HutchFan

Oh yeah.

Getting my daily dose of Vitamin "T".

This is the line-up that made the first two (and best, IMO) Soprano Summit LPs, both for the World Jazz label. R.I.P. Bucky Pizzarelli I really like that one.

NP:

This music -- Barbirolli's first recording of Vaughan Williams' A London Symphony -- is very special.

Yes. If I could jump in too... Thinking about that super-diverse crowd at the Cannonball concert and his broad appeal ... Part of the reason that rarely (if ever) happens anymore is the responsibility of marketers and segmentation (fragmentation?) of musical genres. Everything is divided and sub-divided the further sub-divided, so it can be marketed more efficiently. You see this in every genre. Not just jazz. ... But it's also partly the fault of listeners -- people like me! (in the past) -- who "bought into" those categories (literally and figuratively). At the most simplistic level it becomes a question of "valid" jazz vs. "not valid" jazz. ... A subtler form of marketing also happens in the books, magazines, etc., in the process of "jazz canonization." Some music & musicians are in, while other broad swathes are left out -- based on arbitrary and largely formulaic ideas of what constitutes good music. My 2 cents.

R.I.P. Terrible news.

Listening to this again today: This recording of Rachmaninov's Six Moments Musicaux will rip your heart out. It's even better than Berman's DG re-make -- and that's saying something!

First listen to this new-to-me disc: Sibelius is wonderful.

Arrived in the mail this evening: Sounds great. I suppose he's playing with the idea of praying over the Christ-child in a manger scene. But, yeah, it is strange. ... Especially considering the title of the album. He's got the whole David & Goliath thing going with that. But that doesn't really tie in with the "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed" angle. Schnitter's mixing up his biblical allusions in all sorts of ways.

More Lazar Berman: Murray Hill licensed the recordings in this 4-LP set from Melodiya. I'm listening to Berman's take on Rachmaninov (Six Moments Musicaux, Op. 16) and Scriabin (Fantasy, Op 28).

Sorry to hear this news. What a lovely woman she was. Along with her James Bond and Avengers roles, I'll always think of her as one of the baddies in Columbo. The episode is titled "Dagger of the Mind" (1972). My wife is a Columbo-phile. (I guess I've become a bit of one too.) So we've watched every episode many times over. This is one of our favorites. R.I.P.

A run of Michel Petrucciani today:

Yes! He was a tremendous musician. I haven't gotten 'round to ordering the live CD from Karlsruhe. But today I'm going to pull some Petrucciani discs from the shelf and give 'em a spin. Thanks for the prompt.

LP 2 - with brother Tommy, Kenny Burrell, Sonny Clark, et al from October '62 Glorious. Crazy that music from this session sat on the shelf until 1978!

Maybe so. Don't mean to bag on Jamal one bit. ... The image has just always given me a touch of the heebie jeebies. But perhaps I'm just not attuned to its subtleties.

More solo piano ... Alexander Scriabin: Piano Sonatas Nos. 3, 4, 7, 9 / Igor Zhukov (Angel/Melodiya LP) Thrilling performances.

I'm not sure whether this was Waldron's final recording, but it was made in the year that he died. And without a doubt there is a valedictory aspect to the music, right down to the title. INCREDIBLE performances.

Géza Anda - Troubadour of the Piano (DG, 5 CDs) Works by Robert Schumann: - Davidsbündlertänze, Op.6 - Kreisleriana, Op.16 - Fantasie in C, Op.17

I've never heard any of those albums, but when I think of Jamal's 20th Century Fox LPs, one album cover always comes to mind. And it makes me cringe more than just a little bit: It's always struck me as being "tone deaf" to some old racist stereotypes. Or am I reading too much into it?

Brahms

Brahms: Piano Works / Peter Rösel (Edel Classics, 5 CDs) Disc 5: Paganini Variations in A minor, Op. 35; Fantasias for piano, Op. 116; and Rhapsodies for Piano, Op. 79 Exquisite. IMO, Rösel's recordings of Brahms' solo piano work compare very favorably with any of the "big names" who have taken on this repertoire. Lupu, Kempff, Ohlsson, Gould, Serkin, Freire, Angelich, Katchen, Grimaud, et al. For this listener, Rösel's Brahms is a desert-island set.

Prime latter-day Sonny.