Bailey's Bundles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

BAILEY'S BUNDLES October 24, 2020

Lang Lang - Bach: Goldberg Variations

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 ...

BAILEY'S BUNDLES August 8, 2020

The Led Zeppelin Papers - Physical Graffiti, Deluxe Edition

By C. Michael Bailey

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 ...

BAILEY'S BUNDLES July 6, 2020

When Rivers Meet

By C. Michael Bailey

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 ...

BAILEY'S BUNDLES March 1, 2020

Five Artists: February 2020

By C. Michael Bailey

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, ...

BAILEY'S BUNDLES January 15, 2020

Five Artists: Notable and Nearly Missed

By C. Michael Bailey

Every year there is music that always gets away. Here are five notable releases that were nearly missed. Uwe Grodd / Gould Piano Trio Beethoven Grand Symphonies * 1, Arr. Hummel for Flute, Violin, Cello and Piano, Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 'Eroica' Naxos Classical 2019 Piano transcriptions and symphonic reductions were very common in the 17th Century, providing a way to disseminate music for performances in homes and parlors. These reductions ...

BAILEY'S BUNDLES November 16, 2019

Handel's Messiah 2019

By C. Michael Bailey

This is the best class of Messiah releases that I can recall in many years. All are imports and may take effort locating, but each of these has their own undeniable charm. Il caro Sassone rests easy. Hallelujah, indeed! Collegium 1704 & Collegium Vocale 1704, Vaclav Kuks Messiah Accent Records 2019 Crisp, brisk, and almost frantically presented, this Czech performance of Messiah stands as one with the greatest velocity on record, competing ...

BAILEY'S BUNDLES June 1, 2019

Ten Artists: June 2019

By C. Michael Bailey

Polly Gibbons All I Can Do Resonance Records 2019 Polly Gibbons's 2017 Resonance release, Is It Me...? was positively received by All About Jazz and other outlets when it appeared. That recording featured a crack trio augmented with soloists, establishing Gibbons as a sensitive yet muscular interpreter of the American Songbook and beyond. All I Can Do finds Gibbons in larger company and in front of a live audience. If Gibbons betrayed any shyness ...