Monday, November 23, 2015
Monday, January 19, 2015
Koto Music of Today
The music is known as enka which was revived in the modern form around 1969. The style of enka refers to many aspects of traditional Japanese music blended with modern instruments. This creates some interesting contrasts. Bamboo flutes or Shakuhachi are played, followed by piano, koto with oboe, electric guitar, sweeping strings, gypsy violin, folk guitar rythms, harpsicord and even sleigh bells. Most songs are sentimental ballads that draw on a traditional, idealised or romantisized aspect of Japanese culture and attitudes.
So why is Rumiko's singing replaced by a koto? It could be that the album was put together for an English speaking audience. The orchestral arrangements by Kenichiro Morioka are the actual backing tracks for Rumiko's hit songs. It would have been easy to find a musician to play koto - karaoke style.
Recorded in Japan
Arranged by Morioka Kenichiro 森岡賢一郎
Songs originally sung by Rumiko Koyanagi 小柳ルミ子
Songs written by Hirao Masaaki 平尾昌晃
Advent of Spring written by Morita Koichi 森田公一
A Folded Paper Crane written by Hama Keisuke 浜圭介
Links:
Enka
Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Guitar Concerto - Super Star Sound
Liner Notes:
He progressed so well that at the age of twelve he already gave his first violin concerto. He went on to the State Conservatorium and was the youngest member of the Youth Symphony Orchestra.
At the age of seventeen, whilst serving in the army, he belonged to the Music Corps in Kaernten as percussionist and after that wanted to see the world.
He joined a very good Combo and travelled the whole of Europe. In 1969 he took part in a Young Talent Contest of the Z.D.F. in which he was the only instrumental soloist among the finalists. Far more important, famous Max Greger who had arranged the musical background of this event was so impressed by this young solo-guitarist that he engaged him straight away for his band. Harald Winkler is now a very much sought-after artist as studio guitarist and as soloist at great Gala Evenings. He also writes his own music, texts and many special arrangements.
It is far above average talent, combined with solid musical training, if an instrument is mastered to such a degree and with such perfection as his guitar by Harald Winkler.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Yamaha Superstar - Koichi Oki
The tracks on this album “Yamaha Superstar” were specially created for the Yamaha EX42 by Koichi Oki, the world’s leading Yamaha Electone player.On this album Koichi Oki uses many of the sounds which are exclusive to the Yamaha Electone and which are revolutionizing the field of electronic organ sounds.
The first Yamaha organs—seventy-eight reed organs—to be exported to Britain were shipped in 1892 only five years after Torakusu Yamaha built Japan’s very first prototype. Since that time the company, renamed Nippon Gakki Co. Ltd., has gone from strength to strength and while its musical instruments have steadily improved in range and excellence, it has also diversified into many other fields. Not so long ago, after all, the name “Yamaha” in Britain meant motor cycles and not musical instruments at all. Had our climate been other than it is we should know the name for its sno-cats and and skis made of the revolutionary new Fibreglass Reinforced Plastic, while boats and archery equipment of the same material obviously have a great future here.
It is, however, in the sphere of music that the Company’s greatest efforts have been expended and here is to he found its greatest achievement.
In the organ field Yamaha have scored many “firsts”, most notable being their revolutionary flat speaker based on the principle of a piano soundboard. It is to this speaker which enables the sound of the organ to travel across its surface that the Yamaha “Natural Sound” must be attributed.
Turning to the EX42, the scope of the organ is such that it gives ample expression to any type of playing from popular melodies, so ably demonstrated by Koichi Oki, to classical.
No other organ in the world has Yamaha’s exclusive “Touch Response” combined with the again exclusive “Touch Vibrato” which, for the first time, enables an organist fully to express mood and to translate the force in his fingers into volume and tone colour.
Koichi Oki recorded for AD-RHYTHM Records, London by courtesy of YAMAHA FOUNDATION FOR MUSIC EDUCATION, Japan.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Hit-Guitar - Karl-Heinz Kästel Und Seine Gitarren
Every so often, an album cover attracts my attention, not for its visual appeal, but for its blandness. Dispite the simplicity of design, the recording reveals a treasure trove of hits from the 60's. Taking into consideration that a few of the tracks were hits in 1967, it would be quite safe to say that this record, "Hit-Guitar", was made around 1968. The sound is German. Close listening - such clean precise sounds that seem to be a well-known feature of German record engineering.
What kind of album is it? A collection of party medleys fuelled by wine and beer. But wait, it's about to become very strange. If wierd and unusual music is your thing, look no further. Track 5, the "Latin Party" brings instant madness into your living room.
The backing singers are one of the standout aspects of this album. Listen for the whispered "Jackson, Jackson, Jackson" on track 4. Also, listen for the interesting vocal effects mimicking brass instruments in "Immer Nur An Eine Denken" at the beginning of track 7.
Yet there is no information whatsoever about Karl-Heinz Kastel, the orchestra or the backing singers. Internet searches bare nothing at all. What information is available shows that at least three other albums have been produced featuring him, "Hit Guitar 2", "Hit Guitar 3" and "Guitar in Gold".
Friday, November 9, 2012
Pipe Organ Plus - Passport to Romance
Monty Kelly
To quote Monty — "Every problem I have encountered in years of arranging for films and recordings presented itself in this project. However, the end result is the most satisfying of my career."
Monty's background in music started as a trumpet player going through the playing musicians' best grammar school—night clubs, ballrooms, theatres and staff band radio work. He left C.B.S. in San Francisco to join the Paul Whiteman band as 1st trumpet and arranger. After a stint in the Army Ordinance Band with the late Skinny Ennis, he joined the Bob Hope Show as assistant musical director and arranged for all the top guest personalities—Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, Tony Martin and scores of others. In the early 1950's Monty moved to New York as a free lance arranger and worked at N.B.C. His first hit recording with label credits was Al Martino's "Here In My Heart." He then followed up with his own hit instrumentals "Tropicana" and "Three O'Clock In The Morning." The album sales of the Monty Kelly Orchestra established him as one of the finest "pops" orchestrators and conductors in the world.
Eydie Gorme, Bob Manning and Anita Bryant owe no small measure of their success to Monty. His orchestration genius was responsible for a 3-million long-play record sale of "Soul of Spain" with "101" Strings.
Monty made a complete study of the theatre organ (an orchestra within itself) and after exhaustive research of all the audio technical problems of marrying orchestra and pipe organ, has written what could be considered one of the most breath-taking instrumental albums ever recorded.
Monty has been commissioned to write the scores to six more Pipe Organ Plus albums to be recorded in the U.S., England, Germany and France in 1965.
Robert Hunter, a native of Los Angeles, attended the University of Southern California, and studied with John Crown, Mario Castellnuovo-Tedesco and Claudio Arrau. While primarily a pianist, he has many times selected the pipe organ to augment his varied career.
Bob was for several years assistant organist at St. James
Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, and also scored numerous silent films with
pipe organ for the Hollywood Film Classic Exchange.
He made his formal debut as a pianist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in November, 1948. He joined the Robert Shaw Chorale as pianist and organist, and later became an RCA Victor recording artist, making numerous albums released under his name. The career of this brilliant artist was interrupted by two years' service in the United States Armed Forces.
Following his return to civilian life, he joined the Freddy Martin Orchestra. Bob recorded the "Pagan Poem" by Loeffler in 1957, with Leopold Stokowski on the Capitol label. He became arranger, conductor, and pianist in 1958, for Carol Channing through the fall of 1962, then he joined George Bums, in the same capacity.
During these same years, he has played both publicly and privately for Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, President and Mrs. Truman, President and Mrs. Eisenhower, President and Mrs. Kennedy, President and Mrs. Johnson and Lord and Lady Ormsby-Gore, the British Ambassador. Presently living in Los Angeles, Bob will soon be giving his second formal concert for the American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts in the Southern California area.
Robert Hunter has received enthusiastic support from Mr. Richard Simonton, whose beautiful Wurlitzer pipe organ was used to record this album, and who is, in the main, responsible for the restoration and preservation of pipe organs throughout the United States.
The Recording
The complex task of recording the orchestra tracks was assigned to Bill Putnam of United Recording in Hollywood.
Recorded on 4 track Ampex Series 300-4 machines on 11/2 mill 1/2" 3M tape, the mix was picked up by 17 condenser microphones of varying characteristics. Studio A of United was chosen for its exceptional acoustics and separation control potential. The problems of over-dubbing the organ on location were compounded by the necessity of maintaining a constant temperature control in the organ chambers so as to achieve perfect pitch with the pre-recorded orchestra tracks. The orchestra tracks were remixed from their various sections into tracks 1 and 4. The organ was then stereo "self-synched" to the background on tracks 2 and 3. The final four tracks were then remixed down to stereo and mono composites respectively.
The Instrument
SPECIFICATIONS OF WURLITZER PIPE ORGAN INSTALLED IN PRIVATE THEATRE AT THE HOME OF MR. & MRS. RICHARD C. SIMONTON, TOLUCA LAKE, CALIFORNIA
The original organ was Opus #2035, built March 1929 for Paramount Picture Studios, Hollywood. It was a 3-Manual of 19 ranks and an exceptionally fine organ designed specifically for recording purposes, and was installed on the scoring sound stage. James Nuttall was responsible for the design, installation and tonal regulation. It was considered the finest recording organ on the West Coast.
The organ was used intermittently until 1931, when it was removed, crated and stored. In 1942 it was sold to NBC in San Francisco and installed there. It was removed in November 1953 to make room for expanded TV facilities, and installed with additions in its present location.
The additions to the organ came mainly from a 3-Manual 14 rank Wurlitzer Organ, Opus #1732, installed by the factory at Treasure Island, San Francisco Bay, to serve the needs of the 1939-40 World's Fair. Other additions were from the Wurlitzer Organ Opus #3170, built for the Coliseum Theatre, Seattle. Invaluable assistance with the final specifications, procurement of parts, factory records, and integration into one instrument came from Mr. Fanny Wurlitzer, without whose help it would not have been possible.
He made his formal debut as a pianist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in November, 1948. He joined the Robert Shaw Chorale as pianist and organist, and later became an RCA Victor recording artist, making numerous albums released under his name. The career of this brilliant artist was interrupted by two years' service in the United States Armed Forces.
Following his return to civilian life, he joined the Freddy Martin Orchestra. Bob recorded the "Pagan Poem" by Loeffler in 1957, with Leopold Stokowski on the Capitol label. He became arranger, conductor, and pianist in 1958, for Carol Channing through the fall of 1962, then he joined George Bums, in the same capacity.
During these same years, he has played both publicly and privately for Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, President and Mrs. Truman, President and Mrs. Eisenhower, President and Mrs. Kennedy, President and Mrs. Johnson and Lord and Lady Ormsby-Gore, the British Ambassador. Presently living in Los Angeles, Bob will soon be giving his second formal concert for the American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts in the Southern California area.
Robert Hunter has received enthusiastic support from Mr. Richard Simonton, whose beautiful Wurlitzer pipe organ was used to record this album, and who is, in the main, responsible for the restoration and preservation of pipe organs throughout the United States.
The Recording
The complex task of recording the orchestra tracks was assigned to Bill Putnam of United Recording in Hollywood.
Recorded on 4 track Ampex Series 300-4 machines on 11/2 mill 1/2" 3M tape, the mix was picked up by 17 condenser microphones of varying characteristics. Studio A of United was chosen for its exceptional acoustics and separation control potential. The problems of over-dubbing the organ on location were compounded by the necessity of maintaining a constant temperature control in the organ chambers so as to achieve perfect pitch with the pre-recorded orchestra tracks. The orchestra tracks were remixed from their various sections into tracks 1 and 4. The organ was then stereo "self-synched" to the background on tracks 2 and 3. The final four tracks were then remixed down to stereo and mono composites respectively.
The Instrument
SPECIFICATIONS OF WURLITZER PIPE ORGAN INSTALLED IN PRIVATE THEATRE AT THE HOME OF MR. & MRS. RICHARD C. SIMONTON, TOLUCA LAKE, CALIFORNIA
The original organ was Opus #2035, built March 1929 for Paramount Picture Studios, Hollywood. It was a 3-Manual of 19 ranks and an exceptionally fine organ designed specifically for recording purposes, and was installed on the scoring sound stage. James Nuttall was responsible for the design, installation and tonal regulation. It was considered the finest recording organ on the West Coast.
The organ was used intermittently until 1931, when it was removed, crated and stored. In 1942 it was sold to NBC in San Francisco and installed there. It was removed in November 1953 to make room for expanded TV facilities, and installed with additions in its present location.
The additions to the organ came mainly from a 3-Manual 14 rank Wurlitzer Organ, Opus #1732, installed by the factory at Treasure Island, San Francisco Bay, to serve the needs of the 1939-40 World's Fair. Other additions were from the Wurlitzer Organ Opus #3170, built for the Coliseum Theatre, Seattle. Invaluable assistance with the final specifications, procurement of parts, factory records, and integration into one instrument came from Mr. Fanny Wurlitzer, without whose help it would not have been possible.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Mr Guitar
(Shoji Yokouchi, November 9, 1933? - 1996) Shoji Yokouchi was a composer, arranger and guitarist. He was born in Dalian, Manchuria (northern China).
He graduated from Dalian Commercial High School and after the war, he withdrew from Dalian and returned to Kyushu, southern Japan. He began performing in a U.S. military camp in Kokura, an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu. He later formed a group with Hiroshi Watanabe, Jun Furuya, and Seiji Hiraoka.
He also played as a session guitarist for Chiyo Okumura as well as Mari Nakamoto on her albums "Mari" (1977) and "Lady Bird". One of his most well-known representative works is "Blonde On The Rocks".
Translated from Japanese Wikipedia
Mr Guitar was recorded in the Toshiba Studios in Japan, and according to Discogs this particular record was made in Australia by EMI and released in 1967. Shoji's family name is clearly spelt incorrectly either by mistake or on purpose. The music he creates with his backing group Blue Dreamers, is easy listening Latin guitar. Listen closely for the warm bass lines and atmospheric flashes of brilliance.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Zither Magic
The ever changing concepts of modern living have given rise to new ideas in many areas of creative endeavour, including the artistic field of music making. The Zither, although a very ancient and revered instrument, has had to wait for a major talent, with a flair for popular music and a modern mind, to bring it out of its traditional use as an atmospheric background in European cafes, or a twangy accompaniment for old world “folk” ballads. This talent has arrived! He is Viennese born (1937) Karl Swoboda.
Karl, who now appears regularly on European Radio and TV, began zithering when only nine years old. He received his most valuable legitimate training from 1953 to 1956 at the Conservatory of Vienna. The door to fame was opened for him as a result of his winning an amateur contest which led directly to an American TV appearance on the Ted Mack Hour. When he returned home, his still continuing appearances began. His other album for Philips, “Pop Goes the Zither” is a hit on both continents, thereby making him an artist of international stature.
Karl uses the delicate instrument more like a guitar, in that he has freed the zither from its usual traditional use in a chordal mode with his conception of a free flowing single note melodic line. The zither has many tone qualities which can remind one of the piano, harpsichord, harp or guitar. In the hands of Karl Swoboda it takes on a very warm and personal sound with a timbre on certain numbers not unlike that of the great gipsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.
The main accompanying unit for this trip of Karl’s into the world of popular music is a small violin section, a big band type saxophone section, and the four man rhythm section. Included selections are the ultra modern Beatles composition, “Yesterday”, the hard swinging, “The In Crowd”, and “A Taste Of Honey”, on which Karl plays the theme in a very pretty ‘music box’ style against the big band background. There are some fine tenor saxophone solos on those tunes.
Three themes from three excellent films are given the modern touch by versatile Karl Swoboda. On Theme From “A Summer Place” he elicits that guitar-like flavour over a carpet of woodwinds and softly playing strings. On “Goldfinger” his sound is hard and deep. And, on “Zorba The Greek”, he uses the age old tradition of the single instrument playing the theme slowly and building by acceleration, joined by the fiddles, to an exciting climax.
“Sole, Sole, Sole” is light hearted in the “Third Man Theme” style. “A Walk in The Black Forest” quite naturally maintains the European flavour, with some very good woodwind work. “Stranger On The Shore” spotlights Karl’s sense of humour and relaxed manner, and the Mancini/Mercer “The Sweetheart Tree” is given a beautiful waltz treatment. “Unchained Melody”, and “Ebb Tide”, the two great songs that made singer Roy Hamilton famous, are here given their most sensitive reading since his climactic ones years ago.
All of the selections in this new album are delightful for listening or dancing. There is a variety of mood, tempo, and melody, and through it all the very great talent of Karl Swoboda, the most versatile and swinging “Zither-ist” of today, will continually delight.
Arranged by Bobby Opratko
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Accordion a la Carte . . .
Liner Notes:
Perhaps no other instrument so clearly reveals the capabilities and accomplishments of the performer as does the accordion. From pure melody to sparkling flash, the control and mastery, or lack of it, constantly expose the musicianship of the accordionist.
In this album, the accordion meets its master. Louis Bregoli, with flawless ease, brings to you music at its spectacular best. Long recognized as a leading accordionist, Bregoli has conquered many proving grounds. Not only is he considered one of the finest studio musicians available for exacting TV and Radio work, but his reputation as a leading teacher of the instrument is unquestioned. Never lacking in musicianship and technique, there are no barriers, no compromises. For an example of this wizardry, listen to ‘DIZZY FINGERS” or “NOLA”.
Here’s accordion à la Bregoli — a favorite dish to please and delight, yet sure to suggest a second helping.
DIZZY FINGERS
THE WEDDING OF THE PAINTED DOLL
TICO TICO
SWEDISH RHAPSODY
DARK EYES
PETITE WALTZ (Medley)
LITTLE BROWN JUG
SCHOOL DAYS
CZARDIS
DOLL DANCE
STRAUSS WALTZ MEDLEY
NOLA
CARNIVAL OF VENICE
MY PRETTY BRUNETTE (Polka)
Joe "Sonny" Barbato was a student of Louis Bregoli.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The Dubliners Live
Liner Notes:
To say that the Dubliners are Entertainers is to state the obvious. I can think of no better way of underlining this simple truth than in a live album.
“The Dubliners Live” is a fairly typical Dubliners programme performed in front of an enthusiastic and appreciative audience in one of the Yorkshire Clubs. These clubs have a well-earned reputation for expecting and getting the best in the entertainment field. This show is no exception. It scores in other ways too. Here is a completely new recording of a number of well loved Dubliners Classics alongside updated version of numbers guaranteed to raise the roof. Then there are the first ever Dubliners recordings of “The Four Poster Bed” (a traditional Shetland wedding tune) and “The Belfast Hornpipe/Tim Maloney” medley played on tin whistle. John Sheahan then takes up his fiddle again for the “Blue Mountain Rag”.
Add to this the between number talk and humour which is so much part of the Dubliners, and the album which has been long and eagerly awaited, is complete.
It is something of a minor miracle that five such diverse characters have remained together as a group for more than eleven years now. Maybe it is their very differences which provide the strong bond between them – that and the fact that they have never seen the need to use the slick trappings of showbusiness. To say that they have succeeded on a world stage is perhaps an over-simplification. However, it remains an irrefutable truth that by remaining themselves they have brought something very special to people the world over. Wherever they appear they engender warmth, affection, laughter and perhaps ever an occasional tear.
Their unique brand of magic has assured them of a niche in the annals of popular music. Even more important perhaps is their impact on people. Barney MacKenna once remarked that the Dubliners were made by their audiences. No matter how talented they were individually or collectively, if people lost the will to listen to them then they would be finished. This precept has undoubtedly played its part in their lives but as a member of innumerable audiences over the years one can say that without the Dubliners many lives would be the poorer.
MARY HARDY
Special thanks to the Shakespeare Theatre Club, LiverpoolRecorded at the Fiesta Club, Sheffield (24th March 1973)
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett - Take you to Hawaii
Liner Notes:
Hawaii is one of those fun sun places which everybody has heard of but comparatively few get the chance to visit. It’s rather a long way away in the blue Pacific and nobody in Britain has yet managed to organise a conveniently priced package holiday deal to enable we sun-starved Britons to sample its sun sea and sand.
We all know about its existence of course lots of us were aware of it via soothing and sultry recordings of Hawaiian music featuring those seductively wailing steel guitars and strumming ukeleles long before we made the TV acquaintance of Steve McGarrett and the other sleuths of Hawaii 5-0. Music can be totally expressive and it certainly is in the case of the Hawaiian Islands Lulling languorous sometimes syncopated but always evocative of palm trees gently swaying in a light breeze off an azure sea and miles of golden sand and tropical temperatures. The eight Hawaiian Islands containing people are Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. They grow sugar cane and pineapples amongst other pleasant sun drenched things and they entertain and charm immense numbers of tourist halidaymakers each year. Captain Cook (British you know) was the first European officially acknowledged to have visited those shares in 1778. Although the Spaniards reckoned they were there briefly at least two hundred years before, Captain Cook didn’t really get the right tourist treatment because when he resigned to those sunny shares in 1779 he got involved in a scuffle with the hitherto friendly natives who believed him to be an incarnation of their god Lono on his first visit. The second time around was not so idyllic and Captain Cook died thereon the beach the first of a considerable number of white people from afar to be eliminated by the indigenous Polynesians. American missionaries pacified the Islands a hundred years and more ago and The Hawaiian War Chant is really the last relic of warlike character of a basically friendly people some of whom settled in New Zealand a long time ago and are known as Maoris. They took to the guitar and gave it a special character and style of their own as well as developing the smaller ukelele in its support. This LP presents the best known tunes that have come out of the Islands played by a famous group of Californian guitarists who have built up a formidable reputation on record over recent years under the skilful direction of Tommy "Snuff" Garrett one of Americas leading record producers.
The 50 Guitars treat the songs of the Islands in authentically mellow style drawing forth the full melodic charm and remembering the Maori element with Now Is The Hour. Also present is the beautiful Hawaiian Wedding Song, the evocative Lovely Hula Hands referring to the enticingly graceful matrons of the pretty wahines or Hawaiian girls who speak a language with their hands as well as their hips when dancing and the famous song of farewell Aloha Oe believed to have been written by Queen Liliukalani the last ruler of the Hawaiian Islands before they went under American administration. It's another winner by the 50 Guitars and redolent of sun sand and surf.
NIGEL HUNTER
Arranger Hank LevineProduced by Tommy "Snuff" Garrett
Art Direction Pierre Tubbs
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
The Classical Guitars of Los Indios Tabajaras
Liner Notes:
The Classical Guitars of Los Indios Tabajaras
Produced by Herman Diaz, Jr.
SIDE A
Valse in A Minor, Op. 34. No. 2 (Chopin) 4:46
Für Elise (Bagatelle in A Minor) (Beethoven) 3:03
Recuerdos de Ia Alhambra
Hora Staccato (Dinicu-Heifetz) 2:07
SIDE B
Valse in A-Fiat, Op. 69, No. 1 (Chopin) 3:40
La Ronde des Lutins (Antonio Bazzini) 6:50
Serenata Española (Joaquim Malats) 2:56
Romance de Amor (Vincente Gomez) 1:55
Los Indios Tabajaras:
“Innovators with the Souls of True Musicians”
“Classical guitar” may be a relatively new phenomenon in the history of this very folksy, very popular, very romantic instrument. But there are two old hands who have breathed even newer life into it.
The famous pair: Los Indios Tabajaras, two Brazilian brothers who once knew nothing about classical music and who, in fact, had to make sure their first guitar - an abandoned one they found near home on a jungle path - was not a strange weapon. It wasn’t long before they figured out what it was. Magic in their hands.
Like many a great guitarist, Natalicio and Antenor Lima are self-taught (there were few music professors in the rain forest). But they didn’t stop with simply learning to conquer their new-found strings. Nor did they stop with their own country’s music. Nato and Tenor knew there was a world out there. They knew there was music in it. And they set out to find it, first on foot and then through sheer determination.
It was on to Mexico , on to Europe , and on to the discovery of Western music. And to the discovery of the kind of dedication that has made Los Indios Tabajaras unique in today’s music world.
They heard piano music, and they decided to fashion the kind of guitar that could play all the notes a piano could play - even though they had to build it themselves. They heard classical music, they felt its pulse, and it wasn’t long before Chopin, Beethoven and the great Latin and Romantic composers were a favorite part of their astonishing and always growing repertoire.
Like their repertoire, Los Indios Tabajaras keep growing. From Mexico to Japan to Paris to the renowned Amsterdam Concert-gebouw Orchestra to New York
Nowhere, does their genius prove itself more beautifully than in their treatment of the classics. You’ll hear it in the majestic precision or Chopin’s waltzes and be amazed that it took only two great guitarists to create the majesty. In the fantasy flight of Beethoven’s Bagatelle in A Minor. In the quiet fires of Serenata Española and Hora Staccato. And in every mood gentled by the guitars of Los Indios Tabajaras.
Los Indios Tabajaras have discovered the world and mastered its music in every delicious variety.
If you haven’t yet discovered Los Indios Tabajaras, do it now. And let them take you to wonderful places where the guitar has never sung so proudly.
Nancy Lawrence
Recorded in RCA’s Studio “B” and “C,” New York City, 1974
Recording Engineer: Ed Begley
Photographer: David B. Hecht
Art Director: Acy Lehman
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Pride of the Pipers
Liner Notes:
PRIDE OF THE PIPERS
Pipes and Drums of the
1st Battalion Scots Guards
with Pipe Major Angus MacDonald
The pipes are capable of producing many moods — tremendously stirring when they play marches, exciting in the reels and jigs, and compellingly plaintive in the laments. All these moods are displayed par excellence on this fine album by the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards, led by Pipe Major Angus MacDonald. It is he who plays the solo pipe in the beautiful ‘Amazing Grace’, accompanied on this record by the pipe organ at the Kingsway Hall, played by David Bell. This is a most interesting experiment which has produced a wonderful sound, providing as it does a harmonic structure of the work of which the pipe is incapable.
This album is obviously not intended just for fans of the pipe but for a much broader public who have recently accepted this instrument as a medium for expressing the poignancy of a beautiful melodic line.
Walter J. Ridley
Pipes and Drums of the
1st Battalion Scots Guards
with Pipe Major Angus MacDonald
The pipes are capable of producing many moods — tremendously stirring when they play marches, exciting in the reels and jigs, and compellingly plaintive in the laments. All these moods are displayed par excellence on this fine album by the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards, led by Pipe Major Angus MacDonald. It is he who plays the solo pipe in the beautiful ‘Amazing Grace’, accompanied on this record by the pipe organ at the Kingsway Hall, played by David Bell. This is a most interesting experiment which has produced a wonderful sound, providing as it does a harmonic structure of the work of which the pipe is incapable.
This album is obviously not intended just for fans of the pipe but for a much broader public who have recently accepted this instrument as a medium for expressing the poignancy of a beautiful melodic line.
Walter J. Ridley
Click here to download
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Guitar Style of Al Caiola
Liner Notes:
CAIOLA AT HIS BEST - PLUS 5 TOP GUITARS!
Al Caiola is hotter than a pistol in the ping-pong percussion album department. His L.P.’s are high on the best-seller charts and lavishly displayed in record stores across the U.S. But prior to his ascendancy as “ping-pong” champ, Al was long known to the inner circles of music as one of the best guitar picker in America. Audio acrobatics aside, this is the first thing you’d ask of a performer — solid musicianship.
In this album, the manifold musical talents of Al Caiola are artfully showcased as follows: (1) Al has tastefully arranged this fine collection of standard hits for purely pleasant listening, if that’s your mood; (2) Al himself plays lead guitar with style and grace—here is virtuoso guitar; (3) he has surrounded himself with the All-Stars—five of the lightest-fingered gentry in the “pickin’” business, as guitar aficionados will quickly realise by a glance at the performer credits on this page. Notable also in the rhythm section is the redoubtable Don Lamond on drums, one of the great modern stick men.
Repertoire in the album ranges all the way from Sweet Georgia Brown, introduced and co-written by the late great bandleader Ben Bernie, to Tumbling Tumbleweeds, the 1934 hit of top Western songwriter Bob Nolan and one of the first country-style tunes to make it big in the “pop” market. Featured too is the top novelty ditty, Dipsy Doodle, written in 1937 by Larry Clinton Of big swing band fame.
For virtuoso solo guitar backed by a guitar ensemble extra-ordinaire, or for just plain pleasant listening, this is your album.
SIDE 1 SWEET GEORGIA BROWN • DIPSY DOODLE
• IT’S A SIN TO TELL A LIE • TUMBLING TUMBLE-
WEEDS • STRAIT AHEAD
SIDE 2 HINDUSTAN • I LOVE YOU • IDAHO •
ROSETTA • UNDECIDED
Leader (Solo Guitar) ............ Al Caiola
Guitars ................................... George Barnes, Al Casamente, Don Arnone, John Pizzarelli, Billy Bauer
Bass ........................................ Sandy Block
Drums .................................... Don Lamond
Vibes ...................................... Phil Kraus, Ed Costa
Click here to download the album.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Pepe Jaramillo - South of the Border
For some years now Pepe Jaramillo has been one of the most popular artistes in Mexico, and in addition, he has performed in various cities of South America and the United States. He was born in the state of Chihuahua, that part of Mexico which contains the upper stretches of the western Sierra Madre. his love of music and his talent for playing it seem to have been inherited from his mother ; at any rate, Pepe began playing the piano when he was only four, working at first entirely by ear, but later - after he had grown up - studying at the Conservatory of Music in Mexico City. Like so many parents, Pepe's father and mother looked on music as a hazardous career, and, while they were happy that their son should make it his hobby, they wanted him to become a dentist. To please them Pepe studied dentistry at the University of Mexico, but after a couple of years he decided this could never be his profession. As his parents insisted that he get some kind of degree, he attended the school of banking, eventually returning to Chihuahua with a degree in banking and secretarial practice.
Pepe worked for a couple of years with a British mining company, spending most of his vacation in Mexico City and, when that job finished, he went back to the capital. There a stroke of luck occurred which changed his entire life. He was having some drinks with a few friends in the bar of the Ritz, the most fashionable hotel in Mexico City, when they noticed there was a piano in the room. "Why don't you play it?" asked his friends, so Pepe sat down and started to entertain them. "Presently the manager came over," recalls Pepe "and asked if I was a professional pianist. "No," I told him, "just playing for my own amusement." When the manager asked if he would like a job performing at the hotel, Pepe thought he was kidding, but decided to keep the joke up. "Well," he said, "if you can pay me what I want, maybe I will". To his astonishment the manager replied, "Come in tomorrow and we'll talk things over".
that is how Pepe Jaramillo became a professional pianist, and for the next three years he performed at he Ritz bar. During that time he also appeared regularly on Radio and TV, as well as being in demand to accompany various singers who visited Mexico City. (He has worked with a great many of the most famous Latin-American and Spanish artists). When Pepe finally left the Ritz, it was to go into a new club - El Quid a very smart restaurant-bar, where he played right up to the moment he would like to see something of the world outside South and North America. After coming to Europe he spent a few months in Paris, then crossed the Channel and come to London early in 1958. Since then he has appeared on radio and TV in this country - including ABC-TV's weekly 'Sentimental Journey' programme - and made his recording debut here with his popular 'Mexico Tropicale' LP. Since then he has made many successful records.
Click here to download the album.
Monday, March 9, 2009
John MacDonald Plays Fireside Scottish Accordion
John MacDonald was born in Cromarty, a seaside village the north side of Scotland, and from a very early age showed an aptitude for music. He first developed a keen youngster's interest in the drums, then he progressed to piano, making his ultimate choice of the piano accordion when aged 12.
After schooling John MacDonald was appearing throughout Scotland with touring stage shows, and becoming a regular on Grampian T.V. working in that time with entertainers of the standing of Patrick O'Hagan and Tommy Trinder.
John moved to New Zealand in 1962 and began a series of Club, Radio and T.V. engagements.
John MacDonald crossed the Tasman to Australia in 1967 and, since then, his authentic Scottish Accordion playing has been constantly in demand for live appearances. this album is John MacDonald's first Australian L.P. for M7 Records.
Download Album Link
This album came out in 1973. It was advertised a lot on TV in Australia. My father bought it. I don't know why, maybe because he liked accordion music. I thought it was funny. He only played the first side. I found it a couple of years ago in a Salvation Army shop for $1.
So I decided to digitize it. Enjoy.
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