title: Augmented Dowland

text:
This is a double CD of Dowland's lute music.  What differentiates it from other such albums is that all the pieces have a duet part added: some on theorbo and some on gittern.  Sr. Moreno play the original on Renaissance lute throughout, with Sr. Quinteiro alternating on the other instruments.

I like the idea, in principle, of trying to do something different with this music;  but the outcome is not always totally satisfactory.  It's enjoyable on the more lightweight pieces (such as the Gagliarda from the Hainhofer manuscript, P.103); but on the weightier pieces, particularly the Fantasies, the effect is rather like that of painting the lily, so that these versions compare unfavourably with the better orthodox interpretations (such as [[ASIN:B00189MH3U Jakob Lindberg's]]).

Still, it's a pleasant album overall, and would make ideal background music &mdash; during dinner, for example.

The booklet notes are largely a sea of drivel.

And the stereo separation is terrible, which I find more than somewhat annoying.

CONTENTS

Vol. 1

01) Mrs. Winter's Jump, P. 55
02) The Shoemaker's Wife (A Toy), P. 58
03) The Frog Galliard, P. 23
04) Mr. John Langton's Pavan, P. 14
05) Mr. Langton's Galliard, P. 33
06) Go from My Window, P. 64
07) Sir John Smith's Almain, P. 47
08) The Round Battle Galliard, P. 39
09) Fantasie, P. 1
10) La mia Barbara, P. 95
11) Mrs. Norrish's Delight, P. 77
12) Mrs. Nichols Almain, P. 52
13) Fancy, P. 5
14) Semper Dowland semper dolens, P. 9
15) The King of Denmark's Galliard, P. 40
16) Untitled, P. 78

Vol. 2

01) Dr. Case's Pavan, P. 12
02) Gagliarda, P. 103
03) Lachrimæ, P. 15
04) Lady Laiton's Almain, P. 48
05) Prelude, P. 98
06) My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home, P. 66
07) Une jeune filette, P. 93
08) Lord Strang's March, P. 65
09) Fortune my foe, P. 62
10) Can She Excuse, P. 42
11) What if a day, P. 79
12) Lady Hunsdon's Puffe, P. 54
13) Fancy, P. 6
14) Solus cum sola, P. 10
15) Queen Elizabeth's Galliard, P. 41
16) Tarleton's Resurrection, P. 59

The total time is 106'21".


title: A début album to be proud of

text:
This is possibly the best fiddle album I've heard since [[ASIN:B000000DV6 Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn]].

The Red Wellies are fiddlers Beanie Odell and Duncan Wickel, and bouzouki player Vincent Fogarty, from North Carolina.

Much of the time the two fiddles play in unison, and their togetherness is quite remarkable; but on the occasions they part to play counterpoint (as on "The Twelve Pins", here transposed down to C from its usual G), the effect is absolutely stunning.

Combine all this with immaculate bouzouki* accompaniments and rock-solid rhythm, and you have a debut album to be proud of.

If I were an Irish dancer (which I'm not), this would be the album I'd want to dance to.

As it is, I'm content just to listen over and over.  Well done Red Wellies.

*I would myself call it a cittern, since it has five courses (pairs of strings), but no matter.

CONTENTS

01) The Foxhunter's Jig/The Boys of Ballisadare/The Bunch of Keys/The Morris Minor/The Twelve Pins
02) The Sporting Pitchfork/The Slopes of Sliabh Luachra/The Spotted Dog/The Reverend Brother's Jig
03) Down the Hill/Tommy Coen's
04) The King of the Clans/The Steeplechase
05) Her Long Golden Hair/Alice's Reel/The Chicago Reel/Lad O'Beirne's
06) The Trip to Galway/The Rabbit in the Field/The Keys to the Convent
07) The Gypsy Princess/The Kyle Brack Rambler
08) The Coailte Mountains/Black Pat's
09) Out in the Night
10) The Floating Crowbar/Altan Tune/The Steampacket
11) McGlinchy's Hornpipe/The Blackbird
12) Seán Frank/The Humours of Westport/Lucky in Love

The total time is 49'48".


title: Not enough tracks

text:
In content this album is the same as [[ASIN:B001M1268K Diferente]], but MINUS four (4) pieces:

• Zapateado «En el tablao»
• Zambra «Embrujo y magia»
• Farruca «Los pescadores»
• Rumba «Cuevas de la Joya»

If [[ASIN:B001M1268K Diferente]] is unavailable at Amazon US, Amazon UK lists it both as a CD (ASIN=B001M1268K) and as MP3s (B0043HAW86).  So does Amazon Spain, and possibly others.

You pays your money and takes your choice.


title: Good new, bad news

text:
This is one of those albums thrown together by record companies with little or no idea of what they are doing, as evidenced by:

a) The picture on the cover of a twelve-string guitar.
b) The total absence of a booklet or any other kind of notes on the music.
c) The many mis-spellings and other confusions on the track listing.

CONTENTS

Vol. 1 — John Williams

a1) Sor: Theme & Variations, Op. 9
a2) Segovia: Oración
a3) Segovia: Estudio
a4) Madriguera: Humorada
a5) Tansman: Cavatina Suite: Barcarolle
a6) Granados: Tonadillas, H. 136: La Maja de Goya
a7) Lauro: Venezuelan Waltz Nº 3
a8) Scarlatti: Sonata, K. 11, L. 352

b1) Albéniz: Torre Bermeja, Op. 92, Nº 12
b2) Ponce: La pajarera/Por ti mi corazón/La Valentina
b3) Villa-Lobos: Study Nº 1
b4) Gómez Crespo: Norteña
b5) Duarte: Variations on a Catalan Folk Song "Cançó del lladre", Op. 25
b6) Scarlatti, A.: Gavotte

Vol. 2 — Andrés Segovia

a1) Bach: Partita Nº 3, BWV 1006: Gavotte en Rondeau
a2) Bach: Partita Nº 2, BWV 1004: Chaconne

b1) Bach: Cello Suite Nº 6, BWV 1012: Gavotte 1 & 2
b2) Bach: Lute Suite Nº 1, BWV 996: Sarabande
b3) Bach: Lute Suite Nº 1, BWV 996: Bourrée
b4) Bach: Prelude, BWV 999
b5) Bach: Cello Suite Nº 3, BWV 1009: Courante

Vol. 3 — Manitas de Plata

a1) Soleares
a2) El No-No
a3) Alegrías
a4) Danse de Manitas
a5) Una Tarentas

b1) Guittarra de Camargue [sic]
b2) Rumbas Gitanas
b3) Boulerías [sic]
b4) Ay que te quiero
b5) Castagna
b6) Rumba d'España

Vol. 4a — Alirío Diaz

a1) Tárrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra
a2) Lauro: Valses venezolanos (2)
a3) Sojo: Guaso
a4) Sojo: Qanción
a5) Sojo: Quirpa
a6) Albéniz, I.: Suite Española, Op. 47, Nº 5: Asturias
a7) Anon arr. Llobet: Canciones populares catalanes  (2)

Vol. 4b — Narciso Yepes

b1) Albéniz: Recuerdos de viaje, Op. 71, Nº 6: Rumores de La Caleta
b2) Malats: Serenata española
b3) Turina: Ráfaga
b4) Falla: Danza del molinero
b5) Sor: Study in E Minor
b6) Tárrega: Gran jota

Vol. 5 — Carlos Montoya

a1) Bolero malorquín/Castilla/Galicia
a2) Seguiriya
a3) Tanguillo/Zambrilla
a4) Farruca
a5) Varaciones por Rosa
a6) Chufla

b1) Soleá/Bulería por Soleá
b2) Soleares
b3) Malagueña
b4) Bulerías
b5) Granadinas

Vol. 6a — Renata Tarragó

a1) Milán: Pavanas (3)
a2) Narváez: Guárdame las vacas
a3) ?: Gallardas
a4) Mudarra: Fantasía que contrahaze la harpa en la manera de Ludovico
a5) Fuenllana: Fantasía
a6) Sanz: Folias
a7) ?: La serenisima
a8) ?: Minuetto & Contrazanda

Vol. 6b — Sabicas

b1) Bulerías
b2) Taranto
b3) Verdiales
b4) Tientos

Vol. 7 — José Rey de la Torre

a1) Sor: Grand Sonata, Op. 22
b1) Sor: Minuet in D, Op. 11

b2) Sor: Minuet in A, Op. 11
b3) Sor: Study in B Minor, Op. 35, Nº 2
b4) Sor: Study in B Flat Major, Op. 29, Nº 1
b5) Sor: Study in A Major, Op. 6, Nº 6

COMMENTS

The John Williams tracks are taken from the 2-volume "Guitar Recital", recorded in 1958 when he was still a teenager (on CD [[ASIN:B0051QUWT2 here]] & [[ASIN:B006N97MQW here ]])

The Segovia tracks were recorded in the days of 78s, and have of course been anthologised multiple times.

Manitas de Plata — if not actually the worst flamenco guitarist ever to record (the competition is pretty stiff) — is certainly a contender.  This disc seems, in fact, to be identical to Discofoon 7081 (apparently not listed by Amazon US as I write).

Alirio Díaz and Narciso Yepes were two of the best classical guitarists in the generation following Segovia's.  Both these selections are from early recordings, around the 1960s I should guess.

Carlos Montoya was one of the four expatriate Spaniards that brought solo flamenco guitar to prominence in the US, and subsequently worldwide.  He acquired a large following, but flamenco aficonados generally consider him the worst of the four, owing to his reliance on showmanship and flashy tricks of the trade.

Renata Tarragó (1927-2005) was one of the few notable female classical guitarists of her generation, the first to record the Concierto de Aranjuez.  Strangely, the composers of the pieces she plays are not identified (except in the case of Fuenllana); they look to be from the Spanish renaissance repertory.

Sabicas was one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of the 20th century and a major influence on all his successors, most notably Paco de Lucía.  These pieces seem to be side one of [[ASIN:B00282CMKO Festival Gitana]], with a complete flamenco ensemble; see the reviews of that album for more information.

And finally, José Rey de la Torre, a very underrated classical guitarist whose career was ended tragically early by rheumatoid arthritis.  I see that the asking price for what looks like the original of this album ([[ASIN:B006IV2TRC here]] and [[ASIN:B0042UJWBM here]]) is reaching ridiculous (although rather optimistic, in my view) proportions, so you may want to get it cheaply while you still can.

SUMMARY

So 5 LPs of good Spanish guitar music (although it should be said that John Williams at that point was nowhere near as musical as he was to become later), and 2 albums of rubbish


title: Good new, bad news

text:
This is one of those albums thrown together by record companies with little or no idea of that they are doing, as evidenced by:

a) The picture on the cover of a twelve-string guitar.
b) The total absence of a booklet or any other kind of notes on the music.
c) The many mis-spellings and other confusions on the track listing.

NUMBER OF DISCS

This is properly a 7-record set: the sole example for sale (as I write) admits up front that record 3 is missing.

This, however, is no loss, as the volume is devoted to Manitas de Plata — if not actually the worst flamenco guitarist ever to record (the competition is pretty stiff), certainly a contender.  This disc seems, in fact, to be identical to Discofoon 7081 (apparently not listed by Amazon US as I write).

CONTENTS

Vol. 1 — John Williams

a1) Sor: Theme & Variations, Op. 9
a2) Segovia: Oración
a3) Segovia: Estudio
a4) Madriguera: Humorada
a5) Tansman: Cavatina Suite: Barcarolle
a6) Granados: Tonadillas, H. 136: La Maja de Goya
a7) Lauro: Venezuelan Waltz Nº 3
a8) Scarlatti: Sonata, K. 11, L. 352

b1) Albéniz: Torre Bermeja, Op. 92, Nº 12
b2) Ponce: La pajarera/Por ti mi corazón/La Valentina
b3) Villa-Lobos: Study Nº 1
b4) Gómez Crespo: Norteña
b5) Duarte: Variations on a Catalan Folk Song "Cançó del lladre", Op. 25
b6) Scarlatti, A.: Gavotte

Vol. 2 — Andrés Segovia

a1) Bach: Partita Nº 3, BWV 1006: Gavotte en Rondeau
a2) Bach: Partita Nº 2, BWV 1004: Chaconne

b1) Bach: Cello Suite Nº 6, BWV 1012: Gavotte 1 & 2
b2) Bach: Lute Suite Nº 1, BWV 996: Sarabande
b3) Bach: Lute Suite Nº 1, BWV 996: Bourrée
b4) Bach: Prelude, BWV 999
b5) Bach: Cello Suite Nº 3, BWV 1009: Courante

Vol. 4a — Alirío Diaz

a1) Tárrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra
a2) Lauro: Valses venezolanos (2)
a3) Sojo: Guaso
a4) Sojo: Qanción
a5) Sojo: Quirpa
a6) Albéniz, I.: Suite Española, Op. 47, Nº 5: Asturias
a7) Anon arr. Llobet: Canciones populares catalanes  (2)

Vol. 4b — Narciso Yepes

b1) Albéniz: Recuerdos de viaje, Op. 71, Nº 6: Rumores de La Caleta
b2) Malats: Serenata española
b3) Turina: Ráfaga
b4) Falla: Danza del molinero
b5) Sor: Study in E Minor
b6) Tárrega: Gran jota

Vol. 5 — Carlos Montoya

a1) Bolero malorquín/Castilla/Galicia
a2) Seguiriya
a3) Tanguillo/Zambrilla
a4) Farruca
a5) Varaciones por Rosa
a6) Chufla

b1) Soleá/Bulería por Soleá
b2) Soleares
b3) Malagueña
b4) Bulerías
b5) Granadinas

Vol. 6a — Renata Tarragó

a1) ?: Pavanas (3)
a2) Narváez: Guárdame las vacas
a3) ?: Gallardas
a4) ?: Fantasía X
a5) Fuenllana: Fantasía
a6) ?: Folias
a7) ?: La serenisima
a8) ?: Minuetto & Contrazanda

Vol. 6b — Sabicas

b1) Bulerías
b2) Taranto
b3) Verdiales
b4) Tientos

Vol. 7 — José Rey de la Torre

a1) Sor: Grand Sonata, Op. 22
b1) Sor: Minuet in D, Op. 11

b2) Sor: Minuet in A, Op. 11
b3) Sor: Study in B Minor, Op. 35, Nº 2
b4) Sor: Study in B Flat Major, Op. 29, Nº 1
b5) Sor: Study in A Major, Op. 6, Nº 6

COMMENTS

The John Williams tracks are taken from the 2-volume "Guitar Recital", recorded in 1958 when he was still a teenager (on CD [[ASIN:B0051QUWT2 here]] & [[ASIN:B006N97MQW here ]])

The Segovia tracks were recorded in the days of 78s, and have of course been anthologised multiple times.

Alirio Díaz and Narciso Yepes were two of the best classical guitarists in the generation following Segovia's.  Both these selections are from early recordings, around the 1960s I should guess.

Carlos Montoya was one of the four expatriate Spaniards that brought solo flamenco guitar to prominence in the US, and subsequently worldwide.  He acquired a large following, but flamenco aficonados generally consider him the worst of the four, owing to his reliance on showmanship and flashy tricks of the trade.

Renata Tarragó (1927-2005) was one of the few notable female classical guitarists of her generation, the first to record the Concierto de Aranjuez.  Strangely, the composers of the pieces she plays are not identified (except in the case of Fuenllana); they look to be from the Spanish Renaissance repertory.

Sabicas was one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of the 20th century and a major influence on all his successors, most notably Paco de Lucía.  These pieces seem to be side one of [[ASIN:B00282CMKO Festival Gitana]], with a complete flamenco ensemble; see the reviews of that album for more information.

And finally, José Rey de la Torre, a very underrated classical guitarist whose career was ended tragically early by rheumatoid arthritis.  I see that the asking price for what looks like the original of this album ([[ASIN:B006IV2TRC here]] and [[ASIN:B0042UJWBM here]]) is reaching ridiculous (although rather optimistic, in my view) proportions, so you may want to get it cheaply while you still can.

SUMMARY

So 5 LPs of good Spanish guitar music (although it should be said that John Williams at that point was nowhere near as musical as he was to become later), and 1 album of rubbish.

At the price I'm looking at, it's a good deal.

When I've had a chance to listen to it again, I'll fill in the missing track details properly.


title: Mixed bag

text:
Sabicas with Juan de la Mata on second guitar, plus vocals from Dolores Vargas (who has a good flamenco voice, tracks 1 & 6) and Domingo Alvarado (fortunately quarantined on track 8), plus the usual dance noises (track 7), palmas and jaleo.

CONTENTS

01) Bulerías «Viva México»
02) Fantasía militar
03) Granadinas «Rumores de Granada»
04) Bulería «Gardenia»
05) Zambra «Aires de la Alhambra»
06) Fandangos «Del Alosno a Huelva»
07) Soleares «Taconeo por soleares»
08) Soleá por Tango «Son como las flores»
09) Sevillanas «Azahar trianero»
10) Alegrías «Aromas de Cádiz»

"Viva México" seems to be a tongue-in-cheek flamenco version of "Malagueña salerosa".  Tracks 3 & 4 are guitar solos, and tracks 2, 5, 9 & 10 guitar duets.

It's an atmospheric album.

The total time is 37'25".


title: A tribute to his roots

text:
I contributed the cover photograph* and some of the booklet notes for this album, so I refrain from comment on the quality of the playing or the recordings.  But here is some additional info that I hope will be of interest.

Ramón Montoya and Niño Ricardo were two giants of flamenco, and Paco's earliest influences.  Paco remembers being taken by his father to see Montoya, and what a tremendous impression the concert made on him; Paco must have been very young indeed, for Montoya died in 1949.  Ricardo was of course also a major influence on Paco de Lucía.

Paco and I did some of the transcriptions for this album together.  At that time, neither [[ASIN:B00006OAQ0 Montoya's]] nor [[ASIN:B000027JO6 Ricardo's]] recordings were easily available, and Ricardo's still aren't, although both have now appeared in the Chant du Monde Grands Figures du Flamenco series.  The bulk of Montoya's solo recordings were made in Paris in 1936.

You may or may not be familiar with the flamenco concept of compás.  What this amounts to is that danceable flamenco forms have to fit into a fixed traditional rhythmic structure, so that a dancer and a guitarist can improvise together, and each will know within certain limits what the other one will do.

What is strange is that although in his recordings with singers Montoya's compás was immaculate, in his solo recordings (of which there aren't many) it was not infrequently all over the place.  Various theories (such as pure absent-mindedness) have been advanced to account for this, none entirely convincing.

The reason I mention all this, is that for this recording, rather than copy Montoya's originals slavishly, Paco adjusted these pieces to put them back into compás.

The album is the same as [[ASIN:B0000037C6 this one]], so check which is cheapest before you buy.  The total time is 55'04".

Also, this album has now been combined with [[ASIN:B0000037CF Azahara]] to form the double album [[ASIN:B00004Z1D7 Flamenco Guitar]], and is also available in surround sound (along with the [[ASIN:B0000037DV Misa Flamenca]]) on [[ASIN:B0007LNJGO Surround Yourself with Paco Peña]].

*For those interested in such matters, it was taken in 1982 at an old inn, the Posada del Potro in Córdoba, while Paco was preparing to shoot a Spanish Television program about him.  Tokina 28-80mm zoom.

attachment_type: IMAGE


title: Masters of the Guitar

text:
I don't possess this Mercury recording.  However, since Presti/Lagoya recorded no other album of guitar concertos, I presume it to be a version of the French "Concertos Pour Deux Guitares" (Philips PG-300), which I do possess.

In which case the contents are:

a1-3) Haydn: Concerto Nº 2 in G
a4-6) Vivaldi: Concerto in C, RV 425
b1-3) Vivaldi: Concerto in G, RV 532
b4-6) Marcello: Concerto in D Minor

The playing is of course utterly beautiful, and the recording excellent for the period (1964).

The total time is 47'01".

These tracks are also available on the 6-CD tribute [[ASIN:B0002IRXZ0 L'Art de Alexandre Lagoya]].


title: Not available on CD

text:
Gorgeous album from one of my favourite classical guitarists; and it's on CBS, so the tracks aren't included on the massive [[ASIN:B0002IRXZ0 6-CD Philips tribute]] set.

Contents:

a1) Pujol: Evocación Cubana
a2) Albéniz: Cádiz
a3) Moreno Torroba: Torija
a4) Rodrigo: Prelude
a5) Rodrigo: Nocturne
a6) Rodrigo: Scherzino

b1) Tárrega: "Carnival of Venice" Variations
b2) Tárrega: Sueño
b3) Tárrega: Gran Vals
b4) Tárrega: Las Dos Hermanitas
b5) Tárrega: Vals


title: One of the best

text:
In case you're not familiar with Sabicas (1912-90), he was one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of the 20th century and a major influence on all his successors, most notably Paco de Lucía.

This rather fatuously-titled 1963 album is one of Sabas's best.  I don't know if the United Artists edition was ever issued in mono, but the stereo version is amazing (the Hallmark edition was stereo only).  Several items (including the famous Malagueña by Lecuona) are double-tracked, with one guitar coming out of each speaker — the best separation I've heard.

The album was reissued on CD as [[ASIN:B00004S6FK Adios a la guitarra]].  The music is utterly beautiful.

CONTENTS

a1) La Malagueña [Lecuona]
a2) Alegrías «Rosas y claveles»
a3) Siguiriyas «De la sierra»
a4) Sevillanas «En la reja»
a5) Soleares «Pasión»

b1) Gran jota de concierto [Tárrega]
b2) Garrotín «Mi garrotín»
b3) Guajiras «Recuerdo tropical»
b4) Malagueña «Noches de Málaga»
b5) Bulerías «Fragua gitana»

The total time is 35'44".


title: Anthology

text:
In case you're not familiar with Sabicas (1912-90), he was one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of the 20th century and a major influence on all his successors, most notably Paco de Lucía.

This anthology seems to be drawn from recordings around 1960.  It has about half the material in common with [[ASIN:B0012U9LV6 Sabicas Vol. 2]] (reissued on [[ASIN:B000ESM2JA La Guitarra Flamenca]]).  On these tracks (possibly just for a bit of variety) Sabicas played several stunning arrangements of pieces from other genres that had caught his fancy — this despite his total inability to read printed music.

Fantasía Inca makes ingenious and evocative use of parallel fifths, bonks on the face of the guitar, and 5/4 time.  The Malagueña is of course the famous one, of which Sabicas's arrangement (which can also be seen on the DVD [[ASIN:B0007TFHAC King of the Flamenco Guitar]]) has become legendary.  Aires del Norte is a medley of pipe tunes from the artist's native Pamplona, and the Milonga is a flamenco arrangement of a Latin American rhythm.

So if you already have [[ASIN:B0012U9LV6 Sabicas Vol. 2]], you may wish to consider a different album.  But some tracks (such as the Carceleras) are harder to find.

01) Bulerías
02) Alegrías
03) La Gran Jota [Tárrega]
04) Capricho Español [Rimsky-Korsakov]
05) La Malagueña [Lecuona]
06) La Boda de Luis Alonso [Jimenez]
07) Sevillanas
08) Carceleras
09) Verdiales
10) Milonga Flamenca
11) Aires del Norte
12) Danza Mora
13) Fandango
14) Fantasía Inca [Martínez Oyanguren]
15) Guajira

The total time is 45'57".  It's all first-rate material; but the time is a bit short for a full-price compilation CD, hence four stars instead of five.


title: Triple-tracked guitar

text:
Album of lightweight but pleasant multi-tracked flamenco and Latin American pieces, by the greatest flamenco guitarist of his generation (1912-1990).  As far as I'm aware, it has never appeared on CD.

Track 6 is in fact the well-known Trio Los Paraguayos hit "Bell Bird" ("Pájaro campano").  Track 3 is a medley of pipe tunes from the artist's native Pamplona.

01) La Cumparsita [Rodríguez]
02) Fandanguillo «Recuerdo a Almería»
03) Gallegadas «Melodias del Norte»
04) Malagueña mexicana
05) La Virgen de La Macarena
06) Ritmos paraguayos
07) Las mañanitas
08) Seis sevillanas
09) Alegrías «Noches de Cádiz»

It was released in both stereo and mono, so make sure you get the stereo version.

The total time is 35'51".


title: RCA rarity

text:
Ida Presti and her husband Alexandre Lagoya formed what has been called the greatest duo in the history of the classical guitar. They were to the duo what Segovia was to the solo instrument: they innovated technically and musically and made something like fifteen world tours, inspiring nearly all the best modern composers to write for the medium, while at the same time generating an entire new body of transcriptions from instruments such as the harpsichord. They also inspired and taught several other duos who are now among the best in the World, including [[ASIN:B0017TYAJA Ako Ito & Henri Dorigny]] and the Athenian Duo ([[ASIN:B00002ZZKL Evangelos & Liza]]).  Their fame and impact were still accelerating when, on a tour of the United States in 1967, Ida Presti was taken suddenly ill and died. She was forty-two.

Presti/Lagoya's early recordings were on French RCA, and most of these were issued as a 2-CD boxed set (7 43212 58662), now deleted. They then moved to Philips, for whom they re-recorded much of their repertoire.

The complete* Philips recordings in turn were issued on a [[ASIN:B000009LJ7 3-CD boxed set]]. That set, too, is now deleted; but, it is (happily) completely subsumed by the present [[ASIN:B0002IRXZ0 L'Art de Alexandre Lagoya]].

This album is among the RCA recordings, which are now unobtainable except second-hand.  Some of the pieces are available as re-recordings on the Philips anthology, but others — such as the Dowland, and the tribute to Bartók — are not.  Furthermore, the Bach Sarabande & Gigue are a double rarity, for they were not even included on the deleted RCA set.

This recording was issued as both stereo and mono, and I'm glad to see that the advertised version is stereo.

If the price is reasonable, then, this is a very worthwhile purchase.

The total time is 44'12".

P.S. The cover is Watteau's "Mezzetin".

*UPDATE

This set, and the Lagoya set, are both in fact missing the Scarlatti Sonata, K. 87, L. 33, which is on [[ASIN:B00434KZWM Music for the Classic Guitar]].  It doesn't seem to have been on any of the original French Philips LPs, either, so its provenance is a mystery.

Thanks to William Britton for catching this.


title: Triple-tracked guitar

text:
Album of lightweight but pleasant multi-tracked flamenco and Latin American pieces, by the greatest flamenco guitarist of his generation (1912-1990).  As far as I'm aware, it has never appeared on CD.

Track 6 is in fact the well-known Trio Los Paraguayos hit "Bell Bird" ([[ASIN:B003TQRAJG Pájaro campana]]).  Track 3 is a medley of pipe tunes from the artist's native Pamplona.

01) La Cumparsita [Rodríguez]
02) Fandanguillo «Recuerdo a Almería»
03) Gallegadas «Melodias del Norte»
04) Malagueña mexicana
05) La Virgen de La Macarena
06) Ritmos paraguayos
07) Las mañanitas
08) Seis sevillanas
09) Alegrías «Noches de Cádiz»

It was released in both stereo and mono, so make sure you get the stereo version.

The total time is 35'51".


title: Three-decade anthology

text:
Firstly, I should say that I do not own this collection.  However, since the amount of information on its Amazon page is very little, I venture to add a listing showing the albums the tracks are drawn from, and the relevant styles:

01) Bulerías «Punta del faro» from [[ASIN:B0000015UI Duende Flamenco]] (1972)
02) Rumba «Entre dos aguas» from [[ASIN:B00007M03E Fuente y Caudal]] (1973)
03) Taranta «Fuente y caudal» from Fuente y Caudal
04) Bulerías «Almoraima» from [[ASIN:B000006Y23 Almoraima]] (1976)
05) Rondeña «Mi niño Curro» from [[ASIN:B000004727 Siroco]] (1987)
06) Soleá «Gloria al Niño Ricardo»  from Siroco
07) Zyryab from [[ASIN:B000025XZ9 Zyryab]] (1990)
08) Tangos «Solo quiero caminar» from [[ASIN:B0000046UR Live One Summer Night]] (1984)
09) Farruca de Lucía from Duende Flamenco
10) Guajiras de Lucía from [[ASIN:B0009F43F4 El Mundo del Flamenco]] (1971))
11) Tientos de El Mentidero from Duende Flamenco
12) Canastera from Duende Flamenco
13) Buana Buana King Kong from [[ASIN:B0000015TM Live in America]] (1993)
14) Colombiana «Monasterio de Sal» from [[ASIN:B0000046JD Solo Quiero Caminar]] (1981)
15) Seguiriya «Luzia» from Luzia (1998)

The good news is the total time: I make it 76'55", which could hardly be bettered.

But I can't say I'm ecstatic about the selection of tracks.  Two of the pieces from Duende Flamenco have a drecky orchestra overdubbed which is not quite in tune with the guitar; Zyryab and Buana Buana King Kong appear to me to be just virtuosic tripe, although your opinion may of course differ.

The jumbled chronological order also means that there are some jarring transitions.

Should this selection not appeal, a good alternative compilation might be [[ASIN:B001GCZV0K Flamenco Virtuoso]].


title: Easy duets

text:
Seven easy and attractive duets, well arranged.  The tunes are:

1) A Maske
2) Corrante
3) The Mock-Nightingale
4) Nann's Maske
5) Phil. Porter's Lamentation
6) Selebrand
7) The Chestnut


title: Not enough tracks

text: This album consists of only the first 15 tracks of the 21 in [[ASIN:B00007M59D Ramón's entry in the Grandes Guitarras de Flamenco series]], so it's a poor 2nd choice.  If that's unavailable, my advice would be to shop around for it, and buy this only as a last resort.


title: An interesting experiment that didn't come off

text:
The Concerto occupies one side of this disc; the other contains four guitar solos by Sabicas, as follows:

SIDE A

1) Andantino Mosso - Allegro Moderato (Fandangos)
2) Allegro No Mucho (Siguiriyas)
3) Un Poco Moderato - Allegro (Alegrías)
4) Allegretto - Allegro (Soleá por Bulerías)

SIDE B

1) Alegrías  «Salero gaditano»
2) Farruca  «El Albaicín»
3) Taranta  «Camino de Linares»
4) Bulerías  «Con un clavel»

What the Concerto is, is Sabicas playing several pieces from his normal flamenco repertoire (the 'movements' of the concerto), with orchestration added by Federico Moreno Torroba and dubbed in afterwards.

Moreno Torroba was a fine composer for the guitar, and wrote very many popular pieces for Andrés Segovia.  However, the result here is that the guitarist and orchestra always seem to be going in different directions, and I don't know anyone who likes the result.

The three stars are for the solos on the other side; but they also appear on [[ASIN:B000005HA9 Masters of Flamenco Guitar]], and in my opinion that is a far better purchase.

The total time of the present album is 37'58".

If you want a great Sabicas album, get any or all of:

LPs

[[ASIN:B00282CGA0 Artistry In Flamenco]]
[[ASIN:B00282ERCA Flamenco Fantasy]]
[[ASIN:B001IY0DUE Flamenco Reflections]]
[[ASIN:B00282GMOQ Furioso!]]

CDs

[[ASIN:B005Q46HSO The Fantastic Guitars of Sabicas and Escudero]]
[[ASIN:B0001XAME0 The Greatest Flamenco Guitarist]]
[[ASIN:B000LZ5JVE Flamenco Puro]]
[[ASIN:B0007Y3RXG Flamenco]]
[[ASIN:B000ESM2JA La Guitarra Flamenca]]


title: How retro do you wish to be?

text:
This album is [[ASIN:B0012T6QG0 Fabulous Flamenco]], retitled and with a different cover.

If you're collector, or one of those audiophiles who considers LPs sound superior to CDs — certainly a tenable point of view — this 1975 LP may be worth a lot to you.

Otherwise, it's been issued at least twice on CD: [[ASIN:B00000DXZW in conjunction with 8 tracks from "The Art of the Flamenco Guitar" (1972)]], and also [[ASIN:B0002F0MCY in conjuction with the entirety of "La Gitarra Flamenca" (1977)]].

You pays your money and takes your choice.

Contents:

a1) Rondeña
a2) Sevillanas
a3) Bulerías «Palmas y guitarra»
a4) Tientos de la bahía
a5) Granadinas «Clara Fuente»

b1) Zorongo
b2) Guajiras «Mantilla y peina»
b3) Milonga
b4) Soleares «Por la lagunilla»
b5) Rumba «Rumbeando la milonga»

The total time is 38'05".

P.S. If you're wondering exactly what Phase 4 Stereo might be: there's an interesting article about it by Endless Groove.  Follow the link from the Wikipedia article.


title: Not enough stars available

text:
I saw Llan de Cubel for the first time at the Sebastopol Festival (in California), and they blew my mind out through my eyeballs. I bought every album they had on the spot, and I don't regret it.

They're a six-man folk group from Asturias in Northern Spain, featuring pipes, whistle, fiddle, flute, guitar & bouzouki.  This is their fourth CD, and it's stunning. The first track is a hymn to a girl from Cabrales, with the most wonderful vocal harmonies, followed by a driving instrumental on the pipes.  The rest of the album never flags.

Contents in full:

01) Cabraliega/Canteros de Cudonga/A la mar fui por naranxes/El Garrotín
02) Danza pixuata/Boleros d'Urbiés/La molinera
03) Pasucáis d'Amieva/Pasucáis de Xuan Martín/Muñeira de Casu
04) Durme nenu
05) Alborada d'Amandi/Entemediu de Nemesio/Alborada'l Tigre Xuan
06) Llonxana
07) Fandangu puntiáu/Alborada asturiana
08) Muñeira de Tormaleo/Muñeira d'Os Ozcos
09) Adiós a mi vaca pinta
10) Pasucáis d'Uviéu/Saltón de Casu/Marcha nupcial de Villaperi

The total time is 43'45".

P.S. This album is now available [[ASIN:B003YZG020 in MP3 form]]; but the title's misspelled, so it doesn't show as an Amazon link on this page.


title: Yet another "King of Flamenco Guitar"

text:
Definitely a pretender in this case, since Sabicas was still alive when the album was released.  But of course we cannot hold Manolo responsible for the drivellings of advertising departments.

This is a compilation from the three-volume "Mundo y formas de la guitarra flamenca".  It's all pure Flamenco, since it was recorded before Manolo started doing all the bizarre things he later became famous for; and it's good creative stuff, although the technique is rather scuffly in places, and the sound occasionally a bit weedy.

If I could, I'd give it 4½ stars.

Contents:

01) Bulerías «Viva Jerez»
02) Taranta del pozo viejo
03) Fandangos de Onuba
04) Caracoles «Farolillos caracoles»
05) Zapateado «Andares gaditanos»
06) Colombianas de Bajo Guía
07) Soleá «Pasito a paso»
08) Guajira merchelera
09) Rondeña «A Don Ramón de Montoya»
10) Alegrías «Noches de La Ribera»
11) Sevillanas de las cuatro esquinas

The total time is: 46'57".

The sheet music of Mundo y Formas has now been published with accompanying CDs:

[[ASIN:8493472956 Volume 1]]
[[ASIN:8493472948 Volume 2]]
[[ASIN:8493472972 Volume 3]]

Several of the pieces were also published in the Gendai Guitar Flamenco books, now out of print but occasionally available second-hand:

• 6) & 7) are in [[ASIN:B006RA9T4U Vol. 1]]
• 1) is in [[ASIN:B006RA8NXI Vol. 2]]
• 5) is in Vol. 4


title: Cordobés Flamenco

text:
El Pele is a Gypsy cantaor from Córdoba.  This album, in which he is accompanied by Manolo Sanlúcar's brother Isidro and a young Vicente Amigo, is my favourite of his.

The contents are:

1) Huellas de Gaviota (Alegrías)
2) Recuerdo a García Lorca (Seguiriya)
3) Viejas leyendas (Bulerías)
4) Es tu querer como el viento (Soleá por Bulerías)
5) De vuelta a Jerez (Bulerías de Jerez)
6) Caracoleando (Soleá)
7) Cómo quieres que te quiera (Tangos)
8) Homenaje al 'Juaqui El Limpa' (Fandangos Populares)

The time, however, is short for a CD: 31'14".


title: Early Sabicas

text:
In case you're not familiar with Sabicas (1912-90), he was one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of the 20th century and a major influence on all his successors, most notably Paco de Lucía.

Sabicas's creativity was astonishing, and in 40 years of listening to him, I don't think I've ever heard him play an unmusical note.  Nevertheless, his early recordings have a drive that is not always present in those he made in the autumn of his career; and this album, from 1959, is one of the former.  In a word, it's terrific.  The contents are:

a1) Soleá «Pasión flamenca»
a2) Bulerías «Temas gitanos»
a3) Fandangos «Lucero de Huelva»
a4) Zambra «El Albaicín»
a5) Colombianas «A Colombia»

b1) Siguiriyas «Nostalgia flamenca»
b2) Bulerías «La Zarzamora»
b3) Verdiales «Sonrisa Malagueña»
b4) Tarantas «Toque Minero»
b5) Farruca «Delicada»

The total time, however, is only 33'58".

There are both stereo and mono versions; obviously, the stereo version, ABCS 304 (which proclaims "STEREO SOUND" on a white stripe across the top), would be preferable.

Transcriptions of two of the pieces (in staff notation) have appeared in the Flamenco books published by Gendai Guitar: «Delicada» in [[ASIN:B006RA9T4U Volume I]], and «Temas gitanos» in [[ASIN:B000V2LQFA Volume III]].


title: Not on CD

text:
Album of guitar solos from 1958 by the brilliant flamenco guitarist Sabicas (1912-90), which (as far as I'm aware) has never appeared on CD.  The contents are:

1) Bulerías
2) Alegrías Gaditanas
3) Farruca «Pena Penitas»
4) Fandangos de Huelva «Huelva»
5) Danza Mora «Fantasía árabe»
6) Granadinas «Ecos de Granada»
7) Verdiales Malagueños
8) Seguiriya
9) Soleares

«Pena Penitas» is a simple but beautiful duet, with Sabicas's brother Diego on second guitar.  The Danza Mora is transcribed in [[ASIN:B001EULSTW this book]].

LPs at this time were produced in both mono and stereo, so check which you're getting before you buy.  The number should be ABCS239 (not ABC239).

The total time is 32'31".


title: The master at his finest

text:
As the axes of the Vandals fell on Rome, so the axe of RCA has fallen on this superb album with its brilliant resurrection of composers who, at the time of its recording, had been long buried under the accreted lumber of time.  From the cheeky gaiety of Molinaro's Fantasia (which effectively compresses a prelude and fugue into three minutes) to the sombre magnificence of Gregory Huwett's, it is a tour de force in every respect.  Nobody breathed as much life into this music as did Julian Bream.

As compared with the [[ASIN:B001KQO41Y LP]], the CD contains 2 extra tracks from the now-disappeared [[ASIN:B0040ZB6M2 Lute Music of Dowland]] LP, but is missing the Mudarra Fantasia, which can be found on [[ASIN:B000003FG5 Music of Spain]].

Since Amazon's track information is rather vague, I give the complete listing below:

01) Landgrave of Hesse: Pavane
02) Molinaro: Saltarello
03) Molinaro: Ballo detto "Il Conte Orlando"
04) Molinaro: Saltarello
05) Molinaro: Fantasia
06) Philips: Chromatic Pavan
07) Philips: Galliard To the Chromatic Pavan
08) Dowland: Fancy, P. 6
09) Dowland: Queen Elizabeth's Galliard, P. 41
10) Huwett: Fantasia
11) Długoraj: Fantasia
12) Długoraj: Finale
13) Długoraj: Villanella Nº 1
14) Długoraj: Villanella Nº 2
15) Długoraj: Finale
16) Ferrabosco II: Pavan
17) Neusidler: Mein Herz Hat Sich Mit Lieb Verpflicht
18) Neusidler: Welscher tantz Wascha mesa
19) Neusidler: Ich Klag' Den Tag
20) Neusidler: Der Judentanz
21) Bakfark: Fantasia
22) Besard: Air de Cour
23) Besard: Branle
24) Besard: Guillemette
25) Besard: Volte

26) Dowland: Forlorn Hope Fancy, P. 2
27) Dowland: My Lord Willoughby's Welcome Home, P. 66

The total time is 62'08".


title: The autumn of his career

text:
[[ASIN:B002FB63UI The Art of the Guitar]], [[ASIN:B0007Y3RXG Flamenco]], [[ASIN:B00000I0GR Flamenco on Fire]]*, [[ASIN:B00284BZW8 Studio 102 Essentials]],  [[ASIN:B00005J8MZ Flamenco Fiesta Gitana]] and [[ASIN:B002YQ2LDC Classical Guitar]](!) are all the same album under different titles, so check which version is cheapest before you buy!  "Art" is the original LP title, and the CD has the same photo on the cover.  8 of the 10 tracks also appear on [[ASIN:B00000ARPC Flamenco Highlights from Spain]], for what it's worth.

This album is from late in Sabicas's career, without the fire of his earlier recordings but with perhaps more variety and attention to beautiful melodies: "Ritmos del Paraguay" (triple-tracked) is a version of the old Trio Los Paraguayos harp favourite, "Bell Bird" ("Pájaro campana").  Oyanguren's "Fantasía Inca" has an introduction that's not in the version Sabicas recorded for Elektra on [[ASIN:B0012U3XRY Sabicas Vol. 2]] (reissued on [[ASIN:B000ESM2JA La Guitarra Flamenca]]).

It's a beautiful album even if if you just love the Spanish guitar and aren't particularly into Flamenco.

The sheet music of "Damasco" has been published (along with five other Danzas Moras) in Danzas Arabes, capably transcribed by Alain Faucher (Affedis Publications).  "Fantasía Inca" is in [[ASIN:B001B0TNNI Volume IV]] of Gendai Guitar's Flamenco anthologies.

*"on Fire" reportedly has a tendency to skate, so perhaps it's best to avoid that one.


title: Reissued on budget CD

text: This album has now been completely subsumed into the budget CD [[ASIN:B0000058FT Latin Guitar Festival]].  See that page for my (and others') reviews.


title: Panorama of the Renaissance Lute

text: As I write, this album is available under a [[ASIN:B000S6TJJE different ASIN]].  See that page for my (and others') reviews.


title: The greatest flamenco guitar duet recording ever made

text:
Sabicas (1912-1990) and Mario Escudero (1928-2004) were the foremost guitarists of their generation, who also happened to be cousins.  But although the total of the albums they both made must run around three figures, they only ever made three records of duets: this, [[ASIN:B00000BKC9 Flamenco Styles on Two Guitars]] (AKA España en Dos Guitarras), and an album of Latin standards called [[ASIN:B001LGB7F4 Romantic Guitars]].

This 1959 album is the first flamenco record I ever heard: it was the days when a record shop would play you a bit of any album you asked for, and some friends of mine asked to hear this.  It was like the road to Damascus: in that moment I decided to take up the flamenco guitar.

The tracks are as follows:

a1)  Colombiana Flamenca
a2)  Bulerías «Fantasía Andaluza»
a3)  Farruca «Variaciones de Farruca»
a4)  Verdiales/Fandangos de Huelva «Ritmos Malagueños»
a5)  Soleares «Gitanos Trianeros»

b1  Campanilleros «Villancico Flamenco»
b2)  El Vito «Temas Andaluces»
b3)  Alegrías «Pregón Gaditano»
b4)  Granadinas «Bordones Granadinos»
b5)  Zapateado «Recuerdo a Estampío»

Even the grumpy purist Donn Pohren said:

'In this record of guitar duets the guitars, arrangements, imagination, talent, good taste and compás of Sabicas and Escudero are truly "fantastic" [...] What they do on this record has been done by no other duo, and I expect it will not be equalled in many a moon.' ([[ASIN:B0019CH80I The Art of Flamenco]], 1st Edition, p. 170))

Track a4 is erroneously labelled a malagueña (which confused me for years).  Track b5 is in fact a brilliant mixture of a zapateado and a tanguillo, with Escudero playing in C and Sabicas playing in A capo'd three frets higher.

After all these years, I'm still finding new things in this album.  It was issued both in stereo and mono, so make sure you ask which version it is before you buy.

The total time is 37'35".

UPDATE 2011

This album has now been reissued, combined with [[ASIN:B00000BKC9 Flamenco Styles]], as a [[ASIN:B005Q46HSO twofer]].


title: A reissue of Guitars of Passion

text:
This LP is the identical to [[ASIN:B00282ABX4 this one]], and is also a reissue of Guitars of Passion (MGM SE-3975) under a different title.  Check for the best price before you buy.

The album itself is of course brilliant.  Track listing with names of styles:

1) Zapateado del Sacromonte
2) Soleá de Alcalá
3) Danza Mora «El avellano»
4) Alegrías «Cantan los puertos»
5) Fandangos de Grazalema
6) Bulerías «Junco y canastos»
7) Verdial de la Alpujarra
8) Farruca de los caireles
9) Seguiriyas «Duende gitano»

The total time is 36'25".


title: Great guitarists, ordinary singers

text:
I've been unable to discover exactly when this was recorded, but it must have been some time around 1960.

Sabicas was one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of the 20th century.  His artistic name was a pun on his childhood nickname "Las habicas" — Little Green Beans, because he was always eating them.

Los Trianeros are rather more mysterious: Enrique Montoya and Domingo Alvarado are quite well known, and Diego Castellón was Sabicas's brother.  But El Niño de Alicante was actually Mario Escudero, recording under this pseudonym because he was under contract to another company.

As to the music, the guitarists are brilliant.  Unfortunately, the album is let down by the singers, both of whom were more at home in the greener pastures of "aflamencada" Spanish pop, and who here appear competent but undistinguished.  Still, if you're not as fussy as I am, it's quite a pleasant and atmospheric record.

The total time is 37'50".

This album is also available [[ASIN:B001R23GQK on CD]].


title: Neither fish nor fowl

text:
This album, quite famous at the time of its original release around 1968, is an attempt to produce two masses using authentic folk music and performers.

The Misa Flamenca, like most such fusion attempts, it is not entirely successful, and (despite moments of great beauty) "interesting" is perhaps the best word for the result: this despite the use of top-notch artists such as (in the Misa Flamenca) singers Rafael Romero, El Chocolate, El Culata and Los Serranos, plus guitarists Serranito and Ramón de Algeciras.  The sudden lurches from (for example) a genuine Caña to a full church choir are unnerving, to say the least.

In my opinion, the Misa Criolla, which uses Latin American music, is the more felicitous.

The sleeve notes are unusual in being in French alone, and containing no information whatever about the flamenco artists.

The total time is 41'14".

P.S. a more successful Misa Flamenca (both artistically and commercially), available both [[ASIN:B0000037DV on CD]] and [[ASIN:B000ARXF6O on DVD]], has been produced by Paco Peña.


title: Two rare albums

text:
In case you're not familiar with Sabicas (1912-90), he was one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of the 20th century and a major influence on all his successors, most notably Paco de Lucía.

I don't possess this album, but the track listing in the Product Description reveals it to be a compilation drawn from two LPs which I do possess, released as CDs (as far as I'm aware) only in Japan, whence I obtained my copies: they are [[ASIN:B00005FHVM ¡¡Olé!!]] (Universal POCF-2001) and [[ASIN:B00005FHVN Flamenco!!]]  (Universal POCF-2002).

The titles don't really convey anything unless you know the underlying flamenco rhythms, which are as follows:

01) Guadalquivir
02) Soleares «Alma Gaditana»
03) Alegrias «Compases flamencos»
04) Zapateado
05) Granaínas «Peña La Platería»
06) Danza Mora «Ensueno arabe»
07) Siguiriyas «Taconeo gitano»
08) Malagueña «Torremolinos»
09) Fandangos de Huelva «El conguero»

10) Alegrías «Variaciones de Alegrías»
11) Bulerías «Embrujo Sevillano»
12) Soleares «Mi Soleá»
13) Gallegadas «Piropo a Galicia»
14) Malagueña [Lecuona]
15) Tarantas «Ecos de Linares»
16) Siguiriyas «Duquelas de Triana»
17) Rondeña «Viniendo del alba»
18) Villancicos «Villancicos de Jerez»

The present selection comprises most of the tracks from the two albums mentioned, but two tracks are missing: incomprehensibly, for the total time for both complete albums is only 73'22"; hence four stars only.  The missing tracks are:

Colombiana «De los rizos de tu pelo»
Farruca «Campanitas»

The Japanese CDs are explicitly labelled mono, but in fact both albums are stereo, with many numbers immaculately double-tracked in Sabicas's usual fashion.

This album is also listed [[ASIN:B00030EJUE here]], so check which is cheapest before you buy.


title: Live Irish music in its proper environment

text:
This is a CD of Irish instrumental music, mostly with Randal Bays on fiddle and Roger Landes on Irish-style bouzouki, recorded live at house concerts.  The informal atmosphere is ideal for this kind of thing, and the recording captures it perfectly.

Mr. Bays is an excellent fiddler and his companion a fine accompanist, plus the album has two extra somethings that give it a variety lifting it out of the ordinary.

One is the contributions of additional guests Susan Waters and Leo McNamara on 2nd fiddle and flute respectively.  The other is the tracks where Messrs. Bays and Landes reverse rôles, and the latter on mandolin is accompanied by the former on guitar.

Because fiddle is the instrument for which Randal Bays chooses to be known; but if he's not also the best guitar accompanist I've ever heard, he's certainly a contender (as witness his wonderful albums with [[ASIN:B000005COR Martin Hayes]] and [[ASIN:B000005CPQ John Williams]]).  He sounds like two people (especially on track three), and I've still no idea how he does it, even after seeing him multiple times.

An album to be proud of.

P.S. I see that it was named by the Irish Times as one of the Top 5 Traditional albums of 2005.


title: Finest harmony

text:
Finest Kind comprise an Englishman, an American and a Canadian, and their musical taste is correspondingly catholic.  Perhaps surprisingly, their forte is the singing of English  folksongs (and the like) in harmony, in the manner popularised by the Young Tradition and the Watersons.

These two last-named groups certainly have the historical primacy (with the Copper Family, of course).  However, Finest Kind are markedly superior in at least two respects: their intonation is spot on*, and they have a rock-solid grasp of counterpoint (the Watersons' grasp of counterpoint was tenuous, to put it kindly).  The arrangements are apparently by the lady of the group, and they're very nice indeed: she knows just how to introduce a bit of variety, when and how to use parallel fourths and fifths, and when to use a touch of dissonance for spice (as on John Barleycorn).  The problems one might expect to arise from conflicting accents seem not to.

The only comparable group I've heard that can touch Finest Kind is the now-defunct Heritage (the English group, not the Scottish one — and yes, I have heard the Voice Squad).

Of their albums so far, this one contains the most of this type of song, and so it's my favourite.  "The Times They Are a-Changin' " works well.  On the down side, the old Shirelles hit "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" doesn't really come off, and the words of Robin & Barry Dransfield's "A Fair Maid Walking All In Her Garden" are pointlessly meddled-with.  But tracks like "Blackest Crow" and "The Painful Plough" more than compensate.

If you're into a cappella harmony, you shouldn't miss this album.

*For a counterexample, check the pitch of the beginning of the YT's version of "Banks of the Nile" against the pitch at the end.


title: Superb album at (what should be) a budget price

text:
This album, originally recorded in 1973, consists of 44 minutes of eminently listenable and charming Latin American guitar solos and duets, and as such has been issued many times on many labels under many titles — usually budget-priced, but I see the second-hand prices are being inflated, as is considered customary for deleted items.

Konrad Ragossnig, although little known outside his native Austria, is an excellent guitarist (and lutenist); Walter Feybli is otherwise unknown to me, but here appears as a fine guitarist in his own right.

Six pieces are solos by one artist or the other, and the remainder are duets. All the pieces are rhythmic and firmly tonal, and thus suitable for the general listener, even the Ponce.

The solo pieces are indeed staples of the classical guitar repertory. But the gems of this album are the eleven South American Folksongs arranged by the late Len Williams, which (as far as I'm aware) have never been recorded elsewhere.

The last-named is of course best known as the father of John. What is not so well known is that he was a first-rate arranger for guitar, and especially for two guitars (which I can also attest as former student of his Spanish Guitar Centre in London).

The [[ASIN:B00006M2SB Album of Spanish and South American Folk Songs for two guitars]], to give it its full title, is a triumph of the arranger's art: the pieces are so simple to play that even near-beginners can manage them; when played by masters — as here — they are delightful.

This album is always going in and out of print, so if you're obliged to buy it second-hand, check around for the best price. Any album of Latin music you see by Ragossnig & Feybli is this one.

UPDATE 2009

This album has now been reissued with the addition of Villa-Lobos's "Popular Brazilian Suite" (played by Manuel Barrueco) at (as I write) under $5.00, on [[ASIN:B0000058FT Latin Guitar Festival]].


title: A fine sampler from an illustrious career

text:
I should make clear at the outset that I don't own this album. However, it's effectively a sampler from the definitive 6-CD tribute [[ASIN:B0002IRXZ0 L'Art de Alexandre Lagoya]], which I do possess.

Alexandre Lagoya (1929-99) was already a fine guitarist in his own right when he met and married Ida Presti, the best female guitarist of the 20th century, and probably of all time. Together they formed what has been called the greatest duo in the history of the classical guitar. They were to the duo what Segovia was to the solo instrument: they innovated technically and musically and made something like fifteen world tours, inspiring nearly all the best modern composers to write for the medium, while at the same time generating an entire new body of transcriptions from instruments such as the harpsichord. They also inspired and taught several other duos who are now among the best in the World, including Ako Ito & Henri Dorigny and the Athenian Duo (Evangelos & Liza). Their fame and impact were still accelerating when, on a tour of the United States in 1967, Ida Presti was taken suddenly ill and died. She was forty-two.

Presti/Lagoya's early recordings were on French RCA, and these were issued as a 2-CD boxed set (7 43212 58662), now deleted. However, the sound quality was mediocre, and many of the tracks were re-recorded for Philips.

The complete Philips recordings in turn were issued on a [[ASIN:B000009LJ7 3-CD boxed set]]. That set, too, is now deleted; but, it is completely subsumed by the 6-CD Lagoya set, mentioned above, that this anthology is taken from.

As I write, amazon.com has no track listing; but there's one on Amazon France, which I give below:

01. Concierto de Aranjuez (Rodrigo)
02. Asturias (Albéniz)
03. Recuerdos de la Alhambra (Tárrega)
04. Ritual Fire Dance (Falla)
05. Intermezzo from Goyescas (Granados)
06. Sevilla (Albéniz)
07. Canarios (Sanz)
08. Prelude Nº 1 (Villa-Lobos)
09. Scherzino Mexicano (Ponce)
10. Musette (Bach)
11. Adagio (Albinoni)
12. Andante in D Minor (Marcello)
13. Clair de lune (Debussy)
14. Concerto in D Major, P 209 : Allegro Giusto, Largo (Vivaldi)

This enables me to deduce that tracks 4, 5, and 11-13 are by the duo, and the remainder solos (or with orchestra) by Lagoya.

The Presti/Lagoya recordings are some of the most brilliant classical guitar music ever put together. The range and beauty of the the duo's sound is ravishing, their musicality is a joy to hear, and their togetherness was unequalled until the advent of today's Assad brothers.

I was fortunate enough to catch a Presti/Lagoya concert at London's Wigmore Hall. I'd never seen anything like it, and I still haven't, even after twenty years as a concert reviewer.

Lagoya's solo playing may now be considered old-fashioned by some; his tone, of course, is beautiful, whatever your interpretive preferences.

For myself, I find many of his interpretations wonderful, with a warmth seldom found today. His versions of the Villa-Lobos Preludes are (with Bream's) my favourites. The outer movements of the Concierto de Aranjuez are a little lacking in fire, and consequently somewhat disappointing; but the middle movement (the famous one) is stunning.

This is, then, an excellent sampler of Lagoya's illustrious career for those who don't want (or can't afford) the whole 6-CD set; it would also (especially since it contains the Rodrigo Concerto) make an ideal present for your Auntie Aggie if she tells you that she'd like "a nice guitar CD".  By my computation, the total time should be just under the maximum 80 minutes.

The sole review I saw on Amazon France was so ecstatic it made me burst out laughing.


title: Panorama of the Renaissance Lute

text:
I thought I possessed this album in a different edition, but in fact it appears it's not quite the same.  Figuring out the difference was quite a task.

The number of CDs in the boxed set is not stated here, but on Amazon Germany it is given as four.  I therefore imagined the contents to be the same as those of the 4-CD set [[ASIN:B00020QWFK Renaissance Lute Music]] I bought from Amazon UK*; this is also on the Archiv label, but has a different cover and bears the proclamation "The Rosette Collection" plus the Penguin Books logo.

However, although both sets comprise four CDs, the Rosette Collection has 114 tracks, whereas the present one apparently has only 105.  The Rosette Collection therefore seems to be the better purchase, other things being equal.

The latter is a reissue of six LPs, recorded between 1973 and 1975, each devoted to the lute music of one or two major European countries: England, Italy, Spain, Poland & Hungary, Germany & the Netherlands, and France.  It thus probably covers a wider spectrum of Renaissance lute music than any other single album.

Konrad Ragossnig is perhaps best known outside his native Austria by his fine album of [[ASIN:B000FJRADG Latin American guitar duets]] with Walter Feybli, which has been reissued multiple times on various budget labels.

Like his contemporary Julian Bream, Herr Ragossnig was an early convert to the lute, and in fact his playing is so much like Bream's as to be indistinguishable to the casual listener; in particular, I find Herr Ragossnig's firm sense of rhythm  a refreshing change from the meanderings of some I could name.  The recordings are likewise excellent and comparable to Bream's of the same period

It must be said that playing the lute this way — that is, like classical guitar, with fingernails, and use of tonal variation — is (we are told) inauthentic, and thus out of fashion these days.  Those who feel this way may be better served by more HIP recordings from first-rate modern lutenists such as Jakob Lindberg, Christopher Wilson and Paul O'Dette.

To those who neither know nor care about such considerations, however — or to those who (like myself) know but do not care, and feel that Bream's lute recordings have been too few — this album can be recommended, with the reservation about the missing tracks (for which I deducted a star), which are:

Dowland: My Lady Hunsdon's Puffe, P. 54
Anon: Sir John Smith his Almaine
Morley: Pavane
Długoraj: 3 Finales
Bakfark: 3 Fantasies

A listing of the others can be found on amazon.de.

Postscript for those who already have all Bream's lute albums: of the 129 pieces involved, by my computation Bream has only recorded 42.

*UPDATE 2016: Now, at last, listed here.


title: Konrad Ragossnig: Music for Lute (1 CD)

text:
Konrad Ragossnig is perhaps best known outside his native Austria by his fine album of [[ASIN:B0000044LW Latin American guitar duets]] with Walter Feybli, which has been reissued multiple times on various budget labels.

Like his contemporary Julian Bream, Herr Ragossnig was an early convert to the lute, and in fact his playing is so much like Bream's as to be indistinguishable to the casual listener; in particular, I find Herr Ragossnig's firm sense of rhythm  a refreshing change from the meanderings of some I could name.  The recordings are likewise excellent and comparable to Bream's of the same period

It must be said that playing the lute this way — that is, like classical guitar, with fingernails, and use of tonal variation — is (we are told) inauthentic, and thus out of fashion these days.  Those who feel this way may be better served by more HIP recordings from first-rate modern lutenists such as Jakob Lindberg, Christopher Wilson or Paul O'Dette.

To those who neither know nor care about such considerations, however — or to those who (like myself) know but do not care, and feel that Bream's lute recordings have been too few — Ragnossnig's playing can be recommended without reservation.

His complete lute recordings have now been issued as a 4-CD boxed set, "[[ASIN:B00020QWFK Renaissance Lute Works]]", but unfortunately, it's not (as I write) available from Amazon USA*; I ordered it from Amazon UK (ASIN: B00020QWFK) and consider it well worth it.  But if this is too much trouble or money, then the present CD is a good representative sample.

By my computation, the running time should be over 75 minutes.

*Update: I can't be sure, but [[ASIN:B000S6TJJE Music for Lute]], available second-hand (as I write in 2007) appears to be the same thing, minus 9 tracks.


title: An extraordinary homage to Neruda

text:
For the benefit of customers who may not speak Spanish, I translate the review of Toño Romero H.  The rating is his.

This is my best purchase for years!
A good exercise upon buying this disc is, before listening to the songs, to read the lyrics and try to imagine them as a song.  That way one can better appreciate the extraordinary artists who participate in this selection of Neruda's poems set to music.  In the majority of cases the songs seem to have been composed by them.  I love the interpretations of Jorge Drexler (look for more music by him, he's a brilliant Uruguayan), Sabina, Julieta Venegas (can you imagine Neruda as reggae?), Ana Belén (what a voice!), Adriana Varela, Pedro Guerra and the rest...
Good job, Victor Manuel!  A brilliant homage to a brilliant poet.


title: Masters of the Guitar

text:
Ida Presti and her husband Alexandre Lagoya formed what has been called the greatest duo in the history of the classical guitar.  They were to the duo what Segovia was to the solo instrument: they innovated technically and musically and made something like fifteen world tours, inspiring nearly all the best modern composers to write for the medium, while at the same time generating an entire new body of transcriptions from instruments such as the harpsichord.  They also inspired and taught several other duos who are now among the best in the World, including [[ASIN:B0017TYAJA Ako Ito & Henri Dorigny]] and the Athenian Duo ([[ASIN:B00002ZZKL Evangelos & Liza]]).  Their fame and impact were still accelerating when, on a tour of the United States in 1967, Ida Presti was taken suddenly ill and died.  She was forty-two.

Presti/Lagoya's early recordings were on French RCA, and these were also issued as a [[ASIN:B00004UR1N boxed set]] (in 1995, RCA 7 43212 58662), but quickly deleted*.  However, the sound quality was mediocre, and many of the tracks were re-recorded for Philips, and are included on the present album.

This is certainly one of the most brilliant classical guitar albums ever put together.  The range and beauty of the the duo's sound is ravishing, their musicality is a joy to hear, and their togetherness was unequalled until the advent of today's Assad brothers.  It's hard to pick a highlight, but one such must certainly be the astonishing "Chaconne in G Major" by Handel, consisting of 22 variations on a ground bass with each variation played with a different tone colour.

I was fortunate enough to catch a Presti/Lagoya concert at London's Wigmore Hall.  I'd never seen anything like it, and I still haven't, even after twenty years as a concert reviewer.

No one with any affection for the classical guitar should be without this album.  Contents:

DISC 1

1) Scarlatti: Sonata, K. 380, L. 23
2) Bach: English Suite Nº 3, BWV 808: Courante
3) Bach: English Suite Nº 3, BWV 808: Allemande
4) Bach: English Suite Nº 3, BWV 808: Prelude
5-8) Marella: Suite Nº 1 in A Major
9) Granados: Spanish Dance Nº  2, Orientale, Op. 37
10) Albéniz, I.: Piezas características, Op. 92: Danza
11) Soler: Sonata in D Major, R 84
12) Gallés: Sonata in B Minor
13) Soler: Sonata in D Minor
14-15) Sor: L'encouragement, Op. 34
16) Falla: La vida breve: Spanish Dance Nº 1
17) Granados: Goyescas, Op. 11: Intermezzo
18) Albéniz: España, Op. 165: Tango
19-21) Rodrigo: Tonadilla

DISC 2

1-3) Haydn: Concerto in G, Nº 2
4-6) Vivaldi: Concerto in C, RV 425
7-9) Vivaldi: Concerto in G, RV 532
10-12) Marcello: Concerto in D Minor
13) Handel: Chaconne in G Major, HWV 435
14) Handel: Fugue in G Major
15) Handel: Allegro in D Minor, HWV 432

DISC 3

1) Scarlatti, D.: Sonata, K. 173, L. 447
2) Giazotto "Albinoni": Adagio
3) Pasquini: Canzone in E Minor
4) Marcello: Andante in D Minor
5) Debussy: Suite Bergamesque: Clair de lune
6) Petit: Toccata
7) Poulenc: Improvisation in E♭ Minor, Nº 12
8) Falla: Ritual Fire Dance
9) Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Prelude & Fugue Nº 4 in E Major
10) Presti: Etude Fantasque
11) Petit: Tarantelle
12-14) Carulli: Serenade in G Major, Op. 96, Nº 3
15-17) Paganini: Sonata concertata

The Adagio long attriuted to Albinoni is now known to be be Giazotto.

SHEET MUSIC

The duo's transcriptions were done by M. Lagoya.  He didn't publish them for a very long while because (he told me in 1981) of some bad experiences with publishers when he was young; but he acknowledged his intention to publish eventually "so that all guitarists can benefit".

Now, with the cooperation of his estate, Bèrben are gradually issuing meticulous and beautifully printed versions.  So far these include:

Vol. 1 Handel: Chaconne, Fugue & Allegro
Vol. 2 Bach: Preludes and Fugues from "The Well-Tempered Clavier"
Vol. 3 Bach: English & French Suites (BWV 807, 808 & 816)
Vol. 4 [[ASIN:B0064RUH9C Scarlatti: Sonatas]] K.4, 87, 96, 159 173 & 380
Vol. 5 12 Baroque Masterpieces (Vivaldi, Albinoni, Giazotto, Marella, Pasquini, F. Couperin, Gallés, C.P.E. Bach, A. Marcello, B. Marcello & Soler)
Vol. 6 Presti: Original Works for Two Guitars

Not all are carried by Amazon; you could Google the others.

UPDATE 2008

This album, long out of print, is completely subsumed by the six-CD set [[ASIN:B0002IRXZ0 L'Art de Alexandre Lagoya]] (French Philips 4762356).  The latter clocks in at 7 hours 55 minutes, of which 3 hours 41 minutes are the Presti/Lagoya recordings.  The balance seems to be Lagoya's complete output for Philips, minus Albéniz's "Mallorca" and the Diabelli "Sonata in A Major" (both from "Le gentilhomme de la guitare").

It is not cheap, but I found it worth buying even though I already have the Presti/Lagoya set.

Your mileage may differ, of course.

*UPDATE 2013

The Istituto Discografico Italiano has reissued some of the early Robert J. Vidal RCA recordings.

[[ASIN:B008S87R9I Ida Presti & Alexandre Lagoya 1]]
[[ASIN:B00AL7OOJU Ida Presti & Alexandre Lagoya 2]]
[[ASIN:B00S8S9N8Q Ida Presti & Alexandre Lagoya 3]]


title: I give this CD 5 stars, though I am ...

text: I give this CD 5 stars, though I am a little biased having been the drummer for this band that recorded on this CD.


title: All of the 1st and 2nd Original Mirrors albums...

text:
For those searching for the 1st "Original Mirrors" album in the US LP version, all 10 of the tracks from that LP are contained on this CD, just in a different order.

The original Vinyl LP Track Listing (1980 - US Arista AB 4269) is:
(Side 1):
1. Panic In The Night (3:18)
2. Sharp Words (4:20)
3. Could This Be Heaven (5:10)
4. Boys Cry (2:35)
5. Chains Of Love (4:02)

(Side 2)
6. Night Of The Angels (3:38)
7. Reflections (4:09)
8. The Boys The Boys (3:28)
9. Flying (4:04)
10. Feel Like A Train (4:40)

I cannot comment on the 2nd album because I do not have it (or this CD, yet - watching to see if it comes up used).

The Original Mirrors are a UK based Liverpool punk rock band with Steve Allen (Lead Vocals), Ian Broudie (Guitar), Pete Kircher (Drums), Jonathan Perkins (Keyboards), Phil Spalding (Bass Guitar); Standout high energy tracks on the 1st album that received some US college/alternative radio attention are: Sharp Words, Could This Be Heaven, and Boys Cry.

Hopefully this CD will become available used from time to time.  Otherwise, it may still be worth picking up the 1st album used on Vinyl at a reasonable price particularly for those 3 tracks. ([[ASIN:B003OJFBTE Link to Original Mirrors 1st LP on Vinyl]])  (I am not one of those selling the Vinyl LP, I'll be keeping mine).


title: There Is A CD That Contains The Entire 1st & 2nd Original Mirrors Albums...

text:
There Is A CD That Contains The Entire 1st & 2nd Original Mirrors Albums, but, if you got to this page using the "original Mirrors" link on any of the Vinyl LP or Vinyl Singles pages, it does not show up in the listing from that link!  The CD (which, unfortunately at the time of this writing is unavailable) is titled: "Heartbeat: The Best Of The Original Mirrors [Import, Original recording remastered]." (I tried to insert a link to that page, but it does not come up in the product link tool either, possibly because it is not avail at this time - search on the full title above to find it).

All 10 of the tracks from this first "Original Mirrors" LP are contained on that CD, just in a different order.

The original Vinyl Track Listing (1980 - US Arista AB 4269) is:
(Side 1):
1. Panic In The Night (3:18)
2. Sharp Words (4:20)
3. Could This Be Heaven (5:10)
4. Boys Cry (2:35)
5. Chains Of Love (4:02)

(Side 2)
6. Night Of The Angels (3:38)
7. Reflections (4:09)
8. The Boys The Boys (3:28)
9. Flying (4:04)
10. Feel Like A Train (4:40)

The Original Mirrors are a UK based Liverpool punk rock band with Steve Allen (Lead Vocals), Ian Broudie (Guitar), Pete Kircher (Drums), Jonathan Perkins (Keyboards), Phil Spalding (Bass Guitar); standout tracks that received some US college/alternative radio attention are: Sharp Words, Could This Be Heaven, and Boys Cry.

Hopefully the CD will become available used from time to time.  Otherwise, it is worth picking up used on Vinyl at a reasonable price particularly for those 3 tracks.


title: sick mixtape

text: I bought this mixtape when it cost 13$  It sucks these guys are jackin people for 69$ but hey this mixtape is hot.  Ash spits flawlessly over all the new sick beats- Highly reccomended This is a mixtape so people are shouting stuff over the tracks- guy below me has never listened to a remix I guess, because thats what its supposed to be like bro


title: Love it Funny, Insane but still Full of wisdom...

text:
Dont ask me how but this is really an intresting combination they managed to sqweez in...
DVD's are great, I had the game like 9 years ago & really liked the twisted fun/horror mix it had.
Same thing I can tell about the DVD's


title: Benny Goodman CD

text: Bought this as a gift for my husband - very good.


title: Reconstructed by Dr. Simon Heighes

text:
I found this review, and since there is no current review of this St. Mark reconstruction, I feel that it deserves to be mentioned.

"We have the text of the St. Mark Passion, but frustratingly there is not a scrap of music surviving in manuscript, so what we have here is a reconstruction by Dr. Simon Heighes based on the knowledge (perhaps more accurately, the assumption) that the St. Mark Passion was a parody work, using movements from other works. This was a procedure Bach used in other places. Heighes has exercised some ingenuity in assigning the Bach movements (mainly from the Trauer Ode BWV 198 and the cantata Widerstehe doc der Sünde). But, in the absence of any recitative he has used that for Reinhard Keiser's St. Mark Passion, making up any gaps himself.

"So what we have is recitative by Reinhard Keiser with arias and choruses selected and adapted by Heighes from existing music; not exactly Bach's St. Mark Passion and perhaps only a pale shadow of the work. Still, it does receive a fine performance from the Finnish choir, The Ring Ensemble, and the European Baroque Orchestra. Three of the soloists are associated with the Hilliard Ensemble; Rogers Covey Crump, the fine evangelist, Gordon Jones whose Jesus sings almost exclusively in string accompanied arioso, but the part lies a little low for Jones, and David James, the alto soloist, who is stylish but very mannered. The solo line up is completed by the boy treble, Connor Burrowes, who copes well with the solo demands of the arias and tenor Paul Agnew who sings his one aria with magnificent style.

"There are other reconstructions, Ton Koopman has provided his own for his recording by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. But here, Roy Goodman and his forces give Heighes's edition a fine performance".

-(This hard to find Goodman recording has also been issued on Brilliant Classics).


title: Excellent Mexican Band

text: Very good music from Mexico Band recorded Live!!!


title: Great selection of soft rock

text: Love the whole Singers and Songwriters series. This one is particularly good.


title: Track List - Modern Rock Lost Hits Of The Early '80s

text:
It appears some customers might have been sent the wrong CD. Here is the correct track listing for this release.

Disc 1:
1 Billy Idol - White Wedding
2 Squeeze (2) - Another Nail In My Heart
3 Bill Nelson - Flaming Desire
4 Robert Palmer - Looking For Clues
5 The Jim Carroll Band - People Who Died
6 Paul Carrack - I Need You
7 Devo - Freedom Of Choice
8 The Blasters - I'm Shakin'
9 The Monroes - What Do All The People Know
10 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
11 Kim Wilde - Kids In America
12 Golden Earring - Twilight Zone
Disc 2:
1 The Pretenders - Message Of Love
2 Kid Creole And The Coconuts - Stool Pigeon
3 English Beat* - I Confess
4 The Nails - 88 Lines About 44 Women
5 Adam And The Ants - Stand And Deliver
6 Missing Persons - Walking In L.A.
7 Yaz* - Don't Go
8 Split Enz - Six Months In A Leaky Boat
9 The B52's - Party Out Of Bounds
10 Marshall Crenshaw - Someday, Someway
11 Bananarama - He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'
12 Laurie Anderson - O Superman (For Massenet)


title: ripped from vinyl

text: You can hear vinyl rumble and muted 'pops' through this. For example You're my occupation sounds terrible, with the vocals almost clipping out at times. 'Glad to know you' vinyl rumble is particularly pronounced. A poor effort.


title: För Fulla Segel

text: Swedish pop and disco singer who is known both as Annica and Annica Burman. She competed in the Swedish pre-selection to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988 with the song "I En Ding Ding Värld". She also released disco singles in the 1980's that became very popular in Japan.


title: rock your tits off

text: if u like ac/dc pub rock you'll love this . giant anthemic guitar riffs , sweet harmonies and hard driven chorus that stay in your head but never get annoying. every track is a winner, no album filler, no skipping tracks.stand outs are "place with no name", "empire" and "rendezvous".


title: i only wanna be with bridgette

text: this is for fans of alyssa milano's japanese cds and joey carbone songs.


title: naomi's swansong.

text: good but not great voice, better than most singers selling a lot more including rihanna,mariah carey,christina aguilera,britney spears.simple, catchy, groovy songs that range from pop-funky-r'n'b to rock. a t-rex cover that is listenable.good driving music.


title: aussie rock

text: aussie rock


title: great product, wonderful price

text: great product , wonderful price, fast postage.awesome seller.


title: perfect pop

text:
another masterpiece.
words that matter
beats that count.
more finely crafted pop songs that aren't as simple as they  sound. uptempo songs with bitter cynical negative comments about society aren't even noticed when the melody hits you like a hammer.
stand outs are 'don't let me out of my cage', ' nobody knows' and 'radio musicola'.


title: Keep Spreading the Lindsey Love!!

text: Lovely Lindsey, and 3 extra songs!!!  Awesome.  I've seen her in concert three times and this last performance for this album was the best.  It's a different style than her last albums, but it grows on you.  Give it a chance, watch the videos to feel the emotional effect too!!


title: its ok

text:
this is a dragonball soundtrack
i liked the scores on here they were pretty good

i recommend this for diehard fans


title: jenning and ?

text: Great, fascinating, out of this world, would tell everyone to buy it, the whole world should enjoy this cd/dvd combo This is the best he has ever done. The reason for the 1 star rating is because Amazon wouldn't post my positive 15 word praise, they have stopped the last 2 comments, I tried to post, because I didn't say enough good things about it.


title: Great guys!

text: Actually met these guys in Pensacola when I was writing for Lucky 13 magazine.  Great guys!!  Great music.  I interviewed John after the show and he gave me this CD.  love it!


title: as they screamed to gavazzeni in rome: "maestro! too many cuts"

text:
any recording you can find of parisina are worth of some kind of praise. I guess it in one of the rarest and less performed operas written by an important composer. in the unfortunately now defunct website mascagni.org there was the list of the performances since 1913 and it's really a handful.
this performance has its strong point in the tenor's performance, whose rough voice has a certain macho squillo, while in some points of act 2 and 4 the tessitura is lowered. mascagni really asked too much, every time.
gavazzeni cuts here and there: act 2 and 3 are really cut so much they do not make sense anymore, especially act 2, in terms of dramatic action. the dramatic evolution of the characters suffers too:  without it, it's not clear how they pass from hatred to lust (passion is not enough to describe the excitement that overwhelms them). let alone the music, of rare beauty, that is reduced to a chaotic patchwork of tunes. if you know the whole partitura, it sounds like the disc is skipping grooves.
the rome orchestra is not a great orchestra. gavazzeni almost manages to control it, sometimes failing. and the tempos are always a little too fast, against mascagni's indications. but his direction is rich in contrasts and drama while terribly lacking in ecstasy, eroticism, and suspension.  this is not verism any longer.
parisina is the musical manifesto of the italian decadent movement.
as for the 4th act, which is of great beauty, there is no reason to uncut it, if you don't have a great mezzo singing stella's long scene and the soprano who sang parisina continues to sings horrendously, as she sang thru the whole opera. shrill, forced, each note a pain. as painful is the barytone.
but, as I said, anything to listen to any crumbles of this magnificent opera...


title: 2 different CDs shown in images

text: This is not so much a review, but to let people know the images pictured are of 2 different CDs. The one with the front cover that says "Yeah Whatever..." has 93 tracks. I have only listened to the begining so far, but it starts with the theme song and then has some daily affirmations. There is another image which I presume is the front cover of the other images which list 7 tracks.


title: ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL

text: Good CD's of Shaiva Sanatan (aka Hinduism, which just means something from beyond the Indus River) music are far between. Too many New Age doo-dahs, both American and Indian, keep trying to market fake stuff to rake in cash from the uninformed. There is a spiritual elegance to this CD that is quite refreshing. It goes well with Alain Danielou's book on yoga (and anything else Danielou published).


title: Five Stars

text: great


title: This is not a legit release

text: People, come on, this is not a legitimate release. No money goes to the artist (or their next of kin in this case). It's is readily available on legit live concert sharing sites, so get it from there and spend this money on a legitimate Bowie release.


title: The triumph of mediocrity

text:
No, Bocelli is not an awful singer, he is an awful OPERA singer, and it shows here. His colorless, uneducated and bland voice make me wonder why people like him so much. As a baritone in training I'm able to say that my voice teacher's STUDENTS sing much better than this guy.

His tessitura is nowere near adequate for singing any of the arias from Rigoletto, "La donna è mobile" sounds much like a kid would sing it. "Celeste Aida" is one of the worst selections, and one of the most electronically enhanced, as it requires a precise voice placement (which Bocelli doesn't posses) since much of it lies very high in the register, and a heavier, rounder voice; if the role is not adequate for many REAL tenors, it is much less adequate for a pop singer. The "feeling" raving reviewers talk about is nothing more than a voice coming (incorrectly) from the throat, and the "beautiful" high D in "Possente amor" is a beautifully screamed falsetto, the same could be said about "Di quella pira"'s C; what's amazing about all this is the fact that electronic enhancement doesn't make his voice sound better. Some have ludicrously compared him to the likes of Vargas, Domingo, and Corelli, even saying he's better; this is nothing more than ignorance and bad taste.

Maybe his fans are tired of detractors bringing out the big names in their defense, so let's be honest: he's one of the WORST opera interpreters out there, I wish great singers like Mariusz Kwiecen, Matthew Polenzani, and René Pape received the publicity he gets, though it won't happen; at least some consolation lies in the fact that these people are true artists willingly and GLADLY offering their art to the people in order to make a living; I'm sure if Andrea didn't make so much $$$$ with his opera experiment, he would've dropped this travesty long ago.


title: If you're a Bocelli fan...

text: Firstly, this review is written for people unfamiliar with choral music, any true musical connoisseur knows better; secondly, it's not written to bash Bocelli, but frankly he has no business singing Verdi's Requiem, much less beside such talented artists like Fleming, Borodina and D'Arcangelo. The problem is the fact that this piece wasn't written for a tenor who needs a microphone and some serious singing lessons, it was written for one with a pure, powerful and educated voice; his interpretation is simply devoid of feeling.<br /> I'm sure people who choose this as their first Requiem listening will be very disappointed with it; truly, Bocelli' voice sounds weak and the way he articulates the words sounds just plain bad. Ultimately, a great piece ruined (truly) for the sake of commercialism.


title: DOPE EP FROM LB

text:
YO YA KNOW WHAT THE FUNNY THING IS ABOUT LB IS THEY DON'T GET ENOUGH CREDIT MAN THEY THE TRUTH FROM NC NAHMEAN THIS EP LET ME GET IT CORRECT IS AN ILL LIVE JUMPOFF OF SOME NEW STUFF NAHMEAN BUT I THINK IT SHOWS HOW ILL THEY ARE LIVE AND I SEEN THIS MONTHS AGO AND HAD IT ON MY IPOD BUT I WANTED TO COP THE ACTUAL CD NAHMEAN SO I COPPED IT AND PUT IN MY IPOD (AKA MY IPISTOL) AND BEGAN TO BUMP IT AND RELAIZED HOW FREAKING ILL THEY ARE SO FOR ANY LB FAN NEW OR OLD COP THEY MUSIC 4 REAL N SUPPORT TRUE HIP HOP ARTIST WHO GET IT

PEACE & 1LOVE

TECHWON


title: ... the last half an hour and it is absolutely beautiful to listen to

text: I have been listening to this CD for the last half an hour and it is absolutely beautiful to listen to. I have everyone of Elvis' LPs and CDs from 1956 on.  As I listen to the CD, I am reading all of the 1 star reviews and disagree with all of them. I bought this to see how the songs were changed and I think that they are crisp and wonderful. Elvis' voice stands out and is easy to understand every word as it is sung. As for the choice of songs, as someone said earlier - why would you want another "Greatest Hits" CD. These are some of the most wonderful, tender songs from Elvis earlier catalog. I can understand that many people would not want the original music to be tampered with. It is all a personal choice. I also bought a CD of re-mixes to experience what had been done to Elvis' songs and immediately disliked it but that was my opinion. I am still listening to this CD as I wrap this up and it's fantastic. Some of my favorite Elvis songs with a "new" feel to them but in no way insulting  to Elvis or detrimental to his legacy. I believe that projects such as these keep Elvis' music alive. All I can say is Thank You.


title: Great Album

text: This is one of my favorite Barbara Mandrell albums especially for the song "Crossword Puzzle". I've been wishing that this LP be issued in CD form for years if only for that song. Can't even find it as a download item. This album is as good as any Mandrell album of that time period. Highly recommended.


title: Deliciously Italian

text: Andrea Bocelli's "Viaggio Italiano" begins like a fine meal in a lovely restaurant. Selections begin with the poignant "Nessun Dorma", setting the stage for the heavier selections from Verdi's "MacBeth".  Familiar strains to the non-operatic continue with "Panis Angelicus" and "O Solo Mio" - the Italian standard.  Bocelli's efforts end with a heartfelt message of dedication, sweetly sealing this gentle and moving experience.  The inclusion of a bonus track "Adeste Fideles", the traditional holiday song, was a bit misplaced, but overall, the effort of this fine tenor is one reflecting the love of a man for his native land.  Excellent!!


title: New age vocal music

text:
This CD is 21 years old, released in 1992 out of Woodstock, NY. The song "Women Cry" was banned from WDST in Woodstock because it was too anti-war (Gulf War)! The track "Peace Pilgrim" is featured in the documentary--Peace Pilgrim--An American Sage Who Walked her Talk. You can watch that video here: [...]

The 1st track, "Lemuria" takes place in the future when the moon has turned blue and the mythical island of Lemuria has risen from the sea and populated again. This CD is lyrically new age in theme and musically folk with a touch of country and blues. Experimental guitarist, David Torn, plays on "Run to the Desert" using a very ufo-sounding style. Very cool. "Chant of the four legged" features some nice African drums at the end. A number of the songs have strong Native American elements. This CD has been described as having guts and heart. If you're not into folk, country or blues, you probably won't like it...but if you are, you should check it out.


title: Beautiful, inspiring, hopeful music

text: This music connects you to Gd. If you feel low it lifts you up and fills you with hope. Catchy, beautiful songs in Hebrew and English. Very well produced and arranged. Wonderful harmonies. I highly recommend it! If you love Jewish women's music, you should buy this CD.


title: AMAZON'S STREAMING VERSION IS NOT THIS ALBUM!!!

text: This album is a masterpiece, but the streaming version listed on the Amazon page is not this album!  It's a live concert by Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys with completely different material.


title: Primal Delight

text: Clean, simple, primal, and raw. Each track ebbs and flows with a sense of peacefulness and reassures the listener that there is indeed a Father Spirit with a design for "Good Orderly Direction". Uncluttered and unaccompanied by strings or drums. Perfect for relaxation, meditation, or as a CD lullaby for children of all ages. Simply wonderful!


title: A masterpeice to rival the bible in importance to human kind

text: This may very well be the single most important acheivement in musical history.  Liquid Comfort should be required listning to newborns, school children and college students.


title: Resurrection Band - Music To Raise The Dead - Box Set

text:
Grrr Records has finally released the Resurrection Band's Box Set that many have been waiting for since the band unofficially broke up in 1998, with Cornerstone Festival or other reunions every now and then. This should give a good history of the band finally put down on DVD, Audio and Paper for all the world to soak up. Keep in mind when purchasing this Box Set that its from a small independent label and for the money they had, its an amazing effort.

The box is a cardboard box with individual cardboard sleeves inside. Three of the sleeves are fifty-two audio songs that have been re-mastered. Where you can really hear these new production qualities is on the songs from Awaiting Your Reply and Rainbows End. It must have been a bear to choose what songs they wanted to use from each album with such a large catalog, but I think they were successful. If you are looking for any un-released or old material from before the AYR album you are not going to get much of it here, except for Quite Enough from the Music To Raise The Dead Demo from 1974. I noticed they kept a lot of the more New Wave influenced songs out of the box set, for which I was thankful. So, songs like S.O.S. are not here and there are no songs from the XX years live on the audio CD's, however many of those are on the DVD.

The DVD was taken from the original Beta Tapes and Digitized so they look amazing for 1992. Sometimes it seems a little dark but usually the film is bright and crisp looking and the band had a really good rockin' night. They all seem to be enjoying themselves; Glenn and Wendi Kaisers' vocals are spot on the whole concert. The sound is in stereo and sounds heavy and clear, the same as the 20 years CD. Stu cracks me up with his duck walks and jumps. The light show is good and the crowd is really enthusiastic. One small note, this is a great history perspective, especially with the commentary by the band. This video was not released in 1992 because whomever did the video taping for the gig lost some of the video. So, in some parts, especially the White Noise intro, you can see the solo from Stu does not line up. The editing is done very well and it moves pretty seamlessly, even though you can tell they had to fix some problems along the way. But those problems are minimal and most songs are very complete. They also have the preaching from the concert in a separate section with the MTV vids Love Comes Down and Crimes. Grrr also put the Surprised Video from Lament in here.
The Booklet has pictures of Resurrection Band through the years as well as a beautifully written history of the band that touches on everything from the Jesus Movement and how that turned into the CCM it is today plus Cornerstone Festival, Cornerstone Magazine, and Jesus People USA, Rez Band's Church and Intentional Community. In closing I have to say I am glad that we have such a historical record here of one of the best bands in Christ centered music. A compilation of art, music and writing from a band that did not fear to tread in the open waters where no one had been before (hardly anyway). Before the Stryper's and the P.O.D.'s there was REZ. And now we have proof...ROCK ON -Marty Phillips

These Songs On the BOX SET are the ONLY Re-Mastered songs. If you buy the complete CD (for example Rainbows End)they are not Remastered.

Song List On BOX SET: CD 1 waves, awaiting your reply, broken promises, irish garden, the return, afrikaans, paint a picture, rainbows end, concert for a queen, every time it rains, colours, amazing, american dream, the struggle, alienated, the chair, first degree apathy, the crossing

CD 2 military man, babylon, area 312, no alibi, white noise, attention, crimes, tears in the rain, love comes down, zuid afrikan, shadows, nervous world, silence screams, light/light, rain dance, rooster crow, altar of pain, right on time

CD 3 the house is on fire, where roses grow, lovespeak, players, lincoln's train, land of stolen breath, somebody to love, reach of love, summerthrow, song and dance, surprised, across these fields, souls for hire, gameroom, can't stop lovin you (from bootleg live), quite enough (from MTRTD)

DVD military man afrikaans, attention, colours, players, the struggle, white noise, alienated, paint a picture, love comes down, lovespeak, in your arms, shadows, where roses grow, light/light, i will do my last singin' plus commentary and concept videos, Glenn and Wendi Talks from Live Concert. Booklet pics and history of REZ! currently on sale at the band's grrrrecords website.


title: Great cd

text: Great cd


CD in perfect condition


title: A singer of songs

text:
This a far too simple description of the legendary Liam Clancy. Yes a singer of songs and teller of tales but with a presence and vocal generosity that captures the listener and holds same fast.

 I sat in a small pub in the Cleveland "Flats" in the early 70s while he and Tommy Makem  sang till almost dawn and never once tired.

This collection is but a small part of his musical talent and legacy. Well worth the effort to search for.


title: One likes what one likes.

text:
The Highland pipes play in one key that of b flat with nine notes with constant play broken only with grace notes. Also consider the need for unified piped expression and tone required for those pipers in the "circle".  All  must sound as one instrument and percussion particularly Highland snare is quite intricate and sophisticated.  Having said this I suspect few reviewers understand the music. However I understand "one likes what one likes". Played poorly one can be excused for a less than favorable opinion of this ancient instrument.  We have all been to those endless street parades.  Other instruments must come to the pipes ...not the other way around. Here is the point.  The musical blending  of other instruments with the pipe's inherent characteristics is not an easy task. The instrument has its own written music and as such settings prove difficult for such composition.

Here the blending in of other instruments is generally creative though perhaps dated yet "cutting edge" in 2002. One can when dance music (reels, strathspeys and jigs as well as hornpipes) is played, feel the energy.

 Mark Knopfler appears on only the first track "Going Home" this  blends well and is a credit to  the
producers which includes the Pipe Major.

 My release copy is not as shown here but  rather is an import from Scotdisc of Glascow released in 2002. Same includes wonderful notes and musician credits.

 I personally lean toward the more traditional, however "pushing the envelope" at times is exciting.  This release is worth inclusion in most pipe collections.

  A comment on Amazing Grace...  Requests to play this hymn to pipers and bands are interminable.  One can thank the RSDG as they made this popular as a top recording in the early 1970s. So much so that it has been ingrained in the American " pop" culture.  Even Mr Spock was jettisoned into space with this hymn played on the pipes.  I do not believe Scotty's fingers ever move on the chanter.

 I would have suggested no electric or any accompaniment. Simply a solo
 piper on the first measures than full pipe section coming in with understated percussion that is base drum, tenor and snare.
Concluding again with a solo piper. "Seconds",for harmony, played also would have been nice before a crisp cut off.  Keep it simple.  Done before? Than  integrate a verse or two, sung in  Broad Scots  by the like of Dougie Maclean who incidentally composed "The Gael"  included in this collection.  Perhaps next time.


title: A mistake

text: I bought this album believing it to be Latin folk music from Honduras (a country in Central America for all of you not Geography-minded).  The first few cuts said differently.  A big mistake.  Honduras has nothing to do with this "music," which was a series of odd sounds, screeching guitars, sniggering wantabe rock stars who couldn't sing a note, and other assorted nonsense.  Not worth the money, unless you like this kind of %@#*&.  The "Golden Falcons" should be more aptly named, the "Dirty Turkeys," and arrested for misrepresentation.  I'd give it no stars if possible.


title: Flashman Begins

text:
This is the first book in the Flashman series. There are about 12 or so in all, and they follow Flashman's life and adventures in sequence.  To fully understand his flashback references (no pun intended), you should read them in order.

I think that Fraser is one of the greatest Historical fiction writers of modern times.  You almost end up believing that Harry Flashman was a real person.  A supposed "autobiography," Flashman is brutally honest and candid about himself and others around him, but this is his opinion.  He is certainly a realist.

Written in the first person, he is often philosophical more than he should be, and this sometimes gets a little boring.  But Fraser's writing is top notch in his readability, plot development and continuity, attention to detail in History, background and settings, and character development.  Flashy's adventure are vividly brought to life in real Historical settings, much like "Forest Gump." His theme seems to be that there is another story to the History that we have learned, and that heroes are more often created by others than by themselves.

There is much to be learned from the Flashman Series.  If you want your fuzzy understanding of 19th Century History and Geography more clearly impressed in your understanding, read the Flashman series--but be prepared for frequent erotic asides.


title: Not a great purchase.

text: The tape did not play well and many of the songs aren't playable.


My almost 31 year old daughter loves Tina Turner since she was little. My daughter is highly disappointed in the CD that she bought it skip's on certain songs. 😢


title: Very Happy Customer

text: Came in earlier than expected, but I'm very happy with my purchase. No cracks, tears, nothing perfect condition.


title: Five Stars

text: good memories


title: damaged case, but good disc

text: case cracked but disc is all okay, love it


title: Impresionante!!

text: Siempre me a gustado Yuri.  Luego de ver este concierto, ahora puedo decir que soy un Mega Fan de ella!!


title: All time favorite book

text: BEST BOOK EVER! This should be adopted into schools and used as a handbook for life. I have loved applying the lessons I've learned and now but it as required reading for my employees. Love it!


title: Monsta x makes good in America

text: I love this group, and have purchased a couple of their albums. Look forward to their English album coming out in February


title: Loved it!

text: All the songs are nice


title: Great single from underrated album... purchased for Snakes & Ladders!

text: Lights Down Low is a great pop-rock track... I wish Kim's comeback in the US had started with this album, or even better... Never Say Never in 2006.  Kim has put out some amazing albums since returning to music.  I bought the Lights Down Low CD single just for the bonus track/B-side Snakes & Ladders, which was not included on the Come Out And Play album, and can only be found here.  It is a great track that should have been included on the CD itself, along with the orginal version of Addicted To You and Party On The Brink (both tracks remain unavailable for purchase, along with Carry Me Home, in the USA).


title: a great story by an incredible soldier

text: this is a great book. The first half of the book details General Shelton's very interesting and inspiring personal story which includes his military service as well as dealing with a spinal cord injury he sustained after his retirement. The second half describes his time as joint chief of staff during the buildup of the Iraqi war. He gives great insight into this process


title: A Crazy Quilt of Good Vibrations

text: Super Good - patch work of radio spots, studio musical excerpts, & live performance.


title: These cd's are great. My kids love the music and I love ...

text: These cd's are great. My kids love the music and I love that they are memorizing scriptures without even trying!


title: Great Album to have as a whole as opposed to 3 separate, 5-6 song EPs.

text:
Whenever the Christmas season comes, I'm always looking for Christmas music that is a little different than the mainstream. This 3 EP collection fits the bill. Although it was pretty expensive at $22, it is a lot cheaper than buying the 3 shorter EPs individually as this collection is all three of those Advent Christmas EPs combined.

The music itself is a fresh difference from the usual Christian Christmas music, while maintaining the integrity of the original tunes/melodies. The lead singer stays within his range and is able to cater each song to his vocal strengths.

Worth it for the Christmas season.


title: Strong Cuts

text: From the first song to the last, I can't stop listening to this album.  I picked it up for about $2 and I went back and got the other two volumes as well.  All 3 are strong, but I like this one the best.


title: Cute

text: Albums came in great condition I pulled joon and a group 💜 shipping was also super fast


title: Ilse Delange- Incredible!

text: Ilse has a wonderful voice! Love the songs on this CD. Great country/ pop Dutch singer. Would recommend this artist!


title: Disappointing

text: Disappointing! Lovely music but each segment is too short.


title: nice music

text: love love


title: Five Stars

text: love love this music


title: Nasty is Tasty

text: I know Rickey personally - he is a consummate musician....and a VERY entertaining singer....this CD is packed both with humor and sad personal reflections (that IS the Blues!) and I STILL haven't taken it out of my Jeep's CD player!


title: LOVE THIS RECORD!!

text: GREAT MUSIC, THE SOUND IS CRISP, SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE RIGHT THERE, I RECOMMEND TO ANYONE WHO IS A MAURICE CHEVALIER FAN.