Buddy Guy [Feels Like Rain]

And now time for some Blues!, yes i am into this genre as well, but i've never developed deeply into the Blues, it's still uncharted territory for me, Buddy Guy happens to be my favourite Blues Artist, and scanning over his Wikipedia page, there's a lot of great Artists who feel he's the guitarist of note [Eric Clapton for instance], but unlike pure guitarists, who were 'merely' lead guitarists in a band, Buddy Guy can sing his socks off too, a powerful strong Chicago Blues voice [or what i call 'shouting' Blues], his voice commands an enormous spectrum, and he has this uncanny ability to know just the right turn of phrase to use to excite audiences, he can sing soft too, an all rounder.

Buddy Guy is now 75, born in America, he still seems to be going strong, though with a lack of hair!, he recorded this album in 1993, the sticker on the back cover is of another Buddy Guy album 'Buddy's Baddest, The Best Of Buddy Guy', and i've amalgamated them into a two disc set, of the 11 tracks, only the first and last are Buddy Guy originals, the rest are covers of interesting material, the front cover photograph [by Gary Spector] is excellent, showing guy wearing overalls, lovely sharp picture, a shot taken from a low angle, looking up into the sky, nice lighting on the face, while the back of the right side of his face is in shadow, the purple theme / lettering is great too.

Of all of these tracks, i really got into them all, except maybe tracks 2 & 6, which are the weak ones, the track which really hit me was track 7 'Change In The Weather',  a John Fogerty song, but here Buddy Guy sings it as a duet with Travis Tritt, and Tritt is in excellent form, taking a cue from the delivery of the original voice, the way Guy and Tritt swap vocal duties is exciting, more than a duet it sounds like a dialogue [much like the following track with John Mayall], as if they're a tag team, or a couple of Newscaster Anchors explaining the coming storms, Tritt can growl and shout, but so can Guy, the song develops a real intensity, at the end both Guy and Tritt ad-lib as an outro [3:27-4:02], and it's Tritt that seems to be more inventive, Buddy Guy gets a nice guitar solo in before the end, tremendous enthusiasm from the performers. 

Here's Buddy Guy & Travis Tritt singing 'Change In The Weather' on YouTube.

Dvorak - Symphony 9 [Ozawa-Wiener Philharmoniker]

This is a Japanese issue, and these Jap's seem to have a way with getting the front cover right, the English version is boring, but this is very nicely laid out, Dvorak's Ninth is a work that's easy to 'over' hear, be 'over' exposed to, and it loses its revolutionary-ness, you just get too familiar with it, of course the wonderful Largo has a very famous tune, used as a theme for all sorts of things, from elevator music, to being put on hold on the telephone, it can seem ingratiating to the point it starts to annoy, but just cast that aside and listen to the Symphony as a whole, it's the pinnacle of Dvorak's Symphonic output.

Seiji Ozawa is Japanese, he's now 76, but health problems are hampering his Conducting, he made this recording in 1991, the front cover photo is by Christian Steiner, a nice portrait, the lettering is in a grey box underneath, 

Various Composers - 'Casta Diva' Italian Soprano Opera Arias [Gheorghiu/Pido-London Symphony Orchestra]

A lovely recital of Opera arias, not a compilation from other recordings cobbled together, but a proper recital with one Conductor, and a well chosen programme also, not just including the arias, but the extra bits either side, creating a greater dialogue with the storyline, and instead of '20 greatest hits', we have only 8 pieces of music, though with over an hour of music, each piece ends up lasting roughly 8 minutes, it's of course filled with the most famous pieces, but that's a good thing for me.

Angela Gheorghiu was born in Romania in 1965, she's now 46, and it's amazing how she continues to look as if she's in her 30's, she made this recording in 2000 and 2001, the photography is fantastic [by Uli Weber], the whole thing is couched in blue, nice background that matches the dress, and those sequins!, very well done, i like the way the lettering goes through the centre of the picture.

I have to admit that i have a real soft spot for Bellini, the tracks that especially touched me were 1, 5, 7 & 13, Bellini is extremely lyrical, a wonderful sense of spinning a great tune, notice how he often uses a solo woodwind instrument to weave a breathtaking vocal line, i guess i have an extra soft spot for the famous number from Bellini's I Puritani, the Qui la voce..., the intro is dominated by flutes singing the main tune to great effect [0:00-0:48], Gheorghiu has a sweet and high voice, a certain innocent tremble to it, it only lasts three and a half minutes, and it doesn't deviate from the simple rapturous tune, it's soothing and sweet, even though for the character Elvira, she sings of the distress of the abandonment of her by her Fiance, it's still touching and enchanting. 

Here's Angela Gheorghiu singing Bellini's 'Qui la voce sua soave'... from I Puritani on YouTube.

Ravel - Piano Concerto [Lortie/Burgos-London Symphony Orchestra] 

This is the first time i've played this disc, it's a nice alternative to the usual Zimerman / Boulez disc that i own, any work that i really love i want to get at least a 'second opinion' of with someone else, i love Lortie in the Chopin Etudes, so it's good to get to know him here too, and he conveniently gives us the Faure Ballade too, and what a beautiful and exciting work his Piano Concerto is, 

Vaughan Williams / Jacob - Variations For Orchestra [Marriner-Academy Of Saint Martin In The Fields]

A very enlightening disc, some of these works i know very well [Tallis Fantasia], others i enjoyed renewing the acquaintance of [Norfolk Rhapsody], and yet others i found thrilling to really listen to for the first time [Variations For Orchestra], it's a nice mixed bag from Vaughan Williams, something for everyone, and it's surprising that discs of the shorter works of this Composer are not more available, i can feel this disc is going to get played a lot more in the future.

Neville Marriner is 90 this April, a phenomenal servant to Classical music, influencing many people, though i'm not sure how active he is today, he recorded this disc in 1993, the front cover is of a windmill [photo by Den Reader], i take it representing the Fen's of Norfolk, two compositions on this disc, it's a glorious sunset silhouette.