New and Notable CD/DVD Acquisitions
Aug.-Oct. 2005

Cornell Composers

We now have Concierto Barroco (CD 13790), a CD project by guitarist Manuel Barrueco that includes Prof. Sierra’s Concierto Barroco and Folias for guitar and orchestra, with an arrangement of Arvo Pärt’s Fratres (the version for violin, strings and percussion with the violin part arranged for guitar). Barrueco is a terrific guitarist, sympathetically recorded, and the accompaniment from the Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia conducted by Victor Pablo Perez is top-notch.

Jazz

There have been a number of interesting reissues and new albums, especially from the New York downtown scene. The first category includes the mammoth collection “Frank Sinatra, The Capitol Years” (CD 13772) (remasters of recordings released between 1953 and 1962), “Conquistador” by Cecil Taylor (CD 13776), and “Song X” by Pat Metheny and Ornette Coleman (CD 13774). The remasters of “Conquistador” and “Song X” include extensive material not included on previous releases, and the sound quality is excellent.

New materials include Phillip Johnston’s “Rub Me the Wrong Way” (CD 13773), Herb Robertson’s “Certified” (CD 13777), and Keith Jarrett’s “Radiance,” an all-live improvisation album (CD 13775). Also, all the way from Rochester, we have the national debut release “Shifting Times” by Paradigm Shift (CD 13800).

Early music

We remain committed to developing our collection of early music/historical performance CDs. Recent acquisitions include “Shades of Red,” concertos and trio sonatas featuring recorder performed by Matthias Maute and Rebel (CD 13768), “Musica nuptialis” by the rather obscure 16 th century Danish composer Bartholomaeus Stockmann (CD 13766), and the groundbreaking recording of Conradi’s “Ariadne” from the Boston Early Music Festival, directed by Paul O’Dette and Steven Stubbs (CD 13770). Gluck’s “Paride ed Elena,” performed by the Gabrieli Consort directed by Paul McCreesh (CD 13769), rounds out our recent early opera acquisitions.

Popular/world music

New instructional needs from faculty and graduate students have been driving a new development, building our popular and blues collections. While we have a strong blues collection, the bulk of it remains on LP, and we’re trying to develop a stronger core collection of blues CDs and DVDs. Recent purchases include “Muddy Waters in concert 1971” (DVD 171) and the 3 disc set “The American Folk Blues Festival, 1962-1966,” (DVD 177), which features T-Bone Walker, Brownie McGhee, Sippie Wallace, and many others. Other blues performance DVDs include “Legends of the Delta Blues,” (DVD 178) with performances by Son House, Bukka White, and others, and Eric Clapton’s “Sessions for Robert J.,” (DVD 170). We have also buttressed our collection of English blues revival music, with CDs by Clapton (CD 13655, among others), the Yardbirds (CD 13722), John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (CD 13719, CD 13720, CD 13721), and other artists. Thanks to Lenore Coral’s thoroughness, we already had the complete Cream CD set (CD 6127 box). (Many thanks to Francesca Brittan for either suggesting or otherwise prompting most of these blues-related purchases.)

We are expanding our core collection of reggae music, using the substantial Trojan reissues as a starting point. “Dub Massive chapters 1-2” includes familiar names (The Upsetters, the Crystalites, Ras Michel and the Sons of Negus) along with many lesser-known artists. The four-CD “This is reggae music: The golden era, 1960-1975” (CD 13321) covers Jamaican music from mento and ska through rock steady to the “roots reggae” era of the early seventies. Performers include Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Toots & the Maytals, the Ethiopians, and many others. In addition to the carefully selected music, “This is Reggae Music” features forty-six pages of very informative and readable program notes.

Recent “world music” acquisitions include “Red & Green,” a CD reissue of two long-unavailable mid-eighties LPs by Malian singer-guitarist Ali Farka Toure (CD 13789). Toure blended American blues and R & B with African rhythms and lyrics reflecting Malian social concerns.

A personal favorite from the latest batch of music from Brazil is “Tete à tete Margareth,” a live set by Margareth Menezes (CD 13801). Menezes combines a low, evocative voice with thundering Afro-Caribbean percussion and an incredibly tight band, leading an enthusiastic audience through her recent Carnival hit “Dandalunda” and many other numbers. Standouts include “Do ceu do mar e do campo” and a powerful, sensitive Portuguese/English cover of Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” (hardly a song calling for more covers, but this one is well worth a listen).

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Updated: 10 March 2004