A Fistful of Music

Music Newsletter for the Hiram College Library Community

November 2007

      It's getting colder outside, but more musical every day in the Library.  Here's the latest batch of CDs we think might interest you, representing the usual wide and eclectic assortment that we've become famous for.  We'll make more, but only if you're nice.  Any comments, questions or demands can be sent to Jeff Wanser, wanserjc@hiram.edu.

Pop/Rock:

Composer/Artist Title Call # Comments Ben Folds Five Whatever and Ever Amen Pop B430 W557 Alt.pop singer songwriter's 1997 release.  Links: Ben | AllMusicGuide | MySpace | Video Tony Bennett The Essential Tony Bennett Pop B439 Es74 You just can't have enough Tony, so here's a greatest hits package.  Links: Bennett | AllMusicGuide | Video Decemberists The Crane Wife Pop D355 C850 Latest effort by this indie pop group from Portland.  Links: Decemberists | AllMusicGuide | MySpace | Video Eleventh Day Dream Zeroes and Ones Pop El27 Z54 Also a latest release, from another indie band, this one perhaps too old for MySpace.  Links: Eleventh | AMG Janet Klein & Her Parlor Boys Paradise Wobble Pop K672 P211 Revivalists with ukuleles in hand, offering popular songs from the early 20th century. Depending on your age & tastes, you'll be nostalgic, amused, or horrified.  Links: Klein | AMG | MySpace Morrissey Bona Drag Pop M834 B640 1980s tracks from the former lead singer for the Smiths.  Depending on your age & tastes, you'll be nostalgic, amused, or horrified.  Links: Morrissey | AMG | MySpace | Video The Roots Game Theory Pop R679 G145 Philly alternative rap.  Links: Roots | AllMusicGuide | Video Smooth Approach Fallin Pop Sm79 F193 A little Cleveland R&B ought to mellow you out a bit.  Links: Smooth | AMG Tracey Thomas Lights... Pop T367 L626 She used to be in several bands, but has been solo for quite a few years.  Akron area singer-songwriter with a great voice.  Links: Thomas TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain Pop T899 R316 Latest from this band from Brooklyn.  Links: TV | AllMusicGuide | MySpace | Video Junior Vasquez Earth Music Pop V444 Ea76 2002 release by this house/club DJ.  Links: Vasquez | AllMusicGuide | Video Whiskeyhounds Panic Blues Pop W578 P193 We guess you'd call these guys an Americana band.  They're from Akron, and seem to want to be called Roger Hoover & the Whiskeyhounds now.  Seems like a step down.  Links: Whiskeyhounds | MySpace Webb Wilder Town & Country Pop W645 T660 Talk about Americana, by way of Austin & Nashville. He rocks harder than the above group.  Links: Wilder | AMG | MySpace | Video

Folk/Country:

Composer/Artist Title Call # Comments Bill Czerniak Concertina Band Mr. Concertina Folk C997 M879 There aren't many other people who are vying for the title, so he wins.  A big name in Minnesota polka circles.  Links: Czerniak Jim Dime Sky Blue Cowboy Country D592 Sk91 A cowboy from Canton?  Songs and stories from a guy on a horse.  Sorry, no links.  He's out ridin'. Rosie Flores Dance Hall Dreams Country F663 D195 Alternative country from Texas by way of California.  Links: Flores | AllMusicGuide |YouTube Ginny Hawker/ Kay Justice Come All You Tenderhearted Folk H311 C734 Southern Appalachian singers from Virginia/West Virginia.  Links: Hawker | AllMusicGuide

International:

Composer/Artist Title Call # Comments Gipsy Kings Este Mundo Int G440 Es85 Their breakthrough release from 1991, with several hits.  Links:  Kings | AllMusicGuide |YouTube Kalenda Maya Norse Ballads Int K124 N810 Just what you need before a full night of sacking and pillaging from this Medieval vocal group Shivkumar Sharma/Zakir Hussain Rāg Madhuvantī; Rāf Miśra Tilang Int Sh23 R126 Works for santūr and tablā in the Hindustani tradition.  Links: Sharma | AllMusicGuide | Hussain | YouTube Solas Sunny Spells and Scattered Showers Int So42 Su74 1997 release by this Irish band.  Links: Solas | AllMusicGuide | YouTube Ustad Sultan Khan Sarangi: The Music of India Int Su59 Sa71 Classical works for this bowed stringed instrument.  Links: Sultan Khan | AllMusicGuide | YouTube Uakti I Ching Int Ua4 Ic3 Avant-garde world music group from Brazil, with rhythms based on I Ching divinations.  Links: Uakti | AllMusicGuide | YouTube Värttinä Vihma Int V439 V689 1998 release by this Finnish folk/world music group.  Links: Värttinä | AllMusicGuide | YouTube

Blues/Gospel:

Composer/Artist Title Call # Comments Johnny Adams I Won't Cry Blues Ad18 Iw1 A compilation of 1959-63 tracks by this New Orleans singer.  Links: Adams | AllMusicGuide Blue Lunch Eyes Wide Open Blues B625 Ey36 1999 release by this jump blues group from Cleveland.  Links: Lunch Robert G. Moore, Jr. & Friends Seek Him Gospel M786 Se32 1996 release by this Cleveland gospel group.  Links: Moore Eddie Shaw In the Land of the Crossroads Blues Sh26 In1 Saxophone is not the most common instrument for lead in a blues band, but who's making the rules anyway?  Links: Shaw | AllMusicGuide Clara Ward Singers Meetin' Tonight! Gospel W210 M472 Reissue of two early LPs from this important gospel group.  Links:  Ward | AllMusicGuide | YouTube

Musicals/Film Music:

Composer/Artist Title Call # Comments   House of Flowers Musical Ar51 H816 Original Broadway cast recording from the mid-1950s, featuring Pearl Bailey and Diahann Carroll.  Music by Harold Arlen.  Links: Arlen | Bailey | Carroll   Pipe Dream Musical R616 P660 Another original Broadway cast recording, from 1955, featuring nobody most folks remember.  Music by Rodgers & Hammerstein.  Links: Rodgers | Hammerstein

Jazz:

Composer/Artist Title Call # Comments Irving Berlin Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book Jazz B455 El53 Another 2-disc set from this series by Ella, originally recorded in 1958.  Links: Berlin | Ella | AMG Terence Blanchard Bounce Jazz B592 B665 Some folks' nominee for best of the year from this trumpeter.  Links: Blanchard | AMG | MySpace Art Farmer Farmer's Market Jazz F229 F229 A classic hard bop release from 1956, remastered. Farmer on trumpet, with Hank Mobley, tenor sax, and Kenny Drew, piano.  Links: Farmer | AllMusicGuide Bill Frisell Unspeakable Jazz F917 Un7 Eclectic, progressive guitarist does his thing in 2004.  Links: Frisell | AMG | MySpace | YouTube Tia Fuller Healing Space Jazz F959 H349 Saxophonist Fuller offers a combination of post-bop instrumentals and gospel-tinged vocal tracks.  Links: Fuller | AMG | MySpace | YouTube Manhattan Transfer Swing Jazz M314 Sw64 Vocal group's interpretations of classic swing tunes.  Links: Transfer | AllMusicGuide | YouTube Chris Potter Vertigo Jazz P851 V617 Post-bop sax player's 1998 release.  Links: Potter | AMG | YouTube Poncho Sanchez Soul Sauce: Memories of Cal Tjader Jazz Sa55 So83 Latin jazz from this percussionist.  Links: Sanchez | AMG | Tjader | YouTube Arturo Sandoval Trumpet Evolution Jazz Sa57 T773 Sandoval offers a tribute to some of his influences, including Armstrong, Harry James, and Maynard Ferguson.  Links: Sandoval | AllMusicGuide | YouTube Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra Sky Blue Jazz Sch58 Sk91 Schneider's latest release of orchestral jazz.  One of the few CDs to get 5 stars from Downbeat this year.  Links: Schneider | AMG | YouTube

Classical:

Composer Title Call # Comments Ludwig van Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 Clas B393 Sy68-4 Performed by the Heidelberger Sinfoniker, conducted by Thomas Fey.  Links: Beethoven | Sinfoniker Peter Cornelius Stabat Mater; Requiem Clas C814 St11 A little 19th century sacred music, performed by the Choeur et Orchestre Régional de Cannnes P.A.C.A., conducted by Michel Piquemal. Links: Cornelius | Piquemal George Crumb 70th Birthday Album Clas C888 Se82 Three of his works performed in his honor, the largest of which is Star-Child.  Performers include the Warsaw Philharmonic, conducted by Thomas Conlin, and Crumb himself.  Links: Crumb | Conlin | YouTube Mario Davidovsky Flashbacks Clas D280 F615 Nine works including the title piece, performed by Speculum Musicae, the New York New Music Ensemble, and others.  Links: Davidovsky | Speculum Musicae Antonín Dvořák Cypresses Clas D959 C992 Songs and string quartet, performed by Timothy Robinson, tenor, Graham Johnson, piano, and the Delme String Quartet.  Links: Dvořák | Delme SQ | Robinson | Johnson Antonín Dvořák Legends Clas D959 L523 Performed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Zinman.  Links: Dvořák | RPO | Zinman Morton Feldman Crippled Symmetry Clas F333 C868 A long work from 1983 on 2 CDs, performed by the Carlifornia EAR Unit.  Links: Feldman | EAR Morton Feldman The Viola in My Life Igou F333 V811 Title work and two others, not all of which are for viola.  Various musicians conducted by Mr. Feldman.  Links: Feldman | YouTube Guillermo Gregorio Coplanar Igou G861 C791 Recent works performed by the Madi Ensemble, conducted by the composer.  Links: Gregorio Georg Friedrich Handel The Messiah Clas H191 M563 We told you there'd be more of these.  This one is performed by the Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart & the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, conducted by Helmuth Rilling.  Links: Handel | Rilling Joseph Haydn Missa Sanctae Caecilliae Clas H324 M691 Performed by the Orchestre et Choeur de la Fondation Gulbenkian, conducted by Michel Corboz, and featuring Brigitte Fournier, soprano, Bernarda Fink, alto, Charles Daniels, tenor, & Marcos Fink, bass.  Links: Haydn | Corboz | B. Fink | YouTube Leoš Janáček The Piano Works of Leoš Janáček Clas J251 P573 Four solo pieces, but we don't think this is really all of them.  Performed by Avner Arad.  Links: Janáček | Arad Peter Lieberson Neruda Songs Clas L621 N358 Texts from poems by Pablo Neruda, sung by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine.  Links: Lieberson | L.H.L. | Boston SO | Levine | YouTube Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 5 Clas M278 Sy68-5 Performed by the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Tadaaki Otaka.  Links: Mahler | Otaka W.A. Mozart Cosí Fan Tutte (Highlights) Clas M877 C820 Selections from the opera arranged for wind quintet, and played by the Ma'Alot Quintett.  Links: Mozart | Ma'Alot Q W.A. Mozart Flute Quartets Clas M877 Q28f Performed by Paul Fried, and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  Links: Mozart | BSO W.A. Mozart Serenade; Adagio & Allegro Clas M877 Se66 Yet more Wolfy, performed by Die Schweizer Bläser-Solisten.  Links: Mozart Modest Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition--the Piano Concerto Clas M977 P589 Performed by Emile Naoumoff, piano, and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, conducted by Igor Blaschkow.  A piece by Naoumoff is tacked on to the end.  Links: Mussorgsky | Naoumoff Sergei Rachmaninoff The Isle of the Dead Clas R114 Os7 A jaunty tune, brought to you by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jerzy Maksymiuk.  Paired with Stravinsky's Petrushka.  Links: Rachmaninoff | Stravinsky | BBC Scottish SO | Maksymiuk Terry Riley Assassin Reverie Igou R455 As72 Older and newer works performed by the composer and the ARTE Quartett.  Links: Riley | ARTE Q Franz Schubert Symphony No. 9 Clas Sch78 Sy68-9 Performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Takuo Yuasa.  Links: Schubert | Yuasa Karol Szymanowski Complete Piano Music, Vol. 1 Clas Sz93 P573/1 Each of these volumes is a 2-CD set.  Links: Szymanowski Karol Szymanowski Complete Piano Music, Vol. 2 Clas Sz93 P573/2 Performed by Martin Jones. Links: Jones P.I. Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 Clas T219 Sy68-5 Performed by the Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Anton Nanut (haven't we seen these folks before?).  Links: Tchaikovsky | Nanut Christian Wolff 10 Exercises Igou W832 T250 However, the ten are not numbered consecutively, 18 being the highest.  Performed by L. Polansky, electric guitar, F. Rzewski, piano, the composer on percussion, and others.  Links: Wolff | More Wolff Artist Title Call # Comments Orazio Borioli Duplo Clas B644 D927 Mr. Borioli on saxophone, with Franco Cesarini on piano, play duos by Granados, Cesarini, Planel, Ravael, & others. Guy Bovet Orgues de la Cathédrale de Mexico: Orgue de L'Epître Clas B669 Or3 Works by Cabanilles, and other Baroque composers.  Links: Bovet | Cabanilles René Clemencic René Clemencic et Ses Flûtes Clas C590 R292 Lots of Renaissance & Baroque flute pieces, played on a variety of instruments. Links: Clemencic Dresdner Klaviertrio Trios Clas D816 T737 Works by Dvořák, Janáček, & Suk. Gloriae Dei Cantores Holy Radiant Light: The Sacred Song of Russia Clas G514 H747 Russian choral works, by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, & others.  Links: Gloriae Walter Hilgers Tuba Tubissima Clas H549 T790 Bach, Handel, Danielsson, & other composers works for tuba, accompanied by the Hamburg Brass Soloists, & Hubert Drees, organ.  Links: Hilgers Kammerorchester Ensemble Classico Telemann/Vivaldi/ Pachelbel/Richter Clas K129 T236 They could have come up with a real title if they'd tried.  Directed by Pierre Cochand.  Links: Cochand Kwartet Ślaski (aka, Silesian String Quartet) Complete Works for String Quartet (Stravinsky & Szymanowski) Clas K979 C738 How confusing!  Two quartets by Szymanowski, three short pieces by Igor.  Links: Silesian Q Dagoberto Linhares Dagoberto Linhares, Guitare Clas L648 D134 What's with the snappy titles this month?  Works by Granados, Torroba, Sor, and the other usual suspects.  Links: Linhares Anna Netrebko Sempre Libera Clas N384 Se54 Arias by Verdi, Bellini, Donizetti, and Puccini, sung by this soprano, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado.  Links: Netrebko | Video | Abbado Gregorio Paniagua La Folia de la Spagna Clas P191 F713 A collection of early Spanish dances performed by Paniagua, guitar, with the Atrium Musicae de Madrid.  Links: Paniagua Dimitar Penkov Viola Concertos Clas P372 V811 He didn't write them, he plays them. The concertos are by Stamitz and Penderecki.  Can't imagine why they're paired up.  Links: Penkov Anna-Maria Ravnopolska A Harpist's Invitation to the Dance Clas R197 H234 Hey, Fire Dance is on here!  Also works by Bach, Granados, and others.  Links: Ravnopolska Erik Schultz Baroque & Classique Clas Sch82 B268 Schultz on trumpet takes the lead here, on works by Corelli, Baldassare, Molter, & others, with the help of the Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchster Pforzheim, conducted by Vladislav Czarnecki. Links: Schultz Washington Men's Camerata Over the Sea to Skye Clas W278 Ov2 Choral arrangements of folk songs mostly from Europe. Conducted by Thomas Beveridge.  Links: Camerata

Miscellaneous:

Artist/Performer Title Call No. Comments Cleveland Boychoir Raising Voices, Changing Lives Misc C599 R136 A wide-ranging program, from Bach to pop tunes to "Beautiful Ohio."  Links: Boychoir Jamie Janover Now, Center of Time Misc J264 N860 Normally, hammered dulcimer music would go in the Folk category, but Mr. Janover is a bit more of a New Age kind of guy.  Links: Janover | MySpace | YouTube North Coast Men's Chorus Behold! Misc N811 B395 It's not too early for Christmas music, is it?  Links: NCMC

Web Sites to Watch:

Analogik Site devoted to all forms of electronic music. Compass Records Channel This roots and world music label has created its own little corner of YouTube, and placed a batch of videos there featuring their artists. Hear/Say Bills itself as America's college music newspaper.  Could it be true? Hip Hop Ruckus Blog devoted to the latest news from the hip hop world. Is This Music? An online music magazine from Scotland gives you a slightly different take on the music scene. Kerrang! Online version of the popular rock magazine. Side-Line Another blog, this one on goth & industrial music.

The Obits:

Teresa Brewer (1931-2007) Pop/country/jazz singer. Thomas Dawes (1943-2007) Composer of commercial jingles ("Plop, plop, fizz, fizz"), and original member of the Cyrkle, 1960s rock group. Lucky Dube (1964-2007) South African reggae artist. Petr Eben (1929-2007) Czech composer and organist. Robert Goulet (1933-2007) Pop singer and actor. Paul Raven (1961-2007) Bass player for Killing Joke. Werner von Trapp (1915-2007) Member of the Trapp Family Singers. Porter Wagoner (1927-2007) Country singer and Grand Ole Opry star.