Ending a Long Dry Spell
Now Playing "No Borders" by Keiko Matsui
It has been several years since I have purchased a music CD. Hell, it has been a few years since I've played a music CD except to entertain visitors. But I couldn't resist the hype on "Paganini: After a Dream" by Regina Carter.
There is a violin the Italians consider a national treasure. They call it "Il Cannone" or The Cannon. It is the instrument Nicolo Paganini used in the early 19th century and it is carefully guarded. Few violinists are allowed to play it for serious music, much less to produce a jazz album.
Okay, Regina Carter's album contains jazz treatments of Ravel, Faure and Debussy. Baroque and jazz aren't that different anyway. Debussy's Réverie might benefit from a touch of urban swing. Perhaps Faure's Pavane should be more playfully rendered. Ms. Carter has her quintet, all being backed up by a full string orchestra led by Ettore Stratta. Anyone who didn't know better might mistake the album for classical music.
Now Playing "Celtic Minstrel" by James Galway
But why stop at one album. Having broken the ice (and having a paycheck in the bank, for a change), why not get a few more?
I picked one of the more ordinary of Regina Carter's albums, Freefall. Then I picked the second big reason I decided to buy at this time, a new album by Turtle Island, Danzón. (Derek has been known to say disrespectful things about Turtle Island because they use the instruments of a traditional string quartet to play jazz and other forms of music that fall well outside of the classical tradition.) I got three Wynton Marsalis albums and one each by Kenny G, Dave Koz and Bobby McFerrin. Finally, I got Second Nature by Miriam Stockley.
The Stockley album is a pure gamble. She is a South African girl who was popular, along with her sister, a few years ago for the senseless music beloved of the pre-teen set. She seems to have matured. We'll see.
Oh, I almost missed the Willie and Lobo album, Wild Heart. Willie and Lobo (his real name is Wulfgang, hence Lobo) are another of my favorite "groups". They are gypsies who mostly play in and about Puerto Vallarta. One fiddles while the other strums, mostly violin and guitar although that may vary. It doesn't matter much who plays what -- they produce a very neat sound, one I can listen to for hours.
Derek and Cathy grew up listening to my choice of music. A lot of what they heard was from my collection of folk music on old vinyl records that I never play any more. If I don't have it on CD or can't find it on Internet radio, I just don't listen to it now. Some of what they heard was classical music in the traditional sense, not in the purist sense. There was little rock (some CCR and Sting, stuff like that), but it was rarely heard. Instrumentals outnumbered vocals pretty well.
And they both know better than to play really jarring music when I'm present.
Comments (4)
I think I would enjoy some of your music choices. I love jaz and I like Kenny G and Bobby McFerrin. I am also a great fan of American folk music. I do still drag out my vinyl albums from time to time, but CD's spoil you - the sound is so much better.
The way you remember things incorrectly is disconcerting at times. You might be better off stating your opinions than trying to remember what others' opinions are.
I have never said anything disrespectful about Turtle Island. The standard string quartet doesn't belong to classical only, and I have never insinuated that it should. I enjoy listening to good music, regardless of whether the arrangement is traditional or not. One of my favorite recordings is Handel's Messiah: A Joyful Celebration, a contemporary rendition by jazz and R&B stars of Messiah.
I specifically remember listening to Turtle Island in your car once and enjoying it. I remember specifically saying that to you. Same thing goes for Bela Fleck and the Fleckstones, although you probably think I don't enjoy their music either.
As for baroque needing jazz...I agree that baroque works very well when jazzed up. I'm just wondering what Fauré, Ravel, and Debussy, three twentieth-century composers, have to do with baroque.
Never, Derek? When I got TI's third album, which had lots of Spanish / Moorish stuff on it, I distinctly remember hearing disdainful comments about it coming from you.
I think it was Bela Fleck that had the neat rendition of Sousa's "The Thunderer" done on banjo. I've got to find the cd that has that piece so I can rip it onto a new album.
As for mention of the modern composers along with the baroque / jazz comment, the latter was out of place. The moderns were mentioned because they are on the album. The other comment should have been placed apart, by itself, since it didn't apply to the rest of the discussion. My oversight. Maybe I was as tired then as I feel now.
Again, you are misremembering. I haven't heard a lot of Turtle Island, but I have enjoyed it when I've listened to it. Perhaps you are confusing them with Willie and Lobo, whom I am not a huge fan of.
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