Welcome to New In Music This Week: October 17th where contemporary classical music and vinyl re-issues of some great jazz albums populate this week’s list. There is also a tango opera and Gilbert & Sullivan as you’ve never heard them before.
My top pick this week is:
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: STRING QUARTETS – Travis Laplante/JACK Quartet – New Amsterdam Records
Travis Laplante is not a composer with whom I was familiar. JACK Quartet is an ensemble whose work I know very well. When this album came my way, I immediately put it on.
Hopefully you’ll have the same reaction I did to this wonderful pair of quartets. Simply put, I was taken to a part of my emotional core that a lot of contemporary classical music cannot access.
Neither string quartet is easy, though JACK Quartet makes it seem so with their expert playing. Neither is reliant on melody – yet remains tantalizingly melodic anyway.
The first string quartet brought me to a place of deep contemplation. The second quartet is overflowing with emotion.
Laplante says the second started out with “the feeling of love for my dad.” But it evolved into a great exploration of love and loss well beyond his immediate family. It’s a deeply powerful work that had me thinking of those members of my family who are no longer here and those deep and lasting friendships with those who make up my chosen family.
I couldn’t shake this record and doubt you’ll be able to either.
Here are the other fine recordings that are New In Music This Week: October 17th:
CLASSICAL: JOHANNES BRAHMS: STREICHQUARTETTE OP. 51 – Zehetmair Quartett – ECM Records
Violinist Thomas Zehetmair leads his namesake quartet with cellist Christian Elliot, violinist Jakub Jakowicz and violist Ruth Killius. On this wonderful new recording they perform Brahms’s first and second string quartets.
The first, is in C minor. The second is in A minor. Both have four movements. Though they weren’t wildly embraced upon their debut in 1873, these two works are not without their advocates. Amongst them several twentieth century composers including Arnold Schoenberg.
You can listen to the second movement of String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor HERE.
The performances here are first-rate. First-time listeners to these quartets (Brahms only wrote three that got published), will find a lot of what they love about Brahms here. For those who already know these works, Zehetmair Quartett offers up outstanding performances of them both.
CLASSICAL: SCHREKER – KORNGOLD – KRENEK – Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire/Sascha Goetzel – BIS
Three Austrian composers whose works were banned by the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s are performed on this exemplary record.
The album opens with Franz Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten: Overture (Shortened Version). This overture is from his 1918 opera that had its world premiere in Frankfurt. Schreker wrote both the music and the libretto for his opera.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Sinfonietta began its compositional life when the young composer was approaching his 15th birthday. The four-movement work was completed in 1913 and is one of Korngold’s best-known symphonic works.
Ernest Krenek’s Potpourri, Op. 54 closes out the album. Composed in 1927, it is an 18-minute work that has elements of a march, tango and a waltz.
ONPL plays this music passionately and convincingly. This is an immensely satisfying recording of lesser-known works.
JAZZ: CHANGING PLACES – Tord Gustavsen Trio – ECM Luminessence Audiophile Series – VINYL RELEASE
This is a vinyl issue of Gustavsen’s 2003 album – his first. The other two members of his trio on this album are Harald Johnsen on bass and Jarle Vespetad on drums.
Restraint is in fashion on this sublime album. Changing Places tells you what kind of album it is by the titles: Graceful Touch, Song of Yearning, Interlude, Where Breathing Starts are just a few examples.
You can listen to “Deep As Love” HERE.
This is a beautiful album. The vinyl should sound amazing like all ECM Luminessence series releases. But even if vinyl isn’t your thing, Changing Places quite likely will be.
JAZZ: SUNSET TO DAWN – Kenny Barron – Time Traveler Recordings – VINYL RE-ISSUE
This album opens with pianist Barron playing electric piano. Not what one would expect. But when he recorded this album in 1973, electronic keyboards were part and parcel of the soundscape of the time.
When he moves on to A Flower, the second track on the album, we’re back in more familiar territory with Barron on the piano. But don’t get too settled in as Barron has two other songs that feature him on the electric piano.
Of the six tracks on this album, five were composed by Barron. His drummer on this album, Freddie Waits, wrote the fourth track, Al-Kifha.
You can listen to Barron on electronic piano on “Sunset” HERE.
Besides Waits, Barron is joined by Bob Cranshaw on electric bass, Richard Landrum on congas and percussion and Warren Smith on vibraphone and percussion.
Sunset to Dawn is definitely a product of its time. But it also reveals a legendary musician and composer exploring where he fits into that time.
JAZZ: COSMOS NUCLEUS – Carlos Garnett – Time Traveler Recordings – VINYL RE-ISSUE
If Kamasi Washington wasn’t inspired by this album by saxophonist Carlos Garnett, I would be shocked. Garnett fronts a 26-piece ensemble on this 1976 release that features six original compositions.
Garnett plays tenor and soprano sax, ukelele and provides vocals. There are seven trumpeters; three additional alto sax players; four tenor sax musicians; one baritone sax player (who also doubles on the ukelele) and three trombone players. (Normally I would list all the musicians, but this is just too big an ensemble.)
You can listen to the title track, “Cosmo Nucleus,” HERE.
The core rhythm section includes guitar, electric piano, electric bass and drums. There are also two percussionists and an additional vocalist.
Cosmos Nucleus is a funky and raw Afrofuturist album and a fun one at that!
JAZZ: SOLID – GRANT GREEN – Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series – VINYL RE-ISSUE
This terrific album by guitarist Grant Green was recorded in 1964. But it wasn’t released for 13 years. One wonders why when he’s joined on this album by Bob Cranshaw on bass, Elvin Jones on drums and McCoy Tyner on piano. They worked brilliantly with John Coltrane and are just as good with Green.
One month after recording Solid, Green went back into the studio to add Joe Henderson on tenor sax and James Spaulding on alto sax.
You can listen to “Ezz-thetic” HERE.
There are five outstanding tracks here including Duke Pearson’s Minor League, Sonny Rollins’ Solid and Joe Henderson’s The Kicker. The third track, Grant’s Tune, was composed by Grant Green. The stand-out track is certainly their tack on George Russell’s Ezz-thetic. (For those who have the CD reissue, the bonus track, Wives and Lovers, is not included on the vinyl release.)
This album is much more than solid, it’s outstanding.
JAZZ: STAND UP! – Jerome Sabbagh – Analog Tone Factory
From the first track, Lone Jack, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a typical quartet record. The deeper you go into Stand Up! the more you realize there’s nothing typical about this album.
Some tracks sound like classic quartet recordings, others not at all. For instance, Mosh Pit, which is dedicated to Trent Reznor. He is the founder of the band Nine Inch Nails. (No, Hurt is not a typical NIN song.)
I believe the point Sabbagh is making is that life is messy. That sudden twists and turns are part of our lives – perhaps more so today than any time in recent memory. And that’s what this album does very effectively, provide commentary on the world in which we live in all its beauty and its problems.
You can listen to “Lunar Cycle” HERE.
Yet the music remains compelling. Sabbagh composed all 8 tracks on this 40-minute record.
Saxophonist and composer Sabbagh is joined by bassist Joe Martin, guitarist Ben Monder and drummer Nasheet Waits.
MUSICALS: PIRATES – THE PENZANCE MUSICAL – Original Broadway Cast Recording – Center Stage Records
My first exposure to Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance came via the cast album for the Public Theater’s 1980 production with Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith.
The operetta tells the story of Frederic, a young man who must remain with a group of pirates until his 21st birthday. As he was born on February 29th, that means he’s obligated to be with them for his entire life. Of course, things work out in the end, but it’s a wonderfully absurd concept to launch a story.
This recording is of the recent Roundabout Theatre Company production that gave the show a big dash of the Big Easy and jazz. As a result, it doesn’t sound like your typical Gilbert & Sullivan recording. Which is what makes it so entertaining.
Ramin Karimloo plays the Pirate King, Jinx Monsoon is Ruth, David Hyde Pierce is Major General Stanley (he of the Modern Major General song) and Nicholas Barasch is Frederic.
You can listen to “I Am the Pirate King” HERE.
For my money, as good as the cast is, the stars of this recording are orchestrators Joseph Joubert and Daryl Walters and arrangers Rupert Holmes and Joubert. For this concept to work, the music must be just right. And it is.
OPERA TANGO: MARÍA DE BUENOS AIRES – Astor Piazzolla/Orchestra Filarmonica della Calabria – Brilliant Classics
The press materials I had for this album indicated that it was coming out this week, but it appears it has been available via streaming since August 27th.
Regardless, this is a recording that needs to be celebrated. I had never heard Astor Piazzolla’s opera tango before.
Marîa de Buenos Aires had its world premiere in Buenos Aires in 1968. It’s pure Piazzolla. The libretto, by Horacio Ferrer, tells the story of a young prostitute in Buenos Aires who dies in the first act. She reappears as The Shadow of María in the second act after her death.
There are essentially three main characters: María (sung by Ce Suarez Paz), El Duende, who serves as a narrator (played by Gualtiero Scola) and the Payador (sung by Alberto Maria Munafò).
This recording celebrates everything Piazzolla was in magnificent performances. Filippo Arlia conducts the Orchestra della Calabria. He also plays piano and is joined by Cesare Chiacchiaretta on bandoneon, Nico Fuscaldo on piano, Salvatore Russo on electric guitar and Giovanni Zonno on violin.
That’s all for New In Music This Week: October 17th.
Enjoy your weekend. Enjoy the music!
Main Photo: Album art from JACK Quartet’s recording of the string quartets of Travis Laplante (Courtesy New Amsterdam Records)