Black Whales - Through the Prism Gently - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Thomas' crisp and logical solos, technical alacrity and witty compositions have been a dependable pleasure - Paul de Barros, Seattle Times. Coming from a rich career as a jazz vibraphonist and composer, Ben Thomas found himself enthralled by the sounds and history of tango music, first as a dancer and then as an avid student of the bandoneon. Through his fifteen-year journey, Thomas took trips to Buenos Aires to hear & study with the masters, eventually finding his own voice in the music and performing widely. With InchEternal Aporia,Inch Thomas presents the debut recording of his Tango trio with clarinetist Eric Likkel and bassist Steve Schermer, exploring tango through it's encounters with new times and new influences. Following the lead of some of the leaders of the current scene in Buenos Aires, such as Diego Schissi and Exequiel Mantega, Thomas builds his intricate pieces combining rhythmic intensity with rich harmonies, whimsy, and an emphasis on story telling. InchBen is a great composer, and an energetic performer who knows how deep music can go.Inch - Jovino Santos Neto

Rihm / Gerhards / Tukiainen - Ophelia Sings [COMPACT DISCS] date 06/30/2015

Pál Hermann, born in Budapest in 1902, was not only one of the leading cellists of his generation he was also an important composer, one of the major figures in Hungarian music in the generation after his teachers Bartók and Kodály. But since only two of his works were published before his early death, in 1944, at the hands of the Nazis, and many more of them were lost, he has not had the esteem that he deserves. This series will present all his surviving compositions, most of them in first recordings. The major work on this first album, Hermann's Cello Concerto of 1925 in a reconstruction by the Italian composer Fabio Conti (b. 1967), sits somewhere between Bartók and Korngold and bids fair to become a staple of the cello repertoire.