Balladeer

Sad to read that. I like many of his later recordings for Steeple Chase. Thank your for the music, Louis Smith!

Lars Vogt - For Children (Cavi) Music programatically written for children and youth. But intended of course for adults. You have dreamy miniatures of contemporary composer Thomas Larcher written exclusively for Vogt, some haunting Schumann and those knockout Bartok pieces. Sven Vogt is a remarkable young pianist. Simon rattle raved about Vogt´s touch. It´s truely sublime and this little gem of an album is proof. BTW "For children" has the cutest cover pic I´ve seen in classical music...

Lars Vogt - For Children (Avi) features Thomas Larcher: Poems, Robert Schumann: Album für die Jugend, Bela Bartok: For Children

Excellent all around. Schumann, Brahms part is not your usual interpretation what you are expecting by Sabine Meyer or Andreas Ottensamer. Kind of more down to earth - that´s why I like it even more. American and Latin American part are superb. Highpoint for me is D. Gauses´s almost eight minute long "Lunar Lace" a contemporary gem that´s almost modern jazz in its rough expressivness.

F. Gerard Errante - The Lyric Clarinet: Treasured works from the vocal repertoire for clarinet and piano (Ravello) Like Errante´s fullbodied, expressive tone

Ry Cooder - The very thing that makes you rich (makes me poor)

Again spinning: Nina Proll & Trio Salon - Eisler, Hollaender, Weill: Lieder eines armen Mädchens/Songs of a poor Girl (Gramola) love it

Boris Giltburg - Schumann: Carnaval, Davidsbündlertänze, Papillons (Naxos) Fantastic

Richie Beirach, Gregor Huebner, George Mraz - Round about Mompou (ACT) Ravishing variations over Federico Mompous Musica Callada. With his "Round about" cylce of three albums (Bartok, Mompou, Monteverdi) Beirach proves to be a musical genius. And by presenting German violinist Gregor Huebner he came up with a sensational discovery. Marvellous music that belongs to a dozen albums I esteem extremely high.

Boris Giltburg - Schumann: Carnaval, Davidsbündlertänze, Papillons (Naxos),

Lost Generation - Horenstein Ensemble, Barbara Krieger (soprano) and Julien Salemkour (p) (Acousence Records) play music of international composers who lost their lives during WW I (George Butterworth, Rudi Stephan, Cecil Coles)

Benjamin Feilmair - Busoni: Complete Works for Clarinet and Piano (Paladino)

Alexander Melnikov - Alexandre Scriabin (Harmonia Mundi)

Matthias Goerne (bariton), Ensemble Resonanz, Thomas Larcher (pn) - Hanns Eisler: Ernste Gesänge, Lieder with piano (Harmonia Mundi)

Nina Proll & Trio Salon - Lieder eines armen Mädchens, (Songs of a poor girl) Tunes of Hollaender, Eisler, Weill (Gramola) Something to rave about. She´s got her own style, ravishing arrangements: great!

Freddie Hubbard - Rose Tattoo Freddie Hubbard - Rose Tattoo

Nina Proll (voc) & Peter Grillmayr (violin), Andrej Serkov (accordeon), Roland Wiesinger (upright bass) Eisler, Hollaender, Weill, Wunder - Lieder eines armen Mädchens (Gramola)

Yes Eisler, Prokofiev - Bridges (Alpha Classics) is a remarkable album in many ways. IMO Guillaume de Chassy is a musical genius with a knack for fascinating crossover ideas and stunning projects.Just listen for instance to his "Wonderful World" (Bee Jazz) that he produced with Daniel Yvinec. More on the American jazz side but hauntingly fasicnating nevertheless. Aside from the moving songs on "Bridges" that are beautifully sung I dig the combination of upright bass, clarinet and piano. There are far too little Eisler productions in general on the market, so this is a welcome addition. But I find the Prokofiev adaptations especially thrilling. The speciality on the entire album are the improvisational passages that free this project from the stiffness of many (modern) classical recordings and give it a natural flow.

Guillaume De Chassy (pn), Laurent Naour (bariton), Thomas Savy (clarinets), Arnault Cuisinier (b)- Eisler, Prokofiev - Bridges (Alpha Classics)

Lara Downes - Exiles´ Cafe (Steinway and Sons)

Jack Kerouac & Steve Allen - I had a slouch hat too one time

I can understand that, Jim. Such a moving event. NDR Bigband was great, too. BTW: Did you know that there´s an anecodote about this legendary event. Chet looked so rugged at that final stage of his life that the janitor at first refused to let him in when Mr B wanted to enter. He thought Chet was a hobo...

Benjamin & Florian Feilmair - Busoni: works for clarinet and piano (Paladino music)

Certainly Tokyo is Chet´s greatest artistic concert achievement, They finally managed that the old junkie subsituted with Methadon - to best effect. You can hear it in his clean, strong playing. BTW: There are so many remarkable live recordings Chet made during the last years of his life. Have you heard "LIve in Sweden", includes one of the most ravishing ballads ever recorded (the Charlie Haden penned "Ellen and David" that is harmonically very similiar to "Silence" on the above record). And of course "Last Great Concert" from Germany - big emotions, big band, great art.

Richie Beirach, Gregor Hübner, George Mraz - Round about Mompou (ACT) Spinning this fascinating crossover again and again since I discovered it recently. I´ve been lucky enough to get one of the last new copies of ths OOP gem for a reasonable price at amazon. German violinist Gregor Hübner plays magnificently.