Josh Rager - Kananaskis - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

68 tracks from the Kraft Music Hall broadcasts from 1936 to 1946 sung by host Bing Crosby, many appearing on CD for the first time. Most of these songs were never commercially recorded by him.

Marc Riordan and Jon Leland make music together as Ragger. The two began collaborating in 2017 after being invited by Cameron Stallones to form the current trio lineup of his long-running experimental project Sun Araw. They approach Ragger with a very specific scope of material in mind the ragtime compositions of Scott Joplin and his contemporaries, presented in synthetic tones for synthesizers and electronic V drums. Hausu Mountain proudly introduces Ragger to the world with their first album, Euphonic Sounds. Riordan and Leland play precise and complicated music with tumbling melodies flecked with ornamented details that spiral over busy percussion patterns - but they present the keyboard and drums in bright electronic voices that wouldn't be out of place in a Super Nintendo game soundtrack. Marc Riordan's synths shimmer with detail in the upper register tones and bump with heavy-hitting bass, as the low, mid, and high voices interact in a state of tight counterpoint that highlights the complexity of ragtime as it was originally composed. His attention to detail in synth voice selection and programming positions Ragger as a funhouse mirror reflection of tone-obsessed stalwarts of the experimental underground like Emeralds or Oneohtrix Point Never - not to mention the duo's participation in Sun Araw as that project continues to dig deeper into synthesis with each new album. With his cascading electronic tom-tom fills and flurries of synthetic woodblocks clicking beneath FM synth cymbal crashes, Jon Leland's drum performances bring to mind a giant steam-powered calliope instrument with it's pistons pumping as innumerable mallets strike row after row of miniature drum heads. This style makes the drums feel like just as much of a lead instrument as Riordan's synths, as both instrumentalists lock into a tight symbiosis as they work through the winding architectures of t

On his seventh for Posi-Tone, trumpeter Josh Lawrence delivers a thrilling, heartfelt exploration of works by Thelonious Monk and Frédéric Chopin. Still We Dream combines fiery post-bop drive with classical elegance, resulting in a suite of reimagined pieces that move seamlessly between jazz tradition and forward-thinking improvisation. With an all-star ensemble including Diego Rivera (tenor sax), Art Hirahara (piano), Boris Kozlov (bass), and Rudy Royston (drums), Lawrence strikes a compelling balance between intellectual depth and emotional resonance. A standout that bridges eras and genres with imagination and soul.