Bjarne Brustad- Music for Violin and Viola

The Library has recently acquired an exciting new recording: violinist and Grieg Trio member Sølve Sigerland has chosen to explore Bjarne Brustad’s (1895-1978) violin capriccios with skilled support from violist Lars Anders Tomter. Brustad was one of the first Norwegian composers to embrace impressionism, and at a later stage he developed a strong interest in Norwegian folklore and neo-classicism. The works on this disc showcase the composer’s life-long project; to capture a national and modern tonal language.

To read about this recent recording and hear excerpts from it, click HERE

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The jazz image : masters of jazz photography

No mean jazz photographer himself--see his Images of Jazz (1996)--Lee Tanner generously shares space with his peers in this album for which he wrote the historical preface, explaining why jazz photography is an after-1930 development.

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Fugue for Man and Machine

Classical musicians have bitterly opposed replacing human players with computers in the orchestra pit. Now, a small group is breaking ranks -- and arguing that it's the best hope for revitalizing the art. Cue the laptop.

To read the entire article from the Wall Street Journal, click HERE

And for more information on digital orchestra music, visit the Digital Orchestra League's website HERE

Benny Golson: From Jazz to Hollywood and back

Saxophone player Benny Golson played with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey, and wrote music for the TV shows M*A*S*H and Mission Impossible. On NPR's Morning Edition, he talks about his role in reshaping Blakey's band as well as the bit part in a Stephen Spielberg movie that helped revitalize his career.

To read the article and listen to the NPR interview, click HERE

Mstislav Rostropovich, Dissident Maestro, Dies

Mstislav Rostropovich, the cellist and conductor who was renowned not only as one of the great instrumentalists of the 20th century but also as an outspoken champion of artistic freedom in the Soviet Union during the last decades of the cold war, died on April 27th in Moscow.

To read the entire New York Times obituary, click HERE

41st ARSC Conference in Milwaukee

This year's "Association for Recorded Sound Collections" conference theme featured presentations dealing with the dawn of recorded sound and the transition from mechanical musical instruments (music boxes, player pianos and orchestrions) to devices meant to capture and/or reproduce sound (phonographs and magnetic recorders). To learn more about the ARSC Conference, click HERE

Andrew Hill: 1931-2007

Andrew Hill, a pianist and composer of highly original and sometimes opaquely inner-dwelling jazz whose work only recently found a wide audience, died Friday, April 20th, at his home in Jersey City. He was 75.

To read the New York Times obituary, click HERE