HutchFan

Gerry Mulligan Quartet - Reunion with Chet Baker (Pacific Jazz)

The 5-CD set released on Edel Classics is the same music, recorded in the mid-70s for Eterna. Regardless of label, it's such wonderful music-making! Rösel does a masterful job of balancing the extroverted, Schumann-esque "Romantic" elements with the meditative, inward, and melancholy aspects of Brahms' music. As a result, his readings of the early works in particular are more fully realized -- make "more sense" -- than other versions I've heard. I wonder: Would Rösel would be a more familiar pianist if he'd spent the early part of his career in West Germany rather than East Germany? Did being behind the "Iron Curtain" hamstring his opportunities for recognition in the "West"? Then again, Rösel's strengths aren't flash; it's his interpretive subtlety that's so astounding. And that's not exactly a quality that gets concertizing pianists noticed. Who knows?!?! The East/West thing may not have made any difference.

Bobby Watson & Horizon - Horizon Reassembled (Palmetto) Yes!!! Unbelievable music!

Brahms: Piano Works / Peter Rösel (Edel Classics; originally released on Eterna) Disc 2 - Second Piano Sonata; Variations on an Original Theme; Eight Pieces, Op.76 Katchen & Kempff are probably the biggest "names" associated with this repertoire, but Rösel is my favorite all 'round interpreter of Brahms' solo piano music.

Marcus Printup - Desire (SteepleChase)

I'm a fan. I particularly like this one: Beautiful Lily (Pirouet, 2005) with Marc Copland, Drew Gress & Bill Stewart

Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band - Moliendo Cafe (Sunnyside) Joe Lovano - Joyous Encounter (Blue Note)

Melnikov is such a wonderful pianist!

Yep. It's no coincidence that Elvis' first Sun record had an Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup tune on one side and a Bill Monroe tune on the other.

Jerry Gonzalez & the Fort Apache Band - Crossroads (Milestone, 1994) with John Stubblefield, Joe Ford, Larry Willis, Andy Gonzalez, and Steve Berrios

Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets / Belcea Quartet (Alpha) Disc 1 - String Quartets No. 6, Op. 18/6 and No. 12, Op. 127

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 / Jochum, London SO

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 as performed by Eugen Jochum and the London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus with Kiri Te Kanawa, Julia Hamari, Stuart Burrows & Robert Holl as heard in this set: I feel like one of my periodic "Beethoven benders" may be coming on.

Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Music & Chamber Works / Various Artists (Decca) Disc 3 - Piano Sonata No. 2; Three Fantastic Dances; Five Preludes, etc. / Vladimir Ashkenazy Lazar Berman is such an under-appreciated pianist. IMO, his Liszt is nonpareil.

Joe Farrell's last recording.

FWIW, I really like Most's Xanadu LPs, especially Mostly Flute and From the Attic of My Mind. (The latter one took a while to grow on me, but now I really enjoy it.)

I can't really think of an encyclopedia- or overview-type history of rock n roll that I could recommend. Just haven't read any. That said, I would definitely recommend all of Peter Guralnick's books. His books cover everything from rock n roll to soul and country. His two-volume biography of Elvis Presley is particularly good. • (1971). Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues, Country, and Rock 'n' Roll. • (1979). Lost Highway: Journeys & Arrivals of American Musicians. • (1986). Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom. • (1989). Searching for Robert Johnson. • (1994). Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. • (1999). Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley. • (2005). Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke. • (2015). Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock'n'Roll.

Thanks for the heads-up on this, Larry. I've never heard any of those four LPs.

This was one of the first classical CDs that I ever purchased -- in that exact "100 Masterpieces" version. I bought it right after I got my first CD player. It's still one of my favorites.

I'm planning to do the same.

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 18 "The Hunt", Op. 31, No. 3 / Bruce Hungerford (Piano Classics)

I love Vásáry's way with Rachmaninov's piano concertos. You can easily find performances with more drama, but I haven't found any that are more poetic and musical.

Interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing. I think this is an example of science telling us -- in a quantifiable way -- something that we already knew. The disciplines are different.

Great music (and great cover photo).