Peter Friedman

Beethoven - String Quartet Op.59/3 Mozart - Symphony No.39, K.543

I have somewhat mixed thoughts about Booker Ervin. I really liked his album on Candid and also some of his other "early" recordings. But 2 things caused me to lose a bit of my enthusiasm about his playing. One was what Chuck said about Booker having just 2 solos.. There was a sameness to his solos that indicated he was less creative than I had earlier thought. The other was his very lengthy solos on a number of albums. In general, with some limited exceptions, I tend to find very long solos less than satisfying. While that is true (for me) for many musicians, it seemed to be even more of a problem when the very long solo was by Booker Ervin. I agree that his intensity is often a big plus, especially when his solos are not too long. So to sum up, I do like a number of Booker Ervins recordings, but my overall opinion of his playing is less positive that it was in the beginning.

Smetana Piano Trio Op.15 Saint-Saens - Cello Concerto No.1, Op.33

Dvorak - Piano Trio No.1, Op.51 Bruch - Symphony No.3, Op.51 (an interesting coincidence that both pieces have the same opus number)