With the world buzzing about Beyoncé’s new album, I have some alternatives for you in New In Music this Week: March 29th.
My top pick is:
JAZZ: STAY – Julieta Eugenio – Self-Released
Argentinian saxophonist Julieta Eugenio is joined by drummer Jonathan Barber and bassist Matt Dwonszyk on this beautiful album that feels like it could have been recorded 60 years ago, yet feels of our time in equal measure. Leo Genovese plays piano on two tracks.
Nine of the ten tracks on this album are originals. The sole cover is of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady. (An amazing rendition of that song!)
There are certain album that you listen to that help you tune out the world and allow you to enter the world of the musicians so thoroughly that their journey becomes your journey. Stay is that kind of album.
Not having heard her before, I also listened to her 2022 album, Jump, with the same musicians. It’s another album that is old school and new simultaneously. Eugenie is a major talent.
Here’s the rest of New In Music This Week: March 29th:
CLASSICAL: BACH: VIOLIN CONCERTOS – Leonidas Kavakos – Sony Classical
This is Kavakos’ second album of music by Bach (the first was Sei Solo which found him playing Bach’s partitas and sonatas for violin.) Here he performs the violin concerti in D Minor, A Minor, E Major, G Minor and the Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major.
As one would expect from Kavakos, this playing is exquisite. He is joined by the Apollon Ensemble.
On the website for the album, Kavakos says of Bach’s slow movements that they, “carry us to the place where every human soul would love to be.” I wholeheartedly agree, particulary the way Kavakos plays this music.
CLASSICAL: RACHMANINOFF FOR TWO – Daniil Trifonov/Sergei Babayan – Deutsche Grammophon
Readers of Cultural Attaché know how much I love Sergei Rachmaninoff’s music. So, it’s inevitable that this album of music arranged for two pianos and played by Trifonov and Babayan is going to register.
And it did. Strongly. The album opens with the third movement of the composer’s Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, a lushly romantic part of the symphony. That is followed by Suite No. 2 for 2 Pianos, Op. 17 and Suite No. 1 for 2 Pianos, Op. 5. Closing out this wonderful recording is the two-piano version of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.
85 minutes of music that speeds by in an instant. I guess I’ll just have to listen to it again.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: SYMPHONIES OF MOTHER AND CHILD – Nova Pon & Turning Point Ensemble – Redshift Records
This was my first introduction to Canadian composer Nova Pon’s work. The opening track, World Within, serves as a counterpoint to the five-movement title work. It’s filled with brass and a propulsive energy that is different than what follows.
Symphonies of Mother and Child is a 40-minute work for a 15-member chamber orchestra. It’s a fascinating work that seems to fully straddle the worlds of minimalism and romanticism at the same time. (It also has a clever reference to itsy Bitsy Spider built into the second movement.)
Owen Underhill leads the Turning Point Ensemble in this recording. After hearing this recording, I will be exploring more of Nova Pon’s work.
JAZZ: MUSIC FOR YOUR SOUL – Giuseppe Cucchiara Quartet – Fresh Sound Records
Bassist/composer Cucchiara leads his quartet that includes Adam Arruda on drums, Chris McCarthy on piano and Ben Solomon on tenor sax. He’s also the composer of 7 of the tracks on this album. (Drummer Arruda is the composer, as you would expect, on the track Drum Interlude).
This is an album that swings when it wants to. Gets melancholy when it needs to. Is joyful when you want it to. In other words, it covers all aspects of your soul.
This, his second album, means we have a very talented musician and composer carving out his place in the music scene. I, for one, am looking forward to what the future brings for Cucchiara.
JAZZ: LÉ NO – Arnaud Dolmen & Léonardo Montana – Quai son Records & Samana Production
Though drummer Dolmen is an award-winning musician, this was the first time I’ve heard his work. He’s paired here with pianist Montana. Both men provide vocals to this surprising and wonderful album.
What they share, beyond an obvious passion for music, is the tiny island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. Montana was born in Bolivia, was adopted and as a teenager made his way
to Guadeloupe. He was immediately intrigued by a big drum called Gwoka.
The music these two men have created on this album sounds like it must involve more than just two musicians. The music is rich, layered, enjoyable, rhythmic and ultimately, magical. I fell immediately in love with Lé No.
JAZZ: EVEN ODDS – Dan Weiss – Cygnus Recordings
Here’s an intriguing idea for an album. Half the songs are fully composed before recording. The other dozen tracks began their lives as “brief drum exercises or grooves” recorded by drummer Dan Weiss. Then his fellow musicians, pianist Matt Mitchell and saxophonist Miguel Zenón individually composed their own improvisations to accompany these grooves.
The end result is an album that surprises with each of the 18 tracks being really interesting. Amongst my favorites are the emotional The Children of Uvalde, Five to Nine and Peculiar Pathos of Self Importance.
MUSICALS: WHITE GIRL IN DANGER: A NEW MUSICAL – Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording – Yellow Sound Label
Michael R. Jackson, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner for A Strange Loop, followed up that show with White Girl in Danger last year. The show takes place in the town of Allwhite. The “drama” of their lives is front and center. Whereas the Blackgrounds have their lives relegated to those of police brutality and slavery.
Enter Keesha Gibbs who refused to remain in the Blackground and takes her place saying, “I will fight back.” But can she handle the heat (I don’t mean police, btw) that the spotlight inevitably comes with?
The songs are catchy and well-performed. Though the show received mixed reviews, this recording makes a convincing argument for more exploration with White Girl in Danger. If the show is half as much fun as the recording, bring it on!
Just a side note, I listened to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter while writing New In Music This Week: March 29th and thoroughly enjoyed it.
That’s it for New In Music This Week: March 29th.
Enjoy the music!
Enjoy the weekend!
Main Photo: Part of the album cover for Julieta Eugenio’s Stay