“One might ask: Does it make sense to record a Standard album in 2023, especially when the arrangements and the songs are not necessarily turned upside down? Well, for me it’s sort of a personal “best of” album of tunes, melodies I really love, but even more: playing standards for me is about getting to know the people I’m playing with, taking directions together on a common journey.

I could not be happier and more grateful that Jorge and Danny were open to explore these paths with me, I learn every time we get to play together. I really think curiosity is what keeps creativity alive, I sincerely hope that it will come across listening to this record.”

Áron Tálas, Piano
Danny Ziemann, Double Bass
Jorge Rossy, Drums

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A mesmerizing sonic trip, Dreamcatcher reflects the unique artistic persona of McVinnie, whose mastery of core organ repertoire extends to an extensive body of work written for him by leading contemporary classical composers, as well as collaborations in the world of electronic and experimental music. The album features works by Nico Muhly, Meredith Monk, Laurie Spiegel, John Adams, inti figgis-vizeuta, Gabriella Smith, Glies Swayne, Bryce Dessner & Marcos Balter.

The album’s title is taken from Marcos Balter’s work of the same name, written in response to the child separation crisis at the US-Mexico border in 2018 — “dreamers” being the name given to children separated from their families by the Trump administration’s immigration policy.

This album also presents the first ever recording of Giles Swayne’s Riff-raff made on the St Albans organ for which the work was written in 1983 — McVinnie’s rendition embodying a perfect synergy between the piece’s minimalist roots and the modernist tonal philosophy of this instrument.

Through his boundless approach to music making, innovative programming and captivating musicianship, James McVinnie has carved out a unique career as an organist and keyboard player.

“This album is very close to my heart and has been a long time in the making. It represents both my current interests in new, mainly American music, and also a kind of document of my friendships and associations with composers of many of the works on the album. Over the past few years I have reconnected with the piano playing, having primarily worked as an organist in the first part of my career. This album presents me at both instruments.” – James McVinnie

James McVinnie, Organ & Piano

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Cornetist Ron Miles, bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck, and cellist Peggy Lee perform chamber works for jazz ensemble by composer-pianist Wayne Horvitz. A sense of attachment to music of the past can be heard in these pieces, which allow space for creative improvisation and rhythmic vitality within tight, thoughtful arrangements. Available in stereo and mixed to 5.0
– Mark Werlin, NativeDSD & All About Jazz

Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet’s second release is more off-the-page than their 2006 debut Way Out East. Some of the new compositions sound even more like classical chamber music, but as before, improvisation plays a major role, and there’s a lot of synergy in the way the music comes together. As Wayne says, “The compositions are so open, and the band is so flexible….” The performances are classical in their precision, jazzy in their mutable blends and their grasp of expressive possibilities. Wayne’s writing is as emotionally resonant as ever, and in bringing the music to life the band spins webs of musical relationships. Ron Miles’ cornet glances back in the direction of New Orleans and early Ellington, while Peggy Lee’s cello free associates Bach, Beethoven, Bartok, and beyond. Sara Schoenbeck’s bassoon provides wittily baroque counterpoint or contemplative melodic lead, while the piano’s runs, motifs and clusters suggest links to impressionism, and occasionally to atonality. In other pieces different sets of connections take shape.

This music resists labels. Calling it jazz means that most people who follow contemporary classical or post-rock may never hear about it, which would be a shame. If it’s the Third Stream of today, it holds within its sights the new thing, free improv, and pretty much everything else that happened in jazz, popular and ‘art’ music in the twentieth century (and the 21st, given their cover here of Elliott Smith’s “A Fond Farewell”). Horvitz comments that combining jazz and classical elements is in fact “a fairly obvious process, and it’s one with a long history. The instrumentation lends itself to writing without regard to a ‘rhythm section’ mentality, and it encourages certain ambitions and desires I have as a composer. At the same time the references to so-called jazz and blues language to me are simply due to the fact of being an American composer. Blues was the first music to really move and inspire me. As my friend Philip Johnston once said to me, ‘You know how you are listening to a record of Japanese koto music and for a moment it sounds like John Lee Hooker?’ I would say the same thing about a Bartok string quartet.” When asked whether he feels more of a responsibility to the past or to the future in his work, he replies, “That’s an interesting question. I guess when all is said and done I feel a much stronger pull to the past. And as much as I’ve been interested in and inspired by innovative, experimental and so-called avant-garde music, I would have to say that the best of that music has always been the result of some kind of deep integration of what has come before with a new vision of what can be. It seems to me that’s true in Bach’s music, Schoenberg’s, Roscoe Mitchell’s, Public Enemy and even Muddy Waters.” It’s certainly true in his own.

Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet
Wayne Horvitz, Piano
Peggy Lee, Cello
Ron Miles, Cornet
Sara Schoenbeck, Bassoon

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Girl Power, Volume 1 is a collection of 16 songs featuring top Female Jazz singers. Mastered by 2xHD, the sampler includes performances by Holly Cole, Diana Panton, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Polly Gibbons, Shirley Horn, Aubrey Logan, Cassandra Wilson and Billie Holliday.

Holly Cole
Diana Panton
Emilie-Claire Barlow
Amanda Martinez
Polly Gibbons
Carol Sloane
Maxine Sullivan
Shirley Horn
Aubrey Logan
Peggy Lee
Bertice Reading
Olive Brown
Nancy Harrow
Cassandra Wilson
Ginette Reno
Billie Holiday

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Exclusively available at NativeDSD in Stereo DSD 512, DSD 256, DSD 128 and DSD 64 thanks to our signature Higher Rates Program.

Each composer responds to Sandro Botticelli’s enigmatic painting, Primavera, and the prophetic large-scale triptych, Primavera 2020, by world-renowned contemporary artist Charline von Heyl.

Framed by Gabriella Smith’s bare, a moving chorale to environmental turmoil and Lisa Bielawa’s Missa Primavera, a hopeful fantasy on Josquin des Pres’ cantus firmi, Vijay Iyer, David Sanford, Nkeiru Okoye, Jorge Sosa, and others bring a multitude of influences from the world of Jazz and Latin music, to Vivaldi and Scriabin.

Recorded in January 2021 at Charline von Heyl’s artist studio near downtown Marfa, Texas, the distinct and diverse contemporary compositional voices bridge the centuries, expanding and redefining the range and repertoire of the solo cello.

Matt Haimovitz, Cello

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Love For Sale features several classics from the American Songbook including Summertime, Too Close for Comfort, Autumn Leaves and Sweet Lorraine. On the album, Derek Smith is joined by George Duvivier on Bass and Bobby Rosengarden, best known for his work as a studio musician and his appearances as Drummer and Bandleader on TV Shows including The Steve Allen Show, The Ernie Kovacs Show, Sing Along With Mitch, Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show and The Dick Cavett Show.

Derek Smith says “When a musician records, he or she is saying in effect to the listener, “Here I am, this is what I am capable of, this is the best I can do.” The completed album may not always work out this way, but the audience is entitled to this interpretation.

Happily I have no qualms about this album. George, Bob and I worked together for a long time with Benny Goodman and always said we would make this album sooner or later. We all quit working for Benny, not en masse, but individually in those quaint non-get-togethers that typify Benny’s relationships with musicians, and the opportunity to get the album our of our systems did not arise until Gus Statiras beamed into town and reminded us how well we played together in Richmond in 1971.

Having played “Love For Sale” as a concert solo for most of my adult life, I feel that this version is the definitive one and I can now concentrate on learning something else. There is something about this tune that I find particularly haunting and interesting to blow on. It’s the continued change from minor to major and back again. Cole Porter really knew something.”

Derek Smith Trio
Derek Smith – Piano
George Duvivier – Bass
Bobby Rosengarden – Drums

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In this DSD Jazz sampler, Fone’s Giulio Cesare Ricci has selected the “creme de la creme” of these recordings for your listening pleasure. It features top Jazz vocalists, artists and studio musicians including Doc Powell, Eddie Harris, Sekou Bunch, Karen Briggs, Luis Conte, Vickie Leigh, Toolbox, Kate McGarry, Munyungo Jackson, Lenny Castro and Todd Cochran.

This album – Percorsi Sonori No. 2 (Sound Paths No. 2) – along with two earlier Jazz samplers at NativeDSD Music from Fone – More Best of the Best and David Manley Recordings – provide an overview of the Manley Jazz recordings. You will also find it at NativeDSD Music along with some of the VTL Jazz recordings by artists including Karen Knowles, Kate McGarry, and Sekou Bunch.

Doc Powell – Guitar (Track 1)
James Leary – Bass (Track 2)
Eddie Harris – Vocals & Tenor Sax (Track 2)
Louis Verdieu – Vocals (Track 3)
Sekou Bunch – Bass (Tracks 3, 8, 10)
Karen Briggs – Violin (Tracks 3, 8)
Bill Summers – Percussion (Tracks 3, 10)
Luis Conte – Percussion (Track 3)
Jim Dawson – Vocals, Guitar, Piano (Track 4)
Sam Sklair – Musical Director, Clarinet, Shaker (Track 4)
Frank Crawford – Piano, Organ & Keyboards (Tracks 4, 7)
Vickie Leigh – Background Vocals (Track 4)
Toolbox (Tracks 5, 9)
Kate McGarry – Vocals (Track 6)
Josh Sklair – Guitar (Track 7)
Iroko (Track 8)
Munyungo Jackson – Percussion (Tracks 8, 10)
Lenny Castro – Percussion (Track 10)
Todd Cochran – Piano (Track 10)

The post Percorsi Sonori No. 2 (Sound Paths No. 2): Homage to David Manley Recordings appeared first on NativeDSD Music.

The album Celebrating Women! is a collection of previously unrecorded string trios by female composers from the late 19th and first half of the 20th century performed by The Hague String Trio. The trio features Justyna Briefjes (Violin), Julia Dinerstein (Viola) and Miriam Kirby (Cello). This album from Cobra Records follows their 2019 release After The Darkness that is also available from NativeDSD.

With Celebrating Women! The Hague String Trio aims to celebrate the discovery of these string trios as well as promote and shine a light on female composers who, in the past, have so often been overlooked.  The album presents a wonderful quartet of four women composers, each with their own personal musical voice Refreshing and intriguing and all four with fascinating biographies, diverse cultural backgrounds, coming from four different countries and no less than three different continents. 

The main work of the album is the impressive, romantic string trio by the English composer Dame Ethel Smyth, whose name and work is gradually gaining greater recognition. Her string trio, composed during her studies in Leipzig, is perhaps the only large scale string trio composed by a woman in the 19th century.

In addition to this magnificent trio, The Hague String Trio presents a lyrical string trio by the Australian Miriam Hyde composed during her studies at the Royal College of Music in London; a suite of five sparkling miniatures by the Dutch composer and violinist Emmy Frensel Wegener, and a glorious fugue by the African American composer Irene Britton Smith, a composer and schoolteacher from Chicago. 

This is a Pure DSD release, recorded in DSD 256 (Stereo, Binaural, 5 Channel Surround Sound). The music stayed within the DSD domain throughout the recording, mastering, delivery, and upload processes.

The Hague String Trio
Justyna Briefjes – Violin
Julia Dinerstein – Viola
Miriam Kirby – Cello

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Their album Vivino Brothers Blues Band features a mix of not only Blues but also Jazz, Soul, and Funk.  It features several tunes written by Jerry Vivino along with classics like Slippin’ & Slidin’ by Little Richard, Pusher Man by Curtis Mayfield, Feedback Out On Highway 101 by Van Morrison, and Family Affair written by Sylvester Stewart for his band Sly & The Family Stone.

This is a Live to Stereo and 4 Channel Surround Sound DSD recording by DMP’s Tom Jung assisted by Mark Conese.  NativeDSD is excited to bring this lively and upbeat album to our listeners in Stereo and Multichannel DSD – including new DSD 128, DSD 256, and DSD 512 editions created by Tom Caulfield at the NativeDSD Mastering Lab using Signalyst’s HQ Player Pro 4 mastering tools.

Vivino Brothers Blues Band
Jimmy Vivino – Guitar, Piano & Vocals
Jerry Vivino – Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet & Vocals
Michael Merritt – Bass
James “The Worm” Wormworth – Drums & Washboard
Fred Walcott – Percussion
Brian Charette – Organ & Piano

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Acquiring life skills during a challenging, fragile phase of life — learning to belong, to feel seen and included, learning to build friendships — all of this lies at the core of the Nidaros Cathedral Girls’ Choir’s mission.

The Requiem in Andrew Smith’s version, commissioned by the choir and its conductor Anita Brevik, is loosely based on the Roman Catholic mass for the dead. Several of the texts of the traditional Requiem Mass have been replaced, however, with biblical references to the tragic fate of children, reflecting the all-too-frequent conflicts of today in which the young are innocent victims. The musical material in the Requiem takes its inspiration from Gregorian chant. Melodic fragments of the ancient requiem mass can be heard in the background. Trygve Seim’s improvising saxophone makes up an integral part of the whole, yet lives a life of its own in close companionship with the singers and Ståle Storløkken on organ.

The palette is expanded with the glorious strings of TrondheimSolistene in Ståle Kleiberg’s Hymn to Love and The Light (with Petra Bjørkhaug, organ). These works add dimensions of faith, hope and love. And light too, when all seems dark. In life there are moments to treasure, and challenges to overcome. In the words of Helge Torvund: The light you need exists.

Nidaros Cathedral Girl’s Choir (Nidarosdomens jentekor)
Trondheim Soloists (TrondheimSolistene)
Trygve Seim – Saxophone
Ståle Storlokken – Organ
Petra Bjorkhaug – Organ
Anita Brevik – Conductor

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