include Marianne Faithfull, Björk, and Beck. Master's painfully fragile intensity is disconcerting and challenging, yet its purity and tenderness is soothing all the same. Dark, intimate, and sparsely arranged, it's a loose, meditative concept record that explores issues of gender, self, and love. Here Oldham trades in his familiar warble for a hushed, clear high tenor and a rock band for his acoustic guitar; ever-so-soft strings and keyboards warm up the arrangements while he is backed by Marty Slayton's sweet, feminine harmonies. Lyrically less dense than previous releases, Master does retain Oldham's typically quaint phrasings, as in "Ain't You Wealthy, Ain't You Wise?" and "Joy and Jubilee." With a few listens, these 10 oddly gentle songs will endear themselves, and perhaps prove Master to be Oldham's best and most personal work to date.
amazon

BEWARE

Breaking through the dirt and shooting upward into our atmosphere is a new variety of exotic Bonnie Prince Billy plant. Stronger. Stinkier. It blooms in low light and cold but thrives in the sun as well, showing enticing spots and eating small creatures as they wander into its jaws. They had it coming, they were weak...and you re next! Beware. Though Beware shares spit with its immediate predecessor, Lie Down in the Light, its reach is longer, its arches more grandiose. Where fiddle and steel contribute their rustic timbre alongside guitars and voices, a thickening thud of low tone rolls beneath, giving the record a bottom that s fun to watch bounce in new clothes. This indensifies the air and heralds Beware as Bonny s most ambidextrous record to date even more so than The Letting Go! A listen or two through and you too may conclude that this could also be the great Bonnie Prince Billy contempo-country record though, as always, the Prince goes his own special way, even when climbing the charts with brawny arms and classic titles like I Don t Belong to Anyone, You Can t Hurt Me Now, and I Am Goodbye.

AMAZON

Bonnie "Prince" Billy I

2009-11-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

Superwolf

Will Oldham's musical personality is strong and distinct enough that when he collaborates with another artist, with rare exception he firmly takes the lead (whether or not that was the intention). And while guitarist Matt Sweeney (formerly of Chavez and Zwan) gets equal billing with Oldham's alter ego Bonnie "Prince" Billy on 2005's Superwolf, one listen confirms that this is primarily Oldham's work, with Sweeney obviously second in command. (The liner notes state that Oldham wrote the lyrics and Sweeney wrote the music, though to these ears Sweeney is either remarkably gifted at channeling Oldham's musical notions or the lyricist passed along a few melodic ideas as well.) However, this isn't to say Sweeney's presence isn't strongly and clearly felt here -- Superwolf exists in a musical landscape very much like Bonnie "Prince" Billy's earlier recorded work, such as Ease Down the Road and I See a Darkness, but Sweeney's periodic interjections of hard guitar lines give this a firmer musical texture and a stronger structural backbone than one might expect. Also, withSweeney on hand, Oldham has kept some of his less appealing musical eccentricities in check -- this is one of his strongest and best-focused works in years, with the slow tempos adding drama to songs that manage to go somewhere in dramatic fashion despite their deliberate pace, and Sweeney's spare but evocative guitar lines fill the spaces without cluttering the frames. Even if Oldham ends up being front and center on Superwolf, the results make it clear the man works best with a strong collaborator, and it's hard not to hope Oldham and Sweeney continue to work together in the future.

aca

Lie Down in the Light

So who's been giving Will Oldham singing lessons? The artist currently known as Bonnie "Prince" Billy has displayed a rather inconsistent skill set when it comes to vocals in the 15 years since the Palace Brothers' debut album, but on 2008's Lie Down in the Light, Oldhamsounds more tuneful than ever before; on the opener, "Easy Does It," he could pass as the leader of some better than

average country-rock outfit from the early '70s, which matches the jaunty but laid-back vibe of the tune. Some of the songs here recall the more spare and troubling style that marked Oldham's earlier work, such as "So Everyone," "Willow Trees Bend," and "What's Missing Is," but he's still showing a greater control over his vocal instrument than before, sounding like a real singer in a way he often hasn't in the past, and while the production and arrangements on this album are lean and uncluttered, they're rooted in a warmth and lyricism that make this one of the most satisfying albums Oldhamhas offered as Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Oldham's obsession with Southern gothic archetypes hasn't changed much on this set, but the 11 new songs here feel fresh and unforced, with a grace in the wordplay that matches the natural flow of the music, and whether the mood reflects hope ("For Every Field There's a Mole"), longing ("Lie Down in the Light"), or contemplation of the mysteries ("You Want That Picture"), these songs hit their target true and clean. Lie Down in the Light doesn't sound like an immediate masterpiece in the manner of 2006's The Letting Go, but on the whole it's as strong and satisfying as anythingOldham has released in the last ten years, and it's encouraging that he keeps getting stronger and refining his gifts with the passage of time. And who knows what will happen if he keeps seeing that vocal coach.

Ease Down the Road

Will Oldham has long confused record buyers with his constantly changing monikers. Though the persona attached has remained fairly consistent, his releases under Bonnie "Prince" Billy brought a subtle but undeniable shift. Following the cracked, wayward style he adopted on 1997s Joya, Oldham settled on the steady understated "Bonnie" voice of I See a Darkness. The lyrics became more direct and the narrator's strange mythology deepened. If that album embraced its subject as a necessary, even beautiful aspect of life, Ease Down the Roadfinds the singer comfortable with this new-found acceptance. Backing Oldham is a cast of new and old faces who deliver their parts with an unusually soft, smooth touch. The singer eases into this setting, singing of his estranged upbringing, plans to construct his own kingdom (through questionable means), and love. The latter is Oldham's biggest preoccupation, finding its way into nearly every song, like the album's subplot. Though unable to choose between the love of one woman and the ability to be with whomever will suit his needs, the narrator is largely unconcerned with the conflict. Ease Down the Roadfeatures some of his most direct dealings with the subject on "May It Always Be" and "After I Made Love to You." As the album develops, this material is balanced with the more characteristic musings of "The Lion Lair," "Sheep," and "Grand Dark Feeling of Emptiness": songs that trace the same fictional histories found on I See a Darkness. The end result is the natural and necessary expansion of a unique songwriting voice. Seeming more confident than ever, Oldham's Ease Down the Road is a wonderful addition to a catalog that should earn him a place among the finest songwriters of his age, or any age.

El 2 y el 4 los pueden encontrar acá

V. A. Jazz Manouche Vol. 1 y 5

2009-11-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

Variada compilación del género. Varios volúmenes. Muy interesante para introducirse al mismo.

bajar acá (vol 1)

y acá(vol 5)

Anouar Brahem

2009-10-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

The role of the Arabic, lute-like, stringed instrument, the oud, has been revolutionalized through the playing of Anouar Brahem. While used in the past to accompany vocalists, the oud is used by Brahem as an imaginative solo instrument. In 1988, Tunisian newspaper, "Tunis-Hebdo", wrote, "If we had to elect the musician of the 80s, we would have, without the least hesitation, chosen Anouar Brahem". The British daily newspaper, "The Guardian", that Brahem was "at the forefront of jazz because he is far beyond it".

Barzakh (1991)

This starkly beautiful collection of 13 tracks by Tunisian composer Anouar Brahem is his debut release for the

ECM label. The album spotlights Brahem's solo oud pieces, which range from the meditative ("Sadir") to the propulsive ("Ronda"). This solo work is nicely augmented by stellar contributions

from violinist Bechir Selmi and percussionist Lassad Hosni; Selmi is featured on the transcendent "Barzakh," while Hosni

figures

prominently on "Souga" and "Bou Naouara." The three musicians come together for the joyous dance number "Parfum de Gitane." Throughout Barzakh

, Brahem and the others forge an appealing mix of Middle Eastern sonorities and jazz phrasing, an intimate sound perfectly suited to the clean and spacious ECM recording styl

e. This is a great title for fans of both international music and jazz.

Le Pas du Chat Noir (2002)

Oud player Brahem has established his own little niche with t

he instrument; his music, strongly Arab-inflected, has the spare, chamber feel that makes it a perfect fit in the ECM catalog. He's a contemplative player, and this melding with piano and accordion suits his style perfectly, as notes and ideas draw out marvelously. The interplay between musicians is as delicat

e as lace -- thoughtful, with everyone listening as much a

s playing. It's a record with many moments of great beauty, like the exquisite piano on "C'est Ailleurs" or the filigree touches between accordion and piano that decorate and nudge along many of the tracks. Brahem is a superb, if reserved, musician, as are his colleagues: Francois Couturieron piano and Jean-Louis Matinier on accordion. To

gether they trace something exquisite, an experience for the eras and the heart.

The Astounding Eyes of Rita (2009)

The Astounding Eyes of Rita (ECM) is the title of the new album by T
unisian world jazz musician Anouar Brahem. The recording features Anouar Brahem on oud, Klaus Gesing on bass clarinet, Björn Meyer on bass, and Khaled Yassine on darbuka and bendir.

There has long been a balance between Western and Eastern components in Anouar Brahem’s work. “I need both elements”, he says, but ratios change with
each project. His early discs (such asBarzakh and Conte de l'Incroyable Amour ) carry a strong sense of traditions - including Brahem’s own - while his last two recordings, Le Voyage de Sahar (2005) and Le Pas Du Chat Noir (2001) found him at the center of a trio oriented more towards Eurocentric chamber music. With The Astounding Eyes of Rita there is a sense of coming full circle. Brahem introduces a new gr
oup in a sinuous dance of dark sounds (oud, bass clarinet, bass guitar and hand drums), strong melodies, and earthy textures.

Born in Halfawine (Halfaouine), Tunisia in 1957, Brahem is regarded as his country’s most innovative oud player. As a former pupil of oud master Ali Sriti, he is thoroughly steeped in the secrets and subtleties of Arab classical music. He has absorbed this information and, armed with it, gone out to meet the world, a contemporary musician of profoun
d historical knowledge.

“When I write music”, he explains, “my focus is simply on the melodic universe. Ideas for instrumentation come later.” Perhaps significantly, the music for Rita was composed on the oud, where the Pas de chat noir concep
t had been sketched and shaped from the piano. The new music modulates between the disciplines, as befits a line-up pooling payers from Tunisia, Germany, Sweden and Lebanon. “As the new work developed I thought about traditional players and perhaps using more middle-eastern instrumentation but there were also pieces of a different character emerging. I knew I needed darbuka [the goblet-drum of Arab tradition], for instance, and I thought about bass. It took quite a while to find the right combination of instruments and personalities. While I can easily find fantastic traditional players in my region, I often miss qualities specific to European jazz players, a certain open-mindedness in approaches to improvising, aspects to do with freedom”.

Producer Manfred Eicher helped bring Brahem together with German bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing and Swedish bassist Björn Meyer, players heard on ECM in, respectively, the groups of Norma Winstone and Nik Bärtsch. “Manfred knew, from our experiences with John Surman [see the Thimar album of 1997] that I liked very much the combination of bass clarinet with the oud: the instruments just seem to belong together. In Klaus’s playing on Norma’s album (Di
stances), I thought I could hear ways in which we might work together. Manfred helped to set up rehearsals, with just Klaus and myself, in Udine. The potential was there, I felt. But we really came together as a band during the record production – until that point, I’d played only separately with each of the musicians.”

Björn Meyer and Klaus Gesing share Brahem’s interest in a broad range of musical expression. The classically-trained Gesing has been extensively involved also with East European musics and with jazz, while Meyer grew up listening to Cuban music, and played flamenco before diving deep into Swedish folk. He also plays music influenced by Persian tradition in groups with harpist Asita Hamidi and his bass often serves as a lyrical lead voice in the throbbing cellular music of Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin (ECM albums: Stoa and Holon).

The band’s fourth member, Lebanese percussionist Khaled Yassine, was brought to Brahem’s attention by his sister-in-law, choreographer Nawel Skandrani. Khaled’s experience of working with dancers helps to give this music its gently insinuating, swaying pulses. “Khaled’s a very interesting player. He is deeply grounded in the traditional music, but also very
open-minded: he plays in a lot of different contexts, is very informed. There is a new generation of musicians emerging in countries like Lebanon.” Anouar suggests that these are players of broader vision.

After a highly-productive recording session in Udine’s Artesuono studio, Anouar Brahem brought the new band to Tunisia where they played to enthusiastic audiences in Carthage. The musicians are currently preparing for international performances. A first European tour is scheduled in October, November and December with concerts in Austria, Bosnia, Germany and France, climaxing at Paris’s Salle Pleyel.

The album’s unusual title references the poetry of Palestinian writer Mahmoud Darwish, 1941-2008, to whom the disc is dedicated. A hugely-influential figure in the Arabic world, Darwish wrote more than 20 volumes of poetry, and his readings frequently commanded audiences of thousands. When he died in 2008 he was honored with three days of national mourning and a state funeral in Palestine.
http://worldmusiccentral.org

David Sylvian & Robert Fripp

ROBERT FRIPP POR 3

2009-10-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

The First Day

Robert Fripp and David Sylvian's first official release together, The First Day, is a much funkier and m

ore percussive affair than its bootleg predecessor, The Day Before

(which contained radically different versions of these songs). An obvious reason for its higher quality is that it was recorded in a studio, while the bootleg consisted of in-concert demos, and the songs here have been worked to completion. Fripp has found an extremely talented singer/partner in Sylvian, who adds a lot to his quirky compositions. Trey Gunn (who plays a bass-like instrument called the stick) makes each track pra

ctically groove and br

eathe on his own, and allows Fripp to stretch out and experiment in ways previously unheard by this guitar icon. The First Day is a very consistent album, with the musician's excitement and energy easily being felt on such tracks as "God's Monkey," "Brightness," and the ten-minutetour de force

"Firepower." Other lengthy tracks follow (the 11-minute "20th Century Dreaming" and the 17-minute "Darshan"), but it never becomes self-indulgent or boring. Certainly one of Robert Fripp's best and more inspired King Crimson side projects.

The Equatorial Stars

Fripp & Eno

Almost 30 years on since Evening Star, Robert Fripp and Brian Eno resume their collaboration, and remarkably, they seem to have picked up right where they left off. Remarkably, because Fripp's more recent soundscaping has had a different quality than either his collaborations with Eno or his proper "Frippertronics" albums like Let the Power Fall or the solo side of God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners. Surely they're not back to using the old Revox tape machine setup, but having Eno in the producer's chair (not to mention making his own musical contributions) seems to add a warmth that's been missing from albums like 1999. But much like Evening Star showed a progression from No Pussyfooting, The Equatorial Stars is another step forward while retaining all the same elements as their previous work together. On "Meissa," there's just a bit of glitch periodically applied to the back

ground keyboards and guitar harmonics with Fripp soloing softly over the top. "Lyra" is even prettier, and you can really hear Fripp's guitar lines trailing off into the distance. His tone here is less saturated than on the earlier albums, but there's just as much sustain and his playing is beautiful and lyrical. "Ankaa" bears the strongest resemblance to the material on Evening Star, with that classic "Frippertronics" guitar tone. And just as their previous efforts were mostly, but not entirely, placid, The Equatorial Stars takes on a slightly more aggressive tone (if you can call it that) toward the end. "Lupus" adds the pulse of a heartbeat and a bit of sonic scuzz to the mix, and "Terebellum" takes on a slightly more ominous tone. Most surprising is "Altair," which almost gets funky with a bit of bass and some chicken scratch rhythm guitar work. While Fripp is nominally at the forefront on The Equatorial Stars, Eno's contributions and excellent production are just as important. There seems to be a genuine synergy when these two work together, and The Equatorial Stars is a worthy successor to their earlier brilliant albums together.

Evening Star

Fripp/Eno

Robert Fripp's second team up with Brian Eno was a less harsh, more varied affair, closer toEno's then-developing idea of ambient music

than what had come before in No Pussyfooting. The method used, once again, was the endless decaying tape loop system of Frippertronics but refined with pieces such as "Wind on Water" fading up into an already complex bed of layered synths and treated guitar over which Fripp plays long, languid solos. "Evening Star" is meditative and calm with gentle scales rocking to and fro while Fripp solos on top. "Wind on Wind" is Eno solo, an excerpt from the soon to be released Discreet Musicalbum. The nearly 30-minute ending piece, "An Index of Metals," keeps Evening Star from being a purely background listen as the loops this time contain a series of guitar distortions layered to the nth degree, Frippertronics as pure dissonance. As a culmination of Fripp andEno's experiments, Evening Star shows how far they could go.

Keep on Moving: The Best of Angelique Kidjo (2001)

2009-10-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

Angélique Kidjo's greatest-hits CD is a broad introduction to the popular African world music artist, whose styles include Zairean rhumba, reggae, jazz, funk, zouk, and makossa, and zilin vocals. Designed to condense her career down to one disc, Keep on Moving: The Best of Angelique Kidjo is a record for new fans. The disc contains 17 songs from her five full-length albums from the 1990s and one previously unavailable track. More than any other Kidjo release, Keep on Moving showcases the burgeoning relationship between modern African music and American soul. As energetic and upbeat as some of the tracks on this album are, Angélique Kidjo is equally represented here by ballads like "Fifa." While all 18 tracks are good, this collection has a somewhat schizophrenic feel. The decade-long evolution from African-infused rock to more R&B and pop songs seems jarring in the span of 74 minutes. Afro-pop dance songs like "Agolo," "Babalao," and "Aye" seem almost out of place next to some of the set's bluesy and spare numbers. The track order is not chronological either, and a longtime fan will tell when a track from 1991 gives way to one from 1998. Since Kidjo's albums are not singles-oriented, Keep on Moving lacks the unified mood of her best albums. Often a "Greatest Hits" or a "Best Of" compilation collects all the good material an artist has to offer and becomes a band's only essential release. (Famous examples include the Spin Doctors' Just Go Ahead Now or Duran Duran's Decade.) Keep on Moving might be the first Kidjo CD for some people, but it only scratches the surface of her rich catalog. Keep on Moving is a very good sampler of her career, but doesn't contain all of Kidjo's best songs. This disc should serve as an invitation to discover the rest of her music. This Best Of has only one song from her debut. Parakou, three from Oremi, four each from Logozo and Aye, and five from Fifa. What is included, however, is exciting. Of interest to new fans will be Kidjo's pop collaborations: "Naima" with rocker Carlos Santana and "Open Your Eyes" with hip-hop star Kelly Price. Other standout songs include "Malika," her creative take on Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)," and a cover of George Gershwin's "Summertime." Use this as a beginning point, but keep in mind that their are other great hits not included here, including her Cassandra Wilson duet "Never Know," "Easy as Life" from Elton John's Aida, and "Ife," which is only available on Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Keep on Moving might be the best introduction to the wonderful world of Angélique Kidjo but Oremi is still her best record

Mary Gauthier Mercy Now

2009-08-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

Since her second offering, the self-issued Drag Queens in Limousines in 1999, and continuing through the stellar Filth & Fire in 2002, Texas singer/songwriter Mary Gauthier has quietly and consistently raised the aesthetic bar for herself. She has been favorably (and accurately) compared to Townes Van Zandt for her literate American gothic songs about wasted lives, desolate characters who roam the highways like ghosts, shattered dreams, and frustrated expectations. But Gauthier never exploits her characters; she views them with a piercing tenderness and empathy, painting them with dignity and humanity. OnMercy Now, Gauthier digs a little deeper; she comes down on the side of the song itself. The protagonists whose tales she relates are given rich musical voices, adding depth, dimension, and flesh and blood as related by her keen-eyed observations, unflinching poetic language, and willingness to be subtle and not intrude. Her razor-wire, weatherbeaten, loving kindness digs deep as it pleads for release on "Falling Out of Love," which opens the record. With her acoustic guitar in minor mode, a deep, lonesome harmonica, hollow, sparse percussion, and producer Gurf Morlix's trademark slow-wrangle slide, she sings and even becomes the voice of the broken-hearted blues. There is no sentimentality in her view, just the taut edginess that is so wearying and anxious about trying to get past the addiction to a memory seared with every breath. On the title track, Gauthier's guitar and voice offer a gritty, moving meditation on compassion, invoking mercy for all those who suffer, from family to church and country to those who are nameless and faceless. There is nothing facile in Gauthier's words, nothing remotely trite or ordinary about the weariness in the grain of her voice, as Brian Standefer's cello and Morlix's lap steel fill the center and carry the message to the heavens humbly, slowly, purposefully. "Wheel Inside the Wheel," written for the late Dave Carter, is a spooky rolling and choogling banjo/guitar extravaganza. It features characters from Gauthier's New Orleans Mardis Gras: Louis Armstrong, Marie Laveau, the Krewes, etc. -- all of them metaphors for the transmigration of souls. Her cover of Harlan Howard's "Just Say She's a Rhymer" is as back porch as it gets, dressed in fiddle, steel, strummed six-strings, and plodding bass. Her delivery comes out of time and space and rests fully in this moment. Gauthier inhabits the song as if it were her own. The set closes with the punchy, electric "It Ain't the Wind, It's the Rain." A Hammond B-3 carries the tune from underneath as stinging guitars, throbbing basslines, and Gauthier's clear, prophetic voice rings over it all. What a finish; what a record. Mercy Nowcuts deep into the heart -- it showcases not only Gauthier's prowess with the poetry and craft of song, but her humility and wisdom as she digs further into its chamber of secrets.

Wilco (The Album)

2009-08-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

Rock & roll lifers that they are, Wilco knows the implications of a self-titled album, how any record bearing an eponymous name is bound to be seen as a reintroduction. That's why they puncture Wilco (The Album) with a parenthetical aside, a slyly ironic joke that deflates the notion that Wilco is returning to its roots while signaling that the band is finally lightening up again, a notion reinforced by the llama birthday party on the cover. And, to be fair, "reintroduction" is indeed too strong a term for a band that never went away, they merely spent a decade-and-a-half on a walkabout, consuming anything that came their way, changing their tone and tenor from record to record. Wilco (The Album) finds Wilco the band happily returning from the wilderness, taking stock of where they've been and consolidating all they've learned into one tight, likeable record. (The Album) never veers too far into the experimental — nor does it dabble in country-rock, a sound that's largely remained verboten in Wilco ever since their debut — but the reverberations of the Jay Bennett era can be heard in how "Bull Black Nova" builds to a shuddering, noise-filled coda, or the band's general mastery of varying degrees of light and shade. All this studio texture is not the focal point, it's the coloring on a collection of straight-ahead rock and pop songs, tunes that are generally soft, sunny, and hazy — quite exquisitely so on the '70s George Harrison pastiche "You Never Know" and the nearly Baroque "Deeper Down" — but also jangly and sparkly, as on "Sonny Feeling," or that have some measure of backbone, as on the spiky "I'll Fight" and the cool shuffle of "Wilco (The Song)." If Wilco (The Album) as a whole is considerably less ambitious than its predecessors, it compensates with its easy confidence and craft: it's the work of a band that knows their strengths and knows what they're all about, and it's ready to settle into an agreeably comfortable groove.

Johan Sebastian Bach.Keith Jarrett. The French Suites (1991)

2009-07-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

French Suite, for keyboard No. 1 in D minor, BWV 812 (BC L19)
French Suite, for keyboard No. 2 in C minor, BWV 813 (BC L20)
French Suite, for keyboard No. 3 in B minor, BWV 814 (BC L21)
French Suite, for keyboard No. 4 in E flat major, BWV 815 (BC L22)
French Suite, for keyboard No. 5 in G major, BWV 816 (BC L23)
French Suite, for keyboard No. 6 in E major, BWV 817 (BC L24)

1. French Suite No.1 in D minor, BWV 812 - 1. Allemande 4:05
2. French Suite No.1 in D minor, BWV 812 - 2. Courante 2:36
3. French Suite No.1 in D minor, BWV 812 - 3. Sarabande 3:32
4. French Suite No.1 in D minor, BWV 812 - 4. Menuet I 1:17
5. French Suite No.1 in D minor, BWV 812 - 5. Menuet II 2:26
6. French Suite No.1 in D minor, BWV 812 - 6. Gigue 2:53
7. French Suite No.2 in C minor, BWV 813 - 1. Allemande 2:54
8. French Suite No.2 in C minor, BWV 813 - 2. Courante 2:35
9. French Suite No.2 in C minor, BWV 813 - 3. Sarabande 3:26
10. French Suite No.2 in C minor, BWV 813 - 4. Air 1:55
11. French Suite No.2 in C minor, BWV 813 - 5. Menuet I-II 1:34
12. 6. Gigue 2:15
13. French Suite No.3 in B minor, BWV 814 - 1. Allemande 3:19
14. French Suite No.3 in B minor, BWV 814 - 2. Courante 2:46
15. French Suite No.3 in B minor, BWV 814 - 3. Sarabande 3:23
16. French Suite No.3 in B minor, BWV 814 - 4. Anglaise 1:53
17. French Suite No.3 in B minor, BWV 814 - 5. Menuet 1:36
18. French Suite No.3 in B minor, BWV 814 - 6. Trio, Menuet da capo 2:01
19. French Suite No.3 in B minor, BWV 814 - 7. Gigue 2:00

1. French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815 - 1. Allemande 2:44
2. French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815 - 2. Courante 2:35
3. French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815 - 3. Sarabande 2:27
4. French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815 - 4. Gavotte 1:29
5. French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815 - 5. Menuet 1:07
6. French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815 - 6. Air 2:14
7. French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815 - 7. Gigue 2:26
8. French Suite No.5 in G, BWV 816 - 1. Allemande 4:02
9. French Suite No.5 in G, BWV 816 - 2. Courante 2:03
10. French Suite No.5 in G, BWV 816 - 3. Sarabande 4:40
11. French Suite No.5 in G, BWV 816 - 4. Gavotte 1:25
12. French Suite No.5 in G, BWV 816 - 5. Bourrée 1:37
13. French Suite No.5 in G, BWV 816 - 6. Loure 2:12
14. French Suite No.5 in G, BWV 816 - 7. Gigue 3:52
15. French Suite No.6 in E, BWV 817 - 1. Allemande 3:29
16. French Suite No.6 in E, BWV 817 - 2. Courante 1:57
17. French Suite No.6 in E, BWV 817 - 3. Sarabande 3:04
18. French Suite No.6 in E, BWV 817 - 4. Gavotte 1:19
19. French Suite No.6 in E, BWV 817 - 5. Polonaise 1:37
20. French Suite No.6 in E, BWV 817 - 6. Bourrée 1:47
21. French Suite No.6 in E, BWV 817 - 7. Menuet 1:19
22. French Suite No.6 in E, BWV 817 - 8. Gigue 2:27

The_notebook_of_Anna_Magdalena_Bach

2009-07-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

The notebooks of Anna Magdalena Bach, J.S. Bach’s second wife, served as both instructional material and as a family diary, containing entries and selections by various members over many years. This double album features recordings of each entry in the notebooks, including pieces for solo harpsichord, arias, and chorales, giving a rare glimpse into the private musical life of this illustrious family.

Johann Sebastian Bach

French Suite, for keyboard No. 5 in G major, BWV 816 (BC L23): Anna Magdalena Bach Clavier-Büchlein
1980
17:05
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Jesus, meine Zuversicht, chorale prelude for organ (Anna Magdalena Clavier-Büchlein no. 1/8), BWV 728 (BC K101): Anna Magdalena Bach Clavier-Büchlein
1980
1:50
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Minuet fait par Mons. Böhm, for keyboard No. 1 in G major (WFN 11, AMN I/11), BWV 841 (BC L176/1)
1980
1:14
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Minuet for keyboard No. 3 in F major (AMN II/3; doubtful), BWV Anh. 113: Anna Magdalena Bach Clavier-Büchlein
1980
1:32
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Christian Pezold

Minuet, for keyboard No. 1 in G major (Anna Magdalena Notebook II/1), BWV Anh. 114: Anna Magdalena Bach Clavier-Büchlein
1980

Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Christian Pezold

Minuet, for keyboard No. 5 in G minor (Anna Magdalena Notebook II/5), BWV Anh. 115: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 5
1980

Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
François Couperin

6e ordre for harpsichord (Pièces de clavecin, II): Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 6
1980
5:05
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Minuet for keyboard No. 7 in G major (AMN II/7; doubtful), BWV Anh. 116: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 7
1980
1:47
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Polonaise for keyboard in F major (AMN II/8ab, doubtful), BWV Anh. 117ab: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 8a/b
1980
1:14
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Minuet for keyboard No. 9 in B flat major (AMN II/9; doubtful), BWV Anh. 118: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 9
1980
1:21
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Polonaise, for keyboard in G minor (AMN II/10, attributed), BWV Anh. 119: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 10
1980
1:02
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten (IV), chorale prelude for organ (WFN 3, AMN II/11), BWV 691 (BC K99): Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 11
1980
1:42
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Benjamin Luxon, Judith Blegen, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille (I), sacred song for voice & continuo, BWV 511 (BC 214a): Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 12
1980
1:01
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille (II), sacred song for voice & continuo, BWV 512 (BC 214b): Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 13b
1980
1:12
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Benjamin Luxon, Judith Blegen, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Minuet for keyboard No. 14 in A minor (AMN II/14; doubtful), BWV Anh. 120: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 14
1980
1:24
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Minuet for keyboard No. 15 in C minor (AMN II/15; doubtful), BWV Anh. 121: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 15
1980
1:23
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Marches (2) and Polonoises (2) for keyboard (Clavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach II/16-19), H. 1: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 16
1980
1:09
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Marches (2) and Polonoises (2) for keyboard (Clavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach II/16-19), H. 1: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 17
1980
1:08
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Marches (2) and Polonoises (2) for keyboard (Clavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach II/16-19), H. 1: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 18
1980
1:29
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Marches (2) and Polonoises (2) for keyboard (Clavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach II/16-19), H. 1: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 19
1980
5:20
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

So oft ich meine Tobackspfeife (II), aria for voice & continuo (AMN II/20b), BWV 515b
1980
5:44
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Benjamin Luxon, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Minuet fait par Mons. Böhm, for keyboard No. 1 in G major (WFN 11, AMN I/11), BWV 841 (BC L176/1)
1980
1:15
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Musette for keyboard in D major (AMN II/22; doubtful), BWV Anh. 126: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 22
1980
0:57
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

March for keyboard in E flat major (Anna Magdalena Clavier-Büchlein No. 2/23; doubtful), BWV Anh. 127: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 23
1980
1:39
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Polonaise for keyboard in D minor (AMN II/24, doubtful), BWV Anh. 128: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 24
1980
1:05
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Bist du bei mir, aria arranged for voice & continuo (after Gottfried Stölzel), BWV 508
1980
3:01
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Judith Blegen, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Goldberg Variations, for keyboard (Clavier-Übung IV), BWV 988 (BC L9): Aria (Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 26)
1980
4:28
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Sonata for keyboard in E flat major (alias BWV Anh. 129), H. 16, Wq. 65/7: Solo per il Cembalo (Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 28)
1980
5:16
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Adolf Hasse

Polonaise, for keyboard in G major (Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook II/28), BWV Anh. 130: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 28
1980
1:45
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Minuet for keyboard No. 36 in D minor (AMN II/36; doubtful), BWV Anh. 132: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 36
1980
0:49
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Prelude and Fugue, for keyboard No. 1 in C major (WTC I/1), BWV 846 (BC L80): Praeludium (Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 29 )
1980
2:02
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Christian Bach

March for harpsichord in F major, CW A22 (BWV Anh. II 131): Anna Magdalena Notebook No 32
1980
0:38
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Warum betrübst du dich, aria for voice & continuo (AMN II/33), BWV 516 (BC F215): Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No33
1980
1:25
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Benjamin Luxon, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Cantata No. 82, "Ich habe genug," BWV 82 (BC A169): Recitative "Ich habe genug" (Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 34 )
1980

Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Judith Blegen, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Cantata No. 82, Ich habe genug, BWV 82 (BC A169): Aria Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen (Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 34 )
1980

Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Judith Blegen, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Schaffs mit mir, Gott, nach deinem Willen, chorale setting for 4 voices, BWV 514 (BC F216): Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 35
1980
0:48
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Judith Blegen, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Willst du dein Herz mir schenken (Aria di Giovannini), aria for voice & continuo (AMN II/37), BWV 518: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 37
1980
2:30
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Judith Blegen, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Dir, dir, Jehova, will ich singen, chorale setting for 4 voices, BWV 299 (BC F47): Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 39b
1980
6:06
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Benjamin Luxon, Judith Blegen, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Wie wohl ist mir, O Freund der Seelen, aria for voice & continuo (AMN II/40; doubtful), BWV 517: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 40
1980
1:16
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Benjamin Luxon, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

Gedenke doch, mein Geist, aria for voice & continuo (doubtful), BWV 509: Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No 41
1980
1:00
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Judith Blegen, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...
Johann Sebastian Bach

O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, sacred aria for voice & continuo (AMN II/42), BWV 513 (BC F216): Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook No42
1980
1:19
Performed by:
Igor Kipnis, Benjamin Luxon, Catharina Meints, More Performance Details...

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URI CAINE

2009-07-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Live at the Village Vanguard

Pianist, composer, and bandleader Uri Caine takes time out from his myriad projects to record a straight jazz trio date at the illustrious Village Vanguard. For all of his wonderful quirks and musical personalities, Caine is foremost a fine jazz pianist and stylist. Along with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Ben Perowsky, that persona is on display here and it shines in a program of originals, a jazz classic, and standards. Caine's reading of Wayne Shorter's now canonical "Nefertiti" is elegant and stylish; it's full of twists and turns from the modal base and snakes its way through jazz and popular music history in the solo. The ensemble interplay here is almost symbiotic; each chromatic shift is anticipated by the rhythm section and glides into place. On Caine's "Most Wanted," the piece begins with a bluesy Ramsey Lewis Trio groove shimmer before elliptically mutating into a Bill Evans-styled harmonic exploration of the changes and modulations in the tune's melodic intervals -- complete with Latin-tinged rhythmic invention by Perowsky. The bopped-out, exceptionally long read of Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek" amounts to a strident blowing session with Caine offering double-handed counterpoint at sometimes dizzying speeds. In all, this is a very satisfying date, offering a complex and erudite portrait of the pianist as a monster improviser and an exceptionally sophisticated arranger.

Blue Wail

Uri Caine is known for his work with Dave Douglas and also for his renegade reinterpretations of Bach, Wagner, and Mahler as well as the Tin Pan Alley songwriters. But here the f

iery pianist lets loose in a trio setting, with the deadliest of rhythm sections: bassist James Genus and drummer Ralph Peterson, Jr. Whether playing fast ("Loose Trade," "Digature of the Line," "Stain," "Fireball," "Bones Don't Cry"), medium ("Sweet Potato"), or slow ("Blue Wail"), Ca

ine and company imbue every tune with an

extraordinary blues feeling and a fat swing groove. But this is not just another straight-ahead piano trio outing. Caine gives the form a shot in the arm with these sophisticated compositions, all of which contain a bevy of surprises. Blue Wail is on the whole an aggressive, burning album, although Caine mellows a bit with "The Face of Space," an ingenious hall of metric mirrors, and "Poem for Shulamit," a rubato piece that evokes a magnificent stillness. Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose," the one non-original of the set, appears as both the first and the last track, with Caine taking the tune apart in a solo setting. It's an inspired move: Why not frame a batch of modernist creations with a statement drawn from jazz piano's earliest days?

Sphere Music

Uri Caine's debut, 1992's Sphere Music, introduces his kaleidoscopic take on jaz

z, coloring it with classical and Yiddish influences. Along with clarinetist Don Byron, Caine

rejuvenatesThelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" with an ambitious, fluid grace, while the brash "Jelly" hints at his avant-jazz leanings. An eclectic tour through different musical moods and styles, Sphere Music is an engaging, promising first work.

THE WIND

Franco Ambrosetti with Uri Caine (piano), Drew Grass (bass), Clarence Penn (drums).

CONTEMPORARY LYRICISM! An Italian Kenny Wheeler!!!, April 11, 2008
By Robert Lewis "Nojoe King" (Oz)
OK.. maybe not, but I've listened to both, and this is the closest comparison I can make. This CD is on the money! If you like Kenny Wheeler (As Never Before), or Art Farmer, Jeremy Pelt, then you'll love this one. Some tunes are fairly straight ahead jazz, some more upbeat, hard bop-ish, but all sublime, partly because of Franco's lyrical trumpet solos, and partly due to Uri Caine's wonderful piano, and the support of rhythm section. A wonderful synergy, the whole trio and Franco! Highly recommended. ******

Nouvelle Vague (1, 2, & 3)

2009-07-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

Nouvelle Vague

The best compliment that can be paid to Nouvelle Vague's self-titled debut album: it isn't as arch and smirking as a collection of bossa nova versions of new wave classics by fetching French and Brazilian chanteuses would suggest. Based on the concept alone, Nouvelle Vague seems similar to the work of jokesters like the Mike Flowers Pops or Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine, but though the album is definitely playful, it works on a sincere level enough of the time to be more than just a goof. In fact, Nouvelle Vague's best moments are a tribute to how well written the words and melodies of these songs are; that they can withstand, and even thrive in, such different arrangements is no small feat. Smooth, smoky ballads, such as the opening track, "Love Will Tear Us Apart," provide many of the album's highlights. The Cure's "A Forest" gets a tropical twist, complete with jungle sound effects, while the Sisters of Mercy's "Marian" remains as dark as ever but is now much more delicate -- call it gotha nova. On the other hand, the cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk to Fuck" is a giggly, sassy, mischievous standout that bears virtually no resemblance to the original. Likewise, the serpentine version of Killing Joke's "Psyche" is radically different from the original, nor does it quite fit in with the rest of Nouvelle Vague's bright, breezy feeling, but its spooky vibe makes it one of the album's most interesting tracks. Two of the best covers come from a couple of the least well-known bands on the collection: Tuxedomoon's "In a Manner of Speaking" is transformed into a gorgeous, completely convincing torch song, and Josef K's "Sorry for Laughing" closes the album on a sweetly languid note. Not all of Nouvelle Vague is this inspired -- the version of Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" is overly fussy, and while the covers of songs like "I Melt With You" and "Making Plans for Nigel" are nice enough, they don't have the spark of the album's best moments. But even at its worst, Nouvelle Vague is still pleasantly witty background music. This unlikely, but mostly happy, marriage of new wave and bossa nova will probably disappoint or displease purists who believe that every version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" should have the brooding intensity of the original, but everyone else can enjoy the album's playful elegance.
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Bande à Part

It was something of a small miracle that the first Nouvelle Vague album managed to avoid the seemingly inherent kitsch of covering new wave classics as slinky bossa nova. Unfortunately, the group doesn't quite pull it off the second time around. Bande a Part has several songs that meet the standard set by Nouvelle Vague: "The Killing Moon," "Dance with Me," and "O Pamela" translate well into bossa nova ballads and manage to keep the songs' and the singers' dignity intact, while the Cramps' "Human Fly" sounds nearly as mischievous — and a lot more elegant — in Nouvelle Vague's hands. There are also a few downright silly moments. The version of "Pride (In the Name of Love)" feels like it's trying to be as serious as the original yet flip at the same time, and ends up failing on both counts, while "Dancing with Myself" sounds more like a reinvention of Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5" than of Billy Idol's hit. Mostly, however, Bande a Part just sounds like an uninspired rehash of Nouvelle Vague. The covers of "Ever Fallen in Love," "Heart of Glass," and "Shack Up" aren't embarrassing, but they aren't especially interesting, either. Considering Nouvelle Vague's popularity, it's understandable why the people behind the project would want to try to repeat their success, but it's too bad that it wasn't left as a singular, pleasant surprise.

NV3

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Nouvelle Vague must be new wave and bossa nova's biggest admirers — and it hasn't gone unnoticed. On NV3, the group performs some of its suave covers of new wave and post-punk classics with some of the era's stars, and the results embody the best and the worst of the rest of the album. Ian McCulloch fits seamlessly into "All My Colors," a typically pretty, wistful Nouvelle Vague track, while Barry Adamson's sneering cool makes a noir version of Magazine's "Parade" the album's standout. However, the group's version of "Master and Servant" — which features a Jew's harp and Martin Gore's booming baritone on the chorus — feels overdone, and not even Terry Hall's cameo can save "Our Lips Are Sealed"'s transformation into a pastoral reverie from seeming a bit silly. Elsewhere, Nouvelle Vague struggle to balance their fondness for kitsch with deeper emotions, and inspired touches with their usual formula. "Blister in the Sun" is wittily transformed into a ye-ye rave-up and "Road to Nowhere" is turned into an alt-country ramble, but making "God Save the Queen" and "Ça Plane Pour Moi" singsongy and delicate isn't especially clever at this point. Despite the occasional misstep, NV3 still has some gorgeous moments, especially the flamenco-tinged "Not Knowing" and the closing track, "Such a Shame." This is a decidedly mixed bag, but there are enough lovely and playful tracks to keep most Nouvelle Vague fans satisfied. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Nouvelle Vague must be new wave and bossa nova's biggest admirers — and it hasn't gone unnoticed. On NV3, the group performs some of its suave covers of new wave and post-punk classics with some of the era's stars, and the results embody the best and the worst of the rest of the album. Ian McCulloch fits seamlessly into "All My Colors," a typically pretty, wistful Nouvelle Vague track, while Barry Adamson's sneering cool makes a noir version of Magazine's "Parade" the album's standout. However, the group's version of "Master and Servant" — which features a Jew's harp and Martin Gore's booming baritone on the chorus — feels overdone, and not even Terry Hall's cameo can save "Our Lips Are Sealed"'s transformation into a pastoral reverie from seeming a bit silly. Elsewhere, Nouvelle Vague struggle to balance their fondness for kitsch with deeper emotions, and inspired touches with their usual formula. "Blister in the Sun" is wittily transformed into a ye-ye rave-up and "Road to Nowhere" is turned into an alt-country ramble, but making "God Save the Queen" and "Ça Plane Pour Moi" singsongy and delicate isn't especially clever at this point. Despite the occasional misstep, NV3 still has some gorgeous moments, especially the flamenco-tinged "Not Knowing" and the closing track, "Such a Shame." This is a decidedly mixed bag, but there are enough lovely and playful tracks to keep most Nouvelle Vague fans satisfied.

Neko Case

2009-06-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

Furnace Room Lullaby

It would be easy to call Neko Case alt-country's answer to k.d. lang; after all, they're both from Canada, both came into country music through artier pursuits, and both blend trad-style twang with a modernist lyrical perspective. But Case also has a couple more impor

tant things in common with lang — she has a superb voice that's as big as all outdoors, and there's nothing at all ironic about her love for the luxurious sadness of classic country & western. Case fronts a dramatically revamped line-up of Boyfriends on her second solo album, Furnace Room Lullaby, and it's even stronger and

more impressive than her fine debut set, The Virginian. Case co-wrote all of the album's 12 songs, and the material strikes a more deeply personal note this time out, from the busted romance of "Set Out Running" and "We've Never Met" to the road-weary and unsentimental nostalgia of "Thrice All American" and "South Tacoma Way" (not many artists could put a lump in your throat at the notion of a Wal-Mart replacing the old downtown, but Case does it here). Case's vocals are superb from front to back, as smooth and fiery as good brandy, and her revolving circle of musicians (including Ron Sexsmith and Kelly Hogan on backing vocals) are subtle and beautifully evocative, balancing sorrow and good times with an easy grace. Dozens of rock artists have wrung cheap laughs from the sound and feel of classic country, but Neko Case understands the honest emotions and working-class poetry Loretta Lynn and Dolly Partonbrought to their best music, and if her own take on such things is a bit different, Furnace Room Lullaby makes clear how deeply she cares for this music, and confirms her status as one of alt-country's strongest artists.

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Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Neko Case hasn't had much need to prove her credentials as a major artist since

making her solo debut with 1997's The Virginian, but she's been refining her skills in the r

ecording studio on each subsequent release, and with 2006's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood she's fashioned an album that can cautiously be called a masterpiece. As always, Case's voice, an instrument of impressive strength, grace, and expressiv

e power, is the star of this show, and she's never sounded better than she does here, but what sets this apart from her other fine work is her growth as a songwriter and producer. Case wrote or co-wrote all 12 tracks on Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, and her tales of failed friendship, faith stretched to the breaking point, and love that causes as much ache as comfort are subtle and expressionistic but deeply evocative, conjuring images and feelings that linger long after the album has ended, especially the spectral "Star Witness," the moody yet romantic "That Teenage Feeling" and "Hold on, Hold On," and the darkly beautiful closer, "The Needle Has Landed." And Case and her co-producer, Darryl Neudorf, have assembled a superb cast of musicians to accompany these songs, among them members of the Sadies and Calexico as well as Garth Hudson of the Band, Howe Gelb from Giant Sand, and Kelly Hogan. Together they've sculpted a dozen elegant sonic landscapes that are beautiful and richly detailed while meshing with the moody textures of the songs in their open space and unwillingness to crowd either the singer or the other players. The cumulative effect mirrors both the beauty and the sadness that lurks within the human heart, and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood is a rich, mature, and deeply satisfying piece of music that deserves and demands attention -- if this isn't Album of the Year material, it's hard to say what is.

Blacklisted

While the spare and often haunted sound of Neko Case's home-recorded Canadian Amp EP seemed at the time like a late-night detour from alt-country's leading songbird of the North, listening to Case's first full-length album following Canadian Amp suggests it may have been the first step along a new and different path for her. Blacklisted is a considerably darker and more understated affair than The Virginian or Furnace Room Lullaby, and its sometimes stark, sometimes elegant 3 a.m. sound is informed as much by pop, jazz, and blues flavors as the country & western-slanted melodies of her first two solo albums. Which isn't to say Blacklisted is a total departure for Neko Case; her big, bold, but silky smooth voice is still a thing of beauty, and if anything, she's still learning more remarkable things she can do with it, with the result being some of her finest and most insightful performances to date. And Case continues to grow as a songwriter; penning most of the album all by herself, Case is a lyricist willing to answer to both her heart and her head, and she had a fine ear for a melody to boot. With Joey Burns and John Convertino of Calexico,Howe Gelb of Giant Sand, Dallas Good of the Sadies, and Kelly Hogan all contributing toBlacklisted, Neko Case has crafted an album whose quiet drift only adds to its power; it's hard to say if hanging out with Nick Cave on tour had much of an influence on her, but this disc sounds a bit like Case's version of The Boatman's Call, a personal exploration of the heart and soul that proves sad and beautiful can often walk hand in hand. Highly recommended.

Re up Vic Chesnutt's North Star Deserter

2009-06-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

North Star DeserterIn his liner notes to Vic Chesnutt's North Star Deserter, Jem Cohen wrote, "I make films, I'm no record producer. But I needed to bring these particular people together in this particular place . . . I thought they might hit it off." Despite his lack of previous experience in the recording studio, Cohen's instincts were right on the money; he teamed Chesnutt with Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and a handful of other notable accompanists (including Fugazi's Guy Picciotto, Bruce Cawdron of Godspeed! You Black Emperor, and Chad Jones and Nadia Moss of Frankie Sparrow) for sessions at Montreal's Hotel2Tango Studios, and the result is a truly extraordinary recording. Chesnutt is a songwriter of singular talents, embracing a homey but keenly intelligent expressionism in his songs that conveys a genuine, often touching humanity, but his collaborators on North Star Deserter have taken his music in a powerful new direction. Rather than simply filling out Chesnutt's melodies, these musicians have crafted soundscapes that often turn these songs into great chaotic symphonies, with Chesnutt's simple but confident acoustic guitar anchoring the whole. Sometimes the accompaniment is simple and subtle, as on "Warm," "Over," and "Rattle," while elsewhere the musicians truly do resemble an orchestra; a small string section adds an air of ominous grandeur to "Glossolalia," a mighty organ brings striking dynamics on "Everything I Say," a mass of harmonies and reverb-soaked guitar meshes gloriously with "You Are Never Alone," washes of sound ebb and flow through the atmospheric "Rustic City Fathers," and the ensemble rises into a glorious fusion of beauty and noise on "Debriefing" and "Marathon." On North Star Deserter, the musicians working with Vic Chesnutt serve as collaborators rather than simple accompanists, and they've truly brought out the best in one another; this is powerful, adventurous music that's as challenging as it is beautiful, and ranks with Chesnutt's finest work to date.

Cat Power

2009-06-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

Cat Power was the alias of Chan Marshall, a Southern-bred singer/songwriter whose father, Charlie, was an itinerant pianist. After dropping out of high school, Marshall found herself in New York; performing under the name Cat Power, she was booked as the opening act for Liz Phair, where she met Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley and Two Dollar Guitar's Tim Foljahn, who agreed to become her backing band. Following the release of 1995's Dear Sir and 1996's Myra Lee -- both recorded on the same day -- Cat Power signed to Matador for 1996's What Would the Community Think?, which won acclaim for Marshall's unsettling, emotional songs and cathartic vocals.

The superb Moon Pix followed two years later, and in the spring of 2000 Cat Power resurfaced with The Covers Record. Released in 2003, You Are Free featured a lusher, more polished sound as well as cameos by Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder; 2006's The Greatest was recorded in Memphis, TN, with legendary soul players including guitarist/songwriter Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, bassist Leroy "Flick" Hodges, and drummer Steve Potts. Another set of covers, Jukebox, was released two years later.

The Covers Record
On the The Covers Record, Chan Marshall continues her evolution into a remarkably expressive interpreter of songs; her earlier covers of Pavement's "We Dance" and Smog's "Bathysphere" are among her most distinctive performances. This collection includes songs originally by Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, the Velvet Underground, Moby Grape, Michael Hurley, and Anonymous. Marshall's sparest album yet, The Covers Record uses guitar and piano as the only foils for her malleable, emotional voice. These tools are more than enough to turn the Stones' anthem "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" into a bluesy, slinky version emphasizing the song's tension and frustration as much as its jaded sexiness, and "Kingston Town" from a reggae standard into a hymnal reflection. Marshall's gentle version of Hurley's "Sweedeedee" and plaintive reading of the Velvets' "I Found a Reason" recall the quietest, most spiritual moments from Moon Pix. This culminates on the cover of her own "In This Hole" from What Would the Community Think; one of the most drastic revisions, its soft pianos and serene vocals replace the original's turbulent anguish, reflecting her changing musical path. Marshall explores many emotional directions, from her yearning version of Moby Grape's "Naked If I Want To" to her brooding sensuality on "Wild Is the Wind," to her down-home optimism on Bob Dylan's "Paths of Victory." "Salty Dog"'s lilting melody and humorous lyrics bring out Marshall's Georgia twang, while her version of Smog's "Red Apples" shows off her voice's sensual lows and keening highs. The joyous cover of "Sea of Love" (originally by Phil Phillips) brings this accomplished, heartfelt Covers Record to a very happy end.
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Jukebox
Eight years is a long time in almost any artist's career, but in Cat Power's case, it's an even more sizable gulf, as Chan Marshall's collections of other people's songs reflect. Released in 2000, The Covers Record found her becoming an ever more nuanced performer, tempering the rawness and intensity of her earlier albums with a lighter approach. Arriving in 2008, Jukebox reaffirms what a polished artist she's become, especially since her Memphis soul homage The Greatest. But where The Greatest sometimes bordered on slick, Jukebox's blend of country, soul, blues, and jazz feels lived-in and natural. Marshall recorded this set with her touring act, the Dirty Delta Blues Band, featuring some of indie rock's finest players, including her longtime drummer, the Dirty Three's Jim White -- who gives even the quietest moments vitality -- as well as Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Judah Bauer and Chavez's Matt Sweeney, so it's not surprising that the album often plays like an especially well-recorded concert. However, some of the session legends she worked with on The Greatest make guest appearances, including Teenie Hodges and Spooner Oldham. Oldham's song for Janis Joplin, "A Woman Left Lonely," appears here, and the original's sophisticated yet earthy sound is one of the album's biggest influences.

As on The Covers Record, Marshall makes bold choices. She citifies Hank Williams' "Ramblin' Man" (switched to "Ramblin' [Wo]Man" here), turning it slinky and smoky with spacious drums and rippling Rhodes; despite the very different surroundings, the song's desperate loneliness remains. Joni Mitchell's icily beautiful "Blue" gets a thaw and a late-night feel that are completely different but just as compelling. Not all of Jukebox's transformations are this successful: Marshall's penchant for turning formerly brash songs brooding (like The Covers Record's "Satisfaction") sounds too predictable on Frank Sinatra's "New York." And, while the choice to change James Brown's "I Lost Someone" from searing and pleading to languid was brave, the results fall flat. One of the most drastic remakes is Marshall's own Moon Pix track "Metal Heart," which adds more drama and dynamics to one of her prettiest melodies. While the way this version swings from aching verses to cathartic choruses works, the subtlety and simplicity of the original are missed. Indeed, many of Jukebox's best moments are the simplest. Marshall's reworking of the Highwaymen's 1990 hit "Silver Stallion" frees the song from its dated production, replacing it with acoustic guitar and pedal steel that impart a timeless, restless beauty. She pays Bob Dylan homage with a gritty, defiant, yet reverent take on "I Believe in You" from his 1978 Christian album Slow Train Coming and "Song to Bobby," Jukebox's lone new track, dedicated to and inspired by Dylan so thoroughly that she borrows his trademark cadences without sounding like an impersonation. Uneven as it may be, Jukebox is still a worthwhile portrait of Chan Marshall's artistry.
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BONUS
THE PEEL SESSIONS (200 & 2003)

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RE UP ARTO LINDSAY (on request)

2009-06-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

EDITADO EN 1996 RIPEADO A 256 KBPS

Lindsay, a native of Brazil, began conflating the Brazilian pop music of his youth with the sonic density and avant-garde urgings he pursued as a member of the Lower East Side noise rock scene.

Esto que ALLMUSIC dice.No es poco.Además podemos agregar que Lindsay produjo y tocó en uno de los mejores trabajos de Caetano Veloso.ESTRANGEIRO (Se acuerdan de ese bahiano que sacaba buenos discos casi todos los años hasta que se metió con el mercado hispanoparnte y se desbarrancó?)

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Joe Strummer - The Future Is Unwritten

2009-06-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

This musical accompaniment to director Julian Temple's biopic of the late Joe Strummer obliterates the traditional soundtrack formula, turning the whole listening experience into an 80-minute radio show, hosted by the inimitable singer/producer/punk rock icon himself. Strummer, a lifelong devotee to the power of radio (he would often bring a transistor on-stage, hold it up to the microphone, and religiously tune in whatever beat-heavy, underground station popped up first), had his own program on the BBC that revolved around his myriad influences and notorious gift for gab. Like Little Steven's Underground Garageprogram, the music was steeped in its creator's psyche, with old and new favorites inciting rants, raves, and stories that were just as entertaining as the songs themselves. Strummer, a die-hard supporter of world music, filled the airwaves with as many dub, Latin, urban folk, and Middle Eastern dance tracks as he did rare Clash cuts and tracks from rock & roll outsiders like Tim Hardin, the MC5, and Nina Simone, a discipline that's executed perfectly on this lovingly compiled window into the soul of one of popular culture's most inclusive and influential voices.

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros

2009-06-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

(Gracias http://bestfbothworlds.blogspot.com/)

As frontman and main songwriter of the Clash, Joe Strummer created some of the fieriest, most vital punk rock — and, indeed, rock & roll — of all time. Strummer expanded punk's musical palette with his fondness for reggae and early rock & roll, and his signature bellow lent an impassioned urgency to the political sloganeering that filled some of his best songs. After the Clash disbanded in 1986, Strummer sporadically pursued film acting and released the occasional solo album, though seemingly only when it suited him. Joe Strummer was born John Graham Mellor on August 21, 1952, when his father, a diplomat, was stationed in Ankara, Turkey. During his time at London boarding schools, the teenage Strummer immersed himself in rock and reggae, and began busking on the streets under his newly adopted stage name. In 1974, he formed the pub rock group the 101'ers, and though they rocked pretty hard, they couldn't quite match the raw fire Strummer discovered when he saw Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols. Strummer promptly quit pub rock to join the fledgling punk movement, and co-founded the Clash in 1976; the rest was histo

ry. Six albums, many more singles and EPs, and one frequently brilliant body of work later, the Clash broke up amidst rancorous infighting and uncertainty of direction. Strummer contributed two songs to the soundtrack of Alex Cox's Sid and Nancy, a 1986 chronicle of the doomed Sex Pistols bassist; the two hit it off so well that Strummer acted in Cox's next two films, Walker (which Strummer also scored) and the bizarre Western Straight to Hell. His relaxed, natural screen presence earned him further work with directors Robert Frank (1987's Candy Mountain) and Jim Jarmusch (1989's acclaimed Mystery Train); Strummer also wrote five songs for the soundtrack of 1988's Permanent Record. In 1989, Strummer released his first solo album, Earthquake Weather, which blended straight-up rock & roll with touches of world music. However, following a temporary stint filling in for Shane MacGowan in the Pogues (both as rhythm guitarist and in-concert lead vocalist), Strummer largely fell silent after the very early '90s. The first peep of a return to the music scene occurred in 1996, when Strummer appeared on the Black Grape single "England's Irie." The following year, Strummer scored the John Cusack hitman comedy Grosse Pointe Blank, which relied heavily on new wave and British ska revival for its song selections. In 1999, Strummer released his second solo album, Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, which largely forsook straight-ahead rock & roll in favor of eclectic, rhythmic, world music flavored compositions, plus elaborate singer/songwriter-ish lyrics. Strummer further refined this new direction with the follow-up, 2001's Global A-Go-Go. In December 2002, he was in the midst of recording his fourth solo album when he died suddenly of a heart attack at his home in Somerset.

Rock Art and the X-Ray Style

It has taken Joe Strummer ten years to follow up on his first solo album, Earthquake Weather, with Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, and while the vocals and occasional moments in the music are identifiable as the work of a man who was once a singer, guitarist, and songwriter

in the Clash, no one should purchase this album expecting to hear a direct extension of his old band. Strummer, who helped lead the Clash beyond punk rock to a variety of rhythmic styles, has only expanded his range since, and Rock Art and the X-Ray Style is an album of songs built on often exotic, funky beats, few of which rock very hard. Over those rhythm tracks, Strummer sings highly poetic, apparently freely associative lyrics whose meanings usually seem to be either private to him or just not literal. Unfortunately, the vocals are high in the mix and the musical tracks are subservient to the lyrics (which are printed in the booklet) so that one is left to ponder what Strummer is talking about. Coming back after a decade, even on an independent label, it might have been hoped that Strummer would return to action with a more accessible effort than Rock Art and the X-Ray Style, which is unlikely to re-establish him as a major force in popular music.

Global a Go-Go

In many ways, it's easiest to appreciate Joe Strummer's album Global a Go-Go if you forget that it was made by Joe Strummer. This isn't meant to insult the music in question, which is often engaging and always passionate, or suggest that it doesn't bear any significant signs of Strummer's personality; if you loved the syllable-drenched wordplay of songs like "The Magnificent Seven," "Lightning Strikes," or "Car Jamming," you're in for a treat, because here you get nearly a whole album of it. But if you're expecting the former leader of the Clash to be backed by two guitars, bass, and drums and playing something easily recognizable as rock & roll — not a difficult assumption to make — then you're flat out of luck. Best described as eccentric internationalist folk-rock, Global a Go-Go is dominated by acoustic instruments (Tymon Dogg, the fiddler from the Clash's "Loose This Skin," is all over this album like a pillowcase) and a wild gumbo of flavors from Africa, Latin America, and the West Indies, and while a few tunes have a prominent electric guitar (particularly "Cool 'n' Out"), most do not. And if you're hoping for lots of punk-wise sloganeering from the usually provocative Mr. Strummer, there isn't a great deal of that, either, though it's obvious from the Dylanesque density of his wordplay that Strummer's got a lot on his mind, and the one-world perspective that shines throughout is food for thought in itself, especially on the tasty "Bhindi Bhagee" and the globetrotting title cut. And while the epic instrumental "Minstrel Boy" wouldn't lead you to imagine it's the work of one of the great icons of punk rock, it at least proves Strummer is willing to mess with his audience's expectations, which is a very punk rock thing to do. Global a Go-Go is an intelligent and uniquely absorbing record, but listening to it is like eating sushi or escargot for the first time — knowing what it is might shape your expectations in the wrong direction.

Streetcore

Like Muddy Waters, whose final albums were among the best in his catalog, Streetcore by Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros (Martin Slattery, Tymon Dogg, Simon Stanford, and Scott Shields) sends Strummer into rock & roll heaven a roaring, laughing, snarling lion. Unlike the previous Mescaleros outings, which were rooted in various world and folk musics and tempered by rock, Streetcore anchors itself in rock & roll and deadly heavy reggae (and for anyone who needs a reminder, Strummer's former band, the Clash, played reggae in the late '70s and ea

rly '80s better than a lot of that genre's artists). From "Coma Girl," the album's opening track, there is no doubt that Strummer hits bedrock with this fusion of garage band wail and dread beat. "Coma Girl" uses lean and mean guitars and Phil Spector's 1960s girl groups, then crosses them rhythmically with rocksteady basslines and enormous backbeats. Yes, it does sound like a lost cut from London Calling. A love song for a wasted mascot who flirts and inspires the various metaphorical socio-politcal gangs that are trying to rule the dawn of the end of the world, Strummer and band — the Mescaleros, with their killer rhythms and over-the-red-line guitar and keyboard lines are as tight and tough as anybody out there — truly find the flowers borne by suicide divas in the dustbin of the apocalypse. Writing like Bob Dylan at his most expressionistic, Strummer's urgency is beyond the warnings of the Clash's London Calling or Sandinista! Strummer's protagonist is living on the nether edge of reality, where the worst has already happened, he can only celebrate what's left in the ahses of civilization. Listening to the crunchy rocksteady thunder in "Go Down Moses," with its monstrous dubbed-out bass and lyrics about the sellout of the world wholesale, listeners can hear Strummer laughing in the face of all the darkness multinationalism can muster. "Long Shadow," with its minor-key architecture and acoustic guitars played in pure Americana rambling style, was written for Johnny Cash but never recorded. Its protagonist crosses deserts and rivers; he haunts the places of desolation in order to speak with the voice of the Storyteller. The song's style and spirit evokes the ghost of Cisco Houston as Strummer sings: "I'll tell you one thing that I know/You don't face your demons down, you gotta grapple with 'em Jack/And pin 'em to the ground...And I hear punks talk of anarchy/I hear hobos on the railroads/I hear mutterings on the chain gangs/It was those men who built the roads/And if you put it all together/You didn't even once relent/You cast a long shadow/And that is your testament...." Other rockers include the burning revolution drama of "Arms Aloft," with a refrain that is among the most anthemic and raucous Strummer ever wrote. With wah-wah guitars, distorted bass, boombastic drums and cymbals, it is the hardest rocking track on the set. Also strong are the searing "All in a Day," with its razor-wire Telecaster stomp, and the medium to slow heaviness of "Burnin' Streets." There are two covers on Streetcore. First is a deeply moving reading of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song," played acoustically by Strummer, Smokey Hormel, and Benmont Tench, and produced by Rick Rubin. This is the only cut that the Mescaleros don't appear on; it wasn't recorded for this set but is included by Luce (Strummer's widow) and the band as a hinge piece for the front and back of the album to hang on, and it works gloriously. The other is the closer, a cover of the Bobby Charles' classic "Before I Grow Too Old," retitled here as "Silver and Gold." It's a barroom song played in elegiac, Anglo country style — think of the Mekons on Fear and Whiskey. Strummer's last line in the song is, "I've got to hurry up before I grow too old," before he speaks to us in his grainy Cockney voice, "OK, that's a take." It's almost as unbearable as it is unforgettable. Streetcore is the sound of Joe Strummer hitting his stride with his own band on his terms both lyrically and musically. The fact that this is a final album for Strummer is beside the point; this is one of the best rock & roll albums of 2003, and truly the finest, most cohesive work he did after London Calling

Grappelli - Solal - OLYMPIA 1988

2009-06-02T05:52:00.000-07:00

Violinist Stephane Grappelli has recorded so many fine sets during the past two decades that although virtually all of them are enjoyable, most are not essential. This fine concert performance with a quartet (which also includes the guitars of Marc Fosset and Martin Taylor) is typical of Grappelli's ability to infuse familiar melodies that he has performed a countless number of times with enthusiasm, energy and wit. Pianist Martial Solal and violinist Svend Asmussen make guest appearances but most of the focus is on the great Grappelli, who never seems to have an off day.

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FABIO BIONDI: Tartini: Five Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo

2009-05-28T04:47:00.000-07:00

Despite Italian composer Giuseppe Tartini's important place in musical history, he remains known to most musicians only as the composer of the "Devil's Trill" violin sonata. Born on the Istrian peninsula in 1692, Tartini was the son of a minor government official in the city of Pirano (now Piran, Slovenia). Although his parents had selected a monastic life for Tartini when he was very young, in 1708 he rejected his clerical training to pursue a course of instruction in music. Soon, however, he seems to have enrolled at the University of Padua as a student of law, and was more famed during his younger days as a dueler and swordsman than as a trained musician. Despite still officially being a candidate for the priesthood, Tartini married in 1710, and, having thereby incurred the wrath of the Paduan bishop, found it necessary to hide out in the monastery at Assisi for a time. He put his time to good use: apparently he made a rigorous study of music, and by 1714 he seems to have found employment with the opera orchestra at Ancona.

Reunited with his wife in 1715, Tartini spent the next several years trying to perfect his violin technique. The legend is that he heard the virtuoso Francesco Veracini perform and resolved to live in isolation until he could accomplish the same amazing feats of dexterity. By 1720, he was engaged as soloist and leader of the orchestra at St. Anthony's in Padua. Until an arm injury in 1740 seriously limited his career, Tartini fulfilled his duties at St. Anthony's even as he built a widespread reputation as the leading violinist of his day. He made an extended visit to Prague between 1723 and 1726. Officially retiring from St. Anthony's in 1765, Tartini remained active as a teacher until a mild stroke, which he suffered in 1768, incapacitated him even further. Tartini died in 1770, the year ofBeethoven's birth.

Tartini was the founder of an important school of violin playing, subsequently disseminated by such noteworthy pupils as Pietro Nardini and Johann Gottlieb Naumann. Because he did not seek fame as a composer, very little of Tartini's music was published during his lifetime. Some 135 violin concerti and over 200 violin sonatas (some of which, however, are spurious) still survive in manuscript form. A smattering of sacred vocal works (such as the Stabat Mater composed during the final year of his life) and a few sinfonias, trio sonatas, and four-part sonatas round off Tartini's considerable output. In addition to his activities as a violinist and composer, Tartini became increasingly interested in theories of acoustics and harmony as the years went by, and his 1754 theoretical treatise Trattato di musica secondo la vera scienza dell'armonia attempts to account for contemporary harmonic thinking in terms of the overtone series and to promote Tartini's own discovery of "sub-tones" in that series. Despite its lofty intentions (or perhaps because of them) the Trattato is not a particularly accurate or informative text; it does, however, provide great insight into the mind of this remarkable musician.

Fabio Biondi is Italy's leading period instruments and Baroque violinist, and is one of the leading European violinists.

He began violin lessons with Salvatore Cicerto at the age of five in his native Palermo. At the age of 12 he appeared as a concerto soloist with the Italian Radio (RAI) Symphony Orchestra in several concerts. At that time, he played modern violin, but in his early teens, he began to take an interest in period instruments and performing styles and began to play Baroque and Classical violin as well as the modern instrument. (The distinction between these types of string instruments is how they are set up -- what kinds of strings, bridges, and bows are used, for instance.)

In the 1970s, when Biondi was polishing his technique, period instrument performance flourished in Europe and America, although Italy was not in the forefront of it. He studied at the Conservatory of Rome with Mauro Lo Guercio, winning first prize in violin in 1981.

By then Biondi had already began establishing himself as a Baroque violinist, having made his first appearance in that capacity in a concert at the Musikverein in Vienna at the age of 16. After graduation, he formed a string quartet, the Stendahl Quartet, which gave concerts from the quartet repertory from the Classical through contemporary times. What set the Stendahl Quartet apart was that any work that it performed was always played on instruments appropriate to the period, and in a stylistically informed manner. Several Italian composers composed for the quartet.

Biondi worked during the 1980s with several of the leading original instruments ensembles of the continent, including Hesperion XX, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Musica Antiqua of Vienna, the Clemencic Consort, the Chapelle Royale, and the Camerata di Lugano. He recorded the earliest of violin concertos, those by such Italian masters as Veracini,Locatelli, and Tartini.

In 1989, he founded La Europa Galante, Italy's first dedicated Baroque original instruments orchestra. Since then, he has served as its conductor and music director, as well as its solo violinist. Where appropriate, he conducts from the violin, as was often done during the era.

Biondi and La Europa Galante have often appeared at major international music festivals, and the ensemble has functioned as the orchestra in several productions of Baroque opera. These include the modern premiere of the opera Poro by Handel, and in the oratorios La Maddelena and Humanità e Lucifero by Alessandro Scarlatti and La Passione di Gèsu Cristoby Caldara. He has led La Europa Galante in opera productions at Monte Carlo, the St. Cecilia Academy in Rome, the Baroque Music Center in Versailles, the Nice Opera, and Wigmore Hall in London.

He often guest conducts with standard orchestras, which include the Radio France Philharmonic, the Montpelier Philharmonic Orchestra, and chamber and period orchestras including the Collegium Orchestra of New York, the Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra, theNetherlands Chamber Orchestra, and the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris.

Biondi has won numerous recording prizes including the Diapason d'Or of the Year, the Priz Cini of Italy, the ffff de Telérama, and Choc de Musique. His widely acclaimed recording with La Europa Galante of Vivaldi's Four Seasons was named Disc of the Year by organizations in Canada, Sweden, France, Spain, and Finland. He is an exclusive artist for Virgin Classics.

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Miles Davis - Get Up with It

2009-05-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

When Get Up with It was released in 1974, critics -- let alone fans -- had a tough time with it. The package was a -- by then customary -- double LP, with sessions ranging from 1970-1974 and a large host of musicians who had indeed played on late-'60s and early-'70s recordings, including but not limited to Al Foster, Airto, John McLaughlin, Reggie Lucas,Pete Cosey, Mtume, David Liebman, Billy Cobham, Michael Henderson, Herbie Hancock,Keith Jarrett, Sonny Fortune, Steve Grossman, and others. The music felt, as was customary then, woven together from other sources by Miles and producer Teo Macero. However, these eight selections point in the direction of Miles saying goodbye, as he did for six years after this disc. This was a summation of all that jazz had been to Davis in the '70s and he was leaving it in yet another place altogether; check the opening track, "He Loved Him Madly," with its gorgeous shimmering organ vamp (not even credited to Miles) and its elaborate, decidedly slow, ambient unfolding -- yet with pronounced Ellingtonian lyricism -- over 33 minutes. Given three guitar players, flute, trumpet, bass, drums, and percussion, its restraint is remarkable. When Miles engages the organ formally as he does on the funky groove that moves through "Maiysha," with a shimmering grace that colors the proceedings impressionistically through Lucas, Cosey and guitarist Dominique Gaumont, it's positively shattering. This is Miles as he hadn't been heard since In a Silent Way, and definitely points the way to records like Tutu, The Man with the Horn, and even Decoy when he re-emerged. That's not to say the harder edges are absent: far from it. There's the off-world Latin funk of "Calypso Frelimo" from 1973, with John Stubblefield, Liebman, Cosey, and Lucas turning the rhythm section inside out as Miles sticks sharp knives of angular riffs and bleats into the middle of the mix, almost like a guitarist. Davis also moves the groove here with an organ and an electric piano to cover all the textural shapes. There's even a rather straight -- for Miles -- blues jam in "Red China Blues" from 1972, featuring Wally Chambers on harmonica and Cornell Dupree on guitar with a full brass arrangement. The set closes with another 1972 session, the endearing "Billy Preston," another of Davis' polyrhythmic funk exercises where the drummers and percussionists -- Al Foster, Badal Roy, and Mtume -- are up front with the trumpet, sax (Carlos Garrett), and keyboards (Cedric Lawson), while the strings -- Lucas, Henderson, and electric sitarist Khalil Balakrishna -- are shimmering, cooking, and painting the groove in the back. Billy Preston, the organist who the tune is named after, is nowhere present and neither is his instrument. It choogles along, shifting rhythms and meters while Miles tries like hell to slip another kind of groove through the band's armor, but it doesn't happen. The track fades, and then there is silence, a deafening silence that would not be filled until Miles' return six years later. This may be the most "commercial" sounding of all of Miles' electric records from the '70s, but it still sounds out there, alien, and futuristic in all the best ways, and Get Up with It is perhaps just coming into its own here in the 21st century.