Tom Hazleton - Christmas Bells of San Sylmar - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

For this recording Organist Matthew Owens presents a diverse recital of some of the greatest Christmas music ever written for the instrument. Traditional tunes, whether Lutheran chorales, plainchant, French noëls, or medieval carols, have provided the inspiration for much Christmas organ music throughout the years, with much of this program made up of pieces based on such tunes, from J.S. Bach's Canonic variations on Vom Himmel hoch to Louis-Claude Daquin's Noël Suisse. This recital also draws on more contemporary sources and presents several world premiere recordings including Howard Skempton's Christmas Bells and Gary Davison's Seven Versets on Divinum Mysterium, both of which were written specially for this recording.

Tom Hazleton - Elegant Pipes of San Sylmar [COMPACT DISCS] date 03/02/1999

The 6th album in a series of 7, the Robohands project moves into more risk taking live and spontaneous direction with Oranj, and sonically it sits as the most raw and defiant sounding record so far. Oranj is a 14 track LP, recorded in 2025 between Chicago's Rax Trax studios and Dock Street Studios in London, Andy Baxter taking on drums, keys, bass guitar with long time collaborator Francesca Uberti joining on Rhodes piano for four tracks. Featuring mix engineering from Hackney Recording Studio's Sean Woodlock and by Lilac Lab's Shawn Clendening in Chicago. Partly an ode to the inventors of analog recording equipment and electric instruments in the middle of the 21st Century, Oranj features valve driven outboard sounds, thudding 1960's Fender Jazz bass, Fender Twin Reverb guitar amps and a real vintage Hammond organ with rotating Leslie speaker cabinet. In total the record features equipment from the 1950s through to the current year, but with an emphasis on sounds found on classic jazz fusion records from the 1960s/1970s, and film soundtracks from the late 1970s and 80s.