Ed Bentley - Magic Night - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Ghanaian-born, Hammond organ player / musician/ composer Ed Bentley arrived in The United Kingdom in 1971. He swiftly won the respect of musicians across Europe and has been gigging and recording ever since. Best known for his Blue Note Quartet, he has played numerous venues in the UK, including Ronnie Scotts, the Jazz Café, 100 Club and the Royal Festival Hall and is a seasoned traveller on the European jazz circuit. He has also recorded various albums on the Prestige-Elite tag. Noted principally for his work on piano and organ, Bentley also plays bass and guitar. His best-known recording is perhaps 'Never Again', featuring George Williams (Tymes) which graced the UK singles charts for 18 weeks in 1985. He has also worked with Deniece Williams, Irene Reed (Count Basie Band), Bobby Watson, Jim Mullen, Dale Barlow and Harry Beckett. Ed is regarded as the new Jimmy Smith in many ways for some years now. Ed has also recorded a live album with Lol Williams Tobacco Dock Blues Busters Prestige-Elite CDSGP1559. As the title 'Funk Bop' suggests, this CD is a move away from Ed's last swing album towards a more Afro funk beat. He draws on his Ghanaian roots but combines these influences with a healthy respect for jazz. Ed is one of the most talented keyboard players currently out there.

Robin de Raaff completed Atlantis in the summer of 2016. The work is one that predominantly seems to progress from light to dark, with voice and instruments frequently melding into an overall sonority. That said, where the text is of major significance, de Raaff uses the voice as a lyrical element to let it soar above the orchestral timbres. To a large extent, Atlantis is based on InchAtlantisInch, the final poem in Hart Crane's collection Bridges. Boulez, the last surviving giant of post-War modernism, passed away while de Raaff was working on Atlantis. InchBoulez was the great proponent of modernism. The island that modernism actually was simply disappeared when he died. This is why I felt a homage would be appropriate.Inch As de Raaff has the tonal focus descend more or less chromatically for each stanza, a feeling arises of a sinking movement. He also makes the feeling of sinking away below the mirror surface of the ocean musically understandable by using ever darker sounding instruments. The oratorio Atlantis is not just an argument for the use of contemporary vocal skills as an element of the entire history of music, but also and primarily a warning about stewardship of water and the future of our planet.

Leopold Godowsky was one of the greatest piano virtuosos of his time, many of whose compositions for the piano have long since taken their place in the repertoire. However, his violin music is almost unknown. Avowal is a charming transcription of his piano work Poem No. 2. The Twelve Impressions were dedicated to Fritz Kreisler and his wife, and are largely derived from Godowsky's original piano pieces but refashioned to allow for Kreisler's fingerings and bowing.