#cedille

[dustedmagazine]

Third Coast Percussion — Standard Stoppages (Cedille)

Nominated for two Grammys, Third Coast Percussion’s recording Standard Stoppages was part of the group’s twentieth anniversary celebrations. The group has long advocated for contemporary classical music, commissioning projects that have done a great deal to expand the repertoire for percussion ensembles. Standard Stoppages consists entirely of new works made by collaborators old and new to TCP.

Jlin is best known for her footwork output, but recently she has been working with artists in other genres. Please Be Still is a brief, charming work that translates footwork into percussion ensemble music, moving electronica signatures into the realm of acoustic instruments.

Tigran Hamasayan fully embraces mallet instruments in his Sonata for Percussion, with patterning of folk melodies creating vibrant shimmering timbres. Cast in three movements, “Memories From Childhood,” “Hymn,” and “23 for TCP,” the sonata was clearly tailor made for the group, and their assured performance underscores this spirit of collaboration.

Zakir Hussain wrote Murmurs in Time, his only piece for classical percussion ensemble, for TCP. Tabla playing is featured prominently on the recording. Hussain recently passed away, and the work honors his legacy as a virtuoso performer and creative artist and gives the listener a poignant glimpse at what could have been a more extended, fruitful collaboration with TCP.

Jessie Montgomery’s Study No. 1 uses a diverse range of instruments, successively foregrounding different subsections. There is a sense of inquisitiveness in this heterogenous deployment. Montgomery focuses more on melodic and harmonic details than textural variety in In Color Suite.

Musekiwa Chingodza’s buoyant singing voice is featured on his piece Dzoka Kumba Referencing Zimbabwean traditional music, Chingodza’s mbira (thumb piano) playing is underlaid with syncopated polyrhythms from a drum set, mallets, and metallophone instruments. It is a stirring close to a multifaceted, eminently satisfying recording.

Christian Carey

[thenewobjective]

Black Oak Ensemble ~ Avant l'orage: French String Trios, 1926-1939

Black Oak Ensemble ~ Avant l’orage: French String Trios, 1926-1939

We don’t tend to focus much on historical music here on ACL, but this album is a timely treat. Aside from the fact that the centenary of many of these pieces is coming up, many of us have been aware of parallels between the 1920s and ’30s and today. There was massive technological change, political radicalism and instability, wars, famines, and—last but not least—a global pandemic. It’s a…

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[hellocanticle]

David Schrader Plays Sowerby and Ferko

David Schrader Plays Sowerby and Ferko

Cedille From the gorgeous photography of the cover, to the choices of the musical selections, their interpretation, and recording this is a love song to two fine Chicago composers, Frank Ferko and the late great Leo Sowerby. Here are two full discs of eminently listenable and fulfilling organ music by two of the best composers to write for that instrument in the 20th and 21st centuries. Organs,…

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[elleroodles]

i’ve been taking french classes for ten years and i still don’t know the purpose of accent marks

[thenewobjective]

Third Coast Percussion ~ Paddle to the Sea

First came Holling C. Holling’s beloved 1941 children’s book, in which a young boy carved a Native American figure and set him on a journey to the sea, from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.  25 years later, a half-hour film was released; and now, 42 years after that, Third Coast Percussion reimagines the score. This is one of the highest-profile releases we’ve ever reviewed, as Third Coast…

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[thenewobjective]

Eighth Blackbird ~ Hand Eye

Eighth Blackbird ~ Hand Eye

When an ensemble has won a quartet of Grammies, some begin to wonder: has the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gotten it right?  It’s a fair question, considering the oddities that have piled up over the years (for example, rewarding Steely Dan for the wrong album).  Yet in this category, readers can breathe a collective sigh of relief.  Roomful of Teeth broke the Eighth Blackbird…

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[wecappiam]

New Post has been published on The Flute playing and players

New Post has been published on http://the-flute.information-about-music.com/classical-recording-label-cedille-marks-25-years/

Classical recording label Cedille marks 25 years The album's other minimalist entry, Alex Shapiro's 2011 "Perpetual Spark" (arranged for 5HE's flute, piano and string players), employs surging ostinato figures to compelling effect. Jesse Limbacher's ... More traditionally minded classical listeners ... Read more on Chicago Tribune Native Americans Speak offers cultural experience Aug. 23 Pinn not only is a speaker but wrote “Greengrass Pipe Dancers.” Peña ...