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Volume 13 - Issue 3 - November 2007

George Hughes in a

George Hughes in a theatrical setting, showingmuch more confidence on the stage. This is fineVaughan, at a peak in her career.This second Jazz Icons series matches thefirst, and more. Given that the vaults in Switzerland,Germany and England hold many more sessions,and Japan, Canada and the U.S. are untouchedso far, let's hope Reelin' In The Yearscontinues to search for more great music.Once SmittenSophia Perlman & The VipersIndependent SPV07Ted O'ReillyOn this debut disc, Sophia Perlman and her "Vipers"(Howard Moore on trumpet and vocals;Pat Carey on saxophones; Robi Botos on piano;Mitchell Lewis on guitar, Terry Wilkins on acousticbass, Jeff Halischuk on drums and specialguests Richard Underhill on alto with Chris Galeand Tallulah Blankenship on tenor) infuse eachtune with infectious energy. Sophia wraps herrich, smoky, lived-in alto voice around a collectionof bluesy-swingers, including several originalcompositions by arranger, T.C. Wilkins andmaterial drawn from the catalogues of Tom Waits,Harold Arlen, W.C. Handy and Duke Ellington.The recording is arranged in a fairly traditionalmode by T.C. Wilkins, peppered with a NewOrleans feel. Particularly charming is the originaltitle track, Once Smitten - Twice Shy, whichfeatures a vocal duet between Sophia andtrumpeter, Howard Moore - bringing to mind someof the wonderful collaborations by the late RayCharles and Betty Carter. Another pleasingnumber is the jazzy Kicks, which enables Sophiato show that she can easily handle the lilting subtletyofa pre-boppish ballad. Sadly, Horace Silver'sSong For My Father is a bit off of themark. A heavy-handed, non-authentic Latin twist,unnecessary scat singing and a new, inferior setoflyrics all cloud the original beauty of the tune.Ms. Perlman's strong, linear delivery harkensto early blues vocalists, (with perhaps a nod tothe more contemporary Jeri Southern and KeelySmith). Her timbre and approach, and that ofthe Vipers, are perfectly suited to this sort ofthematically retro material, however, at timesvocal intonation comes into question (particularlyin the mid-range), but this is a small and correctibleissue, considering the scope of SophiaPerlman's honest, entertaining, and satisfyingperformance.Lesley Mitchell-ClarkeConcert Note: Sophia Perlman and the Vipersperform every Monday night at the ReservoirLounge, 52 Wellington St. East.60Back to Ad IndexReasons for MovingDarren Johnston; Fred Frith; Devin Hoff;Larry Ochs; Ches SmithNotTwo MW 779-2 (www.nottwo.com)As well as trumpet solos which range from theelegantly muted to raucous plunger work, Burlington,Ontario native Darren Johnston seems tohave contributed sly local references to this notableco-op session, recorded in his new Bay areahometown. Some of the tune titles are DeepNorth, Distant Cities and QEW[!]. Yet this CDof 10 instant compositions impresses even more,since the trumpeter's skills are judiciously integratedamong the trills, pops and honks of LarryOchs' saxophones; the crunching reverb and distortedruns from Fred Frith's guitar; plus DevinHoff's thick bass chords and the rumbling backbeat ofChes Smith's drums.On tunes like Deep North, Johnston is an oasisof measured calm. His minimalist and unfussyplaying smoothly limns the theme, as saxophonetrills wiggle and guitar lines ripple. QEW almostreplicates the abrupt and unexpected lane changeson the highway, as Ochs' irregular sopraninosqueaks alternate with Johnston's tremolo triplets.Other tunes, such as the bubbling BiocarbonMan add thumping drumming and triggeredguitar wah-wah pedal peals to the trumpeter'sbrassy smears.Johnston's double-tongued, staccato timbreslockstep with spacey reverb from Frith, aboveback beat drums and thumping bass to decorateOchs' snorting rendition of the title track. Themusical alchemy produced confirms the statementexpressed in the title and may even explainJohnston's relocation.Ken WaxmanPOT POURRIButtercup BugleLori Cullen; True North BrassIndependent LC2007 (www.myspace.com/loricullen)Singer-songwriter Lori Cullen has released herfourth CD, and as opposed to her last disc onwhich she covered a variety of songwriters, "ButtercupBugle" is almost all her own doing.Cullen's style leans to mellow folk/pop/jazzwith personal, poetic lyrics. Her voice is light,WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COMclear and, although uniquely hers, a little bit Feisty(Leslie Feist, that is). The True North Brass quintet(James Gardiner and Barton Woomert, trumpets,Joan Watson, French horn, Alastair Kay,trombone, and Scott Irvine, tuba) is prominentlyfeatured, with arrangements by Chris Dedrick.All those rich, round horn lines add much gorgeousnessto the goings on. (Everyone shouldhave a little tuba on their CDs, methinks.) Tightlyharmonized, shimmery backing vocals (RebeccaPellett, Rachelle Courtney) and Kurt Swinghammer'sinventive guitar soundscapes stronglyinfluence the overall sound.ff there's a flaw to this disc, and that's a bigif, it's that there's a certain sameness to the tunes.All the tracks clock in around the 3-minute markand have similar tempos and instrumentation, sothe songs tend to blur together somewhat. On theother hand, Cullen is staying true to her style andpersonality and carving out a niche for herself - awarm, inviting niche a person can curl up in.Cathy RichesConcert note: Lori Cullen's CD release event,featuring a 12-piece band, is at Hugh 's Room onNovember l 6th & I 7th.On the LineSwamperellaCattail Records CR-003Swamperella is one of Toronto's favourite Cajunlive dance bands, renowned for its toe-tappingand spontaneous performances. This enviableenergy has been successfully captured ontheir third CD release, "On the Line".Even though almost half of the tracks are theband's arrangements of traditional Cajun compositions,covers such as B. Chavis' Paper inMy Shoe elevate the band's status to "authentic"purveyors of the Zydeco style. Band membersSoozi Schlanger (vocals, lead fiddle, washboard),Peter Jellard (vocals, button accordions,fiddle), Conny Nowe (acoustic and electric guitars),Rachel Melas (acoustic and electric bass)and Dave Pontello (drums and triangle) reallydo love what they are playing. The result is a ·well-rehearsed tight band with a firm grip on amusical style which is not the easiest to master.The biggest surprises are two original songs.Schlanger 's vocals on her heart wrenching songSame Old You are unforgettable. Button accordionistPeter Jellard's instrumental Frankensteinis a rhythmical and melodic marvel for the instrumentwith a superb backing by the rest ofthe band.Co-produced by Swamperella and studio geniusJohn Switzer, the sound quality is first rate. Itis also good to hear Switzer play bass as a specialguest along with Burke Carroll on lap steeland dobro. My only disappointment was the factthat I could not locate the song lyrics that theContinued on page 62N OVEMB ER 1 - DE CEM BER 7 2007

The following newly released recordings were also reviewed for D/SCoveries this monthand are available at our website: www.thewholenote.comVOCALAh Mio Car - Handel AriasMagdalena Ko en ;Venice Baro ue Orchestra;Andrea MarconDeutsche Grammophon ArkivProduktion 4776547Reviewed by Seth EstrinMendelssohn - Violin Concerto;Octet; 3 Lieder (arr. v\olin)Daniel Hope; ChamberOrchestra of Europe; ThomasHengelbrockDeutsche Grammophon477 6634Reviewed by Larry BeckwithStrauss - Enoch Arden;Mozart - Don GiovanniRIAS Kammerchor; FreiburgerFive Piano PiecesPatrick Stewart; Emanuel AxBarockorchester; Ren Jacobs Sony Classical 88697-09056-2Harmonia Mundi HMC801964.66Reviewed by Daniel FoleyReviewedbyBruceSurtees MODERN ANDCONTEMPORARYViva VillazonRolando VillazonVirg in Classics 504762 2ANDArias for RubiniJuan Diego Florez; AcademieNazionale di Santa Cecilia;RobertoAbbadoDecca 475 9079Reviewed by Robert TomasEARLY MUSICAND PERIODPERFORMANCEbigniew Preisner -Silence, Night DreamsTeresa Salgueiro; CamerataSilesia; Marek MosEMI 3 93999 2Reviewed by Robert TomasMiklos Rozsa - Sonata for SoloViolin; Variations on a HungarianPeasant SongPhillippe Quint; William WolframNaxos 8.570190ANDMiklos Rozsa - Violin Concerto;Sinfonia ConcertanteHeu FortunaAnastasia Khitruk;La RotaAndrey Tchekmazov; RussianAtma ACD2 2561Philharmonic Orchestra;Reviewed by Frank Nakashima Dmitry ablonskyAlla TurcaMonika Mauch; EnsembleCaprice; Matthias MauteATMAACD2 2347Naxos 8.570350Reviewed by Terry RobbinsAsian Piano Avantgarde -IndonesiaReviewed by Frank Nakashima Stephan Schleiermacher - pianoCLASSICAL ANDBEYONDBeethoven - Symphonies 3DeutscheKammerphilharmonie,Bremen; Paavo J rviRCA Red Seal 88697-13066-2Musikproduktion Dabringhausund Grimm MDG 613 1322-2(www.mdg.de)Reviewed by Andrew Timar8 JAZZ ANDIMPROVIZEDSerenade to a Bus Seat. Clark Terry QuintetReviewed by Bruce Surtees Riverside RCD 30189Reviewed by Jim GallowayBeethoven - Piano SonatasOp.101; Op. 106The Thelonious Monk OrchestraMitsuko chidaat Town HallPhilips 475-866-2Thelonious Monk OrchestraReviewed by Heidi McKenzieRiverside RCD 30190Reviewed by Jim GallowayNovEMBERl - D ECEMBER 7 2007Back to Ad IndexAbbey Road DuosEvan Parker; Matthew ShippTreader trd 009(www.treader.org)Reviewed by Ken WaxmanOLD WINE IN NEWBOTTLESReviewed by Bruce SurteesShostakovich - Piano Quintet,Piano Trio No.2 and 4 WaltzesNash EnsembleVirgin Classics 09463 91337Bernstein - West Side Storyte Kanawa; Carreras; Troyanos;Ollmann; Horne; BernsteinDeutsche Grammophon4477101Brahms - SymphoniesVienna Philharmonic; LeonardBernsteinDeutsche Grammophon 0734331Brahms - Double Concerto;Violin ConcertoGidon Kremer; Mischa Maisky;Vienna Philharmonic;Leonard BernsteinDeutsche Grammophon 0734333Brahms - Four Overtures;Serenade No.2Vienna Philharmonic; LeonardBernsteinDeutsche Grammophon 0734354Brahms - Piano ConcertosKrystian imerman; ViennaPhilharmonic; Leonard BernsteinDeutsche Grammophon 0734332The Eternal CallasMaria CallasEMI 509995 00720 95The One and OnlyMaria CallasEMI 094639 63412Live at the WaldbuhneMax Raabe Palas! OrchesterEuroArts 2055678WWW. THEWHOLENOn COMTAFELMUSIIK BAROQUEORCHESTRAJeanne LamonL'ESTRO AAMONICO,VIVALD IElizabeth Walriflsch - ViolinBonus DVD i:ndudedThe Four SeQsons MosoitTHE GRVPHON TRIOSCHUBERTComplete· piano triosTHEATRE OF EARLY MUSICDaniel Taylo•& ~ames Bowman

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