Nate Chinen on Tomasz Stanko

"Melancholia comes naturally to the Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko. Over the last decade, especially, during a late-career renaissance — Mr. Stanko, a pioneering figure in European jazz, is now 67 — he has distilled his art into a tersely controlled expression of sorrow. His dark-hued trumpet tone reveals itself in murmurs; he often begins a note with sibilant shooshes of air. He can make a straightforward melody feel confidential, guarded. His lyricism inhabits a haunting calm and produces a somber beauty. … [H]e’s on tour with the young quintet that appears on his new album, 'Dark Eyes' (ECM). It’s a departure from the group he led through most of the last decade, which featured an excellent acoustic rhythm section now independently working as the Marcin Wasilewski Trio. Mr. Stanko’s new band has an electric guitarist and a bassist, both Danish, along with an acoustic pianist and a drummer, both Finnish. Its sound is denser, more plangent and textured, more given to droning groove. 'Grand Central' … showed the strengths of this approach. Mr. Stanko projected a syncopated line over the rumble of piano and bass guitar" ("Jazz Tinged with Sorrow as Well as Somber Beauty," New York Times, 4/15/10).

Sasha Frere-Jones on The xx

"Last August, I saw a band from England called The xx. … The xx are, in the purest sense, a modern band: their music could not exist without the machines that make the noises and the machines that record them. The music, like the band, felt reluctant — a guitar line inched out with only a measly beat as chaperon, entirely immune to dynamic spikes or variation. … Months later, when I took my friends’ advice and listened to the band’s album, I realized that I had missed the entire point. The songs on 'xx' are as intimate as pop gets, and, now that I’ve fallen for the music, it makes complete sense that it baffled me live. These are songs to be sung inches from someone’s ear, preferably with the lights off. The music is all closeups, and transferring it to a big, unfriendly space would just strand the gestures. I am impressed that the band has been able to convert so many people with their live shows, because the songs on the album feel to me like the love letters of Tamina in Milan Kundera’s 'The Book of Laughter and Forgetting' — letters that were so intimate that what gave them their 'meaning and worth' was that they were intended 'for her alone'" ("Pop Music," New Yorker, 1/25/10).

Herbie Hancock: Takin' Off

Copy at Case Memorial Library
"The mention of the name 'Herbie Hancock' implies much more than a mere moniker. Beyond recording jazz milestones such as his first solo album Takin' Off on Blue Note (featuring his beloved 'Watermelon Man') and the groundbreaking funk/fusion album Head Hunters, Hancock was a member of one of Miles Davis' quintets, supplied original music to the soundtracks of Death Wish and 'Round Midnight (for which he won an Oscar), and music for Bill Cosby's Fat Albert series. He racked-up a huge eighties pop hit with the Grammy-winning 'Rockit' that began a string of additional Grammy awards that continued for three decades. And in the last couple of years, he also won a pair of Grammys for Album Of The Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album for his labor of love, a tribute to Joni Mitchell titled The Joni Letters. This modern legend is considered one of the greatest innovators and most influential musicians of the 20th and 21st centuries, and Herbie Hancock's music continues to transcend jazz's stereotype" (Mike Ragogna, "A Conversation with Herbie Hancock," Huffington Post, 6/22/10).

Brahms: Choral Works

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Johannes Brahms: Nänie (text by Schiller); Schicksalslied ("Song of Destiny," text by Hölderlin); Gesang der Parzen ("Song of the Fates"), Alto Rhapsody (texts by Goethe).
Personnel: Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano; Bavarian Radio Choir, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robin Ticciati.
"Barely into his late 20s, the English conductor Robin Ticciati is already being ranked among podium prodigies like Simon Rattle (who provided early encouragement) and Gustavo Dudamel. Currently the principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Mr. Ticciati will become the principal guest conductor of the Bamberg Symphony in the fall. This Brahms disc serves as an enticing calling card, with glowing accounts of 'Nänie' and 'Schicksa[ls]lied'; a stormy, stately 'Gesang der Parzen'; and an Alto Rhapsody that urges Alice Coote to rapturous heights. The choir and orchestra sound rich, warm and nuanced throughout, faithfully captured in a splendid recording" (Steve Smith, "CD Reviews," New York Times, 4/4/10).

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim: Here Lies Love

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: disc 1. Here lies love (featuring Florence Welch) — Every drop of rain (featuring Candie Payne, St. Vincent) — You'll be taken care of (featuring Tori Amos) — The rose of Tacloban (featuring Martha Wainwright) — How are you? (featuring Nellie McKay) — A perfect hand (featuring Steve Earle) — Eleven days (featuring Cyndi Lauper) — When she passed by (featuring Allison Moorer) — Walk like a woman (featuring Charmaine Clamor) — Don't you agree? (featuring Róisín Murphy) — A pretty face (featuring Camille) — Ladies in blue (featuring Theresa Andersson) — disc 2. Dancing together (featuring Sharon Jones) — Men will do anything (featuring Alice Russell) — The whole man (featuring Kate Pierson) — Never so big (featuring Sia) — Please don't (featuring Santigold) — American troglodyte (featuring David Byrne) — Solano Avenue (featuring Nicole Atkins) — Order 1081 (featuring Natalie Merchant) — Seven years (featuring David Byrne, Shara Worden) — Why don't you love me? (featuring Cyndi Lauper, Tori Amos).
"[A] funkier cousin to Evita" (Douglas Wolk, "Short List," Time, 4/19/10, p. 63).

Mariah Carey: Music Box

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Dreamlover — Hero — Anytime you need a friend — Music box — Now that I know — Never forget you — Without you (Ham/Evans; previous cover version by Harry Nilsson, 1971) — Just to hold you once again — I've been thinking about you — All I've ever wanted.
Personnel: Mariah Carey, vocals; with additional musicians. Produced and arranged by Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey, except "Dreamlover" produced and arranged by Carey, Dave Hall and Afanasieff; "Now That I Know" and "I've Been Thinking About You" produced, arranged, and mixed by Robert Clivelles, David Cole, and Carey; "Never Forget You" produced and arranged by Babyface, Daryl Simmons, and Carey.
"In June 1993, Carey wed [Columbia Records head Tommy] Mottola — some two decades her senior — in a headline-grabbing ceremony; months later, she released her third full-length effort, Music Box, which became her best-selling record to date. Two more singles, 'Dreamlover' and 'Hero,' reached the top spot on the charts" ("WebAMI-Music: Mariah Carey")

Kronos Quartet: Monk Suite

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: "Monk Suite": Well you needn't (Thelonious Monk; 4:48); Rhythm-a-ning (Monk; 3:04); Crepuscule with Nellie (Monk; 2:39); Off minor/Epistrophy (Monk; 8:10) — 'Round midnight (Monk and Cootie Williams; 4:33) — Misterioso (Monk; 4:00) — "Monk Plays Ellington": It don't mean a thing (If it ain't got that swing) (Duke Ellington; 4:03); Black and tan fantasy (Ellington; 3:42) — Brilliant corners (Monk; 5:04). Recorded Fall 1984 in Berkeley, CA.
Personnel: Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, first violin; John Sherba, second violin; Hank Dutt, viola; Joan Jeanrenaud, cello); Ron Carter, bass on "Monk Suite"; Chuck Israels, bass, Eddie Marshall, drums and percussion on "Monk Plays Ellington."
From the original notes by Orrin Keepnews: "Two of the selections on Side 2 are of course not Monk compositions. It was David Harrington who requested these, having become fascinated by the highly personal way Thelonious had recast Duke Ellington material on his first Riverside album. … [T]hese two are near-literal transcriptions … with Kronos in the role of the pianist."

Alan Parsons on "Abbey Road"

"MR: Sometimes there are behind the scenes stories the public never hears about when it comes to recording high profile projects. So, that said, how much did you contribute to The Beatles' Abbey Road?
"AP: I made tea and coffee, I was a very junior guy in those days. (laughs) … No, I served my apprenticeship, I did my internship as it were, and learned very quickly. Within a matter of weeks of starting at Abbey Road, I was working on Beatles sessions, so that was an amazing experience, of course. And I was learning from the best, from the best engineers in the business ... Geoff Emerick, Peter Vincent, Tony Clarke, Ken Scott, you know, all of whom became famous engineers and producers.
"MR: Still being modest.
"AP: Oh, no, no, not at all. … I was just happy to be sharing the experience. I was there, I was watching it, I watched the album being made. I pressed play and stop and record when told to do so" (Mike Ragogna, "A Conversation with Alan Parsons," Huffington Post, 4/1/10).