For New In Music This Week: April 3rd, I’m offering up a truly eclectic collection of ten new records and two vinyl reissues.
I’m pretty certain you won’t agree with all of my choices, but you won’t be able to say they are boring. In fact, you might enjoy more of them than you might think.
My top pick is:
VOCALS: IF THE STARS WERE MINE – Claybourne Elder – Center Stage Records
Elder has appeared on Broadway in the musicals Company, Sunday in the Park with George, Bonnie and Clyde and was in The Public Theater’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Road Show. He’s also one of the stars of The Gilded Age.
This album is a formal document of the show in which he’s been touring. As he told me last year (and you can watch that interview HERE), “This one is very personal to me. It’s sometimes dirty, sometimes funny, hopefully very moving also in the end.”
Now you can hear for yourself that Elder has absolutely lived up to that description. The songs primarily come from musicals, but he also performs songs closely associated with Melody Gardot (the title track), Whitney Houston (I Wanna Dance with Somebody) and Eartha Kitt (It’s So Nice to Have a Man Around the House).
That last song is just one of the songs where Elder allows his personal view as an openly gay man come through. His version of Moments in the Woods from Into the Woods is deliriously joyful. As is the whole album.
Songs from Floyd Collins, If/Then, My Fair Lady, Sunday in the Park with George and West Side Story are part of this album’s repertoire.
The one-two punch of How Glory Goes and Paving the Runway that concludes the album fully realizes Elder’s goal of being very moving. As for the dirty part, check out a couple pinned reels posts on his Instagram account. You can also listen to I Wanna Be Evil on this massively enjoyable album.
Here are the other fine recordings that are New in Music This Week: April 3rd
CLASSICAL: ST. MATTHEW PASSION – Bach / Cantata Collective / Nicholas McGegan – AVIE Records
Just in time for the Easter holiday comes a new recording of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Like previous Cantata Collective recordings of Bach’s choral works, this is a beautifully recorded and performed performance of a very challenging work.
Conductor Nicholas McGegan once again leads this work as if it were one of the easiest works in all of classical music. So effortlessly do the double orchestra and double choir come together.
The soloists are tenor Thomas Cooley; baritone Harrison Hintzsche; countertenor Reginald Mobley; soprano Sherezade Panthaki; tenor James Reese and bass-baritone Paul Max Tipton.
This recording may be one of those rare gems that give us a real insight into how audiences first heard this monumental work.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: CANDYFOLK SPACE DRUM – Alex Paxton– Jonah Records
Let me start by saying I’d love to know what you think of this outrageously insane, brilliantly inspired, idiosyncratic trip through the wild imagination of composer Alex Paxton.
I put this in the category of contemporary classical, but there are elements of jazz, dance music, Carl Stalling’s Looney Tunes cartoon music and more on Candyfolk Space Drum. It’s as if everything one hears in a given day collides throughout his compositions.
The first tracks, with titles like YOUR TONGUE, Nasty Caterpillar Strut and Doggy Chew Toy Tune drop you directly into this carefully orchestrated chaos. The music is like going on a roller coaster, without the anticipation of the first big drop because you cut straight to that big drop.
And somehow, I found myself drawn into Paxton’s world.
So, too, were collaborators Children’s Chorus of The Belham Primary School, Dreammusics Symphony Orchestra, David Ingamells, London Sinfonietta, Riot Ensemble, Jennifer Walshe and Zubin Kanga.
Take a listen and do let me know what YOU think.
CLASSICAL: FAURÉ – 13 BARCAROLLES / DOLLY SUITE – Pascal Rogé – Decca Classics
All thirteen of Gabriel Fauré’s barcarolles are performed by pianist Rogé. He recorded three of them for his 1990 album Fauré: Piano Music. This is the first time he’s recorded the complete set of them.
Comparing the three he’s recorded previously, Rogé is taking a little more time with each of them and the result is a more mature and emotional performance.
His wife, Elena Font, joins him for Fauré’s Dolly Suite. They are six short pieces that allow the skills of both musicians to be showcased.
Those who stream this album will also get Fauré’s Pavane Op. 50 and the fourth movement of his Requiem entitled Pie Jesu.
Fans of Rogé and Fauré will certainly enjoy this album. Oh, and this release celebrates Rogé’s 75th birthday!
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: THE BACKYARD OF THE VILLAGE – Xiaogang Ye / Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Dane Lam – Signum Classics
Composer Xiagang Ye is not someone with whom I was familiar before listening to the gorgeous new album. Ye is one of the most important composers of contemporary classical Chinese music.
There are four works to be discovered and embraced on this album: the title track, The Memories of Mount Jing Gang for Viola and Orchestra (with Diyang Mei as the soloist); My Faraway Nanjing for Cello and Orchestra (with Guy Johnston as the soloist) and The Loquat in Five Colors, Overture for Orchestra.
Based solely on this collection of works, Ye strikes me as China’s version of Ralph Vaughan Williams. But I know there’s much more of his music to explore and that journey has already started.
I strongly recommend this album. It’s simply beautiful.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: GLORIOUS MAHALIA – Kronos Quartet – Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
The Mahalia of this album’s title is Mahalia Jackson. Hers was a voice I grew up listening to thanks to my mother.
Kronos Quartet was inspired by the story of Jackson shouting out “Tell them about the dream, Martin!” as he was speaking at the 1963 March on Washington. We all know how that turned out.
There are three works on this thoughtful and compelling album. They are Glorious Mahalia which is a five-movement work that combines Stacy Garrop’s original music with Jackson in conversation with Studs Terkel. The fourth movement pairs Jackson singing Sometime I Feel Like a Motherless Child with Garrop’s music. (That movement made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.) It concludes with Mahalia speaking again with Garrop’s composition.
That’s followed by Jacob Garchik’s arrangement of God Shall Wipe All Tears Away (composed by Antonio Haskell). This is a beautiful arrangement lovingly performed.
The album closes with Zachary James Watkins’ Peace Be Till. It is also a five-movement work that combines original music with comments from Dr. Clarence B. Jones who wrote speeches for Dr. King and served as his personal lawyer. Kronos and composer Watkins interviewed Dr. Jones specifically for this album.
This album truly is glorious in the way it reminds us the power of Mahalia Jackson – both in her words and her singing and the work that still lies ahead for all of us. It’s also great music.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: CANTO OSTINATO – Sandbox Percussion / Metropolis Ensemble / Erik Hall – Western Vinyl
For some reason, Simeon ten Holt’s minimalist work Canto Ostinato had never crossed my path. It certainly has with this new recording which expands the work from a solo piano and keyboards to a larger ensemble.
Here that ensemble includes Sandbox Percussion’s instruments, a grand piano, eighteen strings and eight woodwinds. It’s an intoxicating combination for a mesmerizing composition.
The work had its world premiere in 1979 which puts in three years after Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians and 15 years after Terry Riley’s In C. All three works share a certain sensibility. It is repetitive, but not just for the sake of repeating itself. As with composers like Philip Glass, the subtle differences are what makes the music compelling.
I found this recording utterly enthralling. All 106 sections of ten Holt’s masterwork.
JAZZ: REFLECTIONS – Jesse Davis – Cellar Music Group
In the press release for alto saxophonist Jesse Davis’ new album, he is quoted as saying “I wanted to make it groove-oriented, basically a feel-good record, where people can feel a connection to something.”
It speaks volumes for Reflections that Davis is able to achieve that goal with an album that features two tracks (Blue Autumn and It’s Just Farewell) that he wrote in honor of a family member that had passed away.
Those are half of the original songs on Reflections. The others are Choctaw Alley and Funk Sugo. All four are quite good.
Davis and his band (Lewis Nash on drums; John Webber on bass and Spike Wilner on piano) also perform two Thelonious Monk tunes: Reflections and the album closer Evidence. It’s a great way to close out this album. It swings with an edge that is totally palpable.
The connection offered by Davis isn’t necessarily always feel good, but music this good makes anyone’s day better.
JAZZ: SPRING – Tierney Sutton / Tamir Hendelman – BFM Jazz
Sutton is in very fine voice on this album that is centered around one of the four seasons.
She and pianist Hendelman open with Jobim’s Double Rainbow and Waters of March. It is a great way to start. I particularly loved the arrangement of the latter song.
They work their way through songs by George Gershwin, Michel Legrand, Peggy Lee, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Paul Simon and more.
My favorite tracks are April, Come She Will, I Get Along Without You Very Well, Things Are Swingin’ and You Must Believe in Spring.
I believe in Sutton’s Spring and I hope this wonderful album portends three more – one for each season.
OPERA: DARK FALL – Hans Thomalla / Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim / Alan Pierson – Oehms Classics
My doctor tells me every year that getting older isn’t easy. That’s something composer Hans Thomallas explores in this powerful opera that had its world premiere in early 2024.
The story is a bit of a love triangle, but with complications that make it wholly unique. Ellen is married to Curtis. She’s beginning to have symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Her old friend Owen is called in to help the couple navigate these challenges and Ellen falls in love with him. Seeing it all is daughter Ilse.
It’s a complicated situation that is all too real for many a family across the globe. Thomalla’s music perfectly captures the emotional and psychological instability that comes with a disease like Alzheimer’s.
But he’s interested in bigger question. As he says, “When are we too ill or too old to fall in love again? When are we too limited in our autonomy to freely decide our lives?”
Juliana Spahr is the librettist. The singers are Thomas Berau as Owen; Lila Chrisp as Ilse, Uwe Elkötter as Curtis and Estelle Kruger as Ellen. All are terrific.
Let’s hope that more productions of Dark Fall are going to happen soon.
VINYL REISSUES:
JAZZ: HOOTIN’ ‘N TOOTIN’ – Fred Jackson – Blue Note Tone Poet
Tenor saxophonist Jackson’s 1962 album gets a serious upgrade with this release. All seven tracks were composed by Jackson.
He was joined on this album by Wilbert Hogan on drums, Willie Jones on guitar and Earl Van Dyke on organ.
If you like your jazz with blues and soul influences, Fred Jackson is here to tell you That’s Where It’s At.
JAZZ: MOTHER SHIP – Larry Young – Blue Note Tone Poet
I’ve long been a fan of this album. My point of entry to it was the presence of Lee Morgan on trumpet. Within the first minute of Mother Ship he’s already a force to be reckoned with.
But that’s just one of the thrills to be found on this album that didn’t get released for 11 years. (It was recorded in 1969 and released in 1980.)
Young wrote all five tracks and there’s never a dull moment.
In addition to Morgan, Young was joined by Eddie Gladden on drums and Herbert Morgan on tenor sax. This is a soulful, funky and sometimes wildly fringe recording for the time.
What are you listening to this week? What do you think of these choices? Let me know in the comments!
That’s all for New In Music This Week: April 3rd.
Enjoy the music! Enjoy your weekend!
Main Photo: Part of the album art for Spring by Tierney Sutton (Courtesy BMF Jazz)