TV Radio Mirror (Jan - Jun 1963)

ON THE RECORD Vocit Aforit/rfy y RECORD Guide* agreeable to both jazz purists and general listeners, Miles follows no one particular path. He is a player who is rarely heard taking a backward step, musically. Since 1948, when he led a nine-piece experimental group which made jazz history, Miles has been consistently developing toward his present high level of expression. (His small groups have been the breeding ground for such talents as Bill Evans, Philly Jo Jones, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane and Red Garland — truly an impressive list!) This present album is comprised of six gems, three of which were recorded in California, the others in New York. The California sides impressed this reviewer as better, in general; the pres JAZZ: MOOD ■j*r**Several Shades of Jade, Cal Tjader (Verve) — Cal Tjader is a musical musician grounded in making music as enjoyable to the listener as it is to the player. He has the happy faculty of imbuing things with dramatic values. This particular "Jade" album's a bit of the Orient dished up with plenty of jazz overtones and much color. Lalo Schifrin's exquisite arrangement of "Cherry Blossoms" brings to mind the delicate landscape of Japan, while his exciting composition "Borneo" conjures up a wild southward extension of the Orient. Heavily laden with jazz characteristics are Quincy Jones' "Hot Sake" and and a written romance which can run ninety pages, if it's an opera and the listener needs a libretto. The Victrola Series is the low-priced bargain line of re-issues. This, I hasten to add, does not mean that the recordings are old, but simply that they're catalogue items worthy of re-issue. (In honesty, I should make mention of the scratching sound which comes off these Victrola recordings. It's possible that, at the price they're getting, the best materials cannot be used. Mind you — it is not so bad as to stop a purchase!) The big item this month is a recording of Puccini's "Tosca." Being a Soria package, it comes complete with a libretto in Italian and English. The featured artists are Leontyne Price and mW&ss' TOSCA ;^:'*S'.:^::vg^! :':■ 22 ence of pianist Victor Feldman and drummer Frank Butler had much to do with this evaluation. Strangely, they are all ballads. But then, no jazz-player plays a ballad quite like Miles. Another thing which is odd is the fact that two of these ballads, "Basin Street" and "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home," have darn-near Dixieland harmonic schemes. Well, rest assured, Miles is not playing Dixieland. Rather, he injects them with his Davisisms and makes them appear as sophisticated as can be. It's Miles's show. He is paced beautifully by Feldman's flying fingers — but it is Miles who sets up the ripe conditions for Victor to say his piece so effectively. For jazz fans, the album is a must. Miles still wears the crown. Horace Silvers' "Tokyo Blues." Much credit goes to Schifrin's fine arranging and the band's color-filled performances. Outstanding players — like bassist George DuVivier, drummer Ed Shaughnessy and Tjader himself — make this a better package than many recently released. I would look into it, whether you be a jazz buff or not. It's good! CLASSICAL ***RCA Victor has released a rather large group of recordings this month, so I thought I would lump them all together into one review and touch on each rather briefly. I have received their records from both sides of the "economic" fence. The Soria Series is a higher-priced product, complete with a lasting jacket Giuseppe Di Stefano, and the orchestra — the Vienna Philharmonic — is under the expert hand of Herbert Von Karajan. As a performance of music, it is first-rate. As a dramatic-musical venture, it is a bit under that. The reasons are usual ones. Opera singers have a tendency to be too vocally-conscious and sometimes forget what they're saying, to concentrate on bel canto. The trouble (as with Miss Price in this work) is that overheld notes give the sections which should "flow" a deliberate quality — which, in turn, stilts the drama inherent in the music. Von Karajan also is guilty of treating the opus as though it were written for the concert hall. He has, unquestionably, brought light to some portions of the work. The orchestra plays as well as any other — but, again,