Word: pianos
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...amalgam of early styles to which later volumes are entirely devoted. Wild Bill Moore, a Texas tenor sax player, kicks off side one with a 1947 recording of "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll," one of the earliest references to R&R; in it, boogie woogie piano, screaming sax and uproarious vocals meet an immovable backbeat, and rock & roll is born. Other noteworthy artists introduced in this set are sax legend and wild man Big Jay McNeely, pianist/writer extraordinaire Sam Price and the little known but immensely talented and important blues singer from the Fifties, Big Maybelle...
Also uplifting (to say the least) are four sides of Sam Price & the Rock Band (vol. 7): Backed by some of the most important players of the day--sax legend King Curtis and jazz guitarists Mickey Baker and Kenny Burrell, Price is a wonderfully versatile boogie woogie piano player and writer (he wrote or co-wrote all 25 tunes). This set, mostly from 1956-57, features Curtis at his absolute best; his stutters, yowls and screams on sax constitute the perfect Rock & Roll instrumental voice. When Sam Price and friends hit their boogie woogie stride on tracks like "Roll...
...befits the score for an upcoming film, One-Trick Pony has a consistent musical mood, sustained by a glossy studio sound which refines Fifties rock and r&b styles into a sophisticated whole. While Richard Tee's shimmering electric piano is overused and Tony Levin's bass lines are muddy at times, the overall sound mix is lovely, highlighting Simon's understated vocal manner to good effect. The basic tune-writing is strong--"Nobody" gently rocks to one of the prettiest melodies I've heard in ages. Simon put a lot of care into the composing, arranging and recording...
...laboring in a style inappropriate for her, because she proved herself capable of handling so many other musical genres that night. She ventured into European cabaret balladry with "Party lights" and "In the Winter," singing with a Continental touch of theatrics over her melodramatic piano work. "Silly Habits," a warm supper-club blues tune, was equally charming. Her encore, the bittersweet show business ode "Stars," presented her at her finest, revealing great songwriting craft while ringing true emotionally...
Early in the evening came the world premiere of David Del Tredici's Happy Voices. The composer may have intended a bravura show for the orchestra, but his garish, repetitive work was more like a Richard Strauss waltz heard in a nightmare. When Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No.1, with Rudolf Serkin as soloist, followed, the listener was prepared for old-fashioned piano busting. Instead, the instrument could scarcely be heard except in solo passages and in a lyrical dialogue between the cellos and the piano...