New In Music This Week: July 18th

Welcome to the weekend and New In Music This Week: July 18^th. This week I have two jazz vinyl reissues, a classical composer playing his own music from the first half of the twentieth century, a new (to me) jazz vocalist discovery and more.

My top pick for New In Music This Week: July 18^th is:

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: YANGA – Gabriela Ortiz/Los Angeles Philharmonic/Gustavo Dudamel – Platoon

On Sunday, October 27, 2019, I attended a concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall that featured the world premiere of Yanga by composer Gabriela Ortiz. I had interviewed her earlier that month about the work. You can read the interview by clicking on her name above.

You can now experience the magic and exhilaration I felt that Sunday afternoon in this new digital-only release from the LA Phil with Gustavo Dudamel. Yanga is a 17-1/2-minute piece inspired by an African Prince from Gabon who came to Mexico in the 16^th century as a slave.

Ortiz told me, “He was gay. He organized with other slaves their escape and he was able to negotiate with the Spanish crown to settle the first free town in the Americas.” 

The music is exciting, percussive and emotional. The Tambuco Percussion Ensemble and the Los Angeles Master Chorale join the LA Phil for this recording.

Also on the album is Ortiz’s cello concerto, Dzonot, which was composed for Alisa Weilerstein. As with much of Ortiz’s music, this is rooted in Mexico. Dzonot was inspired by the cenotes (sinkholes featuring fresh-water pools underground) found in the Yucatan Peninsula. It’s a stunning work and Weilerstein plays it beautifully.

The recording closes with Seis piezas a Violeta performed by the LA Philharmonic’s keyboardist, Joanne Pearce Martin with the LA Phil.  I hadn’t heard this piece before and love it. Plus, Martin is very talented pianist. So I’m not surprised how effortlessly she goes from graceful to forceful to delicate to complicated and making it all seem easy.

These LA Phil/Dudamel recordings of Ortiz’s music have regularly won awards. Don’t be surprised if Yanga does, too. 

Here are the other fine recordings in New In Music This Week: July 18^th:

CLASSICAL: CON GRAZIA: A CENTURY OF ITALIAN PIANO MUSIC – Shannon Wettstein – Neuma Records

How many of these Italian composers do you know? Luciano Berio, Silvia Bianchera, Sonia Bo, Giuliano Bracci, Luigi Dallapiccola, Franco Donatoni, Ivan Fedele and Salvatore Sciarrino? 

If you’re like me, Berio is probably the one you know best. If you’re also like me, you’ll want to explore the works of these other composers after hearing this stunning new album by pianist Wettstein.

The music performed here dates from the 1930s to 2018. Two works anchor Con Grazia: Quaderno Musicale di Annalibera by Dallapiccola and Rima by Donatoni.

Dallapiccola composed these 11 miniature pieces for his daughter. The title translates to Annalibera’s Musical Notebook. The composer was a fierce advocate for twelve-tone music and these eleven miniatures certainly reflect that. These pieces can sound at times a bit harsh, but there’s no denying the emotion that serves as the undercurrent of his compositions.

Donatoni’s Rima is in two-parts: I. = 99 and II. = 66. Just look at those names and you might have a sense of the playfulness that is inherently a part of Rima. It’s hard not to have a smile on your face while listening to this performance.

Wettstein plays with the assuredness required to bring all 21 pieces on Con Grazia to life. That she has done so convincingly is a testament to both her playing and the music she chose wisely.

CLASSICAL: FLOWERING OVER LETHE… – Alexei Lubimov/Valentin Silvestrov – Fuga Librera

Pianist Lubimov exquisitely plays 29 works by Ukranian composer Silvestrov. He calls these pieces by Silvestrov “meditations” and it is an apt description for these 79 minutes of perfectly performed music. They are mostly quiet, deceptively simple and powerfully emotive.

Though each suite of music is dedicated to various composers, it’s more fun to listen to Flowering Over Lethe… without any awareness of to whom they are dedicated. Then go back and listen again with that knowledge. The reveal is much more satisfying that way.

Or don’t. Just listen to this music and be swept away by all you hear.

CLASSICAL: POULENC PLAYS POULENC AND SATIE – Francis Poulenc – SOMM Recordings

I’m always intrigued when I get to hear how a composer performs his or her own work. Not only does Poulenc plays his work, but also that of fellow Frenchman Erik Satie.

Included on this remastered album are Poulenc’s Concerto in D Minor for two pianos and orchestra, 3 Mouvements perpétuels, Nocturne in C major, Suite française and Aubaude (a concerto for piano and 18 instruments).

Amongst Satie’s works are Gumnopéedie No. 1, Sarabande No. 2, Gnossienne No. 3 and Descriptions automatiques.

The recordings date from 1930 to 1962. In fact, the performance of his Concerto in D Minor for two pianos took place several weeks before he died of a heart attack.

I can’t say that Poulec is the most elegant of pianists, but one gets the sense of how he wanted his own work performed and for that reason alone, this album is worth your time.

JAZZ: BITTER ORANGE – Emma Smith – La  Reserve Records

When an artist begins an album with an excerpt from Don’t Rain on My Parade declaring, “Hey World, Here I Am” and then follows it up with another song from Funny Girl: I’m The Greatest Star, what follows better be damn good.

Smith moves on to Fram Fram Sauce and follows that with songs by Noel Coward, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim, Rodgers & Hart, The Gershwins and more.

Already popular in Europe, Smith’s opening declaration might be a tongue-in-cheek way of introducing herself to the rest of the world, but she’s done a fine job of convincing me that she’s the real deal.

Her sense of humor, her pathos, her song stylings and even her songwriting skills (What Took You So Long?) are on full display and I hope there’s so much more to come. 

JAZZ: HERITAGE – Eddie Henderson – Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition

Heritage was trumpeter Henderson’s fourth album as a leader and his second for Blue Note. It was one of seven albums he released between 1973 – 1979. It followed his jazz-funk album Sunburst from 1975. 

Henderson continued to explore the fusion of jazz funk on this album. Of the eight songs he composed only two of them:  Time and Space and the last track, Dark Shadows. But Heritage feels like a wholly cohesive album. It should be noted that Patrice Rushen performs throughout the album and composed Kudu.

Research shows that this album (and Sunburst) wasn’t well received upon their release. I believe that we as an audience have caught up to what Henderson was doing. Take a listen to Heritage and you’ll hear some very cool grooves that feel totally alive.

JAZZ: STEPPING INTO TOMORROW – Donald Byrd – Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition

I’m not related to Donald Byrd, but I can certainly relate to his music. Like this 1974 jazz-funk album. The music reflects the time in which it was created but somehow remains a certain timelessness.

That’s because Byrd was a one-of-a-kind musician. Throughout his career he played trumpet across a variety of styles and his skills as a composer and a musician always felt like they were looking forward.

Producer Larry Mizell, who produced his 1972 album Black Byrd, is back here and composed (or co-composed) 6 of the eight songs.

Stepping Into Tomorrow is a fun and satisfying album that will probably be even more enjoyable on vinyl.

MUSICALS/CABARET: QUEERING THE CANON (LIVE AT JOE’S PUB) – Ring of Keys/Various Artists – Ring of Keys Records

In March of this year, Ring of Keys, an arts organization dedicated to providing visibility for gender non-conforming, queer, transgender and women artists in the musical theater realm.

This fundraiser was recorded and offers a mix of original songs and Broadway show tunes. The show tunes are The Sadder But Wiser Girl For Me performed by Sushma Saha Put On Your Sunday Clothes performed by Klea Blackhurst; I Won’t Send Roses performed by Samy Figaredo; Sooner or Later performed by Tomás Matos; Heaven On Their Minds performed by Natalie Joy Johnson; I Don’t Care Much performed by Jari Jones and If My Friends Could See Me Now performed by Jade Jones.

Each of those songs is followed by an original song in response: Head of the Class performed by Murphy Taylor Smith and Pearl Rhein (songwriter); Take Off Your Sunday Clothes performed by Andi Lee Carter (who wrote the song), Esther Fallick and Samy Figaredo; Maybe I’ll Send You Roses performed by Grant Evan and Lindsey Augusta Mercer (who wrote the song); What I Wanna Do (Tidal Wave) performed by Nicole Weiss, Rodney Bush and Zeniba Now (the latter two wrote this song); After the Show performed by Jade McLeod and Lucier & Rose (S.C. Lucier and Meghan Rose who wrote the song); Of Course I Want to Kiss You performed by Joanna Burns (who wrote this song) and Madison McBride and If They Could See Me Now performed by Anessa Marie Scolpini (songwriter) and Petralina Lambert.

The Ring of Keys band backs them all: Dionne McClain-Freeney, Magda Kress, Kendall Perry and Will Shishmanian.

This is a truly enjoyable record that entertains and sheds new perspectives on the songs you know and offers their own insights in the new songs. It must have been fun to be at Joe’s Pub for this show.

THEATRE MUSIC: PLAY, MUSIC! – SONGS FROM SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS – Brian Kay – AVIE Records

If you’ve seen productions of William Shakespeare’s plays, you are likely familiar with the use of songs in his plays. He called for his characters to sing. Composers of the era wrote music to accompany his prose.

These are songs from All’s Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, Hamlet, Henry VIII, Merry Wives of Windsor, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Twelfth Night and Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Much of the music was composed by John Dowland. Much of it is uncredited as would be the case from that era. King Henry VIII is listed as having three pieces attributed to him. Anne Boleyn also gets attribution for one of the songs.

Brian Kay, the founder of Theatro, brings 33 of these songs to glorious life in Play, Music! Kay sings many of the songs and plays lute on several more. He is joined on various tracks by additional musicians: Brandon Acker (lute), Tina Bergmann (hammered dulcimer), Tina Chancey (Renaissance violin), Mark Cudek (cittern), Robert Eisenstein (viola de gamba), Jeffrey Grabelle (treble viol), Ronn McFarlane (lute), Anna O’Connell (harp), Ryan Tyndall (colascione) and Peter Walker (bass). He’s also joined by additional singers: Ashlee Foreman (soprano), O’Connell (soprano) and Damien Wilson (tenor).

I found this album to be nothing short of magical.

All is well that ends well and that’s all for New In Music This Week: July 18^th.

Enjoy your weekend! 

Enjoy some music!

Main Photo: Part of the album art for Yanga (Courtesy Platoon)