Trans-Kalahari Quintet - At Last Mo Lapeng - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Trans-Kalahari Quintet's THE LONG JOURNEY HOME, the latest from Ansonica Records, is a cross-continental exploration of jazz, funk, and South African cultural traditions. Saxophonist and composer Matthew Dacso met his bandmates while serving in Botswana as a doctor. Now, he proudly presents this unique musical fusion to audiences around the world. The album begins with Pulse of the Kalahari, a jubilant performance featuring a saxophone duet (with Dacso on the tenor sax), supported by a rhythm section. Dacso's thesis for this album is that music is our common human language, and this piece tells listeners of all backgrounds the same thing get up and dance! Next comes Wander, which kicks off with a vamping electric piano before launching into a jazzy saxophone head. All the while, drummer Arthur InchMakhwengweInch Mengwe is cooking up a sophisticated syncopated beat. Later in the album we hear Tune for Miriam, which starts out with an electric bass line before settling comfortably into a laid back funk groove. Sunday Breeze is a swinging jazz tune in which Dacso and his band take turns showing off their effortlessly-cool improv chops. The album closes with Otse Jive, an elated number that transports listeners to an outdoor festival on a sunny Botswana Sunday afternoon. Regardless of where in the world you call Inchhome,Inch THE LONG JOURNEY HOME offers the unrivaled contentment of arriving there. TQK's colorful and electric compositions, paired with skillful and unrestrained performances from his band, transcend borders to share the beauty of Botswana with the whole human family.

Missa Charles Darwin, was written for Grammy-nominated New York Polyphony and is structured on the standard liturgical Mass. Brown painstakingly translated DNA sequences and markers into musical phrases set to texts by Charles Darwin. In doing so, Brown simultaneously commemorates the scientist's genius while interrogating the relationship between faith and reason. All of Gregory's proceeds from this are being donated to musical education charities including Chorus America, American Choral Directors Association, and the International Society for Music Education.

?Mélanie Bonis (1858-1937), a fine pianist herself, composed some 150 works for solo piano, publishing them with her first name shortened to 'Mel' to disguise the fact that she was a woman - while she lived among the French haute bourgeoisie as Mme Domange. They sometimes show the influence of Chabrier, and have points of contact with the music of Chausson, Debussy and Pierné, who had been fellow students at the Paris Conservatoire. But they also reveal an individual approach to rhythm, harmony and tone-colour - and it's clear that her conventional exterior hid a lively sense of fun, her many miniatures for children perhaps influenced by her own experience as a mother