What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)
Posted by: Richard Dane on 01 January 2017
2017 has arrived today, so time to start this thread afresh.
Last year's thread can be found here;
Would actually appreciate feedback from the classical music experts here regarding this set of recordings...
Quad 33 posted:
Initially, due to the jazz influence and highly experimental nature of the album, the record received harsh criticism, with Rolling Stone listing it as one of the worst albums of the year.[9] However, the record's reputation has grown in stature and has been called Mitchell's masterpiece, "an LP to stand alongside Blood on the Tracks"
Joni Mitchell – vocals, acoustic guitar (01, 02, 03, 04, 09), Moog (02), piano (05, 09), keyboards (07), Arp (10), Farfisa (10); cover design, illustration
Graham Nash – background vocals (01)
David Crosby – background vocals (01)
James Taylor – background vocals (01), guitar (06)
Robben Ford – electric guitar (01), dobro (04), guitar (08)
Jeff Baxter – electric guitar (01)
Larry Carlton – electric guitar (03, 04, 05, 09)
Victor Feldman – electric piano (01, 05), congas (04), vibes (05), keyboards (06), percussion (06)
Joe Sample – electric piano (03), keyboards (08)
John Guerin – drums (01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08), arrangement (06), Moog (06)
Max Bennett – bass (01, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Wilton Felder – bass (03, 04)
The Warrior Drums of Burundi (02)
Chuck Findley – horn (03), trumpet (06, 08), flugelhorn (07)
Bud Shank – saxophone and flute (03, 06), bass flute (07)
Dale Oehler – string arrangement (05)1975 UK first issue 10-track LP
A masterpiece to stand alongside Joni's other masterpieces 'Hejira', 'Court and Spark' and the live 'Shadows and Light'.
Clive B posted:Quad 33 posted:
Initially, due to the jazz influence and highly experimental nature of the album, the record received harsh criticism, with Rolling Stone listing it as one of the worst albums of the year.[9] However, the record's reputation has grown in stature and has been called Mitchell's masterpiece, "an LP to stand alongside Blood on the Tracks"
Joni Mitchell – vocals, acoustic guitar (01, 02, 03, 04, 09), Moog (02), piano (05, 09), keyboards (07), Arp (10), Farfisa (10); cover design, illustration
Graham Nash – background vocals (01)
David Crosby – background vocals (01)
James Taylor – background vocals (01), guitar (06)
Robben Ford – electric guitar (01), dobro (04), guitar (08)
Jeff Baxter – electric guitar (01)
Larry Carlton – electric guitar (03, 04, 05, 09)
Victor Feldman – electric piano (01, 05), congas (04), vibes (05), keyboards (06), percussion (06)
Joe Sample – electric piano (03), keyboards (08)
John Guerin – drums (01, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08), arrangement (06), Moog (06)
Max Bennett – bass (01, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Wilton Felder – bass (03, 04)
The Warrior Drums of Burundi (02)
Chuck Findley – horn (03), trumpet (06, 08), flugelhorn (07)
Bud Shank – saxophone and flute (03, 06), bass flute (07)
Dale Oehler – string arrangement (05)1975 UK first issue 10-track LP
A masterpiece to stand alongside Joni's other masterpieces 'Hejira', 'Court and Spark' and the live 'Shadows and Light'.
Really good album. And don't forget 'Blue'!
David Benoit - piano
Robert Benoit - guitar
John Pattitucci - bass
Emily Remler - guitar
Peter Erskine - drums
Luther Hughes - bass
According to Wikipedia:
Waiting For Spring is an album by American pianist David Benoit released in 1989 and recorded for the GRP label. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.
Woody Shaw. I should get more music of him because I really like his music.
16/44 WAV. REALLY Loving this RC album.
16/44 WAV.
16/44 WAV. Something different and I should get more of her material.
A + 3 | WAV
(1979)
This one recently (rediscovered by myself) is going down really nicely.
DrMark posted:Would actually appreciate feedback from the classical music experts here regarding this set of recordings...
You are very brave. Better ask Florestan, Kuma and Max who is teaching composition for their input.
Dexter Gordon's most popular and well known album is 'Go!' If you like that you might well like this, if for no other reason than you know Go so well. This was recorded just two days later with the same lineup. Typically brilliant RVG recording.
Haim Ronen posted:DrMark posted:Would actually appreciate feedback from the classical music experts here regarding this set of recordings...
You are very brave. Better ask Florestan, Kuma and Max who is teaching composition for their input.
I know Haim - right? I have just noticed through the years that LB seems to be a very polarizing figure, and not sure what to make of it all. (My brother also had a music instructor at NYU who thought the NY Philharmonic was junk, and I do not know why.) And I am not very well-versed in the genre, so I figure let me tap into the knowledge base of those who are much more up to speed on it.
On CD:-
This is one of Enrico Pieranunzi's albums on the small Italian label Egea. It's a live solo album and is very good indeed.
Original vinyl
Why? Seemed like a good idea.
steve
On vinyl...
DrMark posted:Haim Ronen posted:DrMark posted:Would actually appreciate feedback from the classical music experts here regarding this set of recordings...
You are very brave. Better ask Florestan, Kuma and Max who is teaching composition for their input.
I know Haim - right? I have just noticed through the years that LB seems to be a very polarizing figure, and not sure what to make of it all. (My brother also had a music instructor at NYU who thought the NY Philharmonic was junk, and I do not know why.) And I am not very well-versed in the genre, so I figure let me tap into the knowledge base of those who are much more up to speed on it.
DrMark, from me you might be disappointed as I will not say if Bernstein or Karajan or xyz? is the best or the worst right out. In my consultation practice though my clients will fly me in around the world where ever they are when a crisis occurs and I can work this through with them. It is intense and I usually start with a very long and detailed questionnaire of about 1092 questions. For free though I give away the first question which is "Do you like Mahler?" and then "Why?"
Most of the other questions are specifically shaped to find out who you are. Being in your home also allows me to see who you are and the kinds of choices you make such as whether you eat white squishy bread or a hearty rustic rye bread. Did you buy it or did you make it yourself? If you made it yourself did you grow your own organic grain and mill it?
You see, there is nothing wrong with white bread vs. artisan bread or Bernstein vs. Karajan vs. xyz on there own from the beginning. Once you understand who you are then with some experience you can tailor your musical appetite according to your taste.
Someone who says Bernstein, for instance, is the worst or this other guy is the best is simply telling you that these guys rub them the wrong way (things they do would annoy them) vs the other guy who they think they would agree with everything they would do or say. Simply put, eventually everyone finds the team they want to support and then they wear that jersey for as long as they think that team is winning.
On original vinyl...
A + 3 | WAV
(1981)
A bit of blues n' boogie to keep the music going.
Thought I'd take a lead from Steve with this
ZZ Top - The First Album.
Erm, can I play too? 
Florestan posted:DrMark posted:Haim Ronen posted:DrMark posted:Would actually appreciate feedback from the classical music experts here regarding this set of recordings...
You are very brave. Better ask Florestan, Kuma and Max who is teaching composition for their input.
I know Haim - right? I have just noticed through the years that LB seems to be a very polarizing figure, and not sure what to make of it all. (My brother also had a music instructor at NYU who thought the NY Philharmonic was junk, and I do not know why.) And I am not very well-versed in the genre, so I figure let me tap into the knowledge base of those who are much more up to speed on it.
DrMark, from me you might be disappointed as I will not say if Bernstein or Karajan or xyz? is the best or the worst right out. In my consultation practice though my clients will fly me in around the world where ever they are when a crisis occurs and I can work this through with them. It is intense and I usually start with a very long and detailed questionnaire of about 1092 questions. For free though I give away the first question which is "Do you like Mahler?" and then "Why?"
Most of the other questions are specifically shaped to find out who you are. Being in your home also allows me to see who you are and the kinds of choices you make such as whether you eat white squishy bread or a hearty rustic rye bread. Did you buy it or did you make it yourself? If you made it yourself did you grow your own organic grain and mill it?
You see, there is nothing wrong with white bread vs. artisan bread or Bernstein vs. Karajan vs. xyz on there own from the beginning. Once you understand who you are then with some experience you can tailor your musical appetite according to your taste.
Someone who says Bernstein, for instance, is the worst or this other guy is the best is simply telling you that these guys rub them the wrong way (things they do would annoy them) vs the other guy who they think they would agree with everything they would do or say. Simply put, eventually everyone finds the team they want to support and then they wear that jersey for as long as they think that team is winning.
OK - I get it...xyz is the best guy! 
I understand what you are saying, but the fact that I do not know the music well enough to make a judgment about how it is conducted is why I reach out to the forum. On pieces that I do know very, very well (e.g., Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, to name one) I can have an opinion about how it is conducted and presented, and think things like "that's too slow/fast/soft/loud there", etc. Ditto classical guitar pieces, where I have the familiarity and can "judge" whether I like this performance by xyz (yes, he does it all!) or that one by abc.
To carry your sports analogy one step further - in ice hockey, I despise Sidney Crosby. I think he is a whiney-ass primadonna. However, if you ask me who is the best player currently playing in the world, he is my probable choice - my opinion of him as a person and some of the antics he pulls during a game does not diminish his skill set, nor his impact on helping his team win, and I have to set my personal dislike (as he definitely "rubs me the wrong way") and use my hockey common sense to admit he's the best guy out there. (He probably has the best backhand shot of all time.)
Stevee_S posted:A + 3 | WAV
(2015)
Another cracking day with the sun splitting the sky, grabbing an early beer and kicking back with some nostalgic Gentry classics.
1. Ode To Billie Joe
2. Mississippi Delta
3. I'll Never Fall In Love Again
4. Fancy
5. Touch 'Em With Love
6. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head (From 'Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid')
7. All I Have To Do Is Dream - Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry
8. Chickasaw County Child
9. Okolona River Bottom Band
10. The Girl From Cincinnati
11. Reunion
12. Tobacco Road
13. I Saw An Angel Die
14. He Made A Woman Out Of Me
15. Courtyard
16. Sunday Best
17. Parchman Farm
18. Sermon
19. Let It Be Me - Glen Campbell, Bobbie Gentry
20. Billy The Kid
21. Marigolds And Tangerines
22. Lookin' In
I have that 7" Japanese single Stevee, 'tis a thing of beauty:
EJS posted:
Two of the best Russian chamber works ever composed, magnificently played and recorded. Listening to the SACD layer.
Cheers
EJ
Rachmaninov: Works for Cello and Piano - Johannes Moser (cello) | Andrei Korobeinikov (piano)
As it turns out I listened to this as well yesterday and as EJ says, it is a wonderful recording.
What I like about these players is how they push and pull the listener a little and this is the difference between a good story teller and one that is less involving. Some of the ways you can accomplish this tastefully is by fully exercising the crescendos and diminuendos (rise or fall in dynamics / sound level) or through ritardandos (slowing down at appropriate places), accelerandos (speeding up at appropriate places) or rubato (playing with the time). It could also be how you phrase the different lines or even paying attention to the rests or silence etc. Lastly, your overall choice of tempo is what sets the scene to begin with and in combination with the above is what makes the music or not.
In all these things Moser and Korobeinikov do an admiral job, in my opinion. In the Rachmaninov, this makes a difference when you take time to go a little slower or take some time here or there to emphasize some of the heart wrenching moments.
In comparison, I would say that the Kotova / Bidini that I recently listened to is not as effective. It lacks the heart and soul. Or I should say it has some heart and soul (it is well played) but not to the degree I would like it to be at (its temperament). I honestly think the recording quality itself is the biggest issue with the Kotova / Bidini. I can't explain it other than that it feels like it is filtered too much? The louds and the softs are limited and so it tends to sound like it is all one volume and too smooth. With the Moser / Korobeinikov you get a better dynamic range throughout and this is amplified by what I said above.