Excursions

1. Caught Up - Metro Area

2. I've Got the Music

3. Hold It Down [Oslande Deep Down Mix] - 4hero

4. Mari Ye Phephka [Dennis Ferrer Jo'burg Remix]

5. It's All in the Groove 2000

6. Come Down - Green Fridge

7. Marvin Is One - Green Fridge

8. Gimme Groove - Ken-Lou

9. Santa Maria del Buen Ayre [Tom Middleton Mix] - Gotan Project

10. Right by Your Side [Peak Time Mix] - Nathan Haines

11. Break 'Em Apart

12. Outboard Jeopardy - Modaji

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Modaji (Dominic Jacobson) Brings Us the Next Installment in the Excursions Series from Obsessive and Like the Popular Ian Pooley It's Choc a Block Full of Classics. Those Into the Soulful, Deep and Jazzy Side of Broken Beat Will No Doubt Be Familiar with Modaji, who Helped Established the Laws of Motion Label with Releases Such as "Outboard Jeopardy". Best Known for his Solo Work, Modaji is also One Third of Restless Soul and Has Remixed Artists Including Ursula Rucker and Kyoto Jazz Massive.

Tracks:

Sonata for Piano, Op 26: Allegro energico
Sonata for Piano, Op 26: Allegro vivace e leggiero
Sonata for Piano, Op 26: Adagio mesto
Sonata for Piano, Op 26: Fuga: Allegro con spirito
Excursions, Op 20: Un poco allegro
Excursions, Op 20: In Slow Blues Tempo
Excursions, Op 20: Allegretto
Excursions, Op 20: Allegro molto
Nocturne, Op 33: Moderato
Three Sketches: Lovesong: Tempo di valse: Allegretto
Three Sketches: To My Steinway (To No.220601): Adagio
Three Sketches: Minuet: Tempo di minuetto
Interlude I ('For Jeanne'): Adagio, ma non troppo
Ballade, Op 46: Restless
Souvenirs, Op 28: Waltz: tempo di valse, Allegro con brio
Souvenirs, Op 28: Schottische: tempo si Schottische, Allegro ma non troppo
Souvenirs, Op 28: Pas de deux: Adagio
Souvenirs, Op 28: Two-Step: Allegro molto
Souvenirs, Op 28: Hesitation Tango: Con moto
Souvenirs, Op 28: Galop: Allegro molto

Customer Reviews:

Barber: genius; Pollack: great, but not as great as John Browning.......2007-05-29

This CD includes a mini biography of the composer and a short description of each piece, which is always a plus. I am still amazed he wrote those 3 sketches at such a young age! Barber's music is always lyrical, even when it sounds a-tonal. While John Browning is the most popular interpreter of Barber's music, Pollack also does a wonderful job. The only problem I have is his playing of the Nocturne, op. 33, because he plays it very heavily and too fast, much unlike a nocturne should be.

A variety of emotions.......2006-11-16

This CD collects all the published piano music of Samuel Barber, including the highly regarded masterwork SONATA, OP.26. The SONATA, in four movements, goes from the severe in the first movement to the openly joyous in the second; the third movement builds slowly to a mighty grumbling before just as slowly resigning itself to a quiet resolve. The final movement is all energy, requiring great technical prowess, which pianist Daniel Pollack has. It's an excellent performance.

Some of the other pieces, though less demanding, are most enjoyable. The four EXCURSIONS explore "regional idioms," including boogie-woogie, the blues, and country roots (this last is delightful). The four SOUVENIRS show Barber at his most humorous: the Waltz is laugh-out-loud charming, and the Hesitation Tango is just that - and very compelling. This is an excellent CD all around, from the varied and intelligent music of Barber to the assured, lyrical interpretations by Pollack. Highly recommended.

Samuel Barber's Piano Music.......2003-11-26

Samuel Barber's(1910 --1981) music is lyrical, romantic, and accessible. But his music still manages to be challenging. As is the case with many American composers, Barber tried to develop an American voice by combining art music with American themes derived from jazz and American popular culture. Again, Barber wrote in an accessible way using sophisticated 20th century compositional techniques.

Although he did not compose a great deal of music for solo piano, much of what Barber did write is outstanding. This disc on the budget-priced Naxos label includes all of Barber's published solo piano music performed by Daniel Pollack. Pollack knows and plays this music well indeed. He performed Barber's piano sonata at the First International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in 1958. The CD includes detailed, insightful liner notes by Victor and Marina Ledin.

Barber's piano sonata op 26 (1946) is the highlight of this disc and is a work that has become an important part of the piano repertory. The work is in four movements, and in it Barber uses an expansive musical vocabulary which includes serial composition. The work is romantic and virtuosic and immediately appealing. Vladimir Horowitz championed this music and it has been recorded many times.

The sonata opens with a two-note falling figure with the second note heavily accented that becomes the basis for the opening allegro movement. Throughout the first movement, loud, virtuosic passages alternate with quieter sections, with feathery piano writing in the instrument's high register. The two-note figure is prominent at the end of the movement with a shift in accent to the first note of the pair. The second movement is a short, light scherzo which picks up on the quieter portions of the first movement. The third movement, an adagio, is spare and minimalist. It rises to a large climax before the music falls away pensively over a walking bass. The last movement is a fugue which begins rapidly and quickly develops to a frenzied, cataclysmic conclusion.

The other extended works on this CD are two piano suites. The first suite, "Excursions" Op. 20 (1942-1944) was also championed by Horowitz. It consists of four movements based upon American jazz and popular song. The first movement features a syncopated theme with repeated notes over a boogie-woogie theme in the bass. The second movemement develops as a blues, with a slow-drag theme that becomes more prominent as the movement progresses. It reminded me of a Gershwin piano prelude. The third movement consists of a lyrical, rippling theme in a moderate tempo which undergoes brief variations. The final movement is a foot-stomping barn dance. The movement reminded me of a conservative Charles Ives.

The other suite in this collection is titled "Souvenirs", op 28 (1951-1952) It consists of six short dance movements. (Barber used it for a ballet.) I loved this piece. It is deliberately anachronistic in character and is a throw-back to a hotel-style elegance just before WW I. In listening to this suite, I tried to think of the tone it intended to convey. Some people find this music light and frivolus while others find it ironic. I heard it as loving, but detached and a bit distant. Barber is trying deliberately to recreate a musical experience in an idiom that is no longer his. I think the tone is affectionate, with the music played straight (rather than satirically), but with a distinct feeling of looking back. Thus the title, "Souvenirs".

There are a number of short pieces on this CD including three sketches dating from Barber's 13th year. I enjoyed the Nocturne which is highly chromatic (op. 33) and the late Ballade, Op. 46 among these short works.

This disc is part of the Naxos "American Classics" series. It will allow the listener to get to know some great works of 20th century American piano music.

What's the rush?.......2003-10-22

I can't tell if the overly fast tempi on much of this recording is so all the works could be jammed onto one CD, or if Mr. Pollack was dared to see how fast he could go. To be fair, he starts the Sonata at the metronome marking in the score (which some performers do not) but he doesn't keep it there. He pulls back tremendously in the second theme, then rushes through much of the closing theme so quickly as if to suggest that hearing the notes is not the important part. I'm impressed at how fast he can play certain parts (and the scherzo), but what honestly is the point? Passages in the development and coda are reduced to a blurry mash. Along with this he punches many notes (first and third movements), especially in the base, that have no need for added emphasis. Barber provided enough angularity to this piece that just playing it gets the message - and the music - across. The fourth movement, I will concede, is as admirable as any other performance.
The rest of the works on the CD fare better - in areas where a change in tempo might be tasteful, Mr. Pollack seems invariably to push ahead but it doesn't sabotage anything as badly as the Sonata.
Despite the tempting price, a newcomer to Barber's piano output would do better to buy John Browning's recording and come back to this one later for a different viewpoint.

Barber at a bargain.......2001-09-10

Daniel Pollack has a special relationship to this music. He premiered Samuel Barber's Piano Sonata in the Soviet Union, and played it to wildly enthusiastic acclaim during the 1958 Tschaikovsky competition. That was the year Cliburn took the Gold medal, but Pollack was also a winner, and was very well received.

I am very familiar with the Sonata. I performed it at my senior piano recital in college. I also had the pleasure of playing most of the Sonata for Daniel Pollack when I competed in a college-based piano competition. It was a special pleasure for me to learn how intimately he knows this piece. Pollack plays the Sonata with tremendous energy, brilliance and passion. The recorded sound of this Naxos CD is bright and a little too resonant for my taste. Still, the performance is thoroughly exciting, sometimes to the point of being overwhelmingly powerful (for example, at the end of the fugue).

I own eleven recordings of the Barber Piano Sonata on CD or LP. Although Pollack's is not my first choice, his playing is so exciting and powerful that I regard his performance as special and worth having. My favorites are Cliburn and Horowitz. My other recordings include Garrick Ohlsson, Willis Deloney, two by John Browning, Leo McCawley, Earl Wild, Peter Lawson and Ruth Laredo. It would be difficult to rank these performances, as they all have something special to commend them. Pollack's passion and abandon stand out in this group.

The other Barber works are less familiar to me, and so I am less able to comment on them. They seem beautifully played and, again, only hampered a little by the overly resonant sound.

Tracks:

Adagio For Strings, Op.11 - New York Philharmonic
Summer Music, Op.31 - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
No.1: Un Poco Allegro - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
No.2: In Slow Blues Tempo - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
No.3: Allegretto - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
No.4: Allegro Molto - The Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet
Dover Beach For Voice And String Quartet, Op.3 - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Molto Allegro E Appassionato - Beaux Arts String Quartet
Molto Adagio - Beaux Arts String Quartet
Molto Allegro - Beaux Arts String Quartet
Intermezzo - Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Toccata Festiva, Op.36 - The Philadelphia Orchestra

Customer Reviews:

Very good Barber overview from the LP era.......2007-01-08

Sony/BMG reached deep into their vaults to pull together this intriguing Barber overview, and as a bonus brought together an impressive collection of performers. In spite of the fact that these recordings are all about 40 years old, the sound has worn fairly well. The Schippers "Adagio for Strings" remains one of the most intense performances ever recorded. It's nice having the work's original version as the middle movement of the String Quartet available on the same disc, along with Schippers conducting the Intermezzo from "Vanessa." Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the Juilliard String Quartet zero in on the dark depression in the setting of Arnold's "Dover Beach," and André Previn's jazz credentials are put to good use in "Four Excursions." When the "Toccata Festiva" first appeared on LP back in the 1960s, the recording already sounded too close and strident, but Eugene Ormandy and E. Power Biggs find in this celebratory piece touches of angst underplayed by later performers. At mid-price, this disc is very attractive.

Average customer rating:

Barber: Sonata No. 1 / Excursions
Barber , Bauer , and Beus
Manufacturer: Endeavour Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000H5V8QS
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Tracks:

I. Allegro Energico
II. Allegro Vivace E Leggiero
III. Adagio Mesto
IV. Fuga: Allegro Con Spirito
I. Un Poco Allegro
II. In Slow Blues Tempo
III. Allegretto
IV. Allegro Molto
Nocturne In A-flat Major, Op. 33
Pine-Trees, Op. 12 No. 3
I. The Tide
II. Druids
III. Vision
I. Quietly (For The Left Hand)
II. Allegretto Grazioso
III. Very Fast
IV. Vigoroso
V. With Deep Feeling
VI. Exuberantly, Passionately

Average customer rating:

Classics with a Jazzy Pulse
A marvelous blend
"wonderful marriage between Classical and Jazz...Concord!"

Virtuosi

Manufacturer: Concord Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Preludes | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Caprices | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Bebop General | Bebop | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Modern Post Bop | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Generations
Next Generation
Pandora
Libertango: The Music of Astor Piazzolla
For Hamp, Red, Bags, and Cal

ASIN: B000060OWW
Release Date: 2002-03-12

Tracks:

Tombeau De Couperin I: Prelude
Excursions I, Op.20
Prelude VIII, Op.32
Milonga
Prelude II
Sonata K20
Three Little Oddities: Impromptu
Piano Concerto In F: Movement III
Lakme Medley: Berceuse/Duettino
Capriccio II, Op.76
Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Customer Reviews:

Classics with a Jazzy Pulse.......2005-07-07

Burton and Ozone perform a splendidly diverse variety of classics alongside some newer tunes considered classics in their own right. Tombeau de Couperin, Rachmaninoff's Prelude, Scarlatti's Sonata, and the Lakmé Medley do not merely use a melody and chord changes as inspiration for a "head chart," but rather delve inside the original songs for a new twist. The Sonata particularly shows off the duo's ingenuity in finding a new interpretation that respects the old melody.

The newer pieces (such as Milonga, the Confrey Impromptu and the Gershwin pieces) do not belittle themselves as "lesser classics," but Ozone and Burton respect them as equals to the other pieces. The final piece, though not destined to be a classic of its own, is a pensive reflection on the "classics" which echoes the voice the duo found inside many of the other pieces. Overall, a charmingly novel album perfect for lovers of jazz and classical music alike.

A marvelous blend.......2002-11-27

This Burton-Ozone collaboration has produced a record that deserves to be timeless. It is a marvelous blend of the classical and jazz traditions. The spirit of the classical composers represented on the disc comes through in a refreshing way, brilliantly interpreted by these two superb musicians. This will be my favorite record from the year 2002, no question about it.

"wonderful marriage between Classical and Jazz...Concord!".......2002-03-12

Two genres appease my appetite for today's music CLASSICAL and JAZZ...so it's no
wonder this latest Concord release hits the spot to satisfy my craving...featuring Gary
Burton(vibes) and Makoto Ozone(piano), performing the works of Barber, Bonilla, Brahms,
Cardoso, Confrey, Delibes, Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, Scarlatti and even Ozone composed
his "SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE", mesmerizing with haunting
overtones, a perfect ending to this classic event.

Each piece mirrors the harmonies of both classical and jazz, through the musicianship of each
artists...much care has been taken to present various tempo and moods...from Latin,
Brazilian, Swing, Tango leaning toward polished styles that will amaze and enlightened the
listener...each selection has tremendous improvisation, with some Blues thrown in for good
measure(now we're cooking).

A big thank you to Concord Jazz, Gary Burton(producer), Glen Barros and John
Burk(executive producers)...a wonderful and exciting album for all jazz and classical fans
alike...just listen and study this one-of-a-kind project...hope to see more in the future...this is
a totally satisfying CD, a must have for anyone who plays an instrument or just enjoys GOOD
MUSIC!

Tracks:

Adagio For Strings Op.11 - Leonard Slatkin
Overture, Op.5 - Leonard Slatkin
I. Allegro - Elmar Oliveira
II. Andante - Elmar Oliveira
III. Presto In Moto Perpetuo - Elmar Oliveira
Essay For Orchestra Op.12 - Leonard Slatkin
Second Essay For Orchestra Op.17 - Leonard Slatkin
Medea's Dance Of Vengeance Op.23a - Leonard Slatkin

Tracks:

I. Allegro Ma Non Troppo - Israela Margalit
II. Adagio-Presto - Israela Margalit
III. Alegro Appassionato - Israela Margalit
Canzone For Flute & Piano Op.38a - Israela Margalit
I. Un Poco Allegro - Israela Margalit
II. In Slow Blues Tempo - Israela Margalit
III. Allegretto - Israela Margalit
IV. Allegro Molto - Israela Margalit
Nocturne (Homage To John Field) Op.33 - Israela Margalit
Slow And Indolent - Stanley Drucker
Faster - Stanley Drucker
Lively, Still Faster - Stanley Drucker
With Motion, As Before - Stanley Drucker
Joyous And Flowing - Stanley Drucker
Tempo I - Stanley Drucker
Pas De Deux - Israela Margalit
Two-Step - Israela Margalit
Third Essay For Orchestra Op.47 - Leonard Slatkin

Customer Reviews:

Most valuable Barber set. .......2005-09-14

Having virtually all the shorter orchestral works plus some of the best chamber and instrumental music makes this set more than its weight in gold -- especially now that EMI has sensibly lowered the price even further by issuing it on its Gemini line. This set also fills a void as an adjunct to RCA France's two-disc release of the First Symphony and three concertos with Slatkin and the St. Louis Orchestra. (Or, if you don't want the symphony -- and which Barber lover wouldn't? -- RCA now has those concertos on one very full mid-price disc.) The only major work missing is Knoxville, which no one coming to Barber's music should be without. But, depending on what you want with that heavenly masterpiece, there are ways to easily solve that problem.

Of course, the fiercest competition to these recordings comes from Naxos through Marin Alsop and the Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Both Alsop and Slatkin have Barber's music fully in their blood. They practically breathe and move by the pulse and cadence of the music, and they intuitively understand the yin and yang of its dramatic and the rhapsodic qualities.

Slatkin lingers more than Alsop in the quieter spots, and takes bigger risks, yet maintains greater control and tension in overall pacing. In The School for Scandal Overture, a wider ranging ride through the valleys and expertly picking up the pace through the dramatic peaks shows Slatkin at his best. He adopts takes an even broader pace than Alsop out of the gate in the Third Essay. Once past any thought of ponderousness, one hears how Slatkin links the notes like Alsop, phrasing the lines and even that percussion solo at the onset, taking more time than her in projecting the emotive weight and complexity, which is so easy to miss in this work. The results, as in Alsop's reading, are enormous, but richer and more rewarding.

The other way this set sweeps the field is through the impressive stable of chamber and instrumental works - nearly a full disc's worth. Each performance is very good to exceptional, and together yields a much wider (and welcome) range and variety in Barber's music than we are normally accorded. All of the players deserve special mention: cellist Alan Stepansky and pianist Isreala Margalit in the Cello Sonata; flautist Jeanne Baxtresser and Margalit in the Canzone for flute and piano; Margalit as soloist in Excursions, Nocturne in homage to John Field and two pieces arranged from the piano four-hands Souvenirs; and Baxtresser, Joseph Robinson, clarinetist Stanley Drucker, bassoonist Judith Le Clair and French hornist Philip Myers in Summer Music.

The Violin Concerto is the only also-ran, and not because it is a bad performance - just a less than fully persuasive one. Soloist Elmar Oliveira combines Isaac Stern's firm tone with some of the Kyoko Takezawa's rhapsodic approaches to the melodies. The key word here is "some." As good as Oliviera is - and he is very good - where he lacks is striding one leg on Stern's stay-on-the-rail firmness to the work's structure and the other on Takezawa wider-ranging, more mercurial jaunt around the course. He's astride two horses with very different temperaments and riding styles, not giving either mount his full attention but doing all he can just to keep them together. Slatkin gives this piece his all, but Oliviera holds him back. When you hear Slatkin and Takezawa, you hear how Slatkin and his team are willing to deliver a much more exciting a ride.

Slider- Ambient Excursions for Pedal Steel Guitar

Average customer rating:

Ahhh...HELLO?!?!?
Don't think Country and Western, or Hawaiian music!
Country & Eastern And All That Stuff
Beautiful Pedal Steel Music

Slider- Ambient Excursions for Pedal Steel Guitar

Manufacturer: Wiggling Air Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | New Age | Styles | Music
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Released
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ASIN: B000BWDUCM
Release Date: 2005-06-28

Product Description

The label and graphics have changed, but the recordings are exactly the same as the 2000 Hearts Of Space release "Slider- Ambient Excursions for Pedal Steel Guitar". "Slider" is Bruce Kaphan's solo debut album. Known for his pedal steel work with artists such as Sheryl Crow, REM, David Byrne, Chris Isaak, Jewel, The Black Crowes, Jellyfish and American Music Club, and for the underscore to Bob Dylan's feature film "Masked & Anonymous", "Slider" contains all original compositions and performances featuring the unique sound of Bruce Kaphan's pedal steel playing. Zen music... sweet dreams of light and flight in which Kaphans licks ring like prayer bells across an open Texas plain. Rolling Stone Magazine. An ambitious and groundbreaking effort... langorous, soulful expressivity. The San Francisco Bay Guardian. Kaphan pioneered new territory for the pedal steel in the90s with alt-rock cult faves American Music Club... where he quickly liberated the instrument from Nashville stereotypes. SLIDER is an extensive rethinking of the pedal steel, with its silvery liquid tone refracted through Kaphans harmonic vocabulary, skillful arrangements and wide-ranging stylistic compass. Backroadsmusic.com. CD Now Top 10 CD of the Year

Customer Reviews:

Ahhh...HELLO?!?!?.......2007-06-18

Yes...this is very enjoyable material!

BUT--with this and Jeff Pearce and others...it's as if NONE of you have ever heard Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON!! It seems as if everyone is "astounded" that there is a use for the pedal steel "other than country or perhaps soundtracks" out there! Has David Gilmore's masterful use and playing of it on that and other Pink Floyd work been forgotten THAT easily?!? YES...it wasn't the "primary" instument, but it's inclusion and useage and tone individualized and created with and for it are extraordinary and ground-breaking!

Wake up and smell the coffee brewing...oh ambient fanciers! :-)

Don't think Country and Western, or Hawaiian music!.......2006-04-22

If you've never heard 'Clouds', you're in for a treat. I stumbled upon this song on my cable station's Soundscapes channel, and fell in love with it the first time I heard it. Bruce's music is pure magic. I never knew the pedal steel guitar could produce such a full and sensuous sound until I heard this album. He is a master of the pedal steel guitar.

Like a true pioneer, Bruce takes you down several paths, ranging from a couple of eastern-style tracks, to more traditional 'new-age' compositions. Not to leave country & western totally ignored, his 'High Desert' explores the lost art of western music. 'Outpost' conveys a sense of loneliness and isolation that its name implies.

Don't take my word for it. You can listen to every track on this CD from his website - www.brucekaphan.com. Then buy it!

Country & Eastern And All That Stuff.......2006-03-04

When Bruce Kaphan's "Slider" came out in 2000, as one of the last official releases on the Hearts Of Space label, it made quite a splash-besides the English pedal steel player B.J. Cole and the equally obscure but still immensely talented Chas Smith, not much ambient/space music had been heard from the steel guitar as a source instrument.

"Slider" changed that in a big way: The track "Country & Eastern" substituted a slide guitar where a sitar or esraj might have been; "Clouds" and "Big Brain Small Brain" went off into Jeff Pearce/Michael Brook "infinite guitar" territory, but using the slide as opposed to a heavily processed six string or e-bow. Six years later, "Slider" sounds just as fresh. This is an essential purchase.

Beautiful Pedal Steel Music.......2005-11-11

Modern music fans recognize Bruce Kaphan's name from his work with American Music Club, Chris Isaak, REM, Black Crowes, John Lee Hooker and David Byrne. It's a rare treat to get an instrumental album from such an accomplished sideman. This collection of instrumental "new age" music was originally recorded for the prestigious Hearts Of Space label, and its tone is consistent with the sound of their popular radio show.

The tunes are dreamy, multi-layered steel tracks, dripping with echoes and punctuated with diamond edges. Bruce Kaphan combines his double-neck pedal steel, the recording studio, and a few tasty acoustic instruments to create beautiful ambient tapestries. This CD is on the leading edge of steel guitar art music. It's one of my personal favorites.

Average customer rating:

it works well
Deserves to Stay in Print
Ambient Soundscapes - With A Twang
Slip sliding away
It doesn't take synths to be ambient

Slider: Ambient Excursions For Pedal Steel Guitar
Bruce Kaphan
Manufacturer: Hearts of Space
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

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Slider- Ambient Excursions for Pedal Steel Guitar
Slide Show
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ASIN: B000058T8B
Release Date: 2001-02-27

Tracks:

Clouds
Country & Eastern
High Desert
Big Brain Small Brain
Back To The Light
Sideways Carousel
Outpost
Arc Of Flight
Homage (Pour La Grande Fromage)
Underserved Ending
Shinn Pond

Amazon.com

The twangy sounds of the pedal steel guitar are regularly associated with country music, but like fellow musical adventurer Chas Smith, Bruce Kaphan takes the instrument into outer space with blissful ambient excursions periodically tempered by keyboards, bass, or percussion. Kaphan is known for session work with the likes of R.E.M., Jewel, and Chris Isaak among many others, and he has toured with former Talking Heads front man David Byrne. The luxurious atmospheres of Slider are instantly intriguing, including the trance-y, Indian-flavored "Back to the Light," the ghostly "Outpost," and the uplifting "Arc of Flight." Kaphan displays a wider range of sonic approaches for pedal steel guitar than many listeners may have thought possible with the 11 tone poems on Slider. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews:

it works well.......2005-11-23

if you have listened at all to AMC cuts over the years, you'll know what i mean about the spaces in the music. the wonderful thing with this CD is that you get innumerable spaces, the break in the song, with a sense of gentle repetition. I can't listen to this without thinking of american music club songs, though at the same time it stands and sounds something like its own. It works. It needs to be purchased, and listened to. Works perfectly in the fore or background.

Deserves to Stay in Print.......2004-12-20

This is not your father's ambient music. No whooshing sounds of astral wheels colliding. Instead this is a masterful soundscape of steel guitar that is plainly easy to listen to over and over like a great jazz record. In four years we have not once tired of it.

We were looking to give this album as a gift and were surpised to learn it was out of print. This is one record that deserves to stay in print. So come on Hearts of Space. Release this jem once again.

Ambient Soundscapes - With A Twang.......2001-09-27

"Slider" by Bruce Kaphan is one of the most amazing records I've ever heard. The first two reviewers captured the essence of this CD nicely. I would add that the music has an emotional quality absent in much of today's music, ambient or otherwise, which is due in part to the artist's mastery of the pedal steel guitar and numerous other instruments.

The fluid, echoing drones created by Bruce's pedal steel go right to the heart, particularly on tracks like "Big Brain Small Brain", "Arc Of Flight", "Undeserved Ending" and "Shinn Pond". He also uses the pedal steel to a quasi-harp-like effect on "Clouds", the album opener and one of my favourite tracks. "Outpost", which clocks in at over 8 minutes, creates an atmosphere of vastness and desolation, without leaving the listener feeling "cold". For me, the artist has created a work that evokes a response bordering on the "spiritual", a perfect soundtrack for relaxation or reflection.

Truly a sublime aural journey.

Slip sliding away.......2001-08-20

The more ambient tracks on this album seem to work for me. The first couple tracks seem to meander. If you like this stuff, search out some of Ry Cooder's soundtrack work, specifically the Johnny Handsome ST. As well some of the work of Michael Brook.

It doesn't take synths to be ambient.......2001-03-26

While the category of ambient music nearly always involves electronics, Bruce Kaphan has created a new kind of ambient with his steel guitar. The album's subtitle is "Ambient Excursions for Pedal Steel Guitar," and that says it all. The steel guitar is used to make nearly all the music on the CD, but not in a style typically associated with that instrument. A track such as "Outpost" is as spacious (and space-y) as anything by Eno or Serrie. The effect of listening to the piece is like quietly floating high above a calm but endless sea; utter serenity. The CD is not just a homogenous block of spacey atmospheres, however. Kaphan mixes it up with oriental or near eastern textures on some cuts, and also begins "Back to the Light" with a techno-ish swirl of grungy, chopped-up backwards guitar loops. "Slider" is a highly intriguing disc that I will undoubtedly return to many times in the future.

Average customer rating:

Not far-out...just slightly bent
A Harmolodic Genious

Alarms & Excursions
Bern Nix Trio
Manufacturer: New World Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Goin' Out Again
Divine Radiance

ASIN: B0000030HT
Release Date: 1994-05-11

Tracks:

Z Jam Blues
Acuity
Ballad For L
Just Friends
Desert Storm
Let's Don't
Driving Sideways Backwards
Pat's Theme
Boundaries

Customer Reviews:

Not far-out...just slightly bent.......2001-08-14

This CD remains Bern Nix's only recording to date as a leader: he's best known as one of the guitarists with the original edition of Ornette's Prime Time band, & the discography provided in the liner notes here reveals he's recorded a few times elsewhere with Jayne Cortez, Julius Hemphill & Ronald Shannon Jackson. It's a mystery why Nix hasn't been recorded more often: this disc is a first-rate guitar trio session, revealing among other things an excellent composer.

Nix's sound is absolutely straightahead--a clean jazz guitar tone without any fuzz or rock influence. His approach is entirely tonal, but within the outlines defined by Coleman's concept of "harmolodics"--Nix's effort to explain this famously nebulous concept in the liner notes isn't much more comprehensible than Coleman's own, but its main point is clear enough: "All players are simultaneously soloists, as well as accompanists. The idea is to create spontaneous music that is compositional, as well as orchestral in scope." That last phrase throws me (orchestral??) but the rest describes quite well the feel of the music: the music isn't a cyclic expression of an underlying chord structure, but relies on a continuously evolving polyphony which means that each improvisation is, so to speak, spontaneously through-composed. The music delicately & almost seamlessly negotiates between the options offered by conventional jazz, modal jazz & free playing.

This is to make heavy weather of a very approachable recording. The playing touches on all the conventional genres of mainstream guitar jazz--the blues, bop, the ballad, even the standard "Just Friends"--& leaves everything sounding fresh & unhackneyed. The great Fred Hopkins is an essential part of the music--listen to his swinging bass on the mordant, funky "Let's Don't" (Nix in the liner notes comments that it's "my postmodern reply to Cole Porter's 'Let's Do It' in this age of latex"). The fine drummer Newman Baker gets a well-deserved feature on "Acuity". The disc ends fittingly on the two most "out" numbers, "Driving Sideways Backwards" & "Boundaries": by this time the listener's ears have been entirely drawn into Nix's logical but unpredictable sound-world.

A little classic of the 1990s, & an album that should be picked up by anyone interested in free jazz on guitar. The disc makes for an interesting juxtaposition with the recordings of two other guitarists who've tackled Coleman's approach, James Blood Ulmer & Pat Metheny. I think it's just as strong as their work.

A Harmolodic Genious.......2000-05-07

This CD is the best guitar trio record if not the best guitar feature record I have ever listened to. Bern Nix, a gifted genious of harmony has not failed us from his days with Ornette Coleman's Prime Time ensemble. His originals: "Z Jam Blues", "Accuity" and his rendition of "Just Friends" were my favorites. This rhythm section featuring the late, great and honorable Fred Hopkins on Bass, and Newman Baker on drums, is an as-one power unit. Their drive changes from subtlety and textural to a hard driving harmolodic fiery dance. This CD is a 5 star without a doubt. When will he put another one out?

Barber: Summer Music Op31; Sonata for cello Op6

Average customer rating:

Barber: Summer Music Op31; Sonata for cello Op6

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quintets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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Suites | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000002RV8
Release Date: 1996-06-18

Tracks:

Vc Son Op.6: I. Allegro ma non troppo - A. Stepansky, I. Margalit
Vc Son Op.6: II. Adagio-Presto - A. Stepansky, I. Margalit
Vc Son Op.6: III. Allegro appassionato - A. Stepansky, I. Margalit
Canzone Op.38a - J. Baxtresser, I. Margalit
Excursions Op.20: 1. Un poco allegro - Soloists Of NYPO
Excursions Op.20: 2. In slow blues tempo - Soloists Of NYPO
Excursions Op.20: 3. Allegretto - Soloists Of NYPO
Excursions Op.20: 4. Allegro molto - Soloists Of NYPO
Noct (Homage To John Field) Op.33 - I. Margalit
Summer Music Op.31: Slow And Indolent- - J. Baxtresser, J. Robinson, S. Druker, J. Le Clair
Summer Music Op.31: Faster- - J. Baxtresser, J. Robinson, S. Druker, J. Le Clair
Summer Music Op.31: Lively, Still Faster - J. Baxtresser, J. Robinson, S. Druker, J. Le Clair
Summer Music Op.31: With Motion, As Before- - J. Baxtresser, J. Robinson, S. Druker, J. Le Clair
Summer Music Op.31: Joyous And Flowing- - J. Baxtresser, J. Robinson, S. Druker, J. Le Clair
Summer Music Op.31: Tempo I - J. Baxtresser, J. Robinson, S. Druker, J. Le Clair
Pas De Deux - I. Margalit
Two-Step - I. Margalit