Life and travel got in the way of my getting last week’s New in Music This Week done, so I’ve combined the best of last week and this week into New In Music This Week: May 1st and 8th.
Here is the best of both weeks with a quick recap of vinyl reissues available at the end (and fans of both jazz and classical music have some great options.)
MY TOP PICKS (there must be two, of course):
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: CANTO DE TODES – Dorian Wood – New Amsterdam Records
Dorian Wood calls herself an anti-disciplinary artist. She’s certainly a boldly adventurous one. Canto de Todes offers 70 minutes from Wood’s 12-hour piece of the same name. The first movement is performed live for voice, cello and guitar. The second movement runs ten hours and features prerecorded music featuring three voices. The final movement, performed live, was for cello and three voices.
Listening to this extraordinary album makes me wish I had seen the full work. This is a haunting work that honors the ghost of Chilean singer/songwriter Violeta Parra and invites our own ghosts to make themselves known to us freely. (Parra was an enormous figure in Chilean folk music who killed herself in 1967.)
Anonas, the second track, is a mesmerizing love song. The entire 75 minutes of Canto de Todes offers music that presents ideas of one’s home, culture and identity in a fully realized way. That the music invites us in to do the very same thing, makes this album essential listening.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: AMERICA/BEAUTIFUL – Min Kwon – Delos
I felt both skeptical and overwhelmed at the prospect of listening to 76 world-premiere recordings of music inspired by America the Beautiful by Samuel Ward. We are talking about nearly five hours of music to get through.
Here the journey is what’s important, even if the destination is a realization that the melting pot of America is perfectly reflected in these 76 pieces.
My favorite pieces are mostly those that are more than variations. They include American Code by Timo Andres, No Longer Stain by Anthony Cheung; Playing with Fire by Juston Dello Joio; Four Windows into America by Fred Hersch; Meditation by Ruo Huang; Crown Thy Good by Vijay Iyer; America the Polarized by Texu Kim; America, the Changing Same by George Lewis; America, the Work in Progress by Paul Moravec; Refine by Nico Muhly; America the by Qasim Naqvi and Robert Sirota’s Two Variations: …Alabaster Cites and God Men Thine Every Flaw.
Kwon plays every piece as if she’s been playing them for years. She gives life to the love, wonder, concern, fear and gratitude that this vast country’s citizenry, with all its differing views, possesses.
America is beautiful, with all its flaws. This album is not just a shrewd way of acknowledging the 250th anniversary of our birth, but to examine the good, the bad and the ugly that life in 2026 offers us.
Both these albums offer us time to be introspective about life at this moment in history. There are countless questions worth asking and many answers that need to be spoken. Both Canto de Todes and America/Beautiful asksthose questions and offer up possible answers – as long as we’re willing to listen to what Dorian Wood and Min Kwon are offering us.
Here are the other fine releases that are New In Music This Week: May 1st and 8th:
CLASSICAL: MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 5 – Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra/Donald Runnicles – Reference Recordings AND WIENER PHILARMONIKER – Andris Nelsons – Deutsche Grammophon
It isn’t often that two recordings of the same work are released in the same week. Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 is certainly amongst the composer’s most popular works. There are well over 230 recordings and we can add these two to the list.
Runnicles’ recording took place in 2024 at Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village, Wyoming. The run time is 72:57. Nelsons’ recording took place in 2022 and runs 78 minutes.
Nelsons will be releasing a complete Mahler cycle in October and this is a taste of those recordings.
My personal preference between the two is Runnicles’ recording. I prefer the slightly faster pace, though I’m sure there are those who will find Nelsons’ recording to be more emotional.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL MUSIC: MOTHERLOAD – Tasha Warren / Dave Eggar – Bright Shiny Things
Clarinetist Tasha Warren is joined by cellist Dave Eggar for this album of world premieres exploring the idea of motherhood. (No wonder it came out on the Friday before Mother’s Day.)
Priya Darshini’s Because You Said Mama opens the album. That is followed by Love is Born written by Norah Jones and her husband, Pete Remm. The two writers, along with guitarist Phil Faconti, join to perform this song.
Suspiro by Dika Chartoff; Pour toute la Vie by Jessica Rose Weiss; I am Too from the Womb by Martha Redbone and Anne Drummond’s Quintet for Two follow.
The album closes with the title track composed by Warren. MotherLoad and Love Is Born are my two favorites on an album that is filled with great music.
JAZZ: INVISIBLE PIANO – John Beasley & SWR Big Band –
The SWR Big Band commissioned this album from pianist/composer Beasley. The idea was to create orchestrated music for SWR to play. But where to begin? For Beasley it was the piano or his iPhone. From there he explored all forms of writing and arranging.
He landed on a five-movement suite of original compositions (Concentric, Woman with Chariot, Galaha, Invislbe Piano and Danseur Espangol). The album ends with two covers: Fire and Rain and Can’t Hide Love.
Invisible Piano shows how inventive a composer and musician Beasley is. Though very different than the work of Gil Evans, listening to this album made me think he is as adventurous a composer and arranger today as Evans was in his prime.
This is music that will stand the test of time. That’s only possible due to the fine musicianship of the SWR Big Band. But mostly that’s due to the journey Beasley allowed himself to take during the writing of this music and its recording.
Imagine ideas hummed into an mobile phone that become the diverse music heard on Invisible Piano. That, in and of itself, is quite a journey.
JAZZ: DIAVOLA – Gabrielle Cavassa– Blue Note Records
The first single I heard from Diavola was Cavassa’s cover of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song, Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head. I’ve heard the song dozens of times by dozens of artists, but I never heard it quite like this. Nor had I heard Barry Manilow’s Could It Be Magic like this before.
Through the inspired playing of Paul Cornish, you don’t instantaneously hear Chopin’s Prelude in C Minor which inspired the song.
The other musicians on this terrific album are Brian Blade on drums; Larry Grenadier on bass; Jeff Parker on guitar and Joshua Redman on tenor saxophone. Talk about being surrounded by all-star musicians!
Once you hear Cavassa’s voice, you know why they came together to support her. She also wrote (or co-wrote) two songs: Bossy Nova and the title track. I’d love to hear an album of just her originals. But I’d also like to hear an album of covers. I just want to hear more.
JAZZ: UNCHARTED REALMS – Sean Imboden Large Ensemble – Fallen Apple Records
Simply put, this is big band music for a modern audience. This isn’t a retread of old ideas and older styles. This is a full-throttle contemporary approach to this music. The result is glorious.
Bandleader/saxophonist Imboden composed all five tracks on Uncharted Realms. Flowing Currents opens the album by announcing straight away Imboden is fully aware of all forms of music from another time. The opening chords sound Copland-esque but they churn and drift over themselves into a free-flowing five minutes.
I was most impressed with Balcony which sustains over 10 minutes with an austerity and control that is impressive.
There will always be a place for the big band music of Duke Ellington and others. But there needs to be room for new approaches and a great place to start is with Sean Imboden’s work.
JAZZ: INCARNADINE – Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band
This debut album from the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band shatters cultural assumptions many of us probably make that Native and Indigenous people wouldn’t be playing jazz music or having any interest in it.
Shatters is the right word because the JKIBB is a damn fine 16-piece big band comprised entirely of people from musicians from different nations.
In addition to Keefe on vocals there are Delbert Anderson on trumpet; Marcy Cary on piano; Quinn Carson on trumpet and trombone; Chuck Copenance on trumpet; Wade Demmer on bass trombone; Christopher Gonzales on trombone; Michael Gutierre and Adam Lamoureux on tenor sax; Edward Littlefield on drums; Giovanni Martinez on trumpet; Mali Obomsawin on bass; Asa Peters on alto sax; Kali Rodriguez-Pena on trumpet; Rogan Tinsley on alto sax and Orion White on baritone sax.
Keefe wrote Sonnet. Obomsawin wrote Wawasint8da and Anderson wrote the DDAT Suite (three movements at the center of the album). This eye-opening album offers 46 minutes of music that will be hard to forget.
By the way, the title comes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth (not that he originated the word, but it is here that it is best known) and means blood-red.
JAZZ: TUESDAY MORNING FEELING – Ben Markley Big Band – OA2 Records
It seems the merry month of May is the season for big band albums and here’s another great one.
Pianist/arranger Markley can add composer to his titles with this album of music that offers pure joy from the first note to the last. Which was his goal. In the press release he’s quoted as saying, “It’s a nod to embracing the positive and embracing the generosity of the human spirit.”
Mission accomplished. I wasn’t watching, but I could tell I was grinning from ear-to-ear while those same ears were dancing to these 77 minutes of music.
That much joy could become exhausting but doesn’t in Markley’s hands and those of his musicians.
I’m not sure that I’ve ever experienced a Tuesday morning feeling as joyous as this one. Ben Markley has given us music to enjoy and, with any luck, a new outlook on the second day of the work week.
JAZZ: SHARDS – Jason Moran/BlankFor.ms/Marcus Gilmore – Red Hook Records
I was (and remain) a big fan of Refract from 2023 which was the first record by pianist Moran, electronic musician BlankFor.ms and drummer Gilmore.
They continue to experiment with the cross-pollination of analog music and digital technology. BlankFor.ms captures music played by Gilmore and Moran. He manipulates that music by playing with speed, distortion, direction and sends it right back to them while in performance.
The matrix of music created by these three offers a new way of thinking about music – both for the musicians and the listeners.
Amongst the 8 tracks are 5 Shards. I listened to it first as it was sequenced. Then I went back and, in the spirit of this album, listened to Shards I-V as if they were their own suite. I played them consecutively. I’m happy to say that Shards as an album, and a series of pieces, work both ways.
JAZZ: ALIVE WITH GHOSTS TODAY – Chris Potter – Edition Records
The occasion of America’s Semiquincentennial is likely to have inspired composer/saxophonist Potter to explore abolitionist John Brown through this 8-track suite of music. (There is a deluxe edition with two additional tracks).
Through Brown’s story of initiating a slave revolt in 1859 serves as the launch pad for an examination of issues that are still with us today. (See the title.)
The configuration of Potter’s ensemble feels like something you might have heard in a gazebo in a small town in middle America: Sara Caswell plays violin; Zekkereya El-magharbel is on trombone; Bill Frisell is on guitar; Rane Moore plays clarinet; Potter is on tenor and soprano saxophones; Nate Smith on drums and Burniss Travis on bass.
Alive With Ghosts Today is music of our time, about our past, and fully focused on the link between the two on so many levels.
JAZZ: TRIO LIBRE – Samuel Torres – Blue Conga Music
I’m a big fan of music that comments on our world today. Percussionist/composer/bandleader Torres is doing just that on Trio Libre.
The first seven tracks are part of a suite called We The People. It is ambitious to say the least. But Torres is wise in using an economy of musicians to bring his ideas and compositions to life: vibraphonist Felipe Fournier and pianist Carmen Staff.
The intimacy of three musicians brings into sharp focus his ideas. The music has an immediacy to it that a larger ensemble wouldn’t necessarily provide.
Trio Libre offers a perfect blend of Afro Latin-American and chamber music. (The last track is Bach’s Duet No. 1 in E minor.)
The more you play Trio Libre, the more Torres’ ideas and opinions become crystal clear. In doing so, the music becomes more powerful, more moving and profoundly moving.
REISSUES:
CLASSICAL: RAVEL: COMPLETE SOLO WORKS – Seong-Jin Cho – Deutsche Grammophon
This recording was issued in January of 2025. Here’s the vinyl version of 13 works by Ravel for solo piano including Pavane pour une infante défunte, M. 19, Sérénade grotesque, M. 5, Gaspard de la nuit, M55, Le tombeau de Couperin, M. 68 and more.
CLASSICAL: SYMPHONY No. 5 – Gustav Mahler / Bernard Haitink/ Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra – Deutsche Grammophon
This 1970 recording pairs the Adagio from Mahler’s 10th Symphony (the unfinished one) with Mahler’s 5th.
CLASSICAL: ARCANA; INTÉGRALES; IONISATION – Edgar Varèse– Zubin Mehta/ Los Angeles Philharmonic – Deutsche Grammophon
Just in time for conductor Mehta’s 90th birthday comes this reissue of his highly acclaimed 1971 recording of three works by composer Varèse.
CLASSICAL: SYMPHONY NO. 9 – DVOŘÁK / Seiji Ozawa / San Francisco Symphony Orchestra
This album was released in 1975 and was a quadrophonic recording (remember those?). In addition to the composer’s most popular symphony, this recording includes his Carnival Overture.
CLASSICAL: EINE ALPENSINFONIE – Richard Strauss – Sir Georg Solti/ Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks – Deutsche Grammophon
This is a 1979 recording is with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Worth noting that Solti and Strauss met three times and Solti often commented on Strauss’s advice being a major influence on him.
JAZZ: DEXTER CALLING – Dexter Gordon – Blue Note Tone Poet Vinyl
This 1961 recording features saxophonist Gordon with bassist Paul Chambers, pianist Kenny Drew and drummer Philly Joe Jones.
There are seven tracks: Soul Sister, Modal Mood, I Want More, End of a Love Affair, Clear the Dex, Ernie’s Tune and Smile.
JAZZ: ASANTE – McCoy Tyner – Blue Note Tone Poet Vinyl
Pianist Tyner’s album came out in 1970 and features guitarist Ted Dunbar, drummer Billy Hart, percussionist Mtume, vocalist Songai, alto Saxophonist Andrew White and bassist Buster Williams.
There are four tracks: Malika, Asante, Goin’ Home and Fulfillment. This continued Tyner’s interest in African’s influences that had been present on previous albums.
That’s all for New in Music This Week: May 1st and 8th.
Enjoy the music and let me know what you’ve been listening by adding a comment.
Main Photo: Part of the album art for Shards (Courtesy Red Hook Records)