Hope Street [Live]

But it was okay. It was more than okay, it was GOOD. I mean, SLF are a more smoothed out band now, with acoustic guitars and the occasional brass section, but the songwriting is still there along with some punch and gusto, and on Hope Street it is better than anything since Now Then. Gladly, we can all rejoice that SLF has finally cured whatever malady plagued them in the late 80's/early 90's. Mind you, this is not a classic like Nobody's Heroes, but for where SLF are today, it is eminently likeable and belongs in the average Fingers fan's collection. And getting the live disc is like a bonus.

Big Disappointment.......2000-04-06

I had read a few positive things about this disc and being an SLF fan for many years, I was upbeat about the prospect of new, decent SLF music. However, I was not terribly impressed with it. It did come closer than other recent attempts by the band, but was lacking something. Perhaps the band should move in a new direction, if for no other reason than to give poor Jake's voice a rest.

Best CD Jake & Co. have done in years.......1999-05-26

Jake Burns has once again emerged as a force in the English music scene. Hope Street is by far the best disc SLF has put out in many years (too many). The live disc was a bit of a let down for me, but then I have all of their other live recordings, and this disc didn't have their flow.

Average customer rating:

A Marvel

Hope Street MN
Tony Hymas
Manufacturer: Nocturne
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000I2IW4G
Release Date: 2007-02-20

Tracks:

In A Sense
Allamambasalsalala
Point To Point
9 Regrets
Petit Chant D'Espoir
Anything You Can Do
Condition Of The Heart
Quanah Parker
Just Calling For You
So... Turns The Worm
Cousin Wendy

Customer Reviews:

A Marvel.......2007-02-23

Tony Hymas, longtime collaborator with guitar hero Jeff Beck, has another side to him that most music fans seem to know little about. Co-founder with neglected jazz great and British sax genius Tony Coe of that wacky outfit, The Lonely Bears, purveyor of several discs investigating Native American musics, collaborator with Sam Rivers on two memorable sessions (8 Day Journal and Winter Garden), and acoustic piano jazz maven of huge presence, it is in that latter mode that he here trots out his prodigal chops and unique musical vision.

First, a note about Nato, the label this disc first appeared on in 2002, and the version that I'm reviewing from. (Apparently, distribution of Nato has been taken over by Nocturne, an outfit I'm unfamiliar with.) One of those mysterioso French labels (like, e.g., Celp or Evidence), Nato was the home of not only the Lonely Bears, but several other Tony Hymas discs featuring Tony Coe, among the best being Les Sources Bleues (sadly, not available on Amazon) and Oyate, as well as the two aforementioned Tony Hymas/Sam Rivers collaborations. Some of these discs (this one among them) included the altogether remarkable artwork of Moebius with their fantastical landscapes, fevered visions, and unlikely creatures. It would be entirely wonderful if the full, quirky, Nato catalog were available on Amazon, but, alas, that would only happen in the best of worlds. Nevertheless, let us rejoice that at least some of it--including this remarkable disc--can be obtained here.

Hymas has recruited players every bit his peers, though ones not familiar to me: Billy Peterson on bass and Eric Kamau Gravatt on drums. Together, they create jazz trio music of startling range and accomplishment, easily moving from thrumming immediacy ("Quanah Parker," reprised from Oyate) to extreme delicacy ("9 Regrets," "Cousin Wendy"), to wooly world-jazz ("Allamambasalsalala"), to way-hip post-bop ("Point to Point), to lush pop-romanticism ("Just Calling for You") to edgy punkish jazz ("So . . . Turns the Worm").

All but two compositions are Hymas's: Irving Berlin's "Anything You Can Do," given an appropriately playful reading, and Prince's "Condition of the Heart," rendered in appositely bombastic/tender sentiments.

Looking for smart, out-of-the-mainstream but totally tuned in jazz piano trio? Look no farther than this spectacular disc by neglected Brit Tony Hymas. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Average customer rating:

The Best of Broadway

Manufacturer: Compendia
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Compilations | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Broadway & Vocalists | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000000BM8
Release Date: 1997-08-26

Tracks:

The Phantom Of The Opera
Evita
The Sound Of Music
Annie
Fiddler On The Roof

Tracks:

Les Miserables
Cats
West Side Story
A Chorus Line
Oklahoma!

Symphony 8 / Land of Hope & Glory / Street Corner

Average customer rating:

The "new" best VW Symphony 8

Symphony 8 / Land of Hope & Glory / Street Corner
Vaughan Williams , Elgar , Rawsthorne , and Barbirolli
Manufacturer: BBC Legends
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000068QW8
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Tracks:

The British National Anthem
Street Corner Overture
I. Fantasia (Variazioni Senza Tema): Moderato - Presto - Andante Sostenuto - Allegretto - Andante Non Troppo - Allegro Vivace - Andante Sostenuto - Largamente - Tempo Primo Ma Tranquillo
II. Scherzo Alla Marcia (Per Stromenti A Fiato): Allegro Alla Marcia - Andante - Tempo Primo (Allegro)
III. Cavatina (Per Stromenti Ad Arco): Lento Espressivo
IV. Toccata: Moderato Maestoso
I. Tempo Molto Moderato - Allegro Moderato - Tempo Primo - Evelyn Rothwell
II. Lento Espressivo - Evelyn Rothwell
III. Allegro Giocoso - Piu Lento - Vivace - Evelyn Rothwell
On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring
Allegro Reale - Trio
Land Of Hope And Glory - Kathleen Ferrier

Customer Reviews:

The "new" best VW Symphony 8.......2003-01-03

In a review of Haitink's RVW Symphonies 8 and 9 on EMI, I said that they were the best, "for now." The 8th has been finally outclassed--by a performance from 1967!

That this recording is by Barbirolli should not be too much of a surprise, as he was in fact the symphony's dedicatee, and a favorite conductor of Vaughan Williams himself. There is a natural rapport between the two, which allows Barbirolli to go beneath the surface of the music, and find the deeper meanings not at first evident on the page.

The first movement of the symphony is stately in its grandeur, like other recordings, yet even at its triumphant climax, the music still feels somewhat restrained. This same sense of foreboding--which Vaughan Williams himself pointed out when asked about the symphony--lasts through the defiant Scherzo for brass instruments, and the heartwearming Cavatina for strings, until the very final moments of the concluding Toccata. Even here, Barbirolli manages to make the collection of "all the 'phones and 'spiels known to the composer" even more lively and prominent than does Haitink or his other rivals. However, compared to other recordings, the final bars of this performance hold one more surprising detail, which confirms that the symphony is in fact in a minor key and also supports the idea that there's something deeper than the "Turandot"-inspired tintinnabulation. All in all, a tour de force. [Listen to this recording, and the endings of all other performances will seem like a cop-out.]

There's much more to this disc than the Eighth Symphony, and happily most of it is on the same inspired level. The Rawsthorne and Bax works are new to me, but very welcome additions to my collection. I also enjoyed the Delius, and while Walton's "Crown Imperial" is fervently played, the orchestral ensemble is not quite what it could be. And, while I'm glad to have another recording of Kathleen Ferrier, the recording of "Land of Hope and Glory" does have a lot of background noise to filter out. Without the liner notes, one would have thought that "Land" was recorded in the mid-1930's, not the early 1950's. [All the other works were recorded between 1967 and 1969, and are in perfectly good sound.]

This disc is a must-have for Barbirolli enthusiasts, RVW fans, and anyone interested in hearing British music in a non-pastoral vein. . . .

With One Hope
Average customer rating:

Outstanding!

With One Hope
The Crossroads Worship Band
Manufacturer: Crossroads Church Of Denver
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0007A8T56
Release Date: 2001-01-01