Federico Del Sordo - Fasolo: Masses & Hymns - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Stevenson / Guild - Ronald Stevenson Piano Music Vol. 2 [COMPACT DISCS] date 02/17/2017

Adolphous 'Doc' Cheatham was a legendary trumpet player who lived to be eleven days short of his ninety-second birthday, in 1997. However, in this special live performance he was still 'young' at 80 yrs. The year is 1985, and here he is paired, ironically with then 70 year old tenor saxophonist George Kelly, as well as then 18 year old alto saxophonist/clarinetist Joey Cavaseno, who was by then working with Illinois Jacquet. Backed by the great, sensitive pianist Richard Wyands, Ellington alumni bassist Victor Gaskin, and swinging veteran Ronnie Cole on drums, this group burns the house down from top to bottom, leaving the listener with that happy Harlem feeling that warms the soul and makes you stomp your feet.

Giovanni Paolo Cima (1570-1630) was an Italian composer, organist, and violinist active during the transition from the Renaissance to the early Baroque period. He served as the music director at the church of Santa Maria presso San Celso in Milan, where he played a significant role in shaping the musical life of the city. Cima was part of a generation of Northern Italian composers who began experimenting with the emerging stylistic innovations of the early 17th century, particularly in instrumental music.One of his most important contributions is the collection Ricercari e canzoni alle francese, published in 1606. This work stands out as one of the earliest Italian publications to feature works for solo instruments with continuo, marking a significant development in the evolution of the Baroque sonata. The collection includes a variety of instrumental forms, notably ricercari and canzoni, which demonstrate his ability to merge contrapuntal techniques with expressive melodic writing.The ricercari are reflective of the older Renaissance tradition, often built on imitative counterpoint and showcasing Cima's command of structure and thematic development. In contrast, the canzoni are livelier and more sectional, pointing toward the emerging concertato style. These pieces often feature contrasting rhythms and clear melodic phrasing, suggesting the influence of vocal models on instrumental writing.Cima's music reflects both conservatism and innovation. While rooted in Renaissance polyphony, his Ricercari e canzoni anticipate the more dramatic and expressive instrumental music that would dominate the Baroque era. His work helped lay the groundwork for later composers like Dario Castello and Biagio Marini, contributing to the broader shift toward idiomatic instrumental composition and the increasing independence of instrumental genres in early 17th-century Italy.Played by Fede