The Whole Music Experience

Dino Saluzzi El Encuentro ECM I first discovered Argentine bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi when he released his ensemble’s recording, Juan Condori . I instantly fell in love with Saluzzi’s composition which married musical instincts with compassionate poetics. This poetry wasn’t conveyed in words, but in the universal language music, with musical conversations reflecting on jazz and Argentine indigenous sensibilities. And actual words can barely convey the fragile moments, the nuances, and the sudden sweeping gestures present in Saluzzi’s compositions. He’s a musician that clearly wears his heart on his sleeve. The next recording I heard and reviewed featured Saluzzi with German violoncellist Anja Lechner, Ojos Negros . The musical conversation sounded even more delicate and intimate, those haunting exchanges between the violoncello and the bandoneon, falling deeply into classical chamber music with a far-reaching effect. And now on Saluzzi’s live debut for ECM, El Encuentro ...

Tom Lellis & The Metropole Orchestra Skylark Advenure Music Jazz crooner Tom Lellis teams up with the 52-piece Metropole Orchestra of the Netherlands on Skylark -an album with a classic jazz sheen. Lellis offers a top-flight performance as his passionate vocals interpret Hoagy Carmichael's Skylark , Chick Corea's Straight Up And Down , Herbie Hancock's Tell Me A Bedtime Story , Tonhinho Horta's Mountain Flight and Antonio C. Jobim's Falando De Amor/Tema De Amor sung in sensual Portuguese. Lellis penned his own lyrics to the instrumental classics and included original material on three tracks. The orchestra does more then lend its beautiful tones, timbres and colors. The arrangements soar, swirl and shoot stars around Lellis. Just listen to the use of woodwinds and brass on Carmichael's forlorn Skylark . Together the vocalist and orchestral musicians create a romantic and passionate atmosphere that could easily find itself as a soundtrack for Go...