Nicholas Payton [Payton's Place]

This was the disc that started my Blog off, the very first entry [1st January 2010], but i also played it just over a year ago [23rd February 2011], it's getting nice exposure, and each time i play it i marvel at the invention of Payton, and his ability to create something funky and upbeat, the small combo [mainly quintets] is used very effectively, no one seems to play background accompaniment, each musician muscles in on the action, looking at the track listing, Payton also has a propensity to write for the 5-6 minute market, of the 12 tracks, two thirds fall into this bracket, is there a production line formula developing in his works.

Nicholas Payton is American, born in 1973, he is now 38, and he recorded this disc in 1997 and 1998, one of the great things about this disc is the front booklet cover and back inlay, they are truly superb [photography by Barron Claiborne], aided by a shocking bright red background, colours 'seem' to clash, notice the red, yellow, green, blue on the back inlay, almost the whole rainbow of colours!, and doesn't yellow on the back make the track listing stand out that much more?, plus it's deliciously off kilter, a truly superb album, out of 76 Jazz discs i own, this is my fourth favourite, a stunner of an album.

Right from the word go, as soon as the album opens [i always play a disc like this on random, however the first track i listened to was the first track on the album] it has this phenomenally delicious funky drum and cymbal beat, and here's one of the major strengths of the album, the Drummer [Adonis Rose], and the way he's recorded, he doesn't just play drums, but plays a load of different drums!, and his sounds are caught in the mix in a stunning way, you can hear the different sized toms clearly and sharply, it's dynamite to get the drums right in the recording, there were three tracks which were just terrific to hear, tracks 1, 5 & 9, and here's a synopsis of each,
1 Zigaboogaloo [YouTube video starts after 23 seconds] - Like i said what an opening, a drum intro to just get so excited about [0:00-0:06], and then the Pianist lays down a funky groove with it [0:06-0:16], this is the canvas which the horns paint on, and their theme is also just a funky and bubbly tune [0:17-1:31], so infectious, Payton's solo right afterwards is high spirit, nicely sharp and screaming, and growling at times too [1:30-2:49], Saxophonist Tim Warfield's solo by comparison is quite muted and mellow and low down, i like the way both horns fill in over the second half of the Pianists solo [4:39-5:14], the return of a theme is always a special moment [5:14+], and the ending finishes on a nice loud horn blast! [5:51], and finally what a great name for a track!.
5 Concentric Circles - Again what a title!, 
9 Paraphernalia - 

Greig - Piano Concerto [Andsnes/Kitayenko-Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra]

First off i must say that i have reservations about this performance, and yet, the sheer invention of Grieg still shines through, so this is a testament to Grieg rather than Andsnes, this is the tenth time this work has appeared in my Blog, over a 2 year period, it gets lots of exposure in my life, but this actual disc / performance is the first outing, i'm certainly not an expert on Andsnes, so i can't tell you if he's good or not, but i certainly know the Grieg work, and i know a good performance from an average one.

Leif Ove Andsnes is Norwegian, 41 years old, he made this recording in 1990, the booklet front cover is a black and white shot [by Morton Krogvold], a nice portrait of Andsnes, apart from the face and hands it's all dark, lots of layers of dark grey, the lettering is nicely laid out, a good all round picture.

On the first two movements i was troubled by a degree of mannerisms from Andsnes, he likes to bask in the reflective passages, and i find him hanging around too long, trying to extra caress something out of it all, also he's not a smooth player, and some of his changes of direction are a bit clumsy, in other areas i get the feeling he's trying to get noticed with his ideas, whereas a true Pianist camouflages into the background, and lets the Composer steal the glory, maybe the slow middle movement works slightly better, as it's a more reflective approach you need anyway, but i can't get past some of the sharp jutting corners that Andsnes throws up, it was probably the final movement where i found the most excitement,

Schubert - Piano Quintet 'The Trout' [Schiff/Hagen String Quartet]

This is the first Trout Quintet disc i bought, and it's a great version, and it's become my touchstone recording that i gauge all other recordings with, i got to fall in love with Schubert's Trout Quintet with this recording, and it opened up my mind to other Piano Quintets, the String Quartet, with the piano is a great combination, a sunny and uplifting work, you can almost hear the bubbling brook, this disc was originally only my third post in my Blog, way back at the beginning of 2010 [3rd January 2010].

Andras Schiff is Hungarian, is now 58, he made this recording back in 1983 when he was 30, the front cover shows a painting by Joseph Anton Koch.

I enjoyed the whole of this work, it's in A major, and even though all the movements are in the major, there's still somewhat of a dark undercurrent to the work at times, however i enjoyed the most the very sunny fourth movement variations, 

Here's Clifford Curzon and the Amadeus String Quartet playing the fourth movement variations on YouTube.

Various Composers - 'Con Amore' Violin Encores [Chung/Moll]

'Con Amore' meaning 'with love', one of the nicest violin & piano encores discs i own, i actually sold one of these discs on Ebay for £63!, nice money, this has many of the usual pieces you would expect to get on a recital like this, but it also has a few rarer pieces which are welcome, the longest piece is track 16, the Saint-Saens / Ysaye work [over 8 minutes], and maybe slightly out of place, almost all the pieces last between 2-4 minutes [13 of them], but everything is nicely apt for the gist of the whole thing.[11th March 2012].

Kyung-Wha Chung is South Korean, now 63 years old, she made this recording in1985, the front cover photo is wonderful [by Vivianne Rome], a lovely portrait, the fur hat, and the orange shawl give it a certain regal look, and the golden necklace on black top really stands out, the brown background also works wonders, one of the best photos for a disc cover.

Lots to enjoy here, my favourite tracks were 1-2,4-5, 9-10 & 16, and surprisingly it was track 9, the 'Moto Perpetuo' by Novacek that i found really compelling, and as the title suggests, it's a motorised type of piece that just goes on and on for 3 minutes, it opens angrily as a piano introduction [0:00-0:12], Chung comes in with rapid bowing, the focus isn't so much on a tune, but on developing tension and dynamism, of course there is a tune, but it only seems secondary as you listen to the piece closer, it's ideas come at you in waves, there seems no beginning or ending of the theme, it's like one big loop, it's great the way Novacek weaves violin and piano together, the Pianist [Phillip Moll] mostly plays a supporting background role, it's a 3 minute tightrope walk, i'm thankful i listened to this work i don't know all that well, but i certainly know it better now. 

Here's Novacek's 'Moto Perpetuo' being played on YouTube.