Today we launch New In Music This Week, a new column which highlights the best and most interesting new releases in the areas of broadway musicals, cabaret, classical music, jazz and opera. With this Saturday being Record Store Day we’re also highlighting vinyl opportunities that, in some cases, are only going to be available for a limited time (though some releases are Record Store Day exclusive releases and others are first releases).
We’ll begin with the album we’re most excited about New In Music this week:
CLASSICAL MUSIC: THOMAS ADÉS’S DANTE (Nonesuch Records) – The Los Angeles Philharmonic, under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel, recorded this ballet score written for Wayne McGregor’s The Dante Project. I heard the first act in a performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall on May 10, 2019. This is a massively impressive work and that opinion comes from hearing just the first act. Though we missed additional performances of the rest of the score for this three-act ballet, the opportunity to hear the full score is how I’ve already spent multiple hours.
You can hear an excerpt here.
Here are our other New In Music This Week selections listed by category. There are a lot of jazz recordings this week due to releases for Record Store Day.
BROADWAY: ALMOST FAMOUS Original Broadway Cast Recording (Sony Masterworks Broadway) – Cameron Crowe’s beloved film from 2000 was the inspiration for his musical that featured a book and lyrics by Crowe with music by Tom Kitt (Next to Normal). The musical only ran for 30 previews and 77 performances, but I find some of the most fascinating recordings are those of shows I didn’t get to see and particularly those that didn’t find an audience.
The cast featured on the album includes Chris Wood, Anika Larsen, Solea Pfeiffer, Drew Gehling, Rob Colletti and Casey Likes. The digital track list includes two songs that are not found on the CD: Simple Man and Anything’s Possible. And yes, Elton John’s Tiny Dancer is part of the show and the recording!
BROADWAY: THE CATHERINE WHEEL (Rhino/Sire) – This is a Record Store Day Exclusive of the complete score composed by David Byrne (The Talking Heads) for Twyla Tharp’s dance project that was performed at the Winter Garden Theater in New York in 1981. This is the first vinyl release of the full score. Previous vinyl releases have had selections. This 2-LP set contains all 23 tracks found on the CD release. A few songs from this score were regularly performed by The Talking Heads. This show ran one year before Cats took over the theater for an extended run.
CLASSICAL: NIELSEN: COMPLETE SYMPHONIES (Deutsche Grammophon) and NIELSEN: SYMPHONIES, TONE POEMS and CONCERTOS (Erato) – You have two options to hear all of Carl Nielsen’s symphonies.
The first finds Fabio Luisi leading the Danish National Symphony in all six of the composers symphonies. This is a compilation of his recording of the first and third symphony and fourth and fifth symphonies from 2022. In January of this year DG released the final pairing of symphonies two and six. This collection allows you to have all six in one place.
The second collection features Herbert Blomstedt leading the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Blomstedt has recorded all of Nielsen’s symphonies twice. This digital release is his first cycle of those works. Also included in this package are the composer’s concertos for clarinet, flute and violin. Fans of Nielsen’s work will want to consider having both releases to hear different readings of these works.
CLASSICAL: MICHAEL SPRYES: CONTRA-TENOR (Erato) – What was the role of the tenor in the Baroque era? Or was the tenor in less favor than the castrato? Spyres, who appeared last fall in Mozart’s Idomeneo and early this year in Bellini’s Norma at the Metropolitan Opera, has assembled music from the late 17th century to the 1770s to answer those questions. The repertoire comes from composers Baldassare Galuppi, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Georg Friedrich Händel, Johann Adolf Hasse, Gaetano Latilla, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Antonio Maria Mazzoni, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Niccolo Piccini, Nicola Antonio Porpora, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Domenico Sarro, Leonardo Vinci and Antonio Vivaldi. Several of these pieces on this album are having their first-ever recordings.
Conductor Francesco Corti leads Il Pomo d’Oro in this superb recording.
JAZZ: CHET BAKER: BLUE ROOM 1979 (Jazz Detective) and CHET BAKER: CHET (Craft Recordings) – Here are two Record Store Day releases for fans of trumpeter/singer Chet Baker.
The first release comes from his 1979 VARA Studio sessions in Holland. There were two sessions recorded there: one in April of 1979 and a second in November. For the first session Baker was joined by pianist Phil Markowitz, bassist Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, and drummer Charles Rice. For the November session he was joined by pianist Frans Elsen, drummer Eric Inked and bassist Victor Kaihatu. There are 11 tracks on this two-LP set. This is a Record Store Day first release, so a digital release should be forthcoming.
The second record is a vinyl release of Baker’s 1959 album originally on Riverside Records. For these sessions Baker was joined by Bill Evans, Pepper Adams, Herbie Mann, Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, Connie Kay and Philly Joe Jones. This is a mono release and the first vinyl release of the album since 1959. This is an exclusive release, so you’ll have to journey out to your local record store if you want a copy.
JAZZ: BILL EVANS: TREASURES: SOLO, TRIO and ORCHESTRA RECORDINGS FROM DENMARK (1965-1969) (Elemental Music) – This is a must-have Record Store Day Exclusive Release in which you can hear Evans performing alone, with bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and drummers Alan Dawson and Alex Riel and in a performance of an orchestral suite from 1969 that includes the Royal Danish Symphony Orchestra and the Danish Radio Big Band. The whole project was produced by Zen Feldman.
Amongst the songs to be found on this set are Come Rain or Come Shine, My Funny Valentine, ‘Round Midnight, Some Day My Prince Will Come and Waltz for Debby.
Good news if you can’t find the vinyl: there will be a two-CD set and a digital release of this music on April 28th. But you really want the vinyl don’t you? I know I do!
JAZZ: LAUREN HENDERSON – CONJURING (Brontosaurus Records) – Jazz vocalist Henderson casts quite a spell, literally and musically, with her tenth album that showcases songs that involve magic and mysticism. We’ve listened to the album several times and her spell works. Amongst the tracks on this album are That Old Black Magic, Day Dream, Its Magic and I Wish You Love. Henderson is joined on the album by John Chin and Sean Mason on piano; Joe Dyson on drums; Joel Ross on vibes; Gabe Schneider and Nick Tannura on guitar and Eric Wheeler on bass.
JAZZ: MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD: IT’S A JUNGLE IN HERE 30th Anniversary Edition (Real Gone Music) – The trio of keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin and bassist Chris Wood burst onto the scene with their 1992 album Notes from the Underground. A year-and-a-half later they released It’s a Jungle in Here as their second album. In celebration of the project’s 30th anniversary, this is its first-ever release on vinyl. It is a Record Store Day first release.
If you’ve ever wondered what the combination of Thelonious Monk and Bob Marley would sound like, check out Bemsha Swing-Lively Up Yourself which is the first song on the b-side of the album.
JAZZ: JOHN PIZZARELLI: STAGE & SCREEN (Palmetto Records) – Guitarist and singer Pizzarelli takes to Broadway and Hollywood for this 12-track album of songs that are, for the most part, considered standards. Included in this fine recording are the songs As Time Goes By, Just in Time, Some Other Time and Tea for Two. There’s also a more recent song, I Love Betsy, from Jason Robert Brown‘s excellent musical Honeymoon in Vegas (which I saw and LOVED!)
Joining Pizzarelli on this recording are bassist Mike Karn and pianist Isaiah J. Thompson.
JAZZ: SHIRLEY SCOTT: QUEEN TALK – LIVE AT THE LEFT BANK (Reel to Real) – To be completely honest, I didn’t know about jazz organist Shirley Scott until I looked through the releases scheduled for Record Store Day. But the minute I listened to the first few tracks, I knew I’d found someone whose music makes me want to do a deep dive! This recording is a great place to start.
This 2-LP recording, which is a first release, comes from a 1972 performance at Baltimore’s Famous Ballroom. The 100-minute recording features 10 tracks starting with John Coltrane’s Impressions and the classic songs Smile, By the Time I Get to Phoenix and more.
JAZZ: SONNY STITT: BOPPIN’ IN BALTIMORE (Jazz Detective/Elemental Music) and THE BUBBA’S SESSIONS (Who’s Who in Jazz) – One minute into listening to Boppin’ in Baltimore and you will be overwhelmed with the feeling of having missed out by not being in Baltimore for this live performance from November 11, 1973. Stitt is at his best in the eight songs captured on this 2-LP Record Store Day first release. Amongst the tracks are Loverman (Oh Where Can You Be?), Stella by Starlight and They Can’t Take That Away From Me. Performing with Stitt at this concert were pianist Kenny Barron, drummer Louis Hayes and bassist Sam Jones.
The Bubba’s Sessions comes from Stitt’s last-ever live recording which took place at Bubba’s Jazz Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The concert took place on November 11, 1981 (seems like Stitt’s performances on November 11th were significant!) Joining Stitt were tenor Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison, drummer Duffy Jackson and bassist Donn Mast. There are six tracks on the album. This is the first re-release of this material since 1983 and is an exclusive release.
JAZZ: BEN WENDEL: ALL ONE (Edition Records) – Saxophonist Ben Wendel is joined by Terence Blanchard, Bill Frisell, Tigran Hamasyan, José James, Elena Pinderhughes and Cécile McLorin Salvant for this six-track album. To call him just a saxophonist would be a misnomer as he also plays bassoon, EFX and hand percussion on All One. The album opens with I Loves You Porgy with Salvant’s incredible (as always) vocals.
Let us know what you think of New In Music.
Correction: An early version of this post incorrectly stated that the bassist working with John Pizzarelli as Mike Darn. His name is Mike Karn. Cultural Attaché regrets the error.