HutchFan

One more -- Just remembered this NHOP duo collaboration with Kenneth Knudsen:

Definitely worth checking out if you're a Charlie Rich fan: Peter Guralnick's book that takes its title from that Rich song. Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues and Rock 'n Roll

Duke Ellington - New York, New York: 1970-1972 (Storyville) From the stockpile.

Beethoven: Piano Cto No. 2; Piano Sonata, Op. 53 "Waldstein" / Claudio Arrau, Haitink, COA (Philips)

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 "Choral" / Carlo Maria Giulini, LSO & Chorus, et al (Angel, 2 LPs) Snagged this from a local shop's dollar bin a few months ago. I'm just now giving it a first spin. I was happy to find it because, generally speaking, I'm a fan of Giulini's conducting. His recording of LvB's 7th (with the CSO) has been one of my favorites for many years. ... So far, I'm enjoying Giulini's LvB 9 too.

Very persuasive Schumann. Dark and brooding. Romantic with a capital "R." Tennstedt doing his thing.

and

and

Irene Kral with Alan Broadbent - Where Is Love? (Choice, 1975)

Bob Brookmeyer - Through the Looking Glass (Finesse) with Dick Oatts, Tom Harrell, Jim McNeely, Marc Johnson, and Mel Lewis The Art Farmer / Benny Golson Jazztet featuring Curtis Fuller - Back to the City (Contemporary) with Mickey Tucker, Ray Drummond, and Marvin "Smitty" Smith Superb.

Kenny Burrell with Frank Wess - Monday Stroll (Arista-Savoy) Excellent 1956-57 recordings originally released under Frank Wess' name. Most cuts feature Wess on the flute.

!!! NP: Earlier:

Ralph Towner / Solstice - Sound and Shadows (ECM, 1977) with Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber, and Jon Christensen

Very strange that this terrific music sat on the shelf for 20 years before being released. Oh yeah! 5 BIG STARS for that one.

NP: Sibelius: Symphony No. 1; Swan of Tuonela / Stokowski, National PO (Columbia/Sony) Yesterday evening, I listened to Barbirolli's recording of Sibelius' First with The Hallé Orchestra. The two conductors' interpretations are very different. But I love them both. Ironically, Stokowski's version strikes me as the more youthful reading. (He was in his 90's when the recording was made.) When Stokowski's at his best, he conveys an unbelievable sense of color, momentum, and vitality. This Sibelius 1 embodies those qualities. Barbirolli, on the other hand, brings a sense of struggle to the music, imbuing it with a sense of hard-won victory. His reading always makes me think that the story's being told by sagacious old man, like the hero in Tennyson's "Ulysses." Or at least that's how I like to think about this stuff.

Inspired by the Hampton Hawes talk above.

Thanks! EDIT: Speaking of Baker & Brahms . . .

Oh, I bet that's good! Baker's studio recording of Vier ernste Gesänge is -- Yowza! -- really, really good. What do you think of this BBC recital, soulpope?

Discs 8 & 9