CD-Charts Position 51
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Twelve Moons

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber, Manu Katche

Release Date November 04, 1993
This CD is stunning, track three blows me away. I can't express how amazing it makes me feel, buy it and listen to all of the songs. Put track three on repeat!

CD-Charts Position 52
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Strange Celestial Road

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Sun Ra

Release Date October 17, 1995
I have come to Sun Ra music fairly recently. This is a great album. I agree with the other 2 reviewers. To describe what it sounds like? Well try combining Herbie Hancock's Crossings with Zappa and The Mothers' Burnt Weeny Sandwich and you are in the same universe. Just.

CD-Charts Position 53
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Vignettes

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Marilyn Crispell

Release Date April 28, 2008
It is very difficult trying to communicate with you, not knowing who you are and not having any technical knowledge of music to describe what I hear. This is definitely a five star recording, free solo piano- to try to offer a meaningful comparison if you have no idea what to expect, think of Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert the first time you heard it. Now I'm guessing that was a few years back and the disc is a bit familiar now. Crispell will sound new, and will probably sound 'new' for a while longer, there is something deeper, more complex here though I'm lost to name it and I found it more easy to recognise, if not to understand, than Amaryliss or Storyteller (MC's recent CDs) - and my less Free-Jazz-Tolerant partner certainly did. If there were justice in the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 54
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Road to Saint Ives

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: John Surman

Release Date November 05, 1990
This covers everything, minimal music (more soul than Glass or Reich), free improvisation, folk, jazz, mixing colourscapes. Wonderful sounds from the worlds greatest exponent of the baritone sax.A brilliant album.

CD-Charts Position 55
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Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Die Tote Stadt

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
from: RCA

Release Date July 02, 1991
This covers everything, minimal music (more soul than Glass or Reich), free improvisation, folk, jazz, mixing colourscapes. Wonderful sounds from the worlds greatest exponent of the baritone sax.A brilliant album.

CD-Charts Position 56
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Paris Concert

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Keith Jarrett

Release Date November 26, 1990
This solo Piano album really grows on you. My intial reaction to hearing it was, well this is nice but it certainly isn't Jazz. However after a few listens I began to appreciate the beauty in his 'Classical' improvisations. And for those who don't know, all of Keith Jarretts solo non-classical Piano concerts are improvised from scratch on the spot. This does occasionally lead to some moments where you can literally hear him hold down a vamp whilst he awaits inspiration. But remember rhythm alone can be music. On this CD the level of inspiration is kept high all the time.

The second and third track were probably originally encores and both are memorable for different reasons. 'The Wind' is a lovely tune which Jarrett plays beautifully, demonstrating his ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 57
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Record of Singing, Vol.3

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
from: Testament

Release Date February 09, 2003
This series, produced by EMI in the days of LPs, is one of the great achievements of the gramophone - they rightfully belong up there with the Decca Ring, the EMI Callas series, and any other candidates you care to name. Together they provide a truly comprehensive survey of singing right through the age of recording up to the early days of the LP. Sadly, to the best of my knowledge, only Volumes 3 & 4 have appeared on CD - the very earliest era of recording and the period up to the introduction of electrical recording methods that were originally on Volumes 1 and 2 really deserve to be heard again.

Volume 3, the collection under discussion here, covers the period from 1926-1939. This was a veritable Golden Age of Singing - in Wagner it was the era ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 58
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Mingus Dynasty

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Charles Mingus

Release Date February 08, 1999

It is hard for me to grade the albums of the great Charles Mingus - so many of them are perfect or near perfection and this is a fine example, indeed!
I don't find it in any way lesser achievement than "Mingus Ah Um", and the only fault I can find in this collection of newly polished and restored gems is the additional number "Strollin'" (vocals in Mingus' work are often...Ah...Um...Sloppy).

I lack the words to describe the genius of this true Ellington of modern jazz and it is very hard to me to pick favorite songs - beautiful "Diane" or "Far Wells, Mills Valley", glorious "Gunslinging Bird" or brilliant versions of Ellington's numbers ("Mood Indigo", "Things Ain't what they used to be"...)...

Perfect!

p.s.
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CD-Charts Position 59
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Sacred Hymns of G.I. Gurdjieff

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Keith Jarrett

Release Date July 01, 1988
I agree with M.J. Perry's review (3 July 2007) that this is a contemplative journey. This is indeed spare, meditative music from Keith. I know little about Gurdjieff and less about his music, but on the basis of this, I would love to know more about his philosophy; anyone who can write music this beautiful has to be batting for the right side. And Keith does him proud in this wonderful, seemingly little-known recording, which I think is Jarrett's last studio solo piano alubum until The Medoly at Night with You, unless I'm much mistaken; it would be instructive to listen to both of these albums together, as I think they have some sort of kinship. Highly recommended for those looking for tranquility and beauty.

CD-Charts Position 60
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The Vienna Concert: Recorded at the Vienna State Opera

CD-Charts > Music > Avant-garde
by: Keith Jarrett

Release Date September 28, 1992
I am not musically trained and so I can't offer a technical appraisal of Keith Jarrett's solo work, but I have found his music to be life changing. This is partly because I was unaware that sounds like this could emanate from a piano. As beautiful and uplifting as I have found parts of the Paris and Koln Concerts to be, the Vienna Concert in particular is a meditation that can stir the soul. The opening 10-15 minutes of the first piece are transcendentally exquisite, and in a strange way, even humbling. I think this is because experiencing the music is like being taken to a hidden and very special place inside oneself or else being allowed to share the "sacred vision" of the musician. The latter part of the first piece is dark and stormy. After the warmth and glow of the ... Read More: