What are you listening to? March 2022

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Jimmy Heath - On the Trail (1966)

Jimmy Heath Quintet - On the Trail - album cover


Nice hard bop set - gotta add this to my personal jazz list for further listening :thumbsup:
 
Irmgard Seefried, Gerhard Stolze, Hermann Uhde, Czech Philharmonic & Chorus (Igor Markevitch, cond.) - Gounod: St. Cecilia Mass (1966)

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This is simply a gorgeous piece of music. For his first publicly performed work, Charles Gounod created a masterpiece and this is the definitive performance. :heart:
 
London Symphony (Adrian Boult, cond.) - Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 2 ("A London Symphony") (1953)

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Boult did two complete cycles of the Vaughan Williams symphonies. Despite the monaural sound, most critics seem to prefer the earlier one for Decca. Not being a monophobe, I heartily agree.
 
Vienna Philharmonic (Fritz Reiner, cond.) - Brahms: Hungarian Dances/Dvorak: Slavonic Dances (1960)

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If there were ever a perfect harmony of repertoire, orchestra and conductor, this is it. Fritz Reiner emigrated to the U.S. in 1922 (wise move) but returned to Europe on a regular basis after WWII. His ebullient style draws out all the gusto and flair that the happy Austrians could muster. And what better material for them to tackle than these Eastern European dances full of ethnic flavor?

:5.0: on the Sam-O-Meter.
 
Keely Smith - Sings the John Lennon/Paul McCartney Songbook (1964)


Keely Smith - Sings the John Lennon • Paul McCartney Songbook - album cover


Went through a Wiki wormhole during my Louis Prima listen yesterday and discovered Keely's solo album of compositions by John & Paul - how did I not know about this?! Actually apparently was pretty successful at the time in the UK
Actually a nice set if you enjoy vocalists/pop standards - Keely brings swing, jazzy, and even bossa elements to the Liverpool lads composition.
And at 1964, pretty cool so early in the Beatles career, recognizing the songwriting skills of Lennon/McCartney in putting out a Songbook typically reserved for songwriters like Porter, Berlin, and Gershwin. Was this one of the earliest attempts at this? When did Sinatra put out his first Beatles cover? - pretty sure it was later
Happy to have found this
 
Trio Ellas ~ Con Ustedes (2012)

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A pleasant-enough release, but not really up in my alley.

Trio Ellas is Suemy Gonzalez (violin), Nelly Cortez (guitarrón), and Stephanie Amaro de Abad (guitar). These three young ladies, with their mixture of instruments and vocals, have created a sound all to themselves. They are all accomplished and experienced performers in their own right - Suemy is the first Latina to graduate from the USC Thorton School of Music program in popular music; Nelly is a fourth-generation mariachi musician; Stephanie has performed and recorded in genres ranging from electronica to mariachi.

The Trio Ellas sound is considerably more vibrant than traditional Mexican trios, which usually consist of three male singers all playing guitars. And traditional mariachi bands are much larger, sometimes comprised of up to eight violins, along with two trumpets and at least one guitar (which could include either a vihuela, a high-pitched, round-backed guitar, or the bass guitar called a guitarrón, or both.). The Trio Ellas ensemble is the perfect combination of instruments and voices, bringing a fresh new sound to this music.
 
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