Adam Band Eckersley - Second Album - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Composed to mark the centenary of the genocide of 1915, the Armenian Requiem is a large-scale sacred work structured around the liturgical chants encountered in requiem services appended to the traditional Armenian Mass. It is written in a form that, uniquely for the music of the country, is not based wholly on the model of the Latin Mass. Instead, taking the precedent of Britten's War Requiem, Ian Krouse embeds poems as interludes, and his work- a poignant meditation on loss couched in a marriage of Western and Armenian forms- offers both conciliation and hope. American composer Ian Krouse has been lauded in the music press and is widely known for his pioneering efforts in the development of the guitar quartet. Over the past few years Krouse's vocal works have begun to receive more attention. In addition to hundreds of performances annually by guitarists and guitar quartets all around the world, Krouse's works have been performed or recorded by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Ukraine Radio and Television Orchestra, the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and the UCLA Philharmonic Orchestra.

The recordings on this Leadbelly CD were originally made for the Library of Congress in February/March 1935, under the supervision of John and Alan Lomax. The bulk of the session was recorded at Wilton, Connecticut in February 1935, an area with a strong anti-slavery sentiment, Wilton also served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. There is a wide selection of songs and genres of music in Leadbelly's seemingly endless repertoire, which places him as much of a InchsongsterInch as a bluesman. Ella Speed is a ballad about a New Orleans good-time girl. There are two versions of Frankie and Albert a ballad which would remain in Leadbelly's repertoire throughout his career. There are the religious songs Mary Don't You Weep and Way Over In The Promised Land, the prisoners song Midnight Special, which went on to be a hit for Lonnie Donegan. Highlights of blues numbers Leadbelly recorded in this session are Blind Lemon Blues which is a tribute to the fellow Texan blue musician Blind Lemon Jefferson, with whom he played on the streets of Dallas at the start of his career and Matchbox Blues a track that Blind Lemon recorded for both Paramount and Okeh Records in 1927 (found on Document Records DOCD-5018). A great many of these recordings were made in field settings on early, primitive portable disc-cutting equipment. This equipment along with various aluminium and acetate discs, though not of the highest quality in so far as sound is concerned, has served to preserve the many brilliant performances of Leadbelly. It is felt that Leadbelly never sounded as well anywhere else as he did when he was recording for the Library. He appears relaxed, strong, crisp and creative.

The famed Chicago father & son blues duo in an all-acoustic setting. Blues interplay bordering on telepathy as Carey & Lurrie dig deep into the most intimate recordings of their careers, full of raucous intensity, fire and elegance.