There’s lots of great contemporary music, so keep it coming.
Anyway, I listened to this a couple of times yesterday, it took me a long time to get into jazz and I’m still quite selective. This is both very accessible and it doesn’t matter what mood I’m in, this grips me from the start and gets the toes tapping. The title track is as relevant a political statement today as it ever was, and the improv sections say a lot about the madness of the modern world. Has to be played mono vinyl with a mono cart, and it still images well. Part of the pleasure of Mingus are the liner notes.
Man, the Magic City is a challenge! I’ve listened to it over the last few decades and it still challenges me. The newest remaster on cd (authorized) offers a very nice improvement.
I think I have the entire Mingus official catalog, and a lot of unofficial recordings (don’t tell Sue Mingus, though I think she knows!) His music fascinates me–it’s full of the jazz tradition yet outside it as well, and there’s so much passion.
The Delines, “Colfax” (2014). The Amazon product description is apt:
The debut album from The Delines, Colfax is a stunning collection of songs (written by acclaimed novelist and Richmond Fontaine frontman, Willy Vlautin) with the intimacy of a midnight confessional. Like a beat-up Dusty Springfield, Colfax has the skid row heart of Tom Waits, the street-tough weariness of early Rickie Lee Jones, and the dreaminess of Mazzy Star. The Delines feature vocalist Amy Boone (The Damnations), Vlautin), the keyboard work of Jenny Conlee-Drizos (The Decemberists) as well as fellow Portlanders Sean Oldham, Freddy Trujillo (Richmond Fontaine) and Tucker Jackson (The Minus 5) on pedal steel.
A lesson in Venetian improvisation and ornamentation, in a manner not a million miles away from Mingus above. The composer provides the framework, the player adds in their contribution by a process Ganassi defined as Diminuition.
From the All About Jazz review of Brad Mehldau’s “After Bach”:
“Even though many jazz pianists can play classical music well, the real question has always been whether their performances can stand shoulder to shoulder with those of world-class classical pianists. In the case of these performances with Brad Mehldau, the answer is undoubtedly yes. Regardless whether it’s jazz or classical or his own composition, it seems that Mehldau pursues a mission to explore the place where beauty and sorrow meet. He immerses himself deep into these works and yet manages to convey his incredible personal pianistic magnetism.”
That would be a bit much for a PSA thread, but much admire his music. Been to excellent productions in the last couple of years of two of his operas (Royal Opera) and his rarely performed 2nd piano sonata (Igor Levit).a recording of the latter would be nice.
This is a stunning recording I’ve listened to many times. It’s an almost impossibly perfect fusion that rarely works. The only ones that come to mind are Holloway’s Gilded Goldbergs and Steve Reich’s take on Vivaldi.
Unlike Steven, I have listened to this just once. I think it is an excellent record with much to recommend it. Unfortunately I do not care for jazz, but I can understand that those whose taste was not similarly handicapped would enjoy it very much.
Prokofiev 7th and 9th sonatas. The first is a massive great thing written in 1942, the second is dedicated to Richter who first played it for Prokofiev’s 60th birthday. A thumping mono recording from 1963, produced for overseas distribution.
Ester Borja, a hugely famous Cuban soprano, well known in pre-revolution USA and was a national hero, working into her latter years, dying in 2013 aged 100.
I was doubtful that this set would sound significantly different than other versions of this material that I have, but the mastering dby Paul Blackmore (who did the DSD remastered series of discs of the Prestige catalog for Universal Japan this decade) is very good. Not really an essential set if you have the material already, but a nicely put together effort.
I cheaped out and bought the Amazon download whose bitrate actually peaks to 320kbps during certain passages. Then I got a Qobuz 30 day and listened to it again @192kHz/24 Bit. The hi res PCM is obviously better than the mp3 but it’s not a mind blowing improvement. What a great collection of music though ! I have the 1995 Heavyweight Champion Atlantic CD set and both remasters stay true to the RVG “you are there” sound.
