What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XI)

Preferred the above acoustic versions of the Redemption Road album Jeff. It's available on Spotify if you want to have a listen to it Jeff.

Thanks, I will look for it.

edit:  don't see it on Spotify US.  They do have a Live at McCabes I haven't listened to, sounds interesting as those are generally very small acoustic dates.

Chocolate Genius "Black Music"

1998 release from Marc Anthony Thompson who really is a musical genius in my book.  Fortunate to have seen he and his band open for Chris Whitley back in 2002.  Great songwriter and performer.  Marches to his own beat.

My limit for the day, I feel the trolls hovering.  Good listenin'. 

1st run

Madonna's finest hour IMO. I just needed some sumptuous pop with a bit of drama sprinkled with William Orbit fairy dust to soothe the pain of the impending new week. Hit the spot perfectly.

+1. Listening to this yesterday, some great stuff.

Savall and Koopman in their remake of Bach's sonatas for viola da gamba, a very fine recording that starts out rather tame with a transcription of the organ sonata BWV 529 and really comes into its own in the three gamba sonatas. 

EJ

Riviera Paradise is the perfect way to end an evening's listening.

On vinyl. Some Sunday evening chill out music.

On vinyl.

Samson François is Less suave than Michelangeli but love his bold solid style.

He can sort notes without sounding fussy.

Sophistication comes from Cluyten's polished orchestration. 

It is jazzy and modern with good build and textures. Cluytens adds a sense of mystery to the score altho 

Adagio Assai could have been more retrospective.

During workout 1st run, laid back jazz. Nice but not extremely exciting / challenging

Now during breakfast no classical piano. Have the feeling that I need to run in my cables a bit more with bass / lower tone material. So this one not realy bass oriented but nice guitar jazz....

Out 18th May.

A lovely way to start the day or end an evening. Out 18th May

Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major

Somehow I got the feeling that in this tune, Martha's heart wasn't in it.

This is a fun set. But I am more impressed with Abbado’s creative orchestration than Argerich’s piano which is good but not special enough.

Werner Haas/Alceo Galliera - Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra

Coming right off from Abbado/Argerich, the presentation is a lot lighter, sounds a bit serious missing a playfulness. 

Precise piano playing with a clear touch. it's just a bit more angular and structured and it has more of *Germanic* drama than flamboyant jazz age French lyricism.

Werner Haas was a good player, tho. PIt that his life was so short.

Fancy a bit of jazz this morning so kicking off with a recommendation from my friend Steve J :-

Streaming | Spotify Premium

Hopkinson Smith ~ A Dream (by Dowland) (2008)

A good assessment from an Amazonian:

"Dowland himself was arguably the greatest lutenist of his time and left a very substantial body of work, much of it in the melancholy style which was very fashionable in England in the late 16th and early 17th Centuries - hence his famous "Semper Dowland, simper dolens." However, he also wrote spirited dances and pieces with real charm and Smith has chosen a fine selection here. Some are very well known like the great Earl Of Essex's Galliard (the instrumental setting of the song Can She Excuse), others are more obscure but no less enjoyable. It's a lovely programme and a disc which can be listened to from beginning to end without it ever flagging or beginning to sound samey.

This is an large part due to Hopkinson Smith's wonderful playing. He has a lovely sweetness of tone which almost sounds like a Spanish guitar at times and a slightly freer rhythmic approach than some other performers and I find the combination very attractive. He also has a fabulous skill which allows him to make some of these very demanding pieces sound utterly simple and natural. He sounds almost playful in some of the trills and incredibly quick runs in Lady Hunsdon's Allemande, for example, and an air of real love for the music pervades the whole disc."

Really enjoying this album. Very upbeat and uplifting!

Fresh modern jazz on Bandcamp:

Streaming | Spotify Premium

Hopkinson Smith ~ Portrait (originally recorded 1976)

A nice mix of composers from Bach and Dowland to Milan and Navarez, beautifully played. 

CD rip. Excellent album.

Quite refreshing cello album, you just need to try it and see if you like it. It's not something which is comparable to something which already exists.