Paul L. Althouse
BACH: Six Motets, BWV 225-230
René Jacobs, Academy for Old Music; RIAS Chamber Chorus, Berlin
Harmonia Mundi HMC 901589 (CD). 1997. Eberhard Geiger, prod.; Michael Glaser, eng. DDD. TT: 72:36 For lovers of choral singing, Bach's Motets are more fertile ground than the Cantatas, in which the voices must compete with an orchestra. Here, conductor Jacobs uses instruments to double voices, but keeps many sections for voices alone. He also uses soloists selectively, most obviously in the aria of Komm, Jesu, komm. Most striking, though, is the splendid singing of…
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Les Berkley
KATHY MATTEA: Untasted Honey
Mercury 832 793-1 (LP). 1987. Allen Reynolds, prod.; Mark Miller, eng. AAA. No time listed.
I guess it's Ladies' Night this year, and maybe the LP swan song for me. I mostly listen to CDs now; they sound better than they used to, and LPs are getting tougher to find and to deal with. These two are treasures, though, and make it well worth keeping a turntable around.
KATHY MATTEA: Untasted Honey
Mercury 832 793-1 (LP). 1987. Allen Reynolds, prod.; Mark Miller, eng. AAA. No time listed.
I guess it's Ladies' Night this year, and maybe the LP swan song for me. I mostly listen to CDs now; they sound better than they used to, and LPs are getting tougher to find and to deal with. These two are treasures, though, and make it well worth keeping a turntable around.
Kathy Mattea started her musical life as a demo singer in Nashville; a folkie at heart, she combined her own sensibilities with country-music realities. Untasted Honey is…
Dan Buckley
PARIS, TEXAS: Original Soundtrack
Music by Ry Cooder
Warner Bros. 25270-2 (CD). 1985. Ry Cooder, prod.; Allen Sides, Mark Ettel, engs. AAD. TT: 34:13 The only soundtrack in my collection to which I return regularly, Ry Cooder's Paris, Texas is a hauntingly exquisite 34 minutes of music. Cooder and partners Jim Dickinson and David Lindley create otherworldly timbres from such traditional instruments as Cooder's trademark slide guitar and Lindley's bowed banjo, generating a sense of emotional water treading that aptly fits the film's troubled mood. Actor Harry Dean…
PARIS, TEXAS: Original Soundtrack
Music by Ry Cooder
Warner Bros. 25270-2 (CD). 1985. Ry Cooder, prod.; Allen Sides, Mark Ettel, engs. AAD. TT: 34:13 The only soundtrack in my collection to which I return regularly, Ry Cooder's Paris, Texas is a hauntingly exquisite 34 minutes of music. Cooder and partners Jim Dickinson and David Lindley create otherworldly timbres from such traditional instruments as Cooder's trademark slide guitar and Lindley's bowed banjo, generating a sense of emotional water treading that aptly fits the film's troubled mood. Actor Harry Dean…
Shannon Dickson
CHARLIE HADEN & PAT METHENY: Beyond the Missouri Sky
Charlie Haden, bass; Pat Metheny, acoustic guitars, all other instruments.
Verve 537-130-2 (CD). 1997. Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, prods.; J. Newland, eng.; Ted Jensen, mastering eng. DDD. TT: 66:71 Beautiful, soothing, uplifting, and evocative music-making of the highest order. This collaboration between two of the very best string musicians anywhere can't help but inspire any listener with a sense of sublime awe. A rare gift of music, able to manifest so effortlessly a sense of space and place from the…
CHARLIE HADEN & PAT METHENY: Beyond the Missouri Sky
Charlie Haden, bass; Pat Metheny, acoustic guitars, all other instruments.
Verve 537-130-2 (CD). 1997. Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, prods.; J. Newland, eng.; Ted Jensen, mastering eng. DDD. TT: 66:71 Beautiful, soothing, uplifting, and evocative music-making of the highest order. This collaboration between two of the very best string musicians anywhere can't help but inspire any listener with a sense of sublime awe. A rare gift of music, able to manifest so effortlessly a sense of space and place from the…
Robert Hesson
ARGENTO: A Water Bird Talk
John Shirley-Quirk, baritone; Sara Watkins, Sinfonia of St. Cecilia
Koch International 3-7388-2 H1 (CD). 1997. Michael Fine, prod., eng. DDD. TT: 70:56 Dominick Argento has all but made a career of the monodrama, and this one offers a combination of humanity, pathos, and beauty that is profoundly affecting. In loosely combining a Chekhov play with Audubon's The Birds of America, Argento has crafted a work in which a lecturer attempts to enlighten his audience on waterfowl but ends up revealing much more about the human spirit, its…
ARGENTO: A Water Bird Talk
John Shirley-Quirk, baritone; Sara Watkins, Sinfonia of St. Cecilia
Koch International 3-7388-2 H1 (CD). 1997. Michael Fine, prod., eng. DDD. TT: 70:56 Dominick Argento has all but made a career of the monodrama, and this one offers a combination of humanity, pathos, and beauty that is profoundly affecting. In loosely combining a Chekhov play with Audubon's The Birds of America, Argento has crafted a work in which a lecturer attempts to enlighten his audience on waterfowl but ends up revealing much more about the human spirit, its…
Hyperion Knight
EARL WILD: The Art of the Transcription
Piano transcriptions of works by Bach, Chopin, Gluck, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Rameau, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Rossini, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Wagner
Earl Wild, piano
Audiofon 72008-2 (2 CDs). 1982. Julian H. Kreeger, prod.; Peter McGrath, eng. ADD. TT: 76:54 For my first appearance in R2D4 I decided to be somewhat contrarian and select a couple of live recordings. This Audiofon set was taped at Carnegie Hall, and although we must endure many beautifully recorded coughs and wheezes from the audience, Earl Wild's musical…
EARL WILD: The Art of the Transcription
Piano transcriptions of works by Bach, Chopin, Gluck, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Rameau, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Rossini, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Wagner
Earl Wild, piano
Audiofon 72008-2 (2 CDs). 1982. Julian H. Kreeger, prod.; Peter McGrath, eng. ADD. TT: 76:54 For my first appearance in R2D4 I decided to be somewhat contrarian and select a couple of live recordings. This Audiofon set was taped at Carnegie Hall, and although we must endure many beautifully recorded coughs and wheezes from the audience, Earl Wild's musical…
Keith Moerer
TOOTS MAYTAL: Toots in Memphis
Mango CCD 9818 (CD). 1988. Jim Dickinson, prod.; John Hampton, eng. ADD. TT: 43:57
Maytal is widely revered as a reggae pioneer, but he's also a Caribbean cousin of Otis Redding and Al Green, as he proves on this collection of '60s and '70s soul covers. Sly and Robbie anchor the rhythm section of a crack band that also includes guitarist Teenie Hodges and Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns. Together with Maytal, they reinvent Redding's "I've Got Dreams to Remember," Green's "Love and Happiness," and eight other classics, among them "…
TOOTS MAYTAL: Toots in Memphis
Mango CCD 9818 (CD). 1988. Jim Dickinson, prod.; John Hampton, eng. ADD. TT: 43:57
Maytal is widely revered as a reggae pioneer, but he's also a Caribbean cousin of Otis Redding and Al Green, as he proves on this collection of '60s and '70s soul covers. Sly and Robbie anchor the rhythm section of a crack band that also includes guitarist Teenie Hodges and Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns. Together with Maytal, they reinvent Redding's "I've Got Dreams to Remember," Green's "Love and Happiness," and eight other classics, among them "…
Richard J. Rosen
SPEEDY WEST & JIMMY BRYANT: Stratosphere Boogie: The Flaming Guitars of Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant
Razor & Tie RE 2067 (CD). 1995. Ken Nelson, prod.; Steve Hoffman, mastering eng. AAD. TT: 36:25
They've been referred to as "Leo Fender's test pilots," and it's easy to hear why. These breakneck virtuosos of steel guitar and guitar, respectively, musically embody the term "electric." The cuts are rare Capitol sides over 40 years old, originally recorded by Ken Nelson---one of the most brilliant producers of country, and of music, period. The baton was…
SPEEDY WEST & JIMMY BRYANT: Stratosphere Boogie: The Flaming Guitars of Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant
Razor & Tie RE 2067 (CD). 1995. Ken Nelson, prod.; Steve Hoffman, mastering eng. AAD. TT: 36:25
They've been referred to as "Leo Fender's test pilots," and it's easy to hear why. These breakneck virtuosos of steel guitar and guitar, respectively, musically embody the term "electric." The cuts are rare Capitol sides over 40 years old, originally recorded by Ken Nelson---one of the most brilliant producers of country, and of music, period. The baton was…
Markus Sauer
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB: Music of Cuba
World Circuit/Nonesuch 79478-2 (CD). 1997. Ry Cooder, prod.; Nick Gold, exec. prod.; Jerry Boys, eng. AAD. TT: 60:06
Ry Cooder has long been a champion of the world-music movement (which now seems to have lost much of its momentum). Talking Timbuktu, his collaboration with Ali Farka Touré, is an old favorite. In 1996, he went to Cuba to record three albums with local musicians. All are excellent, but Buena Vista Social Club is probably the best: mature, joyful, with a nonchalant mastery of rhythm, color, and occasional irony…
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB: Music of Cuba
World Circuit/Nonesuch 79478-2 (CD). 1997. Ry Cooder, prod.; Nick Gold, exec. prod.; Jerry Boys, eng. AAD. TT: 60:06
Ry Cooder has long been a champion of the world-music movement (which now seems to have lost much of its momentum). Talking Timbuktu, his collaboration with Ali Farka Touré, is an old favorite. In 1996, he went to Cuba to record three albums with local musicians. All are excellent, but Buena Vista Social Club is probably the best: mature, joyful, with a nonchalant mastery of rhythm, color, and occasional irony…
David Sokol
BILL LLOYD: Set to Pop
East Side Digital ESD 80892 (CD). 1994. Bill Lloyd, prod.; Byron House, Scott Baggett, Tim Coats, John Hampton, Rick Will, engs. AAD? TT: 59:52
Not only is this pure-pop confection a record to die for, it's one that saved my life. When the winter weather got hazardous, as it often did during my daily commute between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, it was Nashvillian Bill Lloyd's '60s-meet-'90s melodies, lyrical humor, and warm Anglo-American vibe that kept me focused on the road despite white-outs and sleet. Set to Pop is in that…
BILL LLOYD: Set to Pop
East Side Digital ESD 80892 (CD). 1994. Bill Lloyd, prod.; Byron House, Scott Baggett, Tim Coats, John Hampton, Rick Will, engs. AAD? TT: 59:52
Not only is this pure-pop confection a record to die for, it's one that saved my life. When the winter weather got hazardous, as it often did during my daily commute between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, it was Nashvillian Bill Lloyd's '60s-meet-'90s melodies, lyrical humor, and warm Anglo-American vibe that kept me focused on the road despite white-outs and sleet. Set to Pop is in that…