In Good Company

Canadian Chamber Choir

Independent CCCCD001

www.canadianchamberchoir.ca

The Canadian Chamber Choir, under Artistic Director Julia Davids, have aptly named their first release “In Good Company”. Why? Really only a respectful musical environment can create the cohesive singing, beautiful tone, and intelligent musicality evident on this release. Even more remarkable is that this is even humanly possible considering that the members are spread across the Canada, and the group only gets together to rehearse in intense short duration workshops a few of times a year.

This all-Canadian ten composer release encompasses a variety of styles and vocal configurations. Especially glorious is Tawnie Olson's Chantez à l'Eternel for its ethereal quality. Allan Rae's Mvt #5 Allegro from Keltic Suite is a rhythmic departure from the usual lush choral sound. The hilarious Figures de danse by Lionel Daunais has the choir kicking up its heels. The choir's commission, At Sunset by composer and choir bass Jeff Enns is a tad lengthy but does utilize CCC's vocal ensemble strengths, while highlighting special guest soloist mezzo-soprano Christianne Rushton. The other special guests on the release, cellist Sehee Kim and pianist Joel Tranquilla, are also excellent on their respective tracks.

I was really surprised at the superb quality of the Canadian Chamber Choir. This group can sing lush harmonics and independent contrapuntal lines with equal expertise. Anyone even remotely interested in choral music will find “In Good Company” a welcome guest in their musical homes.

Eric Whitacre - Choral Music

Elora Festival Singers; Noel Edison

Naxos 8.559677

This recording will appeal to admirers of well-crafted choral music that judiciously incorporates contemporary musical techniques. American composer Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) has cultivated a style where added notes and tone clusters are the norm in higher registers. With careful attention to pitch content, texture, register, and dynamics, seldom is an unattractive sound heard. Though based in innovations by other composers great and small, Whitacre’s music shows special artistry in focusing technique to ends. In Her Sacred Spirit Soars, simply thickening and thinning sonorities as pitches rise and fall conveys the sacred spirit of the music’s long-breathed motion. I particularly like the mystical sense in Lux aurumque (Light of Gold), about which the composer aptly speaks of spiritual processes: “blossoming” and “surrendering” to light.

There are effective piano-accompanied settings, of E.E. Cummings’ little tree with its ecstatic ending, and of Octavio Paz’s Little Birds which includes whistling, repeated consonants and quasi-aleatoric (random) singing. I prefer the sensitivity to mood in the short lyrical works; When David Heard and percussion-enhanced Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine have longer minimalist passages I find less convincing.

Noel Edison’s splendid Elora Festival Singers are up to Eric Whitacre’s every challenge. Perfectly pitched, vibrato-less sopranos in multiple parts produce sounds of wonderful life. All sections contribute to the tour-de-force with well-balanced sonorous blocks and long-decaying tones evoking reverberant space. Which brings me to close by noting the fine production and engineering by Bonnie Silver and Norbert Kraft of this important recording.

Alessandro Scarlatti - Complete Keyboard Works, Vol.2

Alexander Weimann

ATMA ACD2 2528

Alexander Weimann, currently director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra and an impressively versatile musician, has undertaken to record the complete keyboard works of Alessandro Scarlatti. So far, this survey has focused largely on toccatas omitting what Weimann deems as pedagogical works or what one musicologist has simply called “pupil fodder”.

These early 18th century pieces rarely specified the keyboard instrument for which they were intended and over the years performers have produced recordings for harpsichord, organ, piano and even arrangements for electronic keyboard with digitally sampled sounds!

The choice of pipe organ, however, does offer several strong artistic merits. This instrument in particular, with its Baroque voicing and tonal plan, gives Scarlatti’s music a degree of colour difficult to achieve on any other keyboard instrument. Its tracker action (direct mechanical linkage to the keyboard) also provides for remarkably fast single-note repetitions that are impossible on harpsichords and most lesser pianos.

All the tracks on these two CDs reflect Weimann’s fine musical decisions regarding tempo, phrasing and registration (tonal colour). Despite some very high speed passage work, Weimann maintains a clarity and crispness that delivers each note when it might otherwise be easier to drop a few. His playing uses the instrument to its greatest advantage.

ATMA cites the instrument as a 1993 Wilhelm at Église Trés-Saint-Rédempteur in Montreal but neglects to offer a complete “stop” list which most other organ recordings would do. Organ fans can be obsessively curious about these things and will hope for more information in Volume Three.

Overall Weimann offers a very listenable and fresh take on Italian keyboard music from the Baroque that is often overshadowed by the German school of the same era.

Mozart - Piano Concertos 22 & 23

Daniel Barenboim; Bavarian RSO; Rafael Kubelik

BR Klassik 900709

Mozart - Piano Concertos 20 & 27

Evgeny Kissin; Kremerata Baltica

EMI Classics 6 26645 2

Was it Anton Rubinstein who once said “Eternal sunshine thy name is Mozart?” Whoever it was would undoubtedly applaud the addition of two new Mozart piano concerto recordings to the already vast number available, performed by two pianists now considered to be among the world’s greatest.

At the age of 67, Daniel Barenboim may be considered one the veterans of the concert-stage, as both pianist and conductor. His newest offering, on the BR Klassik label, features performances from the archives of concertos No.22 and 23 along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony under the direction of Rafael Kubelik. Concerto No.22, written in Vienna in 1785, is a joyful and optimistic work, and here the music is treated in a fresh and engaging manner. The tempo of the first movement, while perhaps a bit brisk, doesn’t detract from the performance, while the second movement Andante and the exuberant Rondo finale constitute a perfect pairing between soloist and orchestra. Concerto No.23 from 1786, was recorded live, and once again, the fine performance is further enhanced by the excellent sound quality – clean and dynamic, it’s as good as you would find today. Recorded in 1970, it’s a mystery as to why it took so long to release these exemplary performances, but they were well worth the wait. This disc is a gem!

No matter what we may think of Evgeny Kissin’s personal eccentricities, there is no denying that he has long been regarded as one of the finest pianists around today. This EMI recording, with concertos No.20 and 27, marks his first in a joint role of pianist/conductor along with the Kremerata Baltica. Here, Kissin, who is more renowned for his interpretations of romantic-period repertoire, proves that Mozart, too, can be treated in a more passionate manner than is usually encountered. From the opening measures of the Concerto No.20 – one of only two Mozart wrote in a minor key - Kissin easily captures the dark and forbidding mood of this tempestuous music. His approach is bold and romantic – which may not be to everyone’s tastes - but Kissin makes it all sound particularly convincing. At the other end of the scale is the serene and ethereal Concerto No.27, Mozart’s last. While his treatment remains romantic, he demonstrates more restraint here, in keeping with the overall mood of the piece. At all times, the Kremerata Baltica provides a sensitive accompaniment, and it would seem that Kissin is as adept at leading an ensemble as he is with performing.

Two fine recordings featuring exemplary repertoire performed by outstanding artists – it doesn’t get much better than this!

Beethoven - The Five Piano Concertos
Paul Lewis; The BBC Symphony Orchestra; Jiří Bělohlávek
Harmonia Mundi HMC 902053.55

The field of Beethoven piano concerto cycles has reached a point of saturation. To stand out, the performers, especially the pianist must be utterly distinctive. Paul Lewis breaks out of the crowd providing a banquet for Beethoven lovers... even those with jaded ears.

I listened to this set in numerical order and I was initially conscious of some idiosyncratic phrasing from the soloist but that changed to total immersion in Beethoven’s genius.

On first hearing, the opening of Lewis’s solo in the first movement of the first concerto impressed me as rather less imaginative than I would have expected. The rest of the movement corrected this impression. The second movement, Largo, is disarmingly tranquil. Delivered as heartfelt poetry, “It floats”. In truth, all the slow movements to follow, whether Adagio or Largo, are played with the same rapt absorption. The third movement is exhilarating where in the joy, the pulse and the humour are clearly conveyed by soloist, conductor, and orchestra alike.

Of these concertos, the first two are “classical”, the third concerto has clearly has romantic buds but even being in a minor key, has an air of optimism throughout. Lewis’s performance reflects these characteristics most convincingly. Number four is a leap into the romantic and Lewis and Bělohlávek are well adjusted to the sombre and serious mood to the extent that their performance is as good as the very best versions I have heard.

The fifth concerto is the most celebrated, a festive work on a large scale that is heard here to be just that. The orchestral texture points to a large orchestra and leaves behind the “period” approach. Again a superlative, thrilling performance.

Bělohlávek and Lewis work hand-in-glove, completely in agreement throughout the cycle, achieving ideal balances between piano and orchestra. I have to mention that I have not heard a piano more faithfully reproduced than on these discs recorded by the BBC.

Without discounting any of the keyboard titans who has gone before, Lewis is much more than competitive. We all have our favourites whose performances, quite often, are imprinted as the touchstone by which to judge others. Let me just say that I enjoy these new performances immensely and, after returning to them often over the past few weeks, find them captivating.

Pinnacles - Music of Diana McIntosh

Various Artists

Centrediscs CMCCD 15810

The CD cover picture of composer/pianist Diana McIntosh standing on Ophidian Glacier says it all – she loves the great outdoors. Her compositional inspirations range from Canadian glaciers to the peaks of Kilimanjaro in this intriguing new release.

McIntosh evokes nature's wide open spaces through her use of her wide open melodic intervals. (An interval is the distance between two adjacent notes). Any listener still wary of new music's dissonant qualities will quickly be won over by her use of sound to evoke images of natural beauty.

McIntosh is also an excellent pianist who is continuing the centuries old tradition of the composer performing their own works. Like popular music's singer/songwriters, nobody really plays her music better than McIntosh herself. However, she has guided the other featured instrumentalists to interpret perfectly. Of special note is violinist Karl Stobbe in the opening chamber music track Approaching Kilimanjaro, and to no surprise, the composer's longtime collaborator, local percussion superstar Beverley Johnston in the duet Uhuru Kamili. Only McIntosh's spoken text/narration in From Wapta Ice is slightly over the top in its emotive qualities, and could be more understated to better fit in with her musical sensibilities.

The good people at the Canadian Music Centre’s Centrediscs have yet again produced a high quality release. “Pinnacles” showcases the music of Diana McIntosh at the pinnacle of her artistic career.

Wild Bird
Duo Concertante; Barbara Budd
Centrediscs CMCCD 16110

Violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves formed Duo Concertante in 1997, and have had over a dozen works for violin and piano commissioned for them from Canada’s leading composers. Three – R. Murray Schafer, Chan Ka Nin and Kati Agócs - are represented on this fascinating and beautifully-produced CD from the Canadian Music Centre.

Schafer’s works open and close the disc. His tremendous three-movement Duo, premiered in 2008, is a real gem, and the best work on the CD for me.

Chan Ka Nin’s Late in a Slow Time is the longest - and most immediately striking – work of the four. In 2001 the composer heard Nova Scotia poet Carole Glasser Langille, a friend of the Duo, reading from her book of poems of the same title, and was inspired to write a musical work that would incorporate the recitation of the poems. Barbara Budd is an outstanding narrator in a work that draws you in and doesn’t let go.

Kati Agócs’ Supernatural Love follows, but on first hearing suffers somewhat in comparison, being perhaps more in the expected style of a contemporary work. Difficult at first, it repays repeated listening.

Schafer’s Wild Bird, originally for violin and harp, was written in 1997 for Jacques Israelievitch’s 50th birthday. Timothy Steeves transcribed the harp part at the composer’s suggestion. It’s a wonderful piece, intended to “celebrate the violin’s versatility”, as the excellent booklet notes tell us. That it certainly does!

Nina

Kellylee Evans

Plus Loin Music PL4528

www.kellyleeevans.com

Recognized for writing and delivering songs of exquisite beauty and depth, Kellylee Evans is a perfect example of musical honesty in its purest form. Several years back, the sweet-voiced Ottawa-based singer-songwriter was summoned to France to record an album for the Plus Loin label. “They said I could do whatever I wanted as long as it was standards”, Evans recalls. She decided to dedicate the recording to Nina Simone, selecting a dozen songs famously cut by The High Priestess of Soul. Talk about a challenging undertaking! Simone – who began playing Bach as a toddler – was a legendary pianist, vocalist, composer and civil rights advocate, one of the 20th century’s most important (and arguably, underrated) musical geniuses; in her 70 years on earth she forged an unmistakable style fused with classical, jazz, pop, rock, folk and her own originals. The impressive results demonstrate Evans’ impeccable taste.

It was a wise decision not to include keys on the recording, as Simone was incomparable as a pianist. Instead, Evans is joined by shining Chicagoan Marvin Sewell on guitars and two of France’s finest sidemen, François Moutin on bass and André Ceccarelli on drums. What makes this recording shine is how freshly these songs are re-imagined. Whereas Simone’s gritty voice was dramatically fuelled by anguish, Evans’ interpretation of the same material scintillates with a pure, soulful optimism. Here’s hoping this outstanding effort earns new fans for both Kellylee Evans and Nina Simone.

The Beat Goes On

Emilie-Claire Barlow

Independent EMG445

www.emilyclairebarlow.com

With “The Beat Goes On” Toronto-based jazz singer Emilie-Claire Barlow has done what a few wise singers are doing these days, namely looking to more recent eras and songwriters for fresh material rather than the overdone American Songbook. This time out, Barlow has focused her considerable talents and jazz sensibilities on the 60s. The opening track sets the tone for the album as Kelly Jefferson provides nuanced sax fills on a swingy 6/8 version of Bacharach's Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. Barlow has written all the arrangements herself and the stripped down instrumentation that predominates fits her light, pretty voice like a Pucci print dress. We feel transported to a Yorkville coffeehouse as just bass and congas (Ross MacIntyre and Davide Direnzo) accompany These Boots Were Made for Walkin'. Very groovy. Iconic sounds of the 60s bubble up in the woodwinds on Soul Bossa Nova as it's mashed up with the classic Sonny & Cher title track.

An exploration of the 60s wouldn't be complete without a journey to that hotbed of musical innovation, Rio de Janiero, and the cover of O Barquinho (My Little Boat) featuring Reg Schwager’s nylon string guitar skills perfectly evokes a carefree Brazilian day. Barlow’s specialty is bossa nova (do yourself a favour and find her version of O Pato on YouTube) so when she surprisingly imposes that style on Dylan’s Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright it actually works.

“The Beat Goes On” will be released on October 12. Barlow is performing live to air on JazzFM91 October 21 at 7:00 PM and at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre May 14, 2011.

Double Portrait

Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes

Blue Note 509996 27560 2 0

Successful piano duets call for the ability to listen to each other bend a little, give up some ego and converse with each other. Oscar Peterson and Count Basie, Willie “The Lion” Smith and Don Ewell, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, Dick Wellstood and Dick Hyman all demonstrated the art of duet playing.

Add to the list the team of Charlap and Rosnes. This is the first duet recording by these two outstanding pianists. It is a sensitive, beautifully played, beautifully recorded set of superior compositions which demonstrate just how well this husband and wife team blend their talents with an intuitive understanding of each other.

There is one original by Rosnes, The Saros Cycle and the eight additional tracks include the seldom heard Little Glory by Gerry Mulligan, Inner Urge by Joe Henderson, Double Rainbow, by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Howard Dietz, and the Arthur Schwartz standard Dancing In The Dark.

Musical magic happened when this album was recorded December 27-29, 2009 at the Kaufmann Concert Hall, 92nd Street Y, New York City. The playing throughout is flawless and it is to be hoped that it will be only the first from this enjoyable and satisfying collaboration.

Songs of Innocence
Hannes Loeschel
Col Legno WWW 1CD 20903
www.col-legno.com

British mystical poet William Blake’s 1794 cycle Songs of Innocence and Experience has inspired many composers including Benjamin Britten and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Yet this treatment of the unconventional poet’s masterwork is notable for more than full-color illustrations for each of the 18 songs included in the session’s the lavishly produced booklet. The top-flight and ever changing arrangements here were created by Viennese composer/keyboardist Hannes Loeschel, and performed by him plus an Austrian combo of guitars, electric pianos, bass, drums and trumpet.

Loeschel’s compositions echo his familiarity with Continental jazz, improv, notated and theatre music. How then does he retain the intrinsic English nature of Blake’s work? By having the verses sung by British vocalist Phil Minton. Minton, whose usual performances involve wordless vocalese of yowls, retches and cries, rises to the occasion. His parlando respectfully reflects Blake’s singular, quasi-religious beliefs, while his lilting and passionate musicality makes it appear as if singing the poet’s words is an everyday occurrence.

Meanwhile the highly syncopated and heavily rhythmic backing could impress pop fans with its beat, and jazzers with its supple sophistication. Intelligent jazz-rock, the music is driven by drummer Mathias Koch’s backbeat and illuminated by rough-hewn twangs and distorted snaps and echoes from guitarists Michael Bruckner-Weinhuber and Burkhard Stangl plus trumpeter Thomas Berghammer flashing grace notes. Redefining and extending Blake’s 18th Century visions with modernistic, but not alienating sounds is a momentous achievement. Loeschel, Minton and the others should be lustily applauded.

Don’t Hold Your Breath
Gary Grant
Independent GG-2010
www.garygrantmusic.com

You may not be familiar with his name, but you’ve heard him on a host of recordings with, for example, Barbara Streisand, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole and movie and TV sound tracks such as First Wives Club, Eraser, Forest Gump, Grumpier Old Men II, The Simpsons and Tales From the Crypt, to name only a few.

This CD of original jazz/Latin jazz compositions is his second album under his own name and it’s a good one.

I must confess that when I see a programme of all original compositions it sometimes raises a little red flag, but in this instance the compositions are interesting, full of imagination and beautifully played. He has with him an assortment of hugely talented musicians including Dan Higgins, alto and tenor saxophones, Vinnie Colaiuta, drums, Wally Minko, piano/keyboards, Wayne Bergeron, trumpet, Brian Bromberg, bass and Johnny Friday, drums.

If you are into Latin flavoured jazz this release will be an addition to your collection which will stand up to repeated listening. There is an informative booklet describing each track. One of my favourites is a beautiful ballad by pianist Wally Minko, I Still Hear You, featuring Grant’s flugelhorn playing, but there is plenty of high energy playing throughout the album as in Get It Straight and American Native.

“Don’t Hold Your Breath” can be purchased online at CDBaby.

Kelly Jefferson is a top flight saxophonist and cements his reputation on Kelly Jefferson Quartet “Next Exit” (Cellar Live CL033110 www.cellarlive.com), a bracing eight-track outing. Add his forceful leadership to pianist David Braid, who also tackles Fender Rhodes and synths, bass Marc Rogers and drummer Mark McLean and it’s a truly gifted combo. Group cohesion may be showcased and Jefferson’s relentless drive tempered by sleek tones but his adroit negotiation of the labyrinthine complexity of much of this music is admirable - he penned five tunes, including the joyfully creative title piece, on which Braid’s keyboard work also excels. There’s crafted unison playing, special horn effects and much sophisticated jazz of emotional depth. Unconditional’s attractive lines are almost romantic but on the ensuing Give Away, Take Away there’s daunting time shifts plus breezily confident sax and Rhodes offerings over a thick harmonic palette. Jefferson’s playing on his ballad Glass is splendid. The pulse team is strong, notably on upbeat romps. *Jefferson leaves for Thailand and South Korea with the Shuffle Demons on Oct. 12.

One-time Torontonian Peter Van Huffel, who toured his band through Canada this summer, now performs in Berlin after a New York stint. Pity if you missed him - this group is terrific. The alto saxist wrote all 10 tunes on Peter Van Huffel Quartet “Like the Rusted Key” (Fresh Sound/New Talent FSNT361 www.petervanhuffel.com) and they’re an invigorating blast of originality in an era when many struggle to find a singular voice. The ingenious material, mostly out of left field, is well executed by lively colleagues – American pianist Jesse Stacken, Canadian bassist Miles Perkin and Swiss drummer Samuel Rohrer – so that at times it sounds like four soloists in action. Pugnacious opener Drift precedes the dark, disquieting Tangent, while other tracks build and release tension, create a multihued sonic tapestry and properly judge climactic accents – all evident on Enghavevej. Three pieces with Beast in the title are free jazz assaults, while elsewhere Van Huffel’s mercurial, vibrant tones excite. Havens of calm exist but even on Atonement the music’s charged with extreme shifts of mood and velocity.

Twenty years ago jazzman Bill King was big on singing and he’s returned to it with the latest release from his entertaining outfit, Rockit 88 Band. “Sweet Sugar Cane” (7 Arts 7 Arts 0020 www.reverbnation.com/rockit88band) is a dozen-track session mindful of the intimate relationship between jazz and blues, with the heavy lifting done by King’s piano and organ and Neil Chapman’s guitar. Also aboard are violinist Anne Lindsay, bass Lionel Williams, drummer Jim Casson and vocalists, with the big surprise on this sounds-of-the-south tribute that the songs are original - eight by King, Chapman the rest. The groove is heavy and heady, no harmonic clutter or too-dense charts, while passionate lyrics with contemporary clout predominate, King taking singing and composing honours. Tracks to note are the fluent, sensuous titler, the gospel-drenched I Can’t Live Without You, Independence Day and the Delta blues blast Mississippi Grind.

Group recordings are frequently one-offs, but often better are units that stay together, like pianist Steve Koven’s team that’s been an item for almost two decades. Experience is well demonstrated on the 10 tracks of Steve Koven Trio “Alone Together” (Bungalow Records SKT008 www.stevekoven.com). Seven are standards, with each band member – the leader plus imaginative bassist Rob Clutton and drummer Anthony Michelli – contributing an original. The players weave with ease and precision through material robust and delicate, the pianist’s motifs refreshing the title tune on a relaxed, intimate session. There’s space for Clutton’s impressive bass, while Koven is a cooler version of Jackie Terrasson on classics like Indiana and Ain’t Misbehavin’ as well as a boogified Bye Bye Blackbird. Also pleasing is Clutton’s catchy Snowy Maple. *The CD release is Nov.6 at Crescent School Theatre, 2375 Bayview Ave.

Piainist Richard Whiteman is a familiar face around town, always versatile and resourceful. Adding the skills of bassist Brandi Disterheft and drummer Sly Juhas works well on Richard Whiteman Trio “Slow Night” (Tapas Records TPRD003 www.richardwhiteman.com). The session’s 11 tunes include vintage jazz and songbook items as well as two Whiteman tracks, the medium-paced title piece illuminating his finely-wrought single note runs and the perky Lush Jays. Overall the music’s tethered by too tight a rein despite the leader’s adroit way with ballads and bop. There’s nicely-judged detail on Love For Sale, a tasteful Night Mist Blues and a wistfully contemplative The Night Has A Thousand Eyes. *Whiteman is at Gate 403 with vocalist Shannon Gunn Oct. 6 and plays every Friday at The Rex with the Hogtown Syncopators.

Constantly the brunt of other musicians’ jokes for their supposed fixation on rhythm, over the years drummers have actually proven themselves as organized band leaders and sophisticated tunesmiths. Edmonton-born, Brooklyn-based percussionist Owen Howard strikes a blow for his stick-wielding brethren with Drum Lore (BJU Records BJUR 017 www.bjurecords.com), as he leads a sextet through compositions by 11 different drummers, including himself. His notable CD, along with others by drummer/leaders, demonstrates these players’ overall improvisational and compositional smarts. Howard proves his percussion adaptability with strategies ranging from understated paradiddles and pops backing muted trombone and slurry bass clarinet on Shelly Manne’s Flip, to cross pounded bounces and clattering opposite sticking that adds an undercurrent of gravitas to Alan Ferber’s trombone ostinato and call-and-response patterns from the three saxophonists on Ed Blackwell’s Togo. He’s even more impressive guiding the slinky polyrhythms of Jack DeJohnette’s Zoot Suite, as clattering cymbals and popping bass drum subtly shifts tempos from andante to moderato as the layered horn riffs expand in scrappy, cascading counterpoint. The drummer’s own Roundabout vibrates with shifting pulses as alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher’s refracting flutter-tonguing alters the melody already trilled by soprano saxophonist Adam Kolker. Howard’s blunt rebounds and splashing cymbals keep things moving until pianist Frank Carlberg’s wide-spaced comping signals the finale.

Howard’s CD shows jazz percussionists’ compositional versatility, while the six compositions on Woodblock Prints (No Business NBLP 18 www.nobusinessrecords.com) presents a singular vision by another drummer, Toronto native-turned Brooklynite Harris Eisenstadt. Program music based on celebrating the art of Japanese wood bock prints, this chamber-improv is played by a brass-heavy nonet. What isn’t expected is that Mark Taylor’s French horn and Jay Rozen’s tuba are frequently lead voices, with the burbling timbre crepuscule of Sara Schoenbeck’s bassoon often used for its unique tincture. Most demonstrative of Eisenstadt’s skills as a colourist is Hokusai, energized by his bell-tree shaking and tambourine smacks. Meanwhile hoarse, stuttering, bassoon patterns deconstruct the slow-gliding theme alongside Jonathan Goldberger’s guitar licks. Following Michael McGinnis’ squealing clarinet trills backed by the drummer’s ruffs and drags, Rozen’s extended tremolo line shepherds the variants towards Eisenstadt’s conclusive cymbal shimmies. Similarly on The Floating World, the narrative is defined as much by waddling tuba slurps plus diffuse French horn brays as liquid clarinet runs and pumping unison horns. The tubaist’s penultimate snort dissolves into pitch-sliding polytones as the drummer outlays shuffles, ruffs and bell-pings.

Less upfront as a performer, but responsible for all compositions on Sonnenschirm (Jazz Werkstatt JW 093 www.records-cd.com) is Heinrich Köbberling, a professor of percussion at Germany’s Leipzig University. He’s content using his cross strokes, opposite sticking, drags and rebounds to keep the session moderato, but with infectious, flowing rhythms. Rather than taking solos, Köbberling’s compositions and accompaniment give full reign to bassist Paul Imm, piano/accordionist Tino Derado and especially bass clarinettist Rudi Mahall. An unflappable tone explorer, Mahall adds sonic vitality to the often-jaunty tunes. Zahlen Bitte is a particular example of the reedman’s skills. Here his coloratura slides and tongue-stuttering face chiming piano lines. Circling around one another, all the textures then join to complete the melody. Meanwhile the drummer rolls and pumps in the background. Built on light-fingered piano harmonies, Konbanwa is another standout as the repeated theme variants are expressed sequentially by lyrical reed voicing and cascading piano chords.

Completely antithetical to the preceding discs is Pool School (Clean Feed CF 185 CD www.cleanfeedrecords.com), the first disc under the leadership of busy New York percussionist Tom Rainey. Consisting of 12 instant compositions, the CD depends as much on the inventiveness of guitarist Mary Halvorson and tenor and soprano saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock as Rainey’s drum dexterity. Yet as low-key and unforced as Rainey’s rhythms are, it’s their unruffled surge which keeps the dozen tracks moving. More Mesa for instance is taken agitato and moderato, with Laubrock’s pressurized vibrations as intense as the angled crunching runs from Halvorson. Yet the piece’s atmospheric identity is maintained through Rainey’s rim shot accents, hi-hat strokes and cymbal slaps. The drummer’s swirling cauldron of broken-octave rebounds and solid ruffs also create a subversive swing rhythm by the finale of Semi Bozo. Earlier, his ratcheting clicks and drum-top pops, the guitarist’s disconnected chording and slurred fingering plus the saxophonist’s rasping, low-pitched warbles appear to evolve in parallel rather than connective lines, until Rainey’s inverted sticking pushes them into harmonic concordance.

As these sessions prove, giving a sophisticated drummer freedom to innovate, results in much more than a rhythmic free-for-all.

The late Carlos Kleiber was one of the most esteemed and enigmatic conductors during the last quarter of the last century. He was an uncompromising perfectionist who demanded accuracy in even to the smallest details that might have passed unnoticed by others. Every one of his recordings bears witness to his preoccupation with perfection. He worked only when he needed money, demanded and was given extra rehearsal time and like his father, the illustrious Erich, was easily offended and would walk out of costly recording sessions. Not surprising then that he made comparatively few recordings. It was DG that issued more of his performances than any other label and the each and every one remains a top choice in a crowded market. To celebrate his 80th anniversary DG has issued two sets, a complete collection of CDs and a package of his complete Unitel videos. The CD set (4778826, 12 CDs) contains Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh, Schubert’s Third and Eighth, and Brahms’ Fourth Symphony all with The Vienna Philharmonic. The remarkable perfection of these blazing performances has never been bettered. I recall listening with a colleague to the LP of the Brahms Fourth when it was first issued trying, unsuccessfully, to find one wrong note, one wrong entry. There are also four complete operas: Die Fledermaus, La Traviata, Tristan und Isolde, and Der Freischutz. Featured singers include Hermann Prey, Lucia Popp, Rene Kollo, Julia Varady and Ivan Rebroff  (Fledermaus); Ilena  Cotrubas, Domingo and Milnes (Traviata); Kollo, Kurt Moll, Margaret Price, Fischer-Dieskau,  and Anton Dermota (Tristan); Peter Schreier, Gundula Janowitz, and Theo Adam (Freischutz). These classic versions, very well reviewed at the time, retain their freshness and each would be a prime choice.

The Kleiber videos (Unitel 0734605, 10 DVDs) have the memorable New Years Concerts from 1989 and 1992 with the Vienna Philharmonic playing in the Musikverein to an elegant audience and, in fact, to the world by satellite. Always a must see, these two were especially important as they had Kleiber on the podium. We next find him in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam in front of their orchestra in two Beethoven Symphonies, the Fourth and the Seventh, and then back to Vienna for the Mozart 36 and the Brahms Second with the Philharmonic. In Munich he leads the Bavarian State Orchestra in the Coriolan Overture, Mozart 33, and the Brahms Fourth. Moving into the National Theatre in Munich there is an outstanding production of Der Rosenkavalier staged and directed by Otto Schenk. Heard and seen are Gwyneth Jones, Manfred Jungwirth, Brigitte Fassbaender, Benno Kusche, Lucia Popp and others. This was 1979 and the voices were in their prime. A second production from March 1994 with The Vienna State Opera was based on Schenk’s Munich production. Here are Felicity Lott, Kurt Moll, Anne Sophie von Otter, Gottfried Hornik, Barbara Bonney and others. Same conductor, different orchestra and soloists. Aficionados will have a great time rating the singers. Finally back to Munich for Die Fledermaus in a sparkling, high spirited, irresistible production with sets by Günter Schneider-Siemssen. Perfectly cast with Eberhard Wächter, Pamela Coburn, Benno Kusche, Brigitte Fassbaender (Orlofsky), Wolfgang Brendel, and others. This is an irresistible Viennese pastry to close out the programme. I was somewhat familiar with some of these videos but I had not anticipated being so captivated by them to the extent that to start any one meant to watch it through. Time consuming but rewarding.

About 20 years ago I was in the audience in Massey Hall when violinist Ivry Gitlis played the Tchaikovsky with the Toronto Philharmonic. This was a special occasion, an opportunity to hear one of the very last survivors of the school, or era of creative, subjective performers whose performances were always a personal statement, revealing new aspects of the score. I have enjoyed Gitlis’ recordings since the 1950s, especially his Sibelius Concerto with Jascha Horenstein which remains a favourite version. At about the same time he played that concerto with the New York Philharmonic under George Szell and that performance has just been released by DOREMI on a rather impressive collection of live performances (DRH-7981-3, 2 CDs plus 1 DVD). The set features Gitlis in virtuoso works from the late romantics plus 20th century repertoire. There is a Brahms Double featuring the impeccable artistry of the highly esteemed French cellist Maurice Gendron. Also the Paganini #2, Hindemith’s concerto and the violin concerto by René Liebowitz. The DVD is a treasure chest of eclectic selections from the concerto and sonata repertoire. Each piece re-affirms his individuality and virtuosity effecting a silvery, sensuous sound with new insights into the scores. Drawn from French and German television the DVD is very fine in clean and clear 1966-1992 colour.

In the good old days of the late 1950s and 1960s when we were ravenous (well, some of us) for new Decca/London FFSS LPs the name of Julius Katchen emerged as one of the elite of the classical repertoire with a complete Beethoven Concertos, complete Brahms piano music, a multitude of works from Mozart to Bartok and Gershwin plus trios with Joseph Suk and Janos Starker. Had he lived beyond his 42 years we may have heard his Bach. DOREMI has released a live performance of Bach’s second Partita BWV826 (DHR-7936), a magical performance by virtue of transparency and a beautiful singing style, arguing an excellent case for Bach on piano. Also heard are the Beethoven 43 Variations in C minor and a newly discovered performance from 1960 of Beethoven’s Fifth cello sonata with Pablo Casals. Then in his eighties, Casals was not as technically perfect as before but offers a deeply moving performance, supported by Katchen as an equal partner.