Happy Valentine’s Day and welcome to New in Music: February 14th. My top pick this week is:
JAZZ: SOUTHERN NIGHTS – Sullivan Fortner – Artwork Records
Fat Tuesday is a week away, but you can get the party started with this outstanding new release from pianist Sullivan Fortner. Regular readers of Cultural Attaché might remember I interviewed him for his previous album, Solo Game.
I wholeheartedly agree with Nate Chinen (The Gig on Substack) who calls Fortner “one of the finest pianists we’ve got.”
Fortner always surprises and always impresses. As he does with this album that opens with Alain Touissant’s Southern Nights and closes with Woody Shaw’s Organ Grinder. Fortner is from New Orleans. The music he plays on this album is like taking a trip to New Orleans and being able to avoid Bourbon Street and find the more interesting parts of the city. New Orleans is so much more than that and Fortner knows this.
He’s beautifully supported by his high school buddy Marcus Gilmore on drums and bassist Peter Washington (who regularly performs with Bill Charlap.)
This is an album I’ve been listening to since December. I anticipate it will be one I listen to for many years to come.
To see if Fortner is going to be performing near you, please go HERE. He’s in Europe through May 9th and starts a US tour on March 12th.
Here are the other fine recordings that make up New In Music This Week: February 14th:
CLASSICAL: PAGANINI: 24 CAPRICES – María Dueñas – Deutsche Grammophon
It’s a rite of passage for most violinists to ultimately record the 24 Caprices by Paganini. James Ehnes, Hillary Hahn, Leonidas Kavakos, Midori, Itzhak Perlman and countless others have done so. Sometimes they make more than one recording.
Enter 22-year-old María Dueñas with her own record. She goes a step further by including 11 additional caprices by Hector Berlioz, Jordi Cervello, Fritz Kreisler, Pablo de Sarasate, Camille Saint-Saëns and Henryk Wieniawski.
My favorite of these additional caprices is De cuerda y madera by Gabriela Ortiz. At nearly 11-1/2 minutes, it is the longest of all the pieces here and one of the most impressive. Both the performance (a world premiere recording) and the composition are stunning. I heard echoes of The Lark Ascending in this piece, but it is still overwhelmingly an Ortiz original.
The Paganini Caprices are very well played indeed. That is, arguably, the main attraction here. Dueñas is very talented as this recording proves. Call me old-school, but I imagine that in 20 years or so we’ll get an even more refined recording from this outstanding musician.
CLASSICAL: THE CREATION – Joseph Haydn/Simon Rattle/Lucy Crowe/Benjamin Bruns/Christian Gerhaher/Chor & Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks – Klassik
Haydn has never been my favorite composer. I know that’s probably sacrilege. With that, The Creation is one of my favorite works. Not just by him, but overall.
This live recording comes from two concerts that marked conductor Simon Rattle’s first as Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra. What a way to launch your tenure!
In the press information for this recording, Rattle is quoted as finding The Creation “anchored in an optimistic view of humanity.” You can feel that optimism which was probably even more palpable in the concert hall.
It isn’t just optimism here. These are terrific performances and soprano Crowe, tenor Bruns and baritone Gerhaher are first-rate.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICA: EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE – Daron Hagen – NAXOS
To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, composer Hagen composed this 5-movement cantata.
He drew on the Declaration itself for much of the text. He also called on text by Aristotle, Frederick Douglass, Mahatma Gandhi, Kahil Gibran, Fannie Lou Hamer, John Lewis, Nelson Mandela and Eleanor Roosevelt.
This is a fascinating work performed skillfully by The Cecilia Chorus of New York with Orchestra; mezzo-soprano Gabrielle Barkidjija; baritone Bryan Murray and the Every Voice Generations Choir.
This nearly 50-minute work is followed by performances of two of Hagen’s songs by baritone Shavon Lloyd and pianist Amir Farid. They are An Irish Airman Foresees his Death and The Bixby Letter.
Hagen is not a composer with whom I was familiar. I plan to explore more of his works after hearing Everyone, Everywhere.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: DUI – Lei Liang – Islandia Music Records
The heart and soul of this beautiful album of music by composer Lei Liang is the Mongolian Suite performed by cellist Maya Besier. I was mesmerized from the opening moments of her playing. But she’s certainly not the only fine musician on Dui.
Wu Man (pipa) and Steven Schick (percussion) open the album with Vis-à-vis, a 12-1/2-minute piece that is utterly compelling.
Violinist Cho-Liang Lin and percussions Zhe Lin perform déjà vu; contrabassist Mark Dresser performs Luminosity and loadbang closes out the album with Lakescape V.
Even if Eastern music isn’t your thing, I think you’ll find much to appreciate on this fine recording.
JAZZ: WINTER POEMS – Yuval Cohen Quartet – ECM
I’m not sure if Yuval Cohen wanted his beautiful new album, Winter Poems, to be considered for Valentine’s Day, but it immediately struck me that this album would be the perfect accompaniment for an intimate dinner.
This is not to suggest that it is just background music. It is far more than that. Cohen composed all eight tracks here. The soprano saxophonist and melodica musician is joined by Alon Benjamini on drums; Alon Near on double bass and Tom Oren on piano.
As one might expect of Winter Poems, it is a seductively quiet album. Not exclusively quiet but filled with the warmth one wants during cold winter months. The playing is inspired, free and endlessly involving.
JAZZ: I WILL – Larry Goldings – Sam First Records
Most people know Larry Goldings for his organ playing. This live album, recording at Sam First in Los Angeles, will make fans (and newcomers) keenly aware of his intelligent and passionate playing on the piano.
Joined by Christian Euman on drums and Karl McComas-Reichl on bass, this is a truly impressive album.
They perform a version of Gershwin’s It Ain’t Necessarily So that Gershwin would have to admire. There’s also Somewhere from West Side Story and I Will by Lennon and McCartney.
The album opens with two Goldings originals: Roach and Sing Song.
Audiences at Sam First were definitely in for a treat in October of 2023 and April 2024. Now we can all join in the appreciation of this truly fine music.
You won’t find this album streaming. You’ll need to go to Sam First Records to purchase a download or vinyl copy.
JAZZ: FROM THE VAULTS (VOL. 4) – Peggy Lee – Capitol/Ume
For this forth volume of Peggy Lee recordings from the vault, you can hear the legendary singer perform with The Guadalajara Boys, Dean Martin, George Shearing, Toots Thielemans, Mel Tormé and more.
Perhaps the most puzzling tracks on this album are the two with Jim Backus (best known as Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island). They perform two tracks invoking and involving his animated character, Mister Magoo. They perform Mister Magoo Does the Cha-Cha and Three Cheers for Mister Mago. Lee wrote or co-wrote these two tracks and four more on this album.
If you listen to the album and wonder where Lee is on Ja-Da, the drums are being played by her.
These 13 tracks come from a twenty-year period from 1947-1967. Die-hard fans of Lee will definitely want to check out this record. Even if it proves to be just a curiosity for you, this record has some lovely surprises.
That’s it for New In Music This Week: February 14th.
Enjoy the music!
Enjoy your weekend!
Main Photo: Part of the album art for Sullivan Fortner’s Southern Nights (Courtesy Artworks Records)