I was born in the middle of the sea…
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Category: miscellaneous
You could describe the British trio’s music as “chamber-folk”, the Norwegian tuba virtuoso’s as “chamber-jazz”.
I am wary of hyphenated “chamber” musics; recordings so-described oft prove anaemic, twee, wannabe.
No such problem here: two very different ensembles have each created something singular, beautiful, with spine.
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We have just lost one of the most consistently rewarding guitarists.
Musically speaking, many “guitar heroes” do not age well; John Abercrombie (December 16, 1944 – August 22, 2017) made some of his finest music after his 65th birthday.
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Hers is likely the slowest, but also the most playful, witty and inventive of all recorded versions of Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most – a “jazz standard” with a most unlikely inspiration source.
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This “iconic” ballad began life as Music from Beyond the Moon – a 1947 flop. Retitled in 1952, it became famous in 1953, thanks to Frank Sinatra. The “iconic” version was sung in 1963 by Johnny Hartman on John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. However, the loveliest version is an instrumental duet, recorded in 1989. One man – not ‘Trane, not Hartman – was common to both recordings.
Comments closedSi Kahn’s Gone, Gonna Rise Again is a great American song, much covered. But there is just one absolutely definitive, great, recorded version. It’s not American!
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…can prove profoundly disillusioning. It can also be wonderful, as it was yesterday. If you are reading this in or near Melbourne, before the night of Thursday June 8, you ought seize your first (almost certainly, only) opportunity to experience the Carla Bley Trio on Australian soil.
One CommentThe king of Prince covers – on disc, at least – was recorded in February 2007 by a Polish instrumental trio.
You are unlikely to hear a more beautiful interpretation of Diamonds and Pearls.
Comments closedJanis Joplin’s Me and Bobby McGee will forever be the best-known cover of a Kris Kristofferson song, but even more remarkable is June Tabor‘s singular version of Casey’s Last Ride.
One CommentOver the last year no “female vocal” albums have moved me more deeply. In their different ways, each defies description, and is a very “unlikely” success. Respectively, they were recorded in the singer’s living room in Iowa, and in a studio in south-east France. Iris Dement interprets Russian poetry, in a manner no one else would ever have attempted… or imagined. Elina Duni addresses poetry and traditional song from her birthplace, Albania…with three brilliant Swiss jazzmen.
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