SCGS Artists In Review - Page 2

Michael Cedric Smith – Celebrations

By the Cover

Kudos to MCS for producing the most sensible -- English-only, comprende? -- cover and liner notes I have encountered in three years of reviewing classical guitar, which is not to suggest it’s the ideal.
Page 1- Tremendous cover pic, the artist, impeccably, formally attired, showing enough of the instrument to let you know he’s a musician and smiling -- SMILING? Yes, smiling - into the eye of the camera,
Page 2 – List of the musical selections played. Not the numbered, with playing times presentation on the back of the case; just a list against a diffused, close-up picture of fingers at play on a guitar. This works because you can take the liner notes with you and read page 3 as you follow the tracks while the CD plays. Nice idea. I have seen it nowhere else. I should see it elsewhere. Why? Because it’s reassuringly evident in this approach that MCS is comfortable as a performing artist. That makes me comfortable as a listener before the music starts to play.
Page 3 - A simple third-person review of the artist’s academic and professional credentials, not attributed to an author but probably written by the artist himself. That’s followed by a few sentences, attributed to Smith, explaining first person, why he selected the music for this recording. There’s nothing cerebral here. It made sense to me and I didn’t have to read it three times. AND credits for production, guitar, photography, etc.
Page 4 – The clincher: NOW comes all the fine print, probably about eight point size with all the technical details you wanted to know but were afraid to read? No. A half-page informal portrait of MCS in black turtleneck and gray slacks holding the guitar by the neck and courting the camera’s eye. The other half is blank, white, and that’s where the autographs go, as his did on the CD I requested for review. THAT is a master stroke of intelligent, simple design!
    The back cover is as described earlier with a slightly smaller reprise of the page 4 picture and list, with times and necessary errata. In acclaiming the presentation of the "package" I don’t intend to disparage the excellent and far more informative presentations of the nitty and the gritty details which most serious enthusiasts, myself included, enjoy reading. But this is a standout presentation, you deserve to know about it, and heaven help the sonofagun if the contents don’t match the high expectations generated by this unique preamble. (They do.)

By the Music

1 – 2 Smith suggests the arrangement is a prelude to the "monumental Bach Suite..." The opening track sure delivers a "Celebration" sound with a contemplative interlude sandwiched in the middle. It establishes MCS’s ability to play individual notes accurately and fast. Etude I shows a different technique, what I call a "high strum" also very well and passionately played.

3 – 4 Nice guitar! There is a depth to the sound of the instrument not so light and "trebelly" as some recordings, replete with sounds of the left hand dashing up and down the neck. The "noise" as some reviewers, not including me, call it is in the mood of pianist Glenn Gould playing Mozart and distressing on modern wood furniture. It adds dimension and does not intrude on this recording. Evident in the celebratory Vals is the practiced simpatico with the instrument revealed in accelerating crescendos. The man is not just playing the notes on the page. Same true with the vibratos in the more meditative Barcarola. Both ear candy.

5 – 7 The Torroba Sonatina hits the target and luxuriates in it. I’m curious how a sonatina lasts longer (playing time) than the sonata which follows it.

8 – 9 The shorter de Murcia Sonata, arranged by MCS sounds more technically challenging than its predecessor, and the artist shows a harsher, bronzier sound in a lot of it. The final Allegro is electrifying; makes me think I could go knock down a telephone pole with a hefty swing of my right hand -- This is celebration!. . . though the concluding notes are more restrained than I would have predicted.

11 – 16 If the prelude doesn’t make you grin from ear to ear, it may be because you have expired and nobody has had the heart to tell you. The grounded sound (down-to-earth; no apparent theatric flourishing going on here) inspires this reviewer to learn more of the classical lexicon. Longer liner notes would have helped, but I said the liner notes were excellent as they are. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Great variety of timbre and intensity throughout, and what the heck else would you expect with the range of moods written into this mellifluous excursion? The final gigue ends the journey with a proud affirmation as if saying This is as it should be! And it’s the kind of conclusion fitting a celebration. A party doesn’t end with the same energy it generated before people started returning home to pay their baby sitters. The Suite is a miniature celebration in its own right, and absolutely appropriate as the concluding selection.

Michael Cedric Smith’s Celebration is an affirmation of sanity in a world of storm-tossed tides. No listener will be brooding, dreading the next sunrise after this album concludes. If you have a willing significant other nearby, I recommend you give each other the most affectionate wet kiss you can deliver after the gigue concludes. For those so blessed, LIFE is celebration. Make the most of it. And buy this CD.

Paul Henry
The Virtuoso Guitar of Spain and Latin America

By the Cover
The studio portrait of Henry with his left hand resting on the high frets of a guitar and eyes gazing into the camera shows a musician who, in this pose, signals desire for contact with the purchaser/listener. It’s a formal approach, and it works. Two pages of liner notes in English by Enrique Alberto Arias, Ph.D. build on the connective force launched on the cover. It’s not an impersonal history lesson that might have been pulled from a larger document; Arias mentions Paul Henry at the start of his narrative which concisely, in American prose easily understood by simple midwestern journalists, provides basic facts that add flesh to the music, a raison d’etre, so to speak. Arias explains this CD presents tunes that brought the guitar out of the stilted royal performance chambers and into the hands and hearts of the 20^th century. And by the way, don’t make the mistake of assuming Spanish guitar tunes include Latin American tunes. The major difference is succinctly stated, and these are words for the wise want-to-bes to remember when talking guitar with others. The text is easily readable in size and font. A slightly smaller-fonted one-page biography on the back page of the notes, confirms Henry’s considerable credentials.

By the Music
Let’s save some repetition by noting for the record (no pun intended) that these tunes are popular music, even folk tunes which have found willing arrangers and eager ears in the 20^th century Latin American and Spanish repertories. They are as easy to enjoy as a chicken salad sandwich with Hellman’s mayonnaise, cut into quarters and consumed with iced tea on the veranda in early afternoon. I say again, they are sandwiches; not jelly beans. There are a whopping 17 of them in the 56 minutes and 29 seconds of playing time. Several are arranged by Henry. If I may use his convivial, informal (though black-tie) demeanor during his Springfield (Illinois) Classical Guitar Society concert, as a weather vane of sorts, I would speculate that his arrangements maximize the dynamic atmospherics of the tunes he has arranged.

1 – The tension and pace of the opening Misionera a dance of Argentina reach out and grab the ears and don’t let go. Excellent opening selection.
7 – At his concert, Henry explained to the audience he included El Carnivalito in the performance because SCGS founder Russel Brazzel had heard him play it before, and especially enjoyed it. It was as fun to hear in concert as it is on the CD. Henry delivers the music without contrivance, and it rings warm and true.
9. Especially BRAVO Ponce’s Giga! This is a complex piece, and Henry plays it with obvious gusto. When it appears the performer enjoys the tune, the audience enjoys the tune as well.

15 – 17 Without a doubt, the freshest sounds on the CD the concluding three tracks by Antonio Lauro, a Venezuelan, born 1917. The music is modern without being avant-garde (translation: unmelodious cacaphony). These tunes are Champaigne toasts which intoxicate the ears with Henry’s deft delivery, and leave the listener wanting more. Problem is, the finale, Waltz #3, is not a "finale" kind of exit. It is a scintillating everyday tune, a mid-afternoon conversation rather than a late-night flourishing bow and hustle off stage right. Too SOON! This reviewer didn’t want the CD to conclude without saying goodbye! And you know something? Perhaps that is just what Paul Henry intended!

Some CDs by some very talented and skilled musicians – who are also nice hummin’ beans besides – wait on the shelves like sentinels, with a caution to those who return for a repeat listen: "Compose yourSELF and settle in with provisions for a long ride through turbid tides." Paul Henry’s CD is about as opposite that as a program of mature music can get. Without being casual and careless, the music here is daylight, with shading that accommodates pensive moods to be sure, but all of it easy to appreciate. His near-faultless playing covers a lot of ground with the variety of techniques without distracting from the music. No one’s going to say, "How the heck did he do that?" or "Where did that come from?" If your ears have been "bit" by music that, mostly, only Ph.D. candidates discuss in ivy-encrusted tombs, get your head out of your academe. Buy this CD and have some fun.

Petar Kodzas played in concert sponsored by SCGS October 25, 2003, but a copy of his CD was inadvertently not obtained for review. Petar, if you're reading this, or if you know of his fine music and care to submit a CD of his playing for review here, please direct it to Job Conger, 428 W. Vine St., Springfield, IL 62704-2933

If you have played in a SCGS-sponsored concert and would like to see your CDs reviewed here, please send them to the address above.

PERFORMANCE RETROSPECTIVE by Job Conger

Russel Brazzel teaches classical guitar.  In this age when too many good people are more connected on a personal level with Sponge Bob Square Pants than Heitor Villa-Lobos (DAMNSHAME too), if you have the slightest interest in learning how to become more familiar with classical guitar, you should call him -- 217-726-8991 -- and ask about taking his classes at Lincoln Land Community College (a great way to start) or to engage this master in private lessons. If I had an employer myself, I'd sign up for lessons just to talk with him about the classical guitar.
     I had intended to write a "review" of his January 23 performance, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided against it. A review should be more than noting what happened right and what happened wrong, and I remember too much of that the day after, and unless you were there, you might just as well read my review of the snow on my sidewalk.  Instead, here are some quotes from my notes and from what Russel shared with the public during his time at center stage and with friends afterwards...
     Russel is a stickler for an in-tune guitar. He often tweaks it between lines on the program with his head up, often talking with the audience while his hands appear running on an errand of their own as they turn the tuning apparati and quietly pluck. That said, he also pointed out that there is such a thing as over-tuning the instrumen. That can take more time than it's worth and really take the listener nowhere.
     The guitar, in Brazzel's hands, is a joyful evocateur, even when he plays in a minor key.  He understands what brings a smile and didn't hesitate to share it, most notably in the opening numbers of his first and second sets. This doesn't imply that that feast he served was all cookies and no spinach; far from it. Or as my notes (it's hard to write notes while you're wrapped up in music) on the program say, "co posiqsn, var portsea raclophin." My notes also say, "haunting, sparkling . . . incredible right hand fingerwork! . . . A living repertoire!"
    Russel talked about the joy of practicing music he likes. Only two of the four Etudes by Villa-Lobos (#s 5 & 9) in the first half were Stravinski-esque beyond my broad incapacity to appreciate. The rest was beef, jam and veggie casserole, tasty and nourishing! An artist who engages the medium first to find joy and second to make the big bucks, is a lucky artist. Russel seems to be in the joy-first mode and the concert in the main reflected that joy. And there is an important "truth" from this: If you love the music enough, you practice a lot first, for the satisfaction of playing it well for your own ears, the joy of hearing exceptional sounds and the pride in realizing you're the one producing them. THEN, if you love the music that much, you use the unseen, but palpable, pulling power of the public to motivate you to practice even more, to play in spite of stage butterflies, in spite of the minor flubs which are inevitable in any "LIVE" performance, and because you care about the art beyond any single performance. Russel demonstrated what can happen when you love the music.
    It was a memorable event. Those in the audience were lucky to be there, and if you were not in the audience, that's your tough luck!  If you like the music, you should haul your ears to the next concert. And you should tell friends and associates who may or may not like classical guitar to haul their ears to the next SCGS concert, March 13. Only by supporting these events will we be able to enjoy more of the same. Attending SCGS concerts is similar to practicing, do it regularly, the better the music becomes.

    Now a large surprise: after the performance, Russel mentioned that he has sold out of his CDs. If you want to buy one of his several recordings, you'll have to find it at Recycled Records or The Elf Shelf, or a collector. What's sadder is that he's not in a position financially to have more produced from the masters which remain at the recording studios where the originals were produced. He doesn't even have email enymore, so to reach him, you must call him -- 217-726-8991. Better yet, use your "dime" to  engage him to play a concert or to entertain your organization's guests at a reception or special event. He as been a featured artists for several orchestral presentations, most recently the Jacksonville, Illinois Symphony. If you are looking for musical artistry to share with people who know the difference between a tango and a two-step, do yourself and the people you care about by booking Russel Brazzel for your next event!

Johan Fostier – Guitar Recital

By the Cover
The black & white picture shows Fostier clothed and posed as though a wandering troubadour, serious, standing with guitar hanging horizontal by his side as though he could play an impromptu with no inconvenience at all. It’s a low-power glimpse of the man, and it works. The liner notes by John W. Duarte are six pages of text in English, German and Spanish and include an English-only biography. The text seems to have been pulled from an anthology of short history lessons relating to the composers and the people who influenced them. There are no connections to Fostier, and this is a disappointment. I would have liked to know what led Fostier to share these selections on his premier CD. The bio is a litany of academic credentials and awards. The only words from the musician himself are two sentences in which he thanks four teachers. CD contents are presented on the back cover only; not on the liner notes.

By the Music
1 – 5 The introductory selection speaks more eloquently for Fostier than the liner notes and demonstrates his capacity for passion and precision. There are no fireworks, but that’s okay. The notes explain these are selections from 28 movements, based on images. I realize I’m going out on a limb in saying this, but it seems Fostier’s instrument is either larger than standard guitars, tuned lower than standard or using heavy strings, especially with El Canario vuela, but noticeably so with the rest of the opening five tracks. His rendition of Melancolia seems a mite lifeless, but technically complete. The same for Platero en el cielo de Moguer.

6 – Though dark and moody, there are signs of life in Ponce’s Variations. The story of their creation and subsequent playing in concert and recording, shared in the liner notes, demonstrates how complex some commissioned works can be. There won’t be any toes tapping during the 25 minutes and 37 seconds. Though there are variations in techniques and tempos, it never ascends beyond the stern and pensive. Liner notes state, "... in its totality, this work has been fitly described as ‘The guitar’s Old Testament.’" That is an accurate take on a clearly complex and challenging composition. About 20 minutes into the exposition, I found myself wanting to stop the recording and put on some mid-20^th century Brazil themes, just to restore my will to live, so to speak, but not literally. From start to finish, Fostier imparts the wide range of timbres, light to heavy intonation and pacing the Variations demand. This is a large dollop of sonority to "swallow" at one sitting, but I sense that the more one knows about the instrument and the music, the more the listener will appreciate it. And it ends on a well-strummed major chord. Wow!

7 – 9 The liner notes reveal on second reading more than they revealed on the first because what they explain is made blazingly relevant while listening to Asencio’s Three Homages. Though the composer, caught between "new-wave romantic and the avant-garde Spanish composers" was neither, these three pieces suggest greater simpatico with the former, and the music is much more amenable to the ears as a result. These are pleasant, engaging short pieces without being musical cliches. Very well played!

10 – Can one judge a tune by its title? Not this time. It is a cappriccio – thank you Dame Fortune; I would not have had the requisite stamina for more Ponce variations – and while there’s no disputing the Italian composer’s esteem for the fellow countryman’s music, Duarte explains there’s no Paganini in the piece until toward the end, where comes a direct quote from a Paganini composition. The approach seems second-string or ill-considered, though there’s no disputing the success of this composition. There’s also very little diabolic demand of Fostier’s significant ability to play challenging passages. Just enough to justify a title that draws the reader’s attention and maintains its hold on the listener’s ears. The themes through most of the piece are musical, dignified, well played and varied, but (on fourth listen) elements of a smoothly transitioned amalgam of melodies. It really comes together in the final two minutes of faster-paced, emphatic playing.

Overall, this is a well-produced introduction to a Belgian-born and bred rising star. His concert for the Springfield Classical Guitar Society proved him to be no longer a citizen of that beautiful European country, but of the world. And the world of classical guitar music aficionados is made richer by his blossoming success.

Brad Richter
A Whisper In the Desert

By the Cover
The eight pages of liner notes in German and English are the best produced I’ve seen, shared in the third person in his biography and the first person in describing the music. Richter’s fine cover picture shows him in his element – not the concert stage, though his Springfield concert showed him convivial (rare on a stage) and very much at home; the Arizona desert mountain country where he goes with his guitar to compose music. Page 8 lists the selections, same as on the back side of the CD case. Noted early is that every note was played by Richter with no overdubbing. If it had not stated that for the record, I would have imagined he was "Les Pauling" the listeners in many of the tracks shared.

By the Music
Almost all of the CD tracks are original Brad Richter compositions. Any resemblance to what most folks expect on a "Spanish guitar" album is mostly only coincidental.

1- Elation. The first second of the album reveals a glimpse of Richter's innovative technique including fast strumming near the nut high up on the frets and a percussive sound that returns in many forms. Even so, it’s a musical sound; not cacaphony for cacaphony’s sake, and a nice opening number.

2 – 4 Richter’s mode is that of tone poet. I don’t consider most of his compositions as "program music" because each of the first of the three elements in The Harvest repeats and intensifies a simple musical phrase rather than developing a melodic line. The second element is mis-titled and mis-leading as the composer admits in the notes. "You might be wondering what a shepherd has to do with wheat harvest. Honestly, I just though The Shepherd’s Dream was a little more poetic than The Farmer’s Dream, so I took some artistic license with the title." This reviewer wonders if more consideration of a title might have netted The Reaper’s Dream or Harvester’s Reverie. I understand that no music has been less beautiful because of a second-class title, and that’s true here. This longest of the three elements is precisely played and listenable. But the third, Pasture At Dawn makes me wonder if the master composer/artist knows that a harvested field is seldom – if ever – called a "pasture," at least not in Illinois. More artistic license. Pasture’ is easily the most sparkling of this highly evocative composition.

5 – 8 Despite the uncommon techniques Richter lavishes in these pieces, the southwest flavor shines through. The gurgling strumming action in The Waters Beneath is especially noteworthy. The melody in this element reminds me of some of the 20^th century classical composers: evocative and smooth. In How Death Came Richter’s thumb beating all six strings as a constant ceremonial drum as the rest of his fingers deal with the rest of the music is fascinating and very impressive. I don’t know how me do it but he do do do! The Native American lore shared in the liner notes adds flesh to the music.

9 – 10 are to "tangos" what "shepherds" are to "harvest" in his earlier composition. As he concedes in the liner notes, "Certainly the accents and feel, if not the actual meter of a tango, found their way into the music" He’s right, and "tangos" are as convenient a hook as any from which to title these two short pieces.

11 – 13 Absolutely superlative technique with the opening Clock Strikes Midnight! I can’t believe these sounds came from an acoustic guitar! A MUST hear! Richter seems to be having fun, if my grasp of the freewheeling ease with which these pieces leap into the air. They are a sound salad with a lot to like in every earfull.

14 – 17 Every movement drips with late 20^th century musicality though the first movement was composed in the Sonoran Desert of Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico. Again, the liner notes are as interesting as the music and bind Brad Richter to the territory of his birth. The third movement Gila Monster captures the demeanor of these two-foot long lizards as only one familiar with them can musically describe and play them. The final movement shows Richter at his zenith with innovative technique and conventional classic mode finger work, a dynamic triple shot of the modern-music man.

18 – How the living wonder did Stephen Foster migrate from the teeming jungles of mid-19^th Century New York City to the attention of "Desert Harvester?" Richter explains "... it is a melody that never seems to leave my subconscious." What a master-stroke of CD production this is! Without going back to listen to the previous 17 tracks, that revelation makes sense, as though you find yourself looking at the sand at the beach and you suddenly see an arrangement resembling DaVinci’s Mona Lisa! Richter shares more than an early popular song melody and refrain; it is a treatment, variations on a theme as it were and generously so without going over the top with more glitz than fits the sentiment.

Buy the CD
Brad Richter’s A Whisper in the Desert is a refreshing departure from the same old same old and recordings of obscure classical repertoire that never made the big time because they didn’t merit making the big time. Not all of the tracks come as easy to the ear as a Rogers & Hammerstein tune, but they all impact the mind and heart positively and . . . they linger long. Highly recommended!

Jeremy Jouve
Guitar Recital
By the Cover
The cover picture is informal: no tie, no buttoned collar; a study in grays and browns, showing the artist playing the instrument. It’s a fine approach, hinting of approachability, of not an "artiste" but a regular fellow. This first impression disappears when reading the two pages of notes about the composers featured on this CD. Mark Delpriora writes very well in terms that will be easily understood by fellow classical guitarists. Those who simply like to groove on the music will be blown away by the proliferation of technical terms that hammer the unschooled aficionado like hail on a tin roof. Describing Rodrigo’s Sonata Giocosa, Delpriora explains, "The neo-classical disposition of the first movement leads us to interpret the stressed second beat of the opening measures as a saraband." If the author is writing to his "choir" this is fine. But if he’s writing to simple folks in my league, he is not going to help us appreciate the composers revealed in "Guitar Recital." The notes do not follow the order of composers as they play, so the reader will have to look around to catch up while reading and listening at the same time. The page four biography of Jouve (as in groove) is informative and a walk in the park to read. The back of the CD case is also well done: easy-to-read type faces nicely contrasted to the white background.

By the Music

1. Bright opening track with a composer whose name is like McCartney is to rock fans. Very crisp throughout.
2. The andante moderato is unhurried but doesn’t plod, thanks to the clarity of sound Jouve delivers. It’s about as melancholy – almost folk melodic – as a person usually wants to be unless in mourning.
3. And the allegro shows impressive range in tonality. I’ve seldom heard the fast strumming crescendos as unmuddled as they are here. This movement leaps to life with humerous glimpses in the reprise of themes. I sense Jouve had fun playing this. I   had fun listening to it.

4. Turina’s moody Sonata is not a dive into a minor key pit of moribundity. There are melodic oases in the first movement that keep the ears’ heart somehow content within the sobering general direction of the piece.
5. And having been delivered to the nominally lower stratum of outlook, Jouve sets up housekeeping there for 4:39. It’s okay. There’s no danger there.
6. Allegre vivo returns the ear/eyes to the sun. This is the second third movement that shouts the strumming outbursts. Is this part of the required content of allegro movements? He ends the Sonata nicely, but there are too many echoes of Rodrigo’s third movement ringing in the ear to fully appreciate Turina’s turn.

7. – 10. Francesco Da Milano’s four short-duration selections were originally composed for the lute. Thanks to Delprioa’s street-level description of the composer in this case (not the typical ivory towered treatises common on this CD) we know Da Milano (1497-1543) wrote about 100 lute solo pieces, and Jouve has arranged them as a suite on this recording. The guitar arrangements convey the feeling of a lute with only subtle variations in intensity but with complex finger work and a sense of their relatively ancient origins. Enjoyable every one.

11. Delpriora calls Britten’s Nocturna "a powerful psycho-drama," and I think he’s right. The drama of seven titled parts having to do with "moods and qualities of sleep," concluded by a passacaglia. It would have helped to have these parts identified on the back of the CD and presented as separate tracks in this recording, because following the composition from the liner notes is inconvenient. And to go back and reconsider Restless (for example) is impossible without listening to the complete "kidney pie" as Britten might say. It’s a dark, moody, intellectual tour de force, and you’ll need an electronic microscope to find any trace of what many would call "melody" in the entire 18:39. That said, Jouve pulls it off like a master. As I listened, I wondered if any guitarist ever hums anything while navigating this piece. It would be like playing a scale with your left hand typing a letter to a friend with your right.

12. Arcas’ Fantasy on Themes... brings the CD to a satisfying conclusion. There are three pieces in this single track, and again to the regret of listeners who would have enjoyed hitting the "repeat" button, there is no separation between themes. This track delivers what many "Yankees" savor in our stilted perception of classical guitar music. This is beautiful music, wonderfully played. Jouve is exactly on the mark in delivering these tunes with exquisite sensitivity and panache. I found myself saying silently at the conclusion, YES! THIS is what it’s all about!

Classical guitar fans who don't understand mid-20th century music will be richer in that regard after purchasing Jouve’s debut album and listening to it three our four times. It may take four rounds to wash the dust away from long-held notions of what music can be and to see the gold that shines through here. Congratulations and kudos to Jeremy Jouve for a fine first CD.  I eagerly look forward to your next one!


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