Due to technical issues, New In Music This Week: January 16th was delayed until today. Such is life. But I couldn’t let all this good music pass you by.
My top pick this week is:
JAZZ: THE MAGIC OF MARILYN MAYE: LIVE AT JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER – MARILYN MAYE/JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA – Blue Engine Records
The last time legendary vocalist Maye released an album she was 87. That was ten years ago. This live album comes from a series of concerts Maye performed in New York. There are three tracks from a September 2016 gig at Dizzy’s. Another from a Feb 2018 performance there. The opening medley (and it’s quite a way to start the album) was from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s April 2017 Gala in Frederick P. Rose Hall. Six other tracks are from two appearances at the Appel Room in October 2017.
This album features several songs Maye has made a central part of her live performances: Guess Who I Saw Today, Fifty Percent, Here’s to Life are amongst them. She breathes new life into Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News from the musical The Wiz. She has a wonderful medley of Duke Ellington songs.
Watch Marilyn Maye: The Cultural Attaché Interview
The whole album is pure joy, but my favorite track is her performance of Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life.
Every singer, particularly those who favor the Great American Songbook, should sit themselves down for 47 minutes and listen to a master give a true master class in singing.
Here are the other fine recordings that are New In Music This Week: January 16th:
CLASSICAL: GIORGI GIGASHVILI PLAYS PROKOFIEV: WITH ALL MY BREATH AND ALL MY BLOOD – Giorgio Gigashvili/Lisa Batiashvili – ALPHA
Amongst my favorite composers for the piano has long been Sergei Prokofiev. Pianist Gigashvili plays the composer’s Sonata No. 6, Op. 82, Sonata No. 7, Op. 83 and Sonata No. 8, Op. 84. Together they are known as the War Sonatas. They are richly complicated works and it is no wonder Gigashvili subtitles the album, With All My Breath and All My Blood.
Also on the album is a transcription by David Grjunes of Dance of the Knights from Romeo and Juliet (easily one of Prokofiev’s best-known melodies) with violinist Batiashvili joining. She’s also on the final track, To Gia Kancheli (P.S.) composed by Josef Bardanashvili in tribute to Georgian composer Kancheli.
This is a deeply personal project for Gigashvili. His investment of breath and blood pays off in an outstanding recording which finds the pianist playing with intense passion throughout.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: DEDICATIONS – David Leisner – Azica Records
Guitarist/composer Leisner commissioned all but one of the works on this album chock full with world premiere recordings. The composers include Chester Biscardi, Carlos Carrillo, Pierre Jalbert, Laura Kaminsky, Bun-Ching Lam, João Luiz, David Del Tredici, Peter Sculthorpe and Randall Woolf. Their works were composed from 1997 t0 2023.
Their works are beautifully performed by Leisner and run the gamut from the blues to Afro-Brazilian music to very quiet works. Dedications also features pianist Alan Moverman on Sculthorope’s Oh, T.I.!
The one track included that Leisner did not commission was Marilyn Ziffrin’s Rhapsody which was composed for, but never played by, Andrés Segovia.
I appreciate this album both for Leisner’s playing and for the sense of discovery it offers with so many new works.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: SYMPHONIES NOS. 1 & 2 SHIFTING SANDS / AURORA NOVA – Marc Harris/Jo Reeves – Navona
This is my first exposure to composers Harris and Reeves. Their first symphony, my favorite of the two on this record, is a 48-minute, three-movement symphony that the website says, “traces a musical journey across continents from Arabian desert to the Serengeti and the rainforest of the Americas.”
The second symphony, also in three movements, is a bit overwrought for my taste, but that’s a quibble more than a hardcore criticism. There is inventive music here and no lack of ambition on the composers’ parts. It just sounds a bit more like a film score to me.
Nonetheless, I’d recommend listening to their work to get a first exposure to their works. I’m intrigued enough to want to hear more.
The two symphonies are performed by Northern Film Orchestra with Melvin Tay and The Aurora Ensemble.
GENRE DEFYING: ELIPSIS – Michael League/Pedrito Martínez/Antonio Sánchez – GroundUP
Snarky Puppy’s Michael League teams up with conguero-vocalist Pedro Martinez and drummer extraordinaire Antonio Sánchez for this 32-minute album that showcases each of the musician’s roots and combines them into something very special.
Sánchez is from Mexico City, Martínez is from Cuba and bassist League is from the United States. They have created the ultimate melting pot of an album that celebrates a unity amongst people through music that is jazz, world music and more. All of it is compelling.
All six tracks all the three musicians to showcase what they do and, more importantly, what they can accomplish together.
JAZZ: DREAM ARCHIVES – Craig Taborn/Tomeka Reid/Ches Smith – ECM Records
Anyone who expected pianist/composer Taborn to do things in a traditional way for his first trio project are in for a beautiful awakening. His trio features cellist Tomeka Reid and drummer/percussionist/vibraphonist Ches Smith.
Taborn composed four of the six tracks on Dream Archives. His Coordinates for the Absent and Feeding Maps to the Fire open the album. The title track and Enchant close it out. In between are Geri Allen’s When Kabuya Dances and Paul Motian’s Mumbo Jumbo.
The music on Dream Archives is mesmerizing. At times meditative, other times deeply complex, sometimes unsettling, always compelling. This is 50 minutes of music that will have you willfully ignoring everything else. Once you start your journey on this album, you won’t want it to stop.
JAZZ: LOST AND FOUND – Vance Thompson – Moondo Records
I’m fond of quoting John Lennon that “life is what happens when you’re making other plans.” That was certainly the case for trumpeter Vance Thompson. The effects of Focal Dystonia meant he had put stop playing his trumpet. Rather than give up his music, he switched instruments to the vibraphone. This is his first album playing the vibes.
Thompson wrote six of the nine tunes on this album and many of the titles tell you all you need to know: Tell It Like It Is, The Thread of All Sorrows, Mixed Feelings, Sleight of Hand and more span his journey and health struggles.
The album also includes Chick Corea’s Bud Powell, Donald Brown’s My Three Suns and Over the Rainbow.
Thompson is joined by Marcus Finnie on drums; Taber Gable on piano; Steve Kovalcheck on guitar and Tommy Sauter on bass.
While he may have lost one passion, it’s clear Thompson has found another one.
VINYL REISSUE: ORACLE – Gary Peacock/Ralph Towner – ECM Luminessence Series
This is the first-ever vinyl release of this 1994 album featuring double-bassist Peacock and guitarist Towner. Over the course of nearly 50 minutes, it’s just the two of them performing original songs. Six were composed by Peacock, two by Towner and one by the duo (the title track).
You’d be amazed how satisfying this album remains and how there are still surprises to be reminded of when listening to it again. This is an album that is all about the musicianship and their performances are outstanding. You might expect these two instruments to yield a very quiet album. And it is that at times. But there are moments of energy that burst forth joyously.
A Sad Update: Ralph Towner passed away on Sunday, January 18th in Rome at the age of 85.
That’s all for New In Music This Week: January 16th.
Enjoy the new music!
Main Photo: Part of the album The Magic of Marilyn Maye: Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center (Courtesy Blue Engine Records)