Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Mean what you say (composed and arranged by Thad Jones; 8:49) -- Say it softly (composed and arranged by Thad Jones; 6:51) -- St. Louis blues (W. C. Handy; arranged by Bob Brookmeyer; 15:50) -- Body and soul (Edward Heyma, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton, Johnny Green; arranged by Jerry Dodgion; 7:09) -- Mornin' reverend (composed and arranged by Thad Jones; 5:00) -- Las cucarachas entran (composed and arranged by Jim McNeely; 10:07) -- Willow tree (Fats Waller; arranged by Bob Brookmeyer; 7:06) -- Don't you worry 'bout a thing (Stevie Wonder; arranged by Thad Jones; 4:08) -- Kids are pretty people (composed and arranged by Thad Jones; 8:57) -- Waltz you swang for me (composed and arranged by Thad Jones; 5:57) -- Little rascal on a rock (composed and arranged by Thad Jones; 12:09). Recorded live on Feb. 10-11, 2008 at The Village Vanguard, New York, NY.
"The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra is the current title for a band that began life as the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra in 1966 and has performed continuously ever since" (band website).

Matthew Moyer on Kosmische Musik

"In the late 1960s, a new generation of postwar youth in a divided Germany began making music that reflected their own surroundings and lack of a voice in the popular culture. They were influenced by the Velvet Underground, experimental jazz, modern classical music, and progressive rock, and they were bursting with new ideas. The term krautrock came from the attempt by the British press to gather these disparate musicians under one umbrella; much to their consternation, the name stuck. Krautrock, aka kosmische musik, was a drastic departure from rock'n'roll up to that point, its innovators having stripped away the blues influence from American and British rock'n'roll to create their own distinctly European sound. And what a diverse sound it was, from Kraftwerk's icy odes to pocket calculators and Can's freaked-out psychedelic drones to Tangerine Dream's ambient idylls. Many of these bands' sole sonic commonality was a pulsing 4/4 beat — the motorik beat — like a car streaking down the autobahn. … Kraftwerk defined its robotic, emotionless image and utterly individual sound with this masterpiece album that fused technology and electronics to vibrant pop hooks" ("Media," Library Journal, 3/1/10, p. 56).

Allan Kozinn on Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers

"[E]arly-music groups are lining up to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Monteverdi’s Vespro Della Beata Vergine (Vespers of the Blessed Virgin). The high-energy performance by Boston Baroque at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on Saturday evening was the third in New York since January. … What makes this repetition attractive rather than redundant is that the 1610 Vespers, as they are popularly known, were published long before composers’ scores became exercises in micromanagement. And because Monteverdi left so many choices to performers … every reading is almost guaranteed to have qualities all its own. Boston Baroque’s music director, Martin Pearlman, says he considers the Vespers one of the ensemble’s signature works, with good reason: its 1997 recording (on Telarc) remains a standout in a crowded field. … Because the Vespers use texts that make the set appropriate for any of several liturgical feasts in honor of Mary, Mr. Pearlman chose one — the Feast of the Assumption, on Aug. 15 — and added chant appropriate to services for that day before each of the Psalm settings and the Magnificat. He made the same choice on his recording" ("Music Review," New York Times, 3/8/10).

Ben Ratliff on Gerald Clayton

"The pianist Gerald Clayton played the first set of his first night of his first week at the Village Vanguard on Tuesday. … His father is the bassist John Clayton, and his uncle is the saxophonist Jeff Clayton, players of accessible virtuosity: heavy chops, temperate concepts. As a high schooler Gerald Clayton became part of the Grammy Foundation’s jazz ensembles, providing music for pre-telecast events. He’s had steady work in the family business, as a member of the Clayton Brothers Quartet, and he’s also toured with Roy Hargrove’s band. By 2006, when I saw him at the Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington, he was eminently impressive, but he kept waiting to make his move. He moved to New York, formed a trio with the bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown, and last year put out his first record, 'Two-Shade,' on ArtistShare, the fan-supported jazz label. (It earned him a Grammy nomination, for best improvised jazz solo.) Now 'Two-Shade' has been picked up by Sunnyside. He’s only 25, but he hasn’t rushed. Perhaps because he inherited so much aesthetic knowledge, Mr. Clayton seems from a different era" ("Gerald Clayton Trio: 1950s Sophistication, Current Dynamics," New York Times, 2/11/10).

Ellen Carpenter on Joshua Bell

"The Grammy award-winning violinist Joshua Bell has performed for President Obama at the White House, thousands of rapt fans at Carnegie Hall and a TV audience of millions as a guest on the Tonight Show. On January 25th, he invited the audience into his house for an evening of music and merriment benefiting two charities close to his heart, Music Unites and Education Through Music. Both MU and ETM focus on providing music education to undeserved schools and, for years, Bell has worked with ETM to share his passion. … After an hour of mingling with friends — including the singer-songwriter Regina Spektor, who appears on Bell's latest album, 'At Home with Friends' — Bell took to the stage (aka, a raised section of his living room) to perform a brief, but rich, set for the eager crowd. … Before moving onto his next piece, Bell talked about his first experience working with students at a school in Harlem in 2004. … Most of the children he works with are underprivileged and come from broken homes. … He and [pianist Jeremy] Denk then launched into an arousing performance of Grieg's Sonata in C Minor" ("Joshua Bell 'At Home with Friends' for a Good Cause: Music Education," Huffington Post, 2/2/10).

David Hajdu on Fred Hersch

"[A] player too romantic for the avant-garde and far too serious for the lounges, Hersch is an artist indifferent to genre. … While the sensibility he pioneered has flourished, Hersch himself has been heard from only sporadically over the past two years. The reason is that he has, on and off during this period, been gravely ill, so sick from AIDS and a severe bout of pneumonia that the people closest to him … thought, on the worst of his many very bad days, that they had seen him for the last time. … As a result of his prolonged unconsciousness and inactivity, he lost nearly all motor function in his hands and could not hold a pencil, let alone play the piano. Today, at age 54, after many months of rehabilitation and therapy, grueling effort, effective medical care, an almost irrationally defiant refusal to accept his problems as anything less than temporary distractions from his music and a considerable amount of good luck, Hersch has achieved full recovery. Last year, he released two albums: a concert performance of his Pocket Orchestra CD, issued in the spring, and a solo piano record, 'Fred Hersch Plays Jobim,' released (to immediate acclaim) in the summer" ("Giant Steps: The Survival of a Great Jazz Pianist," New York Times, 1/31/10).

Tindersticks: Falling Down a Mountain

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Falling down the mountain — Keep you beautiful — Harmony around my table — Peanuts — She rode me down — Hubbards Hills — Black smoke — No place so alone — Factory girls — Piano music.
"A whole new audience grew for Tindersticks during their five years in exile this past decade, due to the excellent use of their cinematic sound during moments of Tony Soprano's darkest despair. In their followup to lat year's melodramatic masterpiece 'The Hungry Saw,' haunted singer Stuart Staples and Tindersticks continue to create songs that sound like movies without pictures. Highlights include 'Harmony Around My Table,' 'Black Smoke' (a well chosen first single) and even 'Peanuts', a duet between staples and Canadian chanteuse Mary Margaret O'Hara that would end up a bad joke between a pair of lesser singers. They've been around almost twenty years now, so if you've never heard Tindersticks, start here and work yer way back. You'll not regret it" ("Stripwax," New Haven Advocate, 2/18/10, p. 37).

Allan Kozinn on Philip Glass

"[M]any of us naturally wonder which approach comes closest to what the composer had in mind. … Composers can be surprisingly cavalier about how their works are presented. … In 1983 I attended a session at which Philip Glass and his ensemble were recording 'The Photographer,' a work from the period when his music was growing more harmonically complex but was still driven largely by repetition. During a break Mr. Glass explained that for the recording he had pared down the number of times phrases were repeated before they morphed into something new. 'But what will musicologists of the future make of the fact that the composer-directed recording is so different from the score,' I asked, a bit shocked, 'and on a matter as central as the number of repeats?' Mr. Glass said that wasn’t his issue. 'I have that problem with conductors sometimes,' he said. 'Sometimes I want to cut something, and they don’t want me to. But I’m not a purist, as you may have noticed. I suppose when I’m no longer around to not defend my work, other people will defend it for me, way beyond what I would probably have done myself'" ("Composer's Intent? Get Over It," New York Times, 2/7/10).

Sasha Frere-Jones on Massive Attack

"The band is more openly melodic than it’s allowed itself to be in years, and it has become almost unmatched at lovingly recording musicians, a strength that may come from their work with the producer Neil Davidge, a longtime collaborator. The album’s first track, 'Pray for Rain,' is probably what many Massive Attack fans have been waiting for — the fuzzy aesthetic of 'Mezzanine' is filled out by a complete melodic line and easily audible lyrics. That is not to say that 'Pray for Rain' is obvious. Tunde Adebimpe, of TV on the Radio, sings over only a placid rattle of tomtoms and a few piano chords. All that is left of hip-hop in this song is the looping. 'Pray for Rain' mentions people who are craning their necks to pray for rain, and people who can see through flames, though it’s never quite clear who these people are. The emphasis here is on a slow build and a lack of horizons. There is no chorus to speak of, but when the bridge comes it feels like a respite. These occasional gestures of traditional songwriting can be appreciated quickly, but enjoyed only with practice. … What lifts 'Heligoland' above '100th Window' … is the prominence of the female voice" ("Pop Music," New Yorker, 2/15-22/10).

Diana Damrau: Coloraturas

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Ah, je veux vivre — Gualtier Maldè … Caro nome — Grossmächtige Prinzessin — Una voce poco fa — No word from Tom … Quietly night … I go to him — O mio babbino caro — Volta la terrea — Ah! tardai troppo … O luce di quest'anima — A vos jeux, mes amis — Glitter and be gay.
"In 'Grossmächtige Prinzessin' from Strauss’s 'Ariadne auf Naxos,' Zerbinetta takes a 'Sex and the City' approach to heartbreak, coquettishly insinuating that the despairing Ariadne needs a rebound fling. On Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall, the stellar soprano Diana Damrau flirted her way through the treacherous vocal terrain of Zerbinetta’s showpiece aria, vividly accompanied by James Levine and the Met Orchestra. Ms. Damrau, who has made Zerbinetta one of her calling-card roles, easily navigated the coloratura hurdles, trilling, embellishing and ascending the daunting heights with flexibility. Wearing the striking Harlequinesque dress featured on the cover of her new CD, 'Coloraturas' (Virgin Classics), Ms. Damrau wielded her lustrous voice to fine effect" (Vivien Schweitzer, "Music Review," New York Times, 1/26/10).

Jason Boesel: Hustler's Son

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Black waves — Hand of God — French kissing — Burned out and busted — New world mama — Miracles — Hustler's son — Getting healthy (good luck) — I got the reason #1 — Was it, man? — Winking eyes. All songs written by Jason Boesel.
Sample lyrics: "I know there ain't nothing wrong/ With making love right there in a song/ Well I did it all 2007 long … Tan lines, I've seen a few/ But they fade away just like their maker do/ Lights going off, they always come back on …" ("I Got the Reason #1")
"A smart and much needed fresh slice of Americana, from a man who spends most of his time sitting behind the drums for Rilo Kiley and Bright Eyes, 'Hustler's Son' finds Boesel trading in his drum mount for the songwriter's seat, and with help from David Rawlings and Benmont Tench, delivers a very strong debut. Check this record out, especially 'Burned Out And Busted' and 'Winking Eyes.' You WILL get lost" (Sal Nunziato, "Compact Reviews of This Week's Compact Discs, for Those Who Still Care #8," Huffington Post, 1/11/10).

Allan Kozinn on the Metropolis Ensemble

"In its natural state, the Metropolis Ensemble is a chamber orchestra that specializes in new music, mostly by young composers. But for 'Love Letters to Haiti,' its Sunday evening concert at Le Poisson Rouge, Metropolis was really an umbrella group that brought together instrumental soloists, chamber ensembles, singers and a few composers for a benefit performance for Partners in Health, a nonprofit organization that provides medical care in Haiti … and is currently working with victims of the Haitian earthquake. The concert came together quickly and almost by accident. Three weeks ago Le Poisson Rouge invited Andrew Cyr, the ensemble’s artistic director, to assemble a program for Valentine’s Day, and at first Mr. Cyr doubted that there was sufficient time. But after watching news reports about the earthquake, he resolved to round up as many musicians as he could for a benefit concert. The players donated their services, and Le Poisson Rouge donated the space, with all ticket proceeds going to the cause. Jennifer Salomon, an artist, designed T-shirts for the event … and Mr. Cyr donated a stack of his ensemble’s new CD on Naxos, devoted to the works of Avner Dorman" ("Music Review," New York Times, 2/16/10).

Sal Nunziato on Galactic

"Once that A 320 touches ground at Louis Armstrong International, you are no longer you. You are in New Orleans. Anything is possible, and no one knows this like Galactic. Galactic is New Orleans. On February 9th, prepare to be 'bounced' like you've never been 'bounced' before. Prepare for some new possibilities. Galactic, known worldwide for their special blend of New Orleans funk, R&B, hip-hop and soul, adds some special ingredients to their serving of 'Ya-Ka-May,' the band's 6th studio release, and an album that breaks new ground in the Crescent City. This is NOT your grandparents' New Orleans record, though the special guests will make your grandparents shout 'Hoo-Na-Nay!' New Orleans' legends Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas, along with some of the greatest musicians the city has to offer — John Boutte, Walter 'Wolfman' Washington, Trombone Shorty, Corey Henry & Big Chief Bo Dollis — join Stanton Moore, Ben Ellman, Rich Vogel, Robert Mercurio, and Jeff Raines for 'Ya-Ka-May,' not the noodle soup you may have sucked down at Jazz Fest, but the new record" ("Galactic: A Typical Serving May Include Drums, Bass, Horns, Funk, Grease, and a Whole Lotta New Orleans Bounce," Huffington Post, 1/13/10).

Allan Kozinn on Earl Wild

"Earl Wild, an American pianist and composer who was renowned for his performances of the virtuoso showpieces of the grand Romantic tradition but whose enormous repertory included everything from Baroque works and Mozart concertos to contemporary scores, died Saturday. … Mr. Wild … could seem a flamboyant presence on the concert stage. But although he reveled in bravura works … his performances consistently combined a deeply considered interpretive approach and an ironclad technique. … Mr. Wild recorded copiously, starting in 1939, when he accompanied the oboist Robert Bloom in a set of Handel sonatas for RCA. All told, his discography includes more than 35 concertos, 26 chamber music recordings and more than 700 solo piano scores, including highly regarded accounts of the major works of Liszt, Chopin and Rachmaninoff, as well as music by Beethoven, Brahms, Copland, Gershwin and Debussy. … In 1997 he won a Grammy Award for 'Earl Wild: The Romantic Master,' with virtuoso transcriptions (including nine of his own) of works by Handel, Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns and other composers" ("Earl Wild, Pianist, Dies at 94," New York Times, 1/24/10).