Bailey's Bundles

Notable and Nearly Missed 2020

by C. Michael Bailey
January 28, 2021

The strange year that was 2020 yielded, reluctantly, re-issued and previously unissued recordings from across the spectrum of music and ain't it fine to have such to consider. The value of such recordings lay in their function in pointing to the musical future we presently inhabit. They fill in the blank spaces between then and now. Art Pepper Atlanta: Unreleased Art Pepper Volume Eleven Widow's Taste 2020 Okay, Okay! The first release ...

Harry Allen: Tenor Saxophone In The Time of COVID

by C. Michael Bailey
January 16, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to any number of keen improvisations, each manifesting from the necessity of having to “quarantine in place." Tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, the “Frank Sinatra" of his instrument, thinks way outside the box--recording within the friendly confines of his own living room, while under health crisis house arrest. Good for you, Harry Allen. Thank you. Here are his impressive results. Harry Allen The Bloody Happy Song GAC Records 2020 ...

Bailey’s Bundle: Holiday Edition

by C. Michael Bailey
November 14, 2020

This edition of my Christma holiday release reviews began this January with two recordings that I missed. There are always worthy holiday recordings released every year and 2020 has been no exception. The Archaic Corner Gothic Voices Nowell synge we bothe al and som: A Feast of Christmas Music in Medieval England Linn Records 2019 In 1981, the vocal ensemble Gothic Voices released their debut recording A Feather on the Breath ...

Lang Lang - Bach: Goldberg Variations

by C. Michael Bailey
October 24, 2020

Chinese pianist Lang Lang went from being just one more fresh-faced and precocious teenaged phenomenon twenty years ago with his debut recording on Telarc, Lang Lang (2001), featuring the heady combination of Haydn, Rachmaninov, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky, to the leading Deutsche Grammophon firebrand releasing his first recording of a major, integrated, and complete composition, Bach's Goldberg Variations. This is not to say that Lang Lang has not previously made serious recordings, but those individual recordings lack an integrated thoroughness of ...

The Led Zeppelin Papers - Physical Graffiti, Deluxe Edition

by C. Michael Bailey
August 8, 2020

It may just be coincidence, but there seems to have existed a phenomenon in classic rock recording where prominent artists begin a creative evolution on a single LP release, chronologically following it up with a definitive artistic statement as a double album set, creating a sort of lopsided diptych of certain brilliance. Notable examples include: Bob Dylan--Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia, 1965) and Blonde on Blonde (Columbia, 1966) The Beatles --Magical Mystery Tour (Capitol, 1967) and The Beatles ...

When Rivers Meet

by C. Michael Bailey
July 6, 2020

The British blues and rock duo, When Rivers Meet, is made up of wife and husband Grace and Aaron Bond. The pair are trying to gain traction with the release of two extended-play recordings showing off their considerable musical wares. Similar in temperament to the Lovell sisters, Rebecca and Megan AKA Larkin Poe, When Rivers Meet looks to address the same audience with their brand of American Roots Music, rendered British style. When Rivers Meet The ...

Five Artists: February 2020

by C. Michael Bailey
March 1, 2020

Andrea Brachfeld Brazilian Whispers Origin Records 2020 The flute as the lead instrument in any jazz combo relies on an empathic and sensitive rhythm section that will not overpower the wind instrument's delicate voice (Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson notwithstanding). Flautist Andrea Brachfeld happens upon a dandy rhythm section in pianist Bill O'Connell, bassist Harvie S and drummers Jason Tiemann and T Portinho. That said, Brachfeld is more than able to kick out the jams, ...