Plates-formes et Traquenards
Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms +7
Victo cd 114 (www.victo.qc.ca)

Two suites for 12-piece polyphonic orchestra composed by Montreal-based reedist Jean Derome exhibit his cunning musicality on this notable CD. A mainstay of Victoriaville, Quebec’s Festival International de Musique Actuelle (FIMAV) – where the CD was recorded – Derome titles Plates-formes with a pun on the name of the organization which oversees the festival. Traquenards celebrates another musical organization, which like FIMAV, celebrated its 25th birthday when this recording was made.

Augmenting the five-piece Dangereux Zhoms with additional horns and strings, ensures that both suites emphatically balance on the edge between improvised and notated sounds, as well as extrapolating timbres that add a tincture of rock’s rhythmic muscle, vocalist Joane Hétu’s Dadaesque intonation, plus crackles, hisses and LPs’ music from Martin Tétreault’s turntables.

Consisting of multiple jump-cut variations, contrasts and connections characterize both suites. Expressively tonal and unfussy, Derome’s themes suggest folk songs and Tin Pan Alley ditties. Yet he constantly undercuts lyricism with asides and interpolations such as his own jutting alto saxophone phrasing, gutbucket echoes from trombonist Tom Walsh, plus whining frails and strident string-snapping from guitarist Bernard Falaise. Maintaining the compositions’ equilibrium, despite altissimo disruptions and tutti explosions where the players wallow in every sort of abrasive shriek, are Guillaume Dostaler’s pounding piano syncopation and the measured ruffs and back beat of drummer Pierre Tanguay.

Pastiches as well as interludes, Derome’s compositions are memorable for architectural soundness, but arranged inimitably so that their most satisfying interpretation come from this band.

Concert Notes: Jean Derome et les Dangereux Zhoms +7 play at the Music Gallery on September 9 and at the Guelph Jazz Festival September 10.

Ken Waxman

Café Society
Real Divas
E1 Entertainment KEC-CD-9196

(www.billkingmusic.com/realdivas)

Real Divas started out eight years ago as a showcase every Tuesday night at a Toronto club hosted by musician, band leader, festival organizer, broadcaster, photographer (let me see, have I left anything out?) and all round good guy, Bill King. Designed to give a stage to local singers, both established and new to the scene, the Real Divas evenings saw now-notable singers such as Emilie-Claire Barlow and Sophie Milman take their initial steps into jazz performance. Those nights are history now, but the project and goal behind it live on under King’s guidance. The current incarnation comprises four young (some still teenage) vocalists — Kinga Victoria, Sophie Berkal-Sarbitt, Lauren Margison and Josephine Biundo (and guest Jessica Lalonde) — who come from a range of musical disciplines (including opera) and locales (Winnipeg, Poland), but who share an appreciation for good songwriting.

Singing individually and as an ensemble on “Café Society” the group covers Bacharach, Ellington, Bernstein and pop hits such as First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, bringing new interpretations and layers of musical styles. Hence a Latin version of Tea for Two, swinging Come Fly With Me and sultry Lazy Afternoon all cozy up together here. The vocal arrangements are not overly complex, but the singers achieve a good blend when needed, then let their lovely voices and individuality shine on the solo numbers.

Cathy Riches

For Now
Peter Hill Quintet
Independent PCH0901

(www.notthatpeterhill.com)

Pianist Peter Hill has been working as a sideman in the greater Toronto area for roughly two and a half decades. With a piano style steeped in early swing with shades of boogie-woogie, Hill is especially sought-after as an accompanist who can play virtually any song in any key without a chart. Previously associated with Jeff Healey, current and long-time collaborator with Laura Hubert, the house pianist for Lisa Particelli’s vocalist-friendly Girls Night Out Jazz Jam and so on, accomplished Hill also holds a PhD in the mathematical field of Low-dimensional topology. His inventive arrangements and originals make their recording debut right here. Now, for “For Now”, Hill has hired a hot band comprised of some of Hogtown’s hippest cats: Bob Brough on alto and tenor saxes, Chris Gale on tenor and baritone saxes, Brandi Disterheft on bass and Sly Juhas on drums. This swingin’ quintet is super tight with a driving energy that’s consistently engaging. Highlights from the varied program include Dexter Gordon’s chestnut Cheesecake, the Bacharach & David famous Alfie and Eden Ahbez’s classic minor lament, Nature Boy. Particularly droll is a modern treatment of the historic Duke Ellington/Bubber Miley composition, Black and Tan Fantasy. Of Peter Hill’s originals, Amico’s, Party of Four is a standout complete with a dazzling Disterheft solo.

Never judge a CD by its cover. For me the art direction is both wacky and tacky, the recording neither. Highly recommended.

Ori Dagan

Live in Vancouver
Richard Whiteman Trio
Cornerstone CRST CD 131

(www.richardwhiteman.com)

Pianist Richard Whiteman has been working as a leader and sideman in the greater Toronto area for over twenty years. A polished player whether you prefer bebop or a ballad, Whiteman has recorded six times under his own name, including the aptly titled “Solo Piano” and the critically acclaimed “Grooveyard”. As a leader he works frequently in the tradition of piano, bass & drums, arrangements echoing the glorious trios of Peterson, Evans and Jamal. After recording on the Cornerstone label with such Canadian luminaries as bassists Mike Downes and Neil Swainson and drummers John Sumner and Barry Elmes, his latest trio is completed by Brandi Disterheft on the bass and Sly Juhas on the skins. The pair share an exciting chemistry that reflects countless gigs played since their years at Humber College early in the new millennium. Whiteman gives both Disterheft and Juhas generous time to shine on this fine live recording. The eight tracks represent the best of what was recorded by Cory Weeds at The Cellar over two nights in February, 2008. An 11’39” take on I’m Confessin’ gives each player a nice opportunity to stretch out, the original Blues for Jervis is a cheerful one and The Song is You bops blissfully to close. Whiteman, Disterheft and Juhas are all at the top of their game throughout. Although not a consistently hollering bunch, the audience applauds appreciatively, enhancing the experience for the players and now the listener.

Ori Dagan

Nostalgia
The Andrew Scott Quintet meets Jon-Erik Kellso and Dan Block
Sackville SKCD2-2073

The bebop era saw the extended use of standard popular songs as the basis for new compositions based on the chord changes of the familiar themes.

“Nostalgia” takes this as its basic premise with a programme of compositions by musician/composers such as Tadd Dameron, Barney Kessel, Fats Navarro, Charlie Parker, Gigi Gryce, Zaid Nasser and one by leader Andrew Scott and Jake Wilkinson. Having said that, the first selection is Ben Webster’s Did You Call Her Today, his swing style variation on Rose Room, but for the rest of the album it’s bebop lines over familiar standard harmonies. If you are a jazz buff, see how many you can get right before looking at the liner notes!

Pianist Mark Eisenman, bassist Pat Collins and drummer Joel Haynes integrate beautifully and Mark contributes some outstanding solos, while Andrew Scott is equally comfortable playing unison lines, comping or stretching out on a solo.

Trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and clarinettist Dan Block, although of a later generation, have chosen to follow in the steps of the great early innovators and both play with lyrical concept, creative ideas and the playing skills to make it all come together. As John Norris rightly states in his accompanying notes, they are indeed real jazz musicians.  This CD is a welcome addition and upholds the well earned stellar reputation of Sackville Records.

Jim Galloway

Just Friends
Canadian Jazz Quartet

Cornerstone CRST CD 133

The Canadian Jazz Quartet (Gary Benson, guitar, Frank Wright, vibraphone, Duncan Hopkins, bass and Don Vickery, drums) has been an important part of the Canadian scene since 1987 - important because they have maintained a musical philosophy of playing great standards and making music that swings. Individually they are all talented, experienced soloists and as a group they blend beautifully. For this recording, the CJQ invited three guests to contribute one number each. Trombonist Alastair Kay gives a virtuoso performance on Memories of You, master flutist Bill McBirnie adds a Latin touch with Blue Bossa and Mike Murley on tenor sax romps through the title track, Just Friends. The remaining titles make up a cross-section of great standards and show tunes ranging from Gershwin’s Embraceable You to Clifford Brown’s Joy Spring.

This album also gives an all too rare opportunity for the playing of guitarist Gary Benson and vibes player Frank Wright to be heard by a wider audience. Frank’s rendition of Where Are You, for example, is a thing of beauty and just listen to how Gary glides through Have You Met Miss Jones. The DDs, (Hopkins and Vickery), make the whole thing swing like the pendulum of a finely oiled clock as well as contributing some fine solos.

All told “Just Friends” is an excellent example of discriminating taste and musicality and will occupy a pleasurable hour of any day or evening.

Jim Galloway

Short Stories - American music for saxophone quartet
Ancia Saxophone Quartet
Naxos 8.559616

@Grigorian.Com

Borrowing from popular music has almost defined American “classical” music since the time of Ives, and the Ancia Saxophone Quartet has compiled a disc of commissions and favourites that capture Twentieth Century America.

The Chorale from Ives’ String Quartet No. 1 opens this disc, which also includes the third movement of his Fourth Symphony. Ives would have embraced the organ-like sound of the saxophone quartet for his collage of hymns.

The influence of Elliott Carter can be seen in Fred Sturm’s Picasso Cubed (a reworking of a Coleman Hawkins improvisation, perhaps as seen through a kaleidoscope), and in David Bixler’s Heptagon (seven short jazzy Webernesque movements). Accordionist Dee Langley joins for Elusive Dreams, where composer Carleton Macy demonstrates how well the instrument blends with saxophones.

The minimalist movement is represented by Michael Torke’s July. Written one hundred years after the Ives, Torke also likes to borrow from popular music: “Whenever I am drawn to a particular… pop song, I scratch my head and think, ‘I like that, how could I use it?’”

Jennifer Higdon – who is popular now in the orchestral world – wrote the title track, Short Stories, for the Ancia Quartet. Each picturesque movement invokes a film while listening. Higdon knows each instrument, and writes very well for saxophone quartet.

The American Classics Series on NAXOS continues to record a wide range of music and artists, and Ancia’s disc is an enjoyable listen.

Wallace Halladay

Treble & Bass - concertos by Ståle Kleiberg
Marianne Thorsen; Göran Sjölin; Trondheim Symfoniorkester; Daniel Reuss
Lindberg Lyd AS 2L59SACD

@Grigorian.Com

The Norwegian composer Ståle Kleiberg was born in Stavanger in 1958 and now lives in Trondheim. Several of his works have been commissioned by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, including the two excellent Concertos recorded here featuring Trondheim native Marianne Thorsen on violin and the orchestra’s Swedish principal bass player Göran Sjölin, sensitively accompanied by conductor Daniel Reuss and the excellent Trondheim ensemble.

Kleiberg’s two string concertos are both cast in a traditional three movement fast-slow-fast framework yet exhibit a very individual melodic approach that is remarkably compelling. Restricting himself for the most part to easily comprehensible two part counterpoint, Kleiberg composes long lines of chromatically inflected strands of ever-evolving melodies that captivate the listener through a process of seamless organic metamorphoses. Decidedly post-modern in their allegiance to tonality, these concertos exhibit highly effective and idiomatic string writing. This is especially evident in his double bass concerto. For such a burly fellow, the soul of the contrabass is at heart rather melancholy, intimate and a bit clumsy, and a real challenge to compose for. Soloist Sjölin performs miracles in the many extended passages in the highest register and is rock-solid in his performance of the luminous sections composed entirely from the natural harmonics of the instrument. There’s never a dull moment in either of these eminently accessible works. Highly recommended.

Daniel Foley

Lorenzo Palomo - My Secluded Garden
Maria Bayo; Pepe Romero; Romero Guitar Quartet; Seville Royal Symphony Orchestra; Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Naxos 8.572139

@Grigorian.Com

The two glorious vocal collections by Spanish contemporary composer Lorenzo Palomo feature many influences from traditional Spanish, Sephardic or Arab roots to more modern day contemporary and quasi jazz tonalities. The rich tonal colours and harmonies are only surpassed by the ever present musical “surprise” lurking around every corner.

The eleven songs comprising My Secluded Garden are composed to the Spanish love poems of Celedonio Romero, the late “grand maestro of the guitar”. Love with all its surprises offers Palomo the opportunity to superimpose the above mentioned styles. Soprano Maria Bayo’s voice is occasionally too shrill but she is confident in her attitude, while guitarist Pepe Romero (Celedonio’s son) provides a perfect backdrop. Callen los pinos, is the melodic gem of the collection with an unforgettable fortissimo climax and a sudden sweet ending.

Love is still the lyric theme in Madrigal and Five Sephardic Songs. The composer sets the traditional texts to a more uniform musical influence, this time the melodies of Jewish songs. Now Bayo’s voice is rich and deep, her intonation flawless, while the guitar setting allows Romero to display his mastery.

Concierto de Cienfuegos for four guitars and orchestra is given a superb rendition by The Romero Guitar Quartet and the Seville Royal Symphony Orchestra. With many musical surprises, this three movement work with Spanish flavours is easy on the ears though deeply rooted in contemporary harmonies and rhythmic variations.

The biggest surprise of the day however was how much I enjoyed “My Secluded Garden” and Lorenzo Palomo’s music. Ole!

Tiina Kiik

Korngold - Violin Concerto
Philippe Quint; Orquestr Sinfoinica de Mineria; Carlos Miguel Prieto
Naxos 8.570791

@Grigorian.Com

Erich Wolfgang Korngold is now chiefly remembered for his outstanding Hollywood movie scores of the late 1930s and early 1940s, but 20 years earlier he had been an established and much-admired young prodigy in Europe, even managing to impress Mahler with his music when only 9 years old. His return to a completely changed European concert scene after the Second World War failed to repeat his earlier successes, however, and he died, scarcely remembered, in 1957.

His Violin Concerto, though, has never left the repertoire, probably because it so successfully combines both of Korngold’s musical worlds. Written in 1945 at the behest of Bronislaw Huberman and premiered by Heifetz in 1947, it is a rich and tuneful late-Romantic work, at times strongly reminiscent of the Barber concerto, with the main themes in all three movements taken from the composer’s own film scores.

Philippe Quint is, as usual, in wonderful form in a warm and beautifully recorded performance. If you don’t yet know his brilliant playing, then take advantage of the great Naxos price to discover it now!

Two early orchestral works complete the CD. Overture to a Drama, from 1911, was the first work the 14-year-old Korngold orchestrated on his own; the influence of Mahler is clearly apparent. The Much Ado About Nothing Suite dates from 1918, and is perhaps better-known in the arrangement the composer made for violin and piano, also available on Naxos.

Terry Robbins

Prokofiev - Piano Concertos 2 & 3
Evgeny Kissin; Philharmonia Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy
EMI Classics 2 64536 2

@Grigorian.Com

For his third release on the EMI label super-star pianist Evgeny Kissin finds himself in convivial company with a program of Prokofiev concertos conducted by his compatriot Vladimir Ashkenazy. Prokofiev’s Second Concerto is new to Kissin’s extensive discography and will no doubt be eagerly sought out by his many fans. There is no question that his steely technique is up to the task of this technically demanding work with its crushing, heaven-storming passages, though there is poetry as well in his relatively restrained, rubato-inflected opening movement. Alas, the London-based Philharmonia Orchestra has seen better days, and Ashkenazy’s direction is, perhaps understandably as he has famously recorded all of Prokofiev’s concertos himself, exceedingly deferential to the soloist. The EMI recording balances the piano far to the fore, with unrealistic results, while excessive filtering meant to obliterate audience noises in these spliced-together concert performances create a rather dry, bass-deficient ambience.

The album also features Kissin’s third recording of Prokofiev’s ever-popular Third Concerto, following previous discs dating from his earlier contracts with RCA and Deutsche Grammophon. Again, fans of the pianist may care to invest in this newer, curiously humourless version, though Kissin’s earlier Abbado-led Berlin Philharmonic DG recording features a superior orchestra and more sensitive direction. Even better, seek out the classic Martha Argerich performance with these same forces, which remains far more compelling.

Daniel Foley

Stravinsky and the Ballet Russes - The Firebird; The Rite of Spring
The Mariinsky Orchestra and Ballet;
Valery Gergiev
BelAir classiques DVD BAC041

@Grigorian.Com

This is an outstanding and important document of an historic event. The celebrated riot that occurred on the 6th of May, 1913 during the first performance of the new ballet, Le Sacre du Printemps was the expression by the outraged audience at being assaulted visually and aurally by Sergei Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes. A year earlier Diaghilev had delighted them with a work commissioned from Ravel, Daphnis et Chloë, choreographed by Michel Fokine. Earlier Vaslav Nijinsky had caused a minor riot with his languid, homo-erotic vision of Debussy’s Prelude à l’apres-midi d’un faune, which he was obliged to secretly choreograph in his room. But Le Sacre was something new, unheard of and unexpected in every respect. Pounding and brutal rhythms with rapid time changes drove the dancers to unrefined movements and inelegant poses. In a complete reversal of the usual order of things, Le Sacre began with the music for which a storyline had to be devised. It became the rites of an ancient Slavic tribe attempting to alter their destiny. The night of May 6, 1913 was the beginning of the end of Le Belle Epoch. WW1 didn’t help.

If you buy this DVD, as you really should, be sure to watch and absorb the bonus features, including an interview with art historian Kenneth Archer and Millicent Dodson whose re-construction of Nijinsky’s undocumented choreography was certainly a labour of love. This is a fascinating account as Dodson outlines and particularises on the search for documents, evidence, and people to illuminate this seemingly impossible task. Along with that, the costumes, their colors and the scenery presented further enigma. We also witness Dodson and Archer supervising the 120 hours of rehearsals in St. Petersburg. Now, one can grasp what is happening on the stage featuring up to 47 dancers, often with individual choreographic roles. The huge Kirov Orchestra under Gergiev plays with extraordinary vehemence and savagery, the like of which one would never hear in an orchestral concert. It certainly works here.

Also included is The Firebird, presented as originally staged with the choreography of Michel Fokine and the sets designed by Fokine, Alexander Golovin and Leon Bakst. These live performances were captured in high definition, wide screen video. The extraordinarily wide dynamic range is thrilling in 5.1 audio.

Bruce Surtees

Editor’s Note: See Old Wine in New Bottles elsewhere in these pages for a newly released version of Le Sacre du Printemps from a conductor admired by the composer.

French Flute Chamber Music
Mirage Quintet
Naxos 8.570444

I’m not sure how “real” the Mirage Quintet is – a quick Google of the name reveals no references to concerts performed anywhere, and the ensemble’s discography seems to consist entirely of this recording.

But never mind. Even if the group is just a mirage, its players are all fine musicians: Canada’s reigning flutist, Robert Aitken; leading studio musician and Aitken’s long-time recital partner, harpist Erica Goodman; violinist Jacques Israelievitch, recently retired as concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; and violist Teng Li and cellist Winona Zelenka, both current principals of that orchestra.

The music is also quite fine: several works are thoroughly impressionistic in style, others are touched with neo-classicism, but all are very French. CD collectors shouldn’t be discouraged if some of the early 20th-century compositions recorded here are unfamiliar.

Marcel Tournier was himself a harpist, as his lush writing for the instrument suggests. But his Op.34 Suite isn’t just a showpiece for the harp; it’s true chamber music, with a sophisticated interplay of instrumental forces. I particularly like the way the Mirage players dig into the final movement’s big, emphatic chords with an expansive sweep.

Similarly, Florent Schmitt’s Suite en rocaille Op. 84 is an elegant work – although there’s an edgy urgency in the second and fourth movements. And Gabriel Pierné’s Variations libres et finale derives an archaic quality from the composer’s use of the Lydian mode. Jean Françaix’s Quintette is a charming piece; and so is Roussel’s Sérénade Op. 30, although its instrumental effects and harmonic leanings also give it a quirky, modernist quality.

This isn’t the deepest music ever written – it’s a little too suave to be profound. But it is enjoyable, and very well performed.

Colin Eatock

The Berlin Recital
Gidon Kremer; Martha Argerich
EMI Classics 6 93999 2

The first thing that strikes you about this 2CD set, recorded in concert at the Berlin Philharmonie in December 2006, is the obvious disparity between the two featured composers, Schumann and Bartok. The links suggested in the booklet notes - two pianist-composers who wrote for every musical genre and were both interested in musical education - are unconvincing and tenuous at best, but what does make these two an interesting pairing is not their supposed similarities but their clear and contrasting differences.

Each is represented by a sonata for violin and piano - No.2 of Schumann, No.1 of Bartok - and a solo work - Bartok’s solo violin sonata for Kremer and Schumann’s Kinderszenen for Argerich.

The duo works could not be more different in sound or style, with Schumann’s conservative approach treating the somewhat subdued violin as part of the overall texture, while Bartok treats the two instruments independently, making great technical demands of the players. Kremer and Argerich have been performing together for many years (they recorded the Schumann sonatas for DGG in 1986) and it shows - they clearly think and feel as one.

The solo works, too, are simply light years apart. Both receive outstanding performances here, but Kremer’s stunning playing in the fiendishly difficult Bartok really steals the show.

Audience presence is apparent before and after each work, but thankfully never for a moment during the performances.

Two Kreisler encores, Liebeslied and Schon Rosmarin, round out this attractively-priced set.

Grieg - Sonata; Lyrical Pieces;

Holberg Suite
Derek Yaple-Schobert
XXI XXI-CD 2 1604

Claude Debussy once referred to the piano music of Edvard Grieg as “pink bon bons filled with snow.” Today this seems an unkind description, for generations of pianists have delighted in these small gems (myself included), and rightly so – Grieg was a supreme miniaturist, easily capturing a wide range of moods on a small canvas.

This new CD featuring pianist Derek Yaple-Schobert on the XXI label, is a delight, and offers a thoughtfully-chosen program of Grieg’s piano music, ranging from the familiar to the less well-known. A native of Montreal, Yaple-Schobert (who bears an eerie physical resemblance to the young Grieg himself) has long had an affinity with music by Nordic composers, having studied in both Denmark and Sweden. Here, he opens not with one of the small pieces, but with Grieg’s Sonata in E minor, an early work from 1865. The playing is confident and boldly self-assured, as befits the impassioned mood of the music. More lyrical – and certainly more familiar – are Shepherd Boy and Notturno from the Six Lyrical Pieces Op.54 (the entire set is included) which Yaple-Schobert treats with great finesse. By contrast, the March of the Trolls, a quick-paced rustic dance with its ostinato rhythms provides him an opportunity to demonstrate an impressive technique.

One of Grieg’s most familiar and popular pieces, the Holberg Suite has been heard so often in its version for string orchestra that we tend to forget that it originally began as a solo piano piece. In Yaple-Schobert’s capable hands, the neo-Baroque spirit comes through admirably, and from the beginning, he has no trouble in convincing us that this music is as well suited to the solo keyboard as it is to a string orchestra. So I would say gratulerer (congratulations) to Mr. Yaple-Schobert on a fine recording. Bon bons filled with snow? I think not!

Richard Haskell