Record Review: Three Pieces for Blues Band and Orchestra. A Most Unusual Piece. And I LIKE it!

May 24, 2019

#311

Gentle reader, 

I have never reviewed any music before. I grew up in a house filled with music and learned to love many genres as a result.

NOTE: If you are viewing this on a computer, clicking on any picture will open a second window over this one. You click through or use your right and left arrow keys to look at the photos. They will be larger than seen here. If you are viewing it on a device such as a phone or tablet, I do not know if that works the same way. 

I have acquired a large collection of recorded music over many decades. I have probably given away or donated as many as I have now in all those years. Some I regretted letting go and searched until I found another copy.

At last count it was over 2000 LPs, plus some 10" and a few 7" records. And over 1000 CDs (SACDs and DVD-Audio discs too) plus almost 100 cassettes. Long ago I had reel-to-reels as well. I'd love to have an Elcaset deck and some blank tapes to play with, but that's another story.

Here is the cover to which this article is written: 

Seiji Ozawa is a well known conductor of Japanese ancestry. Well regarded in the classical world with many recordings under his baton with many orchestras.

A recent trip to one of our favorite thrift stores led me to find this and several other classical LPs, all must have been from the same donor as they are all in exceptional condition. Oh, and a pristine copy of Herb Alpert's FOURSIDER too. I have a copy already and have offered it on eBay. rfcollectin on eBay

I would have bought this record based upon the Bernstein piece as I love his music.

Rather that going into explaining the music, composer and musicians, I scanned the liner notes, each is credited as to the author and source. 

Like many people, I saw the film version of West Side Story, but in my case it wasn't until last year. So the ending shocked me! I also did not know what the reviewer wrote below. Sometimes I can be a little thick. Romeo and Juliet, who knew?

Now to the review part. I have not listened to much Blues music. For one thing, based upon the music's name, it is likely to be sad or at least complaining about what life has thrown at the musician. Somewhat like Country music: Wife runs off, takes the dog AND his truck! Oh, the heartache!

Anyway, I had a coworker, he happened to be black and is named Andre Fox. Not only is that a cool name, he is very handsome, well built and has a deep masculine voice. On top of that, he plays a mean harmonica. I admire anyone who is good at something which I am not. Plus the sounds that can be made with so simple an instrument simply blows my mind.

Corky Siegel of the Siegel-Schwall Band, plays electric piano and harmonica. He is amazing. One might guess they were hearing a saxophone.  

Jim Schwall on guitar is also phenomenal. Al Radford makes the Bass sing and Shelly Plotkin does very well keeping the beat on drums. 

William Russo, as you have seen in the liner notes above, did a fantastic job of combining such diverse types of music into a cohesive unit that truly works.

There have been many examples of electric guitar and other non-classical instruments being combined with orchestras, just listen to an untold number of film scores. Hans Zimmer comes to mind.

As far as other recordings of music composed to combine two seemingly divergent types of music, the only other one (not from a movie or series) is the composition, performance and recording of Jon Lord's (of Deep Purple) composition: Concerto for Group and Orchestra performed at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold. The "group" being Deep Purple. This  1970 album I bought new and still have. Admittedly, it has been a long time since I played it. It did bring me a little fame, however.

I lived in Richmond, Virginia from 1974 to 1982. The local classical radio station was part of NPR as many are. On Sunday evenings, they had a comedy show produced and performed by two men. One weekly skit was "Picks of the Pizzicato". They invited listeners to submit their favorites. I submitted this album and was chosen to appear on that segment. In the music, I don't remember when, is a lengthy pizzicato portion. I introduced the music, they played the pizzicato portion and we chatted. I became friends with one of the guys. I also got a T shirt for Duke Geek's Sirloin Snake Pit restaurant. Not a real place. One of the character's names on the show which I still recall was called Bulbous Brisket. Funny guys.

But enough about me dragging you down my memory lane. I wholeheartedly recommend not only the featured record:

But also the Deep Purple one. Reading the liner notes for the latter just now looking for  and not finding pizzicato made me want to listen to it tonight. Which I will.

Thank you once again for reading my humble words and viewing my images. All of which technically belong to Deutsche Grammophon. Your kind words and comments are what keep me cranking out these stories.

Scott

May 24, 2019

#311