Stories » The playing on Avi Avital's new J.S Bach album is outstanding / CD HotList

Stories for June 26, 2019

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    DOWNBEAT announces winners of 2019 Critics Poll
     
    Posted At : June 26, 2019 5:49 AM

    Singer-songwriter Cécile McLorin Salvant was voted the winner in two categories of the 2019 DownBeat Critics Poll: Jazz Artist of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. Salvant, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Sullivan Fortner are among the dozens of winners in the 67th Annual Poll. Salvant topped two categories: Jazz Artist of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year. She generated tremendous acclaim for her 2018 duo album, The Window (Mack Avenue), which she recorded with Sullivan Fortner, who is the winner in two Critics Poll categories: Rising Star–Jazz Artist and Rising Star–Piano. Other winners in the Critics Poll include Kurt Elling (Male Vocalist), Kenny Barron (Piano), Mary Halvorson (Guitar), Jane Ira Bloom (Soprano Saxophone), Miguel Zenón (Alto Saxophone), Miles Okazaki (Rising Star–Guitar), Allison Miller (Rising Star–Drums) and Joel Ross (Rising Star–Vibraphone). The Historical Album of the Year is John Coltrane's Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!), which the saxophonist recorded with his quartet on March 6, 1963, in the studio of famed recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. 2019 DownBeat Critics Poll WINNERS include; Jazz Artist: Cécile McLorin Salvant Historical Album: John Coltrane, Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!) Big Band: Maria Schneider Orchestra Soprano Saxophone: Jane Ira Bloom Piano: Kenny Barron Violin: Regina Carter Female Vocalist: Cécile McLorin Salvant Male Vocalist: Kurt Elling Composer: Maria Schneider Arranger: Maria Schneider Record Label: ECM Producer: Manfred Eicher Rising Star–Jazz Artist: Sullivan Fortner Rising Star–Jazz Group: Sons of Kemet Rising Star–Clarinet: Shabaka Hutchings Rising Star–Piano: Sullivan Fortner   p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} (Photo: Mark Fitton) READ THE FULL DOWNBEAT Critics Poll ARTICLE

  • 'Getz at the Gate' is another 'lost now found' gift from the vaults / Elsewhere
     
    Posted At : June 24, 2019 12:00 AM

    And here's another gift and "lost" jazz album from the vaults in the manner of last year's Charlie Haden/Brad Mehldau live album, Coltrane's studio session and live recordings of Charles Mingus in Detroit and Errol Garner in Amsterdam. In 1961, the melodically fluid post-bop saxophonist Stan Getz – who had helped define the cool sound of West Coast jazz in the late Fifties (despite not being from there), and had played alongside his greatest equals (Gerry Mulligan, Herb Ellis, Dizzy, Oscar Peterson etc) – came back to the US after years away in Europe and Scandinavia. He teamed up again with the great and soon-to-be-late bassist Scott LaFaro, pianist Steve Kuhn (fresh from Coltrane's quartet) and drummer Pete LaRoca.     READ THE FULL Elsewhere REVIEW

  • Libera boys choir returns to the US for several high profile shows / Yahoo Finance
     
    Posted At : June 24, 2019 12:00 AM

    The Libera Boys Choir 2019 US Tour includes stops in Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, California. The world needs Libera's message of harmony more than ever. Their performance in Saint Paul will be their first in the area since 2011; and their Oklahoma City concert will be their first ever. They will also be returning to venues in Saint Louis and California where they have impressed audiences for many years. Venues include; Minnesota: The Cathedral of Saint Paul, St Paul, Friday 26th July at 7:30pm Missouri: Cathedral Basilica of St Louis, St Louis, Monday 29th July at 8pm Oklahoma: First Southern Baptist Church, Oklahoma City Thursday 1st August at 7pm California: Calvary Community Church, Westlake Village (LA) Sunday 4th August at 7pm
    Christ Cathedral, Garden Grove (LA) Tuesday 7th August at 7:30pm Libera is seeing an increased following in the United States with their compelling arrangements and moving performances of classical, sacred, and contemporary songs. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys said, "When I heard Libera sing it reminded me a lot of the Beach Boys – but actual boys - it actually brought me to tears." Discover this amazing boys choir. Hear Libera live this summer.  SEE THE Yahoo Finance PAGE

  • Jess Gillam - Rise is the KDFC: Album Of the Week
     
    Posted At : June 24, 2019 12:00 AM

    Jess Gillam is a 20-year-old British saxophonist, known for being one of the most exciting emerging artists in classical music. Her debut album, Rise, is an engaging mix of music originally composed for saxophone and arrangements, with composers ranging from the Baroque period to Michael Nyman and Darius Milhaud, from Britten to Bartok and even some Bowie. Performing on a soprano saxophone, Gillam made a big splash at the popular Proms Concerts in London for the past two years. Jess Gillam - Rise is the KDFC: San Francisco 'Album Of the Week' for June 24, 2019. SEE THE PAGE

  • Jess Gillam - Rise is the KUSC: Album Of the Week
     
    Posted At : June 24, 2019 12:00 AM

    Jess Gillam is a 20-year-old British saxophonist, known for being one of the most exciting emerging artists in classical music. Her debut album, Rise, is an engaging mix of music originally composed for saxophone and arrangements, with composers ranging from the Baroque period to Michael Nyman and Darius Milhaud, from Britten to Bartok and even some Bowie. Performing on a soprano saxophone, Gillam made a big splash at the popular Proms Concerts in London for the past two years. Jess Gillam - Rise is the KUSC: Los Angeles 'Album Of the Week' for June 24, 2019. SEE THE PAGE

  • Avi Avital's Bach is back, with an amazing new recording of the second violin partita and a DVD / WCRB: CD Of the Week
     
    Posted At : June 24, 2019 12:00 AM

    Mandolinist Avi Avital has brought the music he loves into venues of every sort. But his nightclub Vivaldi and his Carnegie Hall Bach have the same loving approach – deeply felt, nuanced with sparkling precision, and phrased with the natural breathing of a singer. While he is one of those performers whose warm and humble presence can win an audience over before he even plays, his technique allows him to communicate with virtually every note. "When I play," he says, "I try to cancel everything. In a way, to disappear. To just become a channel to this music. " Now, Deutsche Grammophon has released a deluxe edition of Avi Avital's 2012 solo album Bach, with Avital and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra playing mandolin arrangements of concertos written for other instruments. New on the release is a gorgeous performance of Avital's arrangement of Bach's Solo Violin Partita No. 2 (which ends with one of Bach's most profound creations, the famous Chaconne). Also included is the opening prelude of Bach's first cello suite (see trailer below). There's also a DVD of two Bach concertos performed in concert. Avi Avital J.S. Bach is the WCRB: Boston 'CD Of the Week'

  • There are many 'mamma mia! moments in 'Pavarotti' doc / Closer
     
    Posted At : June 23, 2019 12:00 AM

    Italian operatic legend Luciano Pavarotti's life was as passionate and dramatic as any opera. "He was very romantic, and we had many fights, like all couples," his widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, 49, recently gushed to Closer Weekly in an exclusive interview, on newsstands now. "There was fire in us." When she told him she was flying back to Italy from New York after a big argument, he called the head of Alitalia to stop her from getting on the plane, claiming he'd broken his arm. "I went to him and he said, ‘You see! When you leave me, that's the end of everything!' Then in the middle of dinner, I saw him take away the bandage! We both started laughing and had a fantastic night." There are many more "mamma mia!" moments in Ron Howard's new documentary, Pavarotti. The film captures his larger-than-life personality through rare footage, family interviews and words from the man known as the People's Tenor, who grew large from his beloved pasta yet never seemed to grow old. "One of the greatest advantages of being an artist [is] to be able to always be a child," the star once revealed. But he also never outgrew a fear of not being able to hit the miraculous high notes that led him to be dubbed King of the High C's. "It created a lot of anxiety," Ron told Closer at the film's New York City screening on May 28. "Before performances, he'd say, ‘I go to die.'" p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} READ THE FULL Closer ARTICLE

Top 10 for Jun

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    POINT LESS

     .
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     The Laurence Hobgood Trio with string quartet ETHEL "Two impressive things stand out: how enormous his arrangements make the string quartet sound, and how fluidly these seven musicians blend together.
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    J.S. Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier, LIVE

     In February 1987, Keith Jarrett recorded, on piano, the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach.
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     On April 19, Angélique Kidjo will release Celia (Verve/Universal Music France), an album that honors Celia Cruz, widely known as "the Queen of Salsa" and the most popular Latin artist of the 20thcentury.
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     Today, multitalented vocalist, songwriter and instrumentalist Camila Meza releases her debut album on Sony Music Masterworks, Ámbar.
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     From the filmmaking team behind the highly-acclaimed documentary The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years, PAVAROTTI is a riveting film that lifts the curtain on the icon who brought opera to the people.
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     "Hello, Hope, it's been a while," go the opening lines of "Dead Ends", the centerpiece of Ben Cooper's latest EP as Radical Face.
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     For over 50 years, Earth Wind and Fire provided the soundtrack to the lives of many.

The playing on Avi Avital's new J.S Bach album is outstanding / CD HotList

Posted: May 6, 2019 12:00 AM | By: Admin
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The mandolin has never gotten the respect it deserves in the context of classical music; these days in Europe it's most commonly associated with syrupy Neapolitan love songs, and in the US it's most widely known as a bluegrass instrument. But the repertoire of classical music featuring the mandolin is, if not vast, at least considerable, and one of the most notable composers to have used that instrument as a solo vehicle is Antonio Vivaldi, two of whose concerti (along with one trio sonata) are presented on this album by Julien Martineau. As lovely as these pieces are, though, what's really striking on his album are the more contemporary mandolin concertos of Raffaele Calace (written in 1925) and another by the relatively obscure baroque composer Domenico Caudioso. The Bach album is a very different sort of program. This one consists of concertos, a sonata, a partita, and a suite all originally written for different instruments and presented here in arrangements (by Avital himself) for mandolin as the solo instrument. The package is actually a reissue of an album originally issued in 2012, augmented by significant bonus material including a DVD of Avital playing two of the pieces from the original album with a different ensemble. The playing on both of these albums is outstanding, and the tonal contrast between the two instruments is worth noting–Martineau's mandolin is brighter and more silvery, whereas Avital's has a darker and woodier tone. Both releases are highly recommended to all libraries.

SEE ALL THE CD Hotlist REVIEWS

Crossover Media Projects with Avi Avital

  • Avi Avital

    J.S. Bach

    Deutsche Grammophon presents the extended, limited edition of Avi Avital's "spellbinding" (Newark Star-Ledger) DG debut, Bach. The album features several tracks of newly recorded Bach, all arranged by Avital for the mandolin, including the famous Prélude from Cello Suite No. 1, BWV 1007.

  • Avi Avital

    Vivaldi

    The GRAMMY-nominated Israeli mandolinist Avi Avital has been praised as a both an "enthralling and sensitive soloist" (Boston Globe) and a "convincing advocate for his instrument" (Wall Street Journal).  As the first mandolinist signed to Deutsche Grammophon, he has brought the instrument to entirely new audiences, building a fresh legacy for the mandolin through virtuosic performance and a commitment to commissioning new works and arrangements in a range of genres. Avital has now released - Vivaldi, his third album on DG that returns the instrument to its origins-the Venetian Baroque and master composer Antonio Vivaldi. On this CD Avital captures the mystical spirit of Venice, shedding new light on Vivaldi's musical genius by performing his own transcriptions of the composer's works. He is joined on the album by the Venice Baroque Orchestra on this, the ensemble's twelfth recording on Deutsche Grammophon. Avital and the VBO are also about to embark on a major North American tour this spring, stopping in Southern California, Miami, Boston and Carnegie Hall as well as Calgary and Montreal.

    16 New 'ON'  116 TOTAL
    SYND:     Classical 24, Classical Guitar Alive, Sunday Baroque, CBC
    Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice, MOOD, Spafax
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland, Houston, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Denver, Portland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Detroit, Austin, Memphis, Albuquerque, Louisville, Buffalo, Honolulu, Canada
    Online: ClassicallyHip, Tainradio

  • Avi Avital

    Between Worlds

    Reflecting a blend of genres, Between Worlds is Grammy-nominated mandolin player Avi Avital's second album for Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music Classics, slated for release on January 14, 2014.  Avital embraces both improvisational and traditional music with this new record, combining elements of classical and traditional folk resulting in a rich and adventurous musical journey. 

    25 New 'ON'  77 TOTAL
    SYND:     PRI/Classical 24, The Romantic Hours
    Direct: SiriusXM, Music Choice, MOOD
    Markets include: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Wash DC, Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle, Cleveland, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Denver, Portland, Baltimore, Portland, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Austin, Memphis, Madison WI, Buffalo, Louisville, Columbus OH, Honolulu
    Online: RadioIO, Taintradio, MusiClassical, WGOE