After a brief hiatus, New In Music This Week: May 17th is back! There are more releases than we could possibly include in any one week. So what you are reading is truly the best of what’s New In Music This Week: May 17th.
My top choice is:
JAZZ: LIVE AT MEZZROW – Roger Kellaway – Cellar Music Group and SmallsLIVE Foundation
I have an admission to make. I didn’t know about pianist Kellaway until this recording made its way to me. I started the album which opens with Try to Remember from the musical The Fantasticks.
It’s a standard, to be sure, but the delicacy with which Kellaway plays the song makes it feel new again. He follows that with All Blues by Miles Davis (the first of three Davis tunes) and, once again, makes it his own. So I jumped ahead to his own composition All My Life and started the album from the top and listened to this live recording. His compositional skills are prefaced by the incredible arrangements. The album closes with a terrific rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s Take the A Train.
Joining Kellaway are guitarist Roni Ben-Hur who appears as a special guest, Jay Leonhart on bass and Dennis Mackrel on drums.
Here is the rest of New In Music This Week: May 17th:
CLASSICAL: J.S. BACH: COMPLETE KEYBOARD WORKS Vols. 1-3 – Evan Shinners – NEW CULL
You can’t say that keyboardist Evan Shinners is unambitious. This first three volumes are just the beginning of a decade-long 24-volume project in which Shinners will perform all of Bach’s keyboard works.
This means he will be playing the clavichord, harpsichord, organ, piano and Yamaha TransAcoustic piano throughout these recordings. He’s also providing commentary throughout the recordings.
Volume 1 features Five Early Suites. Volume 2 is Four Original Compositions for ‘Lute-Keyboard.’ Volume 3 is Misc. Preludes and Fugues Part One.
These first recordings are interesting and I think the best way to consider this project is ultimately going to be at its conclusion. For fans of Bach’s music will no doubt want to take this ten-year journey with Shinners
CLASSICAL: ANTON BRUCKNER: SYMPHONY No. 5 in B-Flat Major – Lahav Shani, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra – Warner Classics
Last year conductor Shani and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra released a highly acclaimed recording of Bruckner’s 7th Symphony. This recording of the composer’s Symphony No. 5 is going to be equally received.
Bruckner is a composer who has proven tricky to perform persuasively. There is no such issue with Shani’s recording. He makes Bruckner feel utterly fresh and compelling from the opening minutes of the first movement through to the symphony’s end over an hour later.
CLASSICAL: SEASONS INTERRUPTED – Trey Lee, English Chamber Orchestra – Signum Classics
Cellist Lee has written new arrangements of four lieder by Franz Schubert and The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires by Astor Piazzolla. For the former his cello takes the place of vocals.
What makes this album stand out is Lee’s performance of Kirmo Lintinen’s four-movement Cello Concerto. His playing is outstanding, but this work, being unfamiliar to most listeners, is the most intriguing part of the album.
CLASSICAL: SONATAS & MYTHS – Elizabeth Chang, Steven Beck – Bridge Records
If you love early 20th century music, you won’t want to miss this recording from violinist Chang and her regular collaborator, pianist Beck.
The album features Karol Szymanowski’s Mythes, Op. 30; Ernst von Dohnányi’s Violin Sonata in C-Sharp Minor and Béla Bartók’s Violin Sonata No. 1.
Chang is fiercely invested in this recording and her playing reflects a true understanding of these works. For 66 minutes she and Beck give you music that obviously inspired countless composers who followed these three gentlemen.
CLASSICAL: SCHUBERT: WINTERREISE – André Schuen, Daniel Heide – Deutsche Grammophon
Italian baritone Schuen has recorded a truly stunning performance of Schubert’s song cycle. When done well, as it is here, this song cycle feels like a dramatic monologue about love lost and unrequited.
Schubert composed these songs, based on 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller, in 1827. He wrote this for a tenor, but Schubert transposed the work for other voices as well.
Schuen’s warm baritone voice serves these pieces well. Just as he serves them with utmost respect and appreciation. Pianist Heide proves to be a perfect partner for this recording.
CLASSICAL: VIRGIL THOMPSON: A GALLERY OF PORTRAITS FOR PIANO AND OTHER PIANO WORKS – Craig Rutenberg – Everbest Music
Composer Thompson wrote over 150 portraits for the piano. They were compositions that served as his musical portraits of those in his inner circle and countless public figures who inspired him.
Pianist Rutenberg, who recorded over forty of these works on his 1990 album, Portraits and Self-Portraits, returns to these works for a massive recording which runs two hours and 45 minutes and centers on finishing out his goal of recording all of Thompson’s portraits.
Amongst those about whom Thompson composed the works on this superb recording are Paul Bowles, Aaron Copland, Louis Lang and Pablo Picasso..
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: CHRISTOPHER CERRONE : BEAUFORT SCALES – Lorelei Ensemble – Code Blue Music
Readers know how much I admire composer Christopher Cerrone’s work. This album is no exception.
Cerrone has written a 35-minute work that defies norms (as much of his work does) and explores our world where climate change is arguably the most urgent issue of our time.
He does this by combining music and text. Some of the text is from the Beaufort Wind Force Scale and other text comes from the writings of Anne Carson, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Melville and the King James Bible.
Beaufort Scales was written for electronics and treble voices. The Lorelei Ensemble beautifully performs this work which is certainly not easy, but is essential listening. This is music as advocacy in the best possible way.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: DANNY ELFMAN: PERCUSSION CONCERTO, WUNDERKAMMER – Colin Currie, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Joanna Falleta – Sony Classical
One-time Oingo Boingo front man and film composer Elfman composed this Percussion Concerto for Currie. Listening to this fascinating work makes me want to watch Currie in action. I can only imagine what this concerto requires of him during a performance.
The second work, Wudnerkammer, is a concerto for orchestra. Both of these works have all the hallmarks of Elfman’s work. Working in the concerto form allows Elfman more time and space to develop his themes than film scores allow. For that reason alone, this is a must-have for Elfman’s fans and more than a curiosity for those who wonder how he fares in the contemporary classical world.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL: SOPHIA JANI: SIX PIECES FOR SOLO VIOLIN – Teresa Allgaier – Squama Recordings
I’m always a bit skeptical with solo violin recordings. It takes both incredible compositional skills and performance skills for me to give myself over completely to such a recording.
There was no such issue with these works by Sophia Jani. Prior to listening to this recording I was not familiar with Jani’s work. I think you’ll want to explore more of her compositions just as much as I do once you listen to Allgaier’s performance of these seemingly simple, but deceptively complicated, works.
JAZZ: LABYRINTH – Temple University Studio Orchestra – BCM+D Records
Billy Childs’ Labyrinth had its world premiere by Temple University Studio Orchestra on March 31, 2023. Childs was inspired by artist M.C. Escher for this work that serves as a rhythmic puzzle for the musicians and the audience alike. It proves once again how vital Childs is to music today. This recording also proves how talented this orchestra is. (And mart, too. They commissioned Labyrinth.)
Also on the album are Red Braid composed by Banks Sapnar and Bill Cunliffe’s Rainforests.
Joining the orchestra on this excellent recording are Terell Stafford and Dick Oatts who teach at Temple University.
JAZZ: EPIC COOL – Kirk Whalum – Mack Avenue Music
On his first studio album in over five years, saxophonist Whalum has written or co-written 8 of the 11 tracks on this enjoyable album. The opening track, Bah-De-Yah! launches the album with a funk riff that is impossible to ignore. My favorite track is Film Noir which is near the end of the record.
MF might have you thinking the title references a popular curse word, but I’m guessing it is named after cowriter Marcus Finnie, who might just be a badass MF. Who knows?
MUSICALS: HERE WE ARE – Original Cast Album – Concord Theatricals Recordings
Unless archivists discover something unreleased, this is likely the last new music composed by Stephen Sondheim. Here We Are is a musical inspired by two Luis Buñuel films: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel.
I saw the show in January and liked it very much. I was also very sad that it wasn’t fully completed as Sondheim had hoped. Nonetheless, this recording is terrifically produced and serves as an opportunity for Sondheim fans to hear this music. If I were guessing, Here We Are is not going to be a show that will get a lot of productions – not that it doesn’t deserve them.
The cast includes Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce and Jeremy Shamos.
The vinyl release of Here We Are is scheduled for September 6th.
MUSICALS: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS – Original Broadway Cast Recording – Ghostlight Records
Last month I saw the musical Water For Elephants and was completely blown away. I wasn’t a big fan of the movie and haven’t read the book, but this musical captured me from the opening song, Anywhere/Another Train and didn’t let me go until the end of the show.
The question when I listened to this recording was would this music by Pigpen Theatre Co. prove to be as entertaining as the show is without director Jessica Stone’s incredible staging.
I’m happy to report that the score holds up very well indeed. This story of a young man looking for a new life who stumbles upon a circus train and joins the circus is clearly laid out by the 19 songs on the album. This includes the love triangle at the center of the story involving the ringmaster/owner and his wife.
The greatest joy for me in both the show and this recording is the ability to see and hear the incredible Gregg Edelman in another musical. He’s long been one of my favorite Broadway performers. Water for Elephants is one of my favorite new scores.
That’s all for New In Music This Week: May 17th.
Enjoy the music.
Enjoy your weekend.
Main Photo: Part of the album art of Labyrinth by Temple University Studio Orchestra