Wynton Marsalis / Eastman Wind Ensemble - Carnaval (1987)

Been meaning to give Marsalis a listen for ages, so this charity shop find came in handy.  It's not exactly typical of his straight-ahead revivalism of pre-60s bop, though - Carnaval reaches even further back to pay homage to the brass bands of the turn of the 20th century.  Not a great introduction to Wynton's trumpet playing either - he sticks to cornet throughout for brass-band lead-instrument authenticity.  But regardless, this is a really nice album.

Marsalis is backed throughout by the Eastman Wind Ensemble, conducted by Donald Hunsberger.  The programme sounds beautifully recorded (full digital, eh, great traditionalist? Shouldn't you have been recording on to Edison cylinders for this project? ;)) and features era-typical brass band repertoire from Jean-Baptiste Arban, Paganini, Rimsky-Korsakov and more.  Ideal music to accompany the last days of mild weather before the change of seasons.

link

pw: sgtg

BBC Proms 2022: Public Service Broadcasting - This New Noise (with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, 30 Aug 2022)

A special commission to mark the centenary of the BBC, This New Noise was composed by "retro-futurist" band Public Service Broadcasting.  Since 2009, they've been creating historical narrative albums like this, and have given a Proms performance before - after which they were approached as the ideal artists to create something for the upcoming 100th anniversary of the BBC in 2022.

So here it is, premiered live with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley.  The 50-minute suite of eight pieces traces the first decade and a half of BBC radio, with spoken word narratives representing those who brought it into existence.  I'm assuming most of these were recreated by voice actors, as the recordings seldom sound 90-100 years old, but the voices mesh well with the orchestra and core trio of the band.  Musically, I'm hearing surface similarities to Max Richter, maybe A Winged Victory For The Sullen, but with more rhythmic drive than either: PSB's motorik-krautrock influences frequently come to the fore.  Folk singer-songwriter Seth Lakeman provides the only sung vocal in a lovely brief cameo.

The visual elements of this performance were also key to the narrative really hitting the mark historically and emotionally - you can hear the radio announcer mention them at the beginning and end of the broadcast.  This made me track down the BBC4 TV broadcast to watch it all, and as this really did add another dimension to a great concert, I've included it (in what I believe is an SGTG first!) as an additional download option.

 

radio broadcast link

TV broadcast link (mp4, 2.3GB)

pw for both: sgtg

Barre Phillips - Mountainscapes (1976)

One of the most satisfyingly avant-garde ECMs from the label's first decade, and also the first appearance in-house for reedsman John Surman, whose association with ECM continues to this day.  Recorded in March 1976, Mountainscapes was the result of the Surman-Phillips-Martin trio being given fresh purpose by the addition of Austrian electronics wizard Dieter Feichtner.  

 

The collision of free jazz and synth ooze makes for a unique and thoroughly enjoyable listening experience, with the tracklist simply a numbered suite to immerse yourself in.  Parts III and VII are duos between Phillips' bass improvisations and the eerie glow of Feichtner's synths, cut from a 40-minute free-form session (imagine that in its entireity sitting in Eicher's vault somewhere...).  The closing piece makes good use of a happened-to-drop-by John Abercrombie, adding another texture to this singular record.

link

pw: sgtg

BBC Proms 2022: Amjad Ali Khan (21 August 2022)

Sunday morning ragas in the Albert Hall, courtesy of sarod master Amjad Ali Khan, his sons Amaan and Ayaan, and two percussionists.  Amaan and Ayaan perform the opening raga before introducing their father to play (and also briefly sing) a solo spotlight, before all five musicians close the concert together.  The mostly uninteruppted drone, even under spoken annoucements and moments of retuning, gives the full programme a wonderful immersive flow, so download and enjoy an hour and a half of sublime meditation.

link

pw: sgtg

George Russell Sextet feat. Jan Garbarek - Trip To Prillarguri (rec. 1970, rel. 1982)

More live recordings from George Russell and co taped at the Södertälje Estrad, this time back in March 1970 (although not released until 1982, when Soul Note took over their chunk of Russell's material).  This one's a belter - it may as well be Jan Garbarek's Esoteric Circle quartet from 1969 performing live with the addition of Russell on piano and Stanton Davis Jr on trumpet.  Three of the pieces here are Garbarek-penned, including two that appeared on the Esoteric Circle LP.  From Russell's catalogue we get themes from Souls Loved By Nature and the earlier classic Stratusphunk, plus a closing rendition of Ornette Coleman's Man On The Moon.  Electrifying stuff throughout, and a definite highlight in both Russell and Garbarek's discographies.

link

pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:

Electronic Sonata For Souls Loved By Nature

Othello Ballet Suite

Vertical Event VI

BBC Proms 2022 - NYOGB plays Elfman, Gershwin & Ravel (6 Aug 2022)

A stunning Proms concert full of colour, texture, rhythm and everything else from Britain's premier teenage ensemble, the National Youth Orchestra Of Great Britain.  First up was a new work written specially for them by film & TV heavyweight Danny Elfman.  The 23 minutes of Wunderkammer are by turns boisterous and fun, then eerie and dramatic, picking up the pace again to finish off the piece in dramatic style.

After some stage re-arranging (over 100 players in that opening), the programme stays in the US but winds back a century.  Well, not quite a century, as this is Ferde Grofé's orchestration from the 40s, but any kind of Rhapsody In Blue is good with me, and this one has Simone Dinnerstein as guest pianist.  The first half closes with a little bit more Gershwin, an arrangement of My Man's Gone Now, then the second half is given over to Ravel's complete ballet Daphnis & Chloé.  All of it sounds magnificent, beautifully rendered by the hugely talented young players.

link

pw: sgtg

Frank Zappa - Road Tapes, Venue #2: Finlandia Hall, Helsinki (rec. 1973, rel. 2013)

From the music of Finland to someone who certainly enjoyed playing there - here's an archive recording that came out of the Zappa vault nine years ago to provide an interesting contrast to the better-known Helsinki tapes.  Road Tapes Venue #2 comes from a visit to the Finnish capital just over a year earlier, and musically provides a fascinating snapshot of the embryonic Roxy band.  Jean-Luc Ponty is on board at this point, giving a nice jazzy-prog shading, and tempos are more considered on material that would flash by in road-hardened form a year later.

After a maybe-hear-twice introduction (sounds like there hadn't been time for an in-depth soundcheck pre-show), the opening medley is a good grab-bag starter - it also jumps between shows, as does the whole release, to get the best out of a less-than-perfect collection of tapes.  Following Montana are around 40 minutes of looser improvisations and audience participation, then to open Disc 2 we get some early-stages Roxy material.  The very mellow Village Of The Sun is particularly nice to hear, including its unusual intro passage (George Duke, jeez... the guy could've made Chopsticks sound sublime).  Big Swifty, a thunderous Farther Obilvion and a Brown Shoes revival round out a really nice package, especially if you love this Zappa era as much as I do.

Disc 1 link

Disc 2 link

pw: sgtg

Frank Zappa at SGTG:

Lumpy Gravy

Waka/Jawaka

The Grand Wazoo

Wazoo (Live 1972) 

Roxy & Elsewhere

One Size Fits All

Orchestral Favourites

Sleep Dirt

Shut Up 'N Play Yer Guitar

Boulez Conducts Zappa - The Perfect Stranger  

Jazz From Hell

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2: The Helsinki Concert

The Perfect Stranger (live 2018)

BBC Proms 2022: BBC Philharmonic plays Aho, Saariaho & Shostakovich (4 Aug 2022)

Another Proms highlight, this time pairing a couple of Finnish composers with Shostakovich's final symphony.  For the opening work, the BBC Philharmonic were joined on theremin by Carolina Eyck, for whom the theremin concerto Eight Seasons was originally written.  Kalevi Aho (b. 1949 in Forssa) was inspired by some of the shamanistic aspects of Sami culture, tying this in to the 'conjuring music from thin air' aspect of the theremin.  The instrument blends in beautifully with the orchestra, making full use of its dynamic and tonal range; as an 'encore' of sorts, Eyck gives the audience a demonstration of the theremin's capabilities.

Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952, Helsinki) has featured on SGTG a few times before (see below), so I always love hearing more from her.  The two-part Vista was inspired by a drive along the Californian coast, and saw Saariaho consciously varying her usual techniques with great sweeping atmospherics in the first section and driving energy in the second.  To close the programme, the orchestra give a cracking rendition of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15, its sombre melancholy balanced by frequent flashes of wit.

link

pw: sgtg

Kalevi Aho at SGTG:

Solo XV

Kaija Saariaho at SGTG:

Du Cristal...À la Fumée, Nymphéa

Lonh, Près, NoaNoa, Six Japanese Gardens

Graal Théâtre, Solar, Lichtbogen

Überzeugung, Nuits Adieux

Collin Walcott - Cloud Dance (1976)

Essentially John Abercrombie's Gateway Trio with a very different lead voice, in the form of Orgeon/CODONA's multi-instrumentalist (here focusing on his considerable talents on sitar) Collin Walcott (1945-1984).  This stunning record was recorded in the same month as Gateway's debut, right in the white heat of ECM's golden age with a lineup who perfectly merge jazz with Indian musical forms.  

 

Lengthy explorations giving the quartet full chance to shine, like opener Margueritte, sit alongside miniature features for Walcott and Dave Holland such as Prancing and Eastern Song.  Abercrombie is by turns liquid and languid (Night Glider, the lovely title track) and throughly electrified (Scimitar).  Walcott's sublime playing remains the star of this album, and would continue to occupy a unique space in the ECM sound world (including with a reformed Oregon) until his tragic accidental death at the age of 39.

link

pw: sgtg

Collin Walcott at SGTG:

Miles Davis - On The Corner

Egberto Gismonti - Sol De Meio Dia