"Ballets & Solo's"

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This months cover, version #3.
Photo by K.K.W, taken @
Central Park 2010.
fujifilm 400

"Ballets & Solo's": Music by Dan Cooper, Pat Hardish, Otto Luening, Joseph Pehrson & Gene Pritsker. Performed by the International Street Cannibals Ensemble. By K.K.W 

Many years ago as a young boy I heard the phrase "Music soothes the soul of the savage beast". No amount of school or learning really prepares you for the day you fully understand this. The 7 track album "Ballets & Solo's"-released on 'Composers Concordance records'- certainly belongs in that category of music. Deeply wonderful, kooky at just the right times, hauntingly playful, and seriously moving. The album is a combination of music that strikes a cord within, causing reverberations that trigger strange emotional responses. It takes you on an amazing journey, passing through worlds that exist in sound. And if those worlds had a look it would be Tim Burton meets Wes Anderson, meets Miles Davis. Amazingly cool as "Bitches Brew"(Miles Davis). The notes, the melodies, the kooky cool change-ups(syncopation) and sometimes somber sounds. "Ballets & Solo's" is an elegant mixture of eclectic musical minds out of which flows, sound-waves that can't be contained, but must be explored. Its the strange sounds that drift in, seemingly out of nowhere-"A challenge to the dark"- that just briefly, make the track something else. Theirs is a sound and way of creating music based on classical(elements of the past)and neo-post contemporary music(the present steadily embracing the future). Its the notes behind the notes just waiting to come out, the unexpected. Jazz? Like a slow moving body of water that suddenly changes course-"Dance sonata", "Fantasia and dance"-without breaking the flow. "Ballets & Solo's" is an excellent grouping of music, from a group seriously talented musicians and composers.      

Composers concordance records directors are: Joseph Pehrson, Gene Pritsker & Dan Cooper. Associate directors: Luis Andrei Cobo, Patrick Grant & Astrid Steiner. "Composers Concordance Records main goal is to release recordings of 20th and 21st century composers/performers presented in an exciting format and recorded with an aesthetic of clarity and studio precision. We want to present contemporary music in a thematically focused context on each release, combining works of music that create a whole album and complement each other. CCR is developing new concepts of what a CD can be, combining new music, new instrumentation, experimentation, and cross-gene transcendence". Our goal is simple: 'good music recorded well, pushing the boundaries of sound and composition'. The international Street Cannibals Ensemble is : Lynn Bechtold-Violin, Linda Wetherill-Flute, Franz Hackl-Trumpet, Leo Grinhauz-Cello, Michiyo Suzuki-Bass, Clarinet, Gene Pritsker-Acoustic guitar, Margaret Lancaster-Flute, Dan Barrett-conductor. Soloists: Greg Baker-classical guitar, Lynn Bechtold-Violin, Peter Jarvis-Drum set, Taka Kigawa-Piano.

If you would like know more or inquire about purchasing "Ballets & Solo's",  go to:

www.composersconcordance.com/  "Art is the reason, art is the way"