Modestly priced as a double this box of 5 CDs is essential for anyone with an interest in Canadian concert music.

David Olds

Listen to the Lambs  Nathaniel Dett Chorale  Marquis Classics 7 74718 12932 1

The Nathaniel Dett Chorale was founded in 1998 by Brainerd Blyden-Taylor for the "dissemination of Afrocentric choral music". It is fitting that the repertoire on this first commercial recording is devoted to the choir's namesake, R. Nathaniel Dett, born in 1882 in Drummondville (later Niagara Falls) Ontario, which had earlier in the century been a key destination for those escaping slavery. Dett received several degrees in European-based classical music in the United States and also studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, but he was able throughout his career as a composer to skillfully harmonize these compositional forms with the traditional music of his heritage. 

Many of the selections on this CD are based on spirituals, some set in the form of motets or anthems, such as the title track, Listen to the Lambs, in which the composer juxtaposes musical passages with dynamics that convey the sharp sting of grief, with a contrasting middle section imparting a sense of soothing comfort. The choir handles these emotional contrasts deftly, alternating between biting attacks and a human warmth that shines through the suffering. Another piece, The Chariot Jubilee is a unique setting of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot with many variations that keep returning to the anchor of the familiar tune with a solid foundation provided by Christopher Dawes on organ. Baptism has a lovely, soulful tune, which Dett learned at the knee of his maternal grandmother and adapted for choir with the rhythm of a lullaby.

Thanks to Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, for introducing and interpreting these works so beautifully.

Dianne Wells

Benny Green and Russell Malone Jazz At The Bistro  Telarc CD-83560

One of the highlights of the recent International Association for Jazz Education Conference held here in Toronto was a duo performance by pianist Benny Green and Russell Malone on guitar. 

Benny Green first came to attention when he worked with Betty Carter for four years and with Art Blakey from 1987-89. It was Betty who taught him not only to think about the chord changes, but also to relate the lyrics of the song to his own experiences and tell his story through the music. Russell Malone grew up playing a variety of music, but eventually jazz became his main focus. In 1988, at age 25, he was hired by organist Jimmy Smith, went on to back Harry Connick Jr. from 1990-1994, after which he spent four years working with Diana Krall before branching out on his solo career.

These two musicians obviously enjoy each other and the duet setting is ideal, allowing them the freedom to play off against each other without constraint. The CD was recorded at The Bistro - no, not the one in Toronto, this one is in St. Louis - and is a nicely balanced set of familiar and not-so-familiar treasures. The interplay between Green and Malone has that sense of urgency, intimacy and spontaneity that is one of the supreme joys to be found when two musicians playing at the top of their game come together.

Jim Galloway

Music of Christos Hatzis: Everlasting Light; Footprints in New Snow Various Artists CBC Records MVCD 1156-2

This latest recording of Christos Hatzis’ music is really a “Two for One” special, containing two CDs that even come with separate booklets. Everlasting Light features two major choral works, De Angelis and Everlasting Light. The first, for mezzo-soprano (Laura Pudwell), choir and offstage voices, is based on the 12th Century antiphon O gloriosissimi lux vivens angeli by Hildegard of Bingen. This is a very beautiful piece that uses light textural layers and has very limited or cautious dissonances that are tempered by the use of vocal drones.

The title piece was written for the Elmer Iseler Singers and is dedicated to the memory of its founder. Set for countertenor, tenor, baritone, marimba, crystal glasses, and choir the EIS are joined by Daniel Taylor, Benjamin Butterfield, Russell Braun, percussionist Beverley Johnston and the Amadeus Chamber Singers for this performance. There is a sense of continuous melody but it appears that Hatzis was very careful to make the text extremely clear throughout. The sound is very spatial as is most of Hatzis’ music. 

The second CD, Footprints in New Snow, centres around the culture of the Inuit, in particular in the newly created territory of Nunavut. This is a compilation of works influenced by a unique form of music called throat singing. It is a technique, usually practiced by Inuit women, that involves two people singing or vocalizing tones directly into each other’s mouths. The effect is truly fascinating.

Hatzis incorporates actual recordings of katajjaq into these various works, sometimes untouched but sometimes, as in Hunter’s Dream, various studio effects are applied. The name of the CD comes from a radio documentary of the same name in which Hatzis combines throat singing and electronic samples from Western Civilization. For example, the sounds of jet airplanes and electronic keyboards creating an aura of space that symbolizes the invasion of Western Culture on the North. The blend is truly profound.

Troy Milleker

Flowers of Forgiveness Mernie! Independent (Festival Distribution 1-800-633-8282)

When Toronto had less than a million people I was one of them, finding the Folkways label at the public library to satisfy the urge for scratchy rhythms and the thoughts of distant people. Rare delights like imperfect pitch, cross-generational voices, sounds that make the throat work like a canyon. Songs that last more than two minutes, from continents that dwelt in the imagination where Pygmies sang to the forest as if it were their deity. Songs from the solitary herdsman who would end up on the plains far from his homeland and wail. World music was a kind of intelligence shared either through indigenous performance or with the help of nerds and their tape recorders.

Several spasms of world shrinking later, world music exists as a sorting system for various audio cargos. Enter Mernie, who are Maryem and Ernie Tollar and their talented entourage.  Mystically, with the assistance of the Toronto and Ontario Arts Council, Flowers of Forgiveness, a new, charming CD presents itself. Therein is heard a world ominous by association with belly dancing – peaceful, but not without lamentation, as in the tune Infant Sorrow that borrows William Blake’s verse and melds it with Arabic refrain. More like a self-help seminar is the title track but the mood elsewhere has the feel of Rumi’s poetry, a North African bizarre or a Bulgarian wedding. Or you may be taken to the private world of new parents whose joy explodes into dance beats, on the three tracks called Omneya. The little bundle of joy herself makes her new self heard on the last track. 

Deborah Rosen 

For The Record Kieran Overs; Alex Dean; Brian Dickinson; Ted Warren U/P Records (Page Publications) Page 1513CD

Bass player Kieran Overs has backed a who's who of the jazz world as well as leading and composing for his own Toronto-based ensembles. The list includes Chet Baker, Kenny Barron, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Greenwich, Barry Harris, Junior Mance, Harold Maybern, Don Pullen, Dewey Redman, George Shearing, Zoot Simms, Sonny Stitt, Mel Torme and Kenny Wheeler. Not bad. 

For The Record was recorded right after a successful week by Over's quartet at the Senator in November 1998. Page Publications' U/P label has done us the favor of getting this session onto one of Toronto's first new jazz CD's in the year 2003. The quartet works on seven compositions penned by a spectrum ranging from the Duke, to fellow bassist Steve Swallow. Overs’ economical, intense bass provides the backbone for a wonderful blowing session by Alex Dean. The round, warm tone of Dean's soprano sax is knockdown gorgeous. Ditto for his not-too-heavy, not-too-light tenor. The selected compositions are of moderate tempo, which, I think, places higher demands on the quartet's improvisations than barreling ahead with the foot on the accelerator.  Thoughtfulness and tight interaction provide the passion here. If you want to hear why Toronto has become a leading North American centre for jazz, this CD, Over's fourth, is a good start. 

Phil Ehrensaft
 

WORTH REPEATING
 
 

Timeless Savoy 60th Anniversary (sampler) Savoy Jazz SVY 17133

Timeless Charlie Parker Savoy SVY 17107

Best of The Complete Live Performances on Savoy Charlie Parker Savoy SVY 17112

Timeless Miles Davis Savoy SVY 17116

While World War Two raged in Europe and the Pacific, a sort-of war was underway in the United States itself.  It was the Musicians’ Union (James C. Petrillo, President) versus the Recording Industry. The union was demanding that the labels treat their members more fairly, with standard session fees, royalties, and the like. The major record companies wanted none of that, so musicians withdrew their services.

For a couple of years, the only product being released was stockpiled material, or vocal-sans-instruments. Radio became the major source of new music for listeners, but as there was no capture mechanism for most fans, personal disc recorders being rare in those days, there was a major vacuum in the music business.

Into the gap jumped the independent (read small) labels which recognized that signing with the Union and paying approved fees would allow them the markets the hard-headed majors were giving up. For jazz fans, the Savoy Records label became a major source of material, especially in the burgeoning be-bop market.

Over the last 60 years there have been ups and downs for Savoy as the label changed hands and became more-and-less available. It’s current again, and that’s a great opportunity to get your hands on some seminal jazz sounds. 

A two-disc sampler is a good starting point: Savoy 60th Anniversary-Timeless is an overview of the label’s jazz material, with an occasional nod to the emerging R&B urban black market of the ‘40s.  You’ll find important jazzers like Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and Miles Davis.  While the programming might seem a bit disjointed, the variety on offer offsets any awkwardness.

Savoy’s greatest jazz artist was undoubtedly Charlie Parker, the lead character of Be Bop jazz, and some of his masterpieces are included in the series called Timeless.  Savoy SVY17107 is a 17-track compilation of Bird masterpieces such as Koko, Donna Lee, Steeplechase and that great blues Parker's Mood. The 1945-48 period of Parker's career was consistently brilliant, and the group's personnel relatively stable. 
The very young Miles Davis is on all the tracks, and other greats include Max Roach, Bud Powell and John Lewis. Transfers of the original 78s are very good and straight-ahead honest, with no electronic gimmickry. Every music fan should have some Charlie Parker material, and this package of studio recordings is a good start.

Parker's radio performance material from the Royal Roost in NYC in 1948 and the next couple of years was recorded off the air by hobbyist Boris Rose, and after Parker's 1955 death was released by Savoy. A good sample of that work is heard on Best of The Complete Live Performances on Savoy. Miles is again on the earliest of these airchecks, replaced by the under-appreciated Kenny Dorham on the last half of the CD, and most of the piano work is by Al Haig, one of the seminal bebop pianists. Disc jockey 'Symphony Sid' Torin's chatter is held to a minimum, but does add authenticity. Even more than half a century after the fact, these audacious chance-taking performances are thrilling.

There’s more Charlie Parker on display in a release under Miles Davis’ name in that Timeless series (SVY 17116). Davis was but a potentially great trumpeter when Bird took him under his wing in the mid-40s and helped him develop his latent talent. Of the 13 tracks here, only three were actually recorded under Miles’ name, on which Parker played tenor sax, rather than his familiar alto.  With no overlap of material from the Parker Timeless CD mentioned earlier, this one is a good companion, with titles such as Salt Peanuts, Yardbird Suite and Groovin’ High highlighting the evolution of Miles Davis. 

Ted O’Reilly
 

DG Original Masters:
 

Lieder and Opera Scenes 1942-1973 Hans Hotter DG 474006-2 (3CDs)

The complete 1950’s concerto recordings Wilhelm Kempff DG 474024-2 (5CDs)

The Nine Beethoven Symphonies and four overtures Eugene Jochum DG 474018-2 (5CDs)

Live recordings 1944-1953 Wilhelm Furtwangler  474030-2 (6CDs)

Complete DG recordings  Janacek Quartet 474010-2 (7CDs)

Deutsche Grammophon has issued the first five boxes in what is to be a series of limited editions each devoted to significant performances by a single artist. They are gathered from the vaults and re-mastered in DG’s Emile Berliner Studios. 

Arguably the greatest Wotan of his day, the timbre of Hans Hotter’s sonorous bass-baritone voice was unmistakable. His lieder, too, was exemplary and here are some beautiful examples. His sensitive Winterreise (1961) and Schwanengesang (1973) and lieder by Wolf, Strauss, Loewe, and Brahms is followed by arias by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Bizet and Wagner. “A love of lieder and the joy of interpreting them are emotions that have accompanied me my whole life like two loyal friends.” An inexpensive but priceless collection.

Let me say right off that the Beethoven concertos with Kempff, van Kempen and the Berlin Philharmonic (1953) are my very favourite versions. Although well prepared, these performances convey an atmosphere of spontaneity and high spirits with Kempff articulate and vital. These mono recordings are crystal clear, dynamic and models of the recording art. Add the superior versions of the Brahms First, the Schumann, Mozart’s k.271 and k.450, and both Liszt concerti and this box can be declared a necessity. 

I remember my disappointment with the Philips Jochum/Concertgebouw Beethoven (late 1960s) cycle because it fell short of the earlier DG versions. These performances are never idiosyncratic but characterized by the meticulous attention to details, the turn of a phrase, and nuances within a tempo without ever losing the arch of each work. When actually listening to these recordings the listener is aware of Jochum’s special way with Beethoven and the conductor’s un-jaded thoughts. These performances bring an appreciating smile. Two orchestras are involved here, the Berlin Philharmonic (2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8) and Jochum’s own orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony. Symphonies 3, 6, 7 and 9 are mono recordings. This set will be most appreciated by a knowledgeable listener.

Furtwangler’s disciples will be delighted with these 18 live recordings dating from the passionate October 1944 Bruckner Eighth from Vienna to the broad reading of the usual two Tristan excerpts from Berlin in April 1954. Included is a Tchaikovsky Sixth from Cairo! Every selection is stamped with Furtwangler’s distinguishing quality of viewing a score’s notation as a point of departure. The mono sound is variable from good to adequate. 

Founded by Brno Conservatory students in 1947 the original Janacek Quartet changed with the death, in 1973, of the first violin, Jiri Travnicek. Over time all the originals were gone. DG honours that first quartet by gathering together their recordings from Westminster, Decca, and the DG archives. Most music lovers will never have heard any of the recordings of this outstanding group. Unfailingly expressive, their original interpretations more than hold their own with the current favourites. The repertoire comprises Haydn, Mozart, their incandescent Mendelssohn Octet with the Smetana Quartet, Beethoven, Brahms and Dvorak piano quintets with Eva Bernathova, Smetana, and Janacek. A treasure-chest for appreciative chamber music devotees.

Bruce Surtees

Jon Vickers: A Tribute on his 75th Birthday Jon Vickers, tenor VAI Audio VAIA 1201

Canadian tenor Jon Vickers brought to the stage an electrifying intensity that could never be captured in studio recordings. It wasn’t just his ringing fortissimo, heart-breaking pianissimo and extraordinary range of shades and colours in between. Audiences knew he would risk anything -- including his exceptionally beautiful sound -- for dramatic effect.

Even though the sound quality is inevitably uneven, there are many reasons to cherish this remarkable collection, compiled from various recordings of live performances. Where else, after a particularly impassioned Sweeter than Roses, would you hear Vickers comment to an audience: “That must have been some kiss!”

Included are three selections from Schuberts’s Die Wintereisse, which, when I heard it some twenty years ago at the Guelph Spring Festival, was wild and outsized. But it was indescribably moving, and remains unforgettable.

The Tristan I heard in Montreal in 1976 (also available from VAI) was transcendent perfection. Included here is a mesmerizing performance from the Teatro Colón with the incomparable Isolde of Birgit Nilsson.

A second disc contains a fascinating interview from 1999, in which Vickers shares his passion for music, his identification with his characters, and the religious conviction that underlies his extraordinarily generous interpretive spirit.

Pamela Margles

Concert note: On Tuesday, April 8, Marc-André Hamelin, who accompanies Vickers in Enoch Arden by Richard Strauss on the VAI disc, gives a recital at Glenn Gould Studio.

Live At The Playboy Jazz Festival  Mel Torme with Ray Anthony and his Big Band Playboy Jazz PBD-7508-2

Made in 1993, six years before his death, this recording from the Playboy Jazz Festival serves as a reminder of just what a musical singer Mel Torme was. The phrasing, the overall musicality of the man, his voice which, although perhaps not quite so smooth as when he was first known as The Velvet Fog, is nevertheless a wonderful instrument - all of these things combine to make it an album that should be required listening for every aspiring jazz singer. Without question, Mel Torme was one of the greatest jazz vocalists of all time. Born on September 13, 1925, Torme's show business career began early - at the age of four when he sang You're Driving Me Crazy! at Chicago's Blackhawk club. 

The album is a tribute to the big band era. Along the way he acknowledges Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. Torme's phrasing is immaculate and his built-in sense of swing sits right in the slot with the band; they spark each other and the result is an inspired programme of tried and true material from the 30's the exception being I'm Gonna Go Fishin' from the 1959 film "Anatomy Of A Murder" for which Duke Ellington wrote the music. The members of Torme's own trio, pianist John Colianni, bassist John Leitham and drummer Danny Osborne, get a chance to show their paces on a burning version of It Don't Mean A Thing. The band is a little rough in places, especially on Sing, Sing, Sing, but I'll take the electricity of a live performance and a few clams any day over a flawless but dry studio recording.

Jim Galloway

Modeste Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov  George London; Orchestra and Chorus of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater, USSR; Alexander Melik-Pashaev.  Sony S3K 52571

The number of Canadian opera singers who have made their mark in international opera surpasses what one would expect from the size of our population, and bass-baritone George London ranks among the greatest. “London” was actually George Burnstein, born in Montreal, 1919, to Russian-Jewish parents. He became the star bass-baritone of the Metropolitan Opera during the 1950’s.  Serious illness during the mid-1960’s ended his stage career, but London commenced two decades as a distinguished artistic director.

London was THE Boris of his time, to the extent that the Bolshoi invited him to perform the star role of Russia’s star opera in 1960.  In 1963, London returned to perform Boris and also participate in an absolutely quirky recording project. The Soviet label Melodiya issued a fine performance of Boris in 1959, with sound quality equivalent to Russian cars and miking as subtle as Kruschev pounding his shoe at the U.N. The cast was a who’s who of Russian opera. The Bolshoi decided to have London re-record all of Boris’ parts, orchestra and chorus included. When the Party says go into the studio for a week, no overtime, you go! The new tapes were spliced into the 1959 masters with all the subtlety of a cop who wants to let you know that your phone is tapped. With such magnificent singing and conducting however, you forget about the quirky sound in no time flat. If the 11 year-old in my life, Nadja, was ready for opera, her evaluation would be unambiguously “awesome”. Thank you Sony.

Phil Ehrensaft

DISCS OF THE MONTH
 
 

CREDO (R. Murray Schafer, Thomas Tallis) Robert Sund, twelve Canadian choirs Opening Day OD 9325

Soundstreams Canada and the CBC will long be remembered for their ambitious undertakings in the late 1990’s, culminating in the Massey Hall New Music Festival. November 2000 saw perhaps the biggest project in that series: twelve university choirs from across the country gathered in Massey Mall to perform Schafer’s Credo (from his 1978 Apocalypsis) and Spem in alium by Thomas Tallis. By all accounts, this was an unforgettable afternoon of music.

Now, thanks to Opening Day, that not-to-be-repeated performance is on CD. I am reminded of old (CBC Radio announcer) Bob Kerr’s words: “the hand of God was upon those people, when they made this record…” 

Credo shows Schafer in his period of glorious excess. His subtle background of sonic manipulations is haunting, increasing in prominence towards the end. It is music into which you can and should completely submerge. Uncompromisingly good equipment is de rigeur for appreciation of the sound. And in that uncompromising spirit (producer) David Jaeger and (engineer) ‘Stretch’ Quinney captured every nuance of the performance.

Thomas Tallis’ forty-part motet Spem in alium, recently infamous for its deconstructivist arrangement in Ottawa’s National Gallery, is here in the spectacular original version. Robert Sund deserves high praise for his deft marshalling of the vast forces. If only Opening Day hadn’t edited out the thunderous applause at the end, and included a photograph of the event somewhere. Otherwise, a perfect recording.

John S. Gray

In Recital at Chautauqua New Arts Trio Fleur de Son Classics FDS 57957

As if his duties at the TSO didn’t keep him busy enough, in 1999 concertmaster Jacques Israelievitch joined one of North America’s most distinguished chamber groups, the New Arts Trio, founded in 1974 by pianist Rebecca Penneys. The third member of the group, cellist Arie Lipsky, is a long-time collaborator with Israelievitch and was heard in Toronto during Israelievitch’s tenure as artist in residence at the Gardiner Museum in the 1990s. Since 1978 the New Arts Trio itself has been in residence at the Chatauqua Institution, a 750-acre educational centre in southwestern New York State. 

What impresses me most about this recording is not the ensemble playing, which is impeccable, but the programming. Beethoven’s familiar “Ghost” trio establishes the mood and confirms the trio’s reputation as well deserved. This is followed by Arvo Pärt’s haunting contemporary arrangement of the adagio movement from a Mozart piano sonata and Ernst Bloch’s Three Nocturnes, written in 1924. These gentle pieces gradually build to a rollicking, if somewhat dark, finale that seems to lead us naturally to a brief tango-inspired movement by Astor Piazzolla. While this last might have seemed just a novelty in a more traditional program, it works quite well in this context. The recital is brought to a marvelous conclusion with Brahms’ later-life reworking of the youthful B Major trio. Israelievitch is well known for his affection for Brahms and in the New Arts Trio he has obviously found kindred spirits. Highly recommended! 

David Olds
 

The WholeNote welcomes your participation and looks forward to your cooperation in making DISCOVERIES a lively addition to our magazine and to our  website. 

Catalogues and review copies of CDs should be sent to:
The WholeNote, 60 Bellevue Avenue, Toronto ON M5T 2N4

For more information contact David Olds at david.olds@sympatico.ca .