"Popular Electronics Vinyl Singles Collection"
Tom Dissevelt, Kid Baltan, Henk Badings and Dick Raaijmakers
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"Oriental Suite"
Gurdjieff
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"Complete Tape Music"
Dick Raaijmakers
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"Les Chants de Nectaire"
Leendert de Jonge
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"Popular Electronics"
Tom Dissevelt, Kid Baltan, Henk Badings and Dick Raaijmakers
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Sonja van Hamel |
Winterland
Sonja van Hamel has formed a musical duo with Berend Dubbe for ten years with their band Bauer. Their latest effort was an orchestral recording with the Metropole Orchestra in 2006. As of then, Berend and Sonja have followed their own musical path. Sonja expanded her songwriting by writing for films while getting new influences to her style from various trips and performances abroad.
This album, Winterland, her first solo album, contains a series of pop songs which differ from Bauer’s music by lacking electronic sounds and having more ‘real’ instruments instead. It would be best described as a mix of pop, folk and filmmusic. The music was composed for and performed on drums, bass, Wurlitzer, cello and banjo. This, and Sonja’s multilayered voice make the sound quite unique.
Half of the songs on this album can be heard in the Dutch film “Winterland” by D. Tuinder. These songs were arranged for string quartet and copper together with Martin Fondse.
More info on performances, visit http://www.myspace.com/sonjavanhamel
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3091 982
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Gordon Jenkins |
Seven Dreams
Gordon Jenkins (1910-1984) was a renaissance music figure: composer, arranger, conductor, and musician; recording artist, label executive, producer, talent scout, and hitmaker. He worked with such legends as Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Nat "King" Cole, and Harry Nilsson. Yet one resume entry has remained quietly entombed: the 1953 concept album Seven Dreams.
An extended philosophical oratorio, the work is both powerful and strikingly idiosyncratic. It is also immensely entertaining, and its wry observations are timeless. This Basta Essential Reissue contains the entire 1953 album as it was originally released. The CD booklet includes passages from Goodbye, a biography of Jenkins by his son, journalist Bruce Jenkins.
With Seven Dreams, Jenkins arguably emerged as the godfather of what became later known as "concept albums," a program of musical compositions thematically linked in storytelling fashion on a long-playing record. While music-cum-plot defines Broadway and occasionally Hollywood (as well as opera), original cast albums are audio derivatives of theatrical or cinematic productions. Seven Dreams existed on a 12" vinyl platter and--other than on the composer's written score--nowhere else. Until now, it hasn't even appeared on CD.
Seven Dreams was radio theater on record--seven symphonic playlets composed, authored, arranged, and conducted by Jenkins. In contrast to the gloss and frothiness of the composer's earlier Manhattan Tower suite, Seven Dreams is haunting, in parts even disturbing. Where the former gazes outward at the glittering spires of Gotham, the latter glares inward at the dark night of the soul. Seven Dreams explores Big Issues sound-staged as cower-under-the-blanket hallucinations, segueing from fantasy to fantasy, and sometimes veering into confusion and surrealism. The libretto is fraught with cynicism (blustery politicians; cocktail party braggadocio), existential emptiness (a cemetery caretaker; atheism), and sneering social satire. The seven vignettes are termed "dreams" only because the word "nightmares" in the title was probably deemed a marketing turnoff.
Seven Dreams has long been overlooked as a little-referenced entry in the Jenkins discography, overshadowed by a Gibraltar-scale catalog of monumental works. That it has remained a footnote in the Olympian legacy of such an influential figure is an inexplicable historical oversight. On the eve of the Jenkins centennial, behold the work; listen and draw your own conclusions. Seven Dreams is not dreamy, and it won't induce slumber. Its underlying moods may actually interfere with a good night's sleep.
Composed, arranged, and conducted by Gordon Jenkins
Produced for reissue by Irwin Chusid
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3091 902
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Russ Garcia |
Fantastica
FANTASTICA is a 1950s exotica classic that stylistically defines the genre
"Space Age Pop." The era of manned space travel began in 1959, but in
musical terms, composers had been exploring interplanetary vistas for
centuries. Garcia's accomplishment was to merge compositional sophistication
and the technology of the modern transistorized recording studio with
cleverly created special effects. From the first track, "Into Space," Garcia
sets the controls for interstellar overdrive and never looks back. His
pan-galactic portraits shuttle the listener from planet to planet, as moods
shift from mysterious to exhilarating.
This Basta Essential Reissue contains the entire 1959 album as it was
originally released. The liner notes include remembrances written in 2008 by
the composer Russell Garcia (b. 1916, Oakland, California). Garcia
explained, "We had no computers to make effects, so I recorded a musical saw
struck with a soft mallet; blew a straw into gelatin water; vibrated a
kitchen knife off the edge of a table; tapped wood blocks; hit a gong while
moving a microphone from the center to the edge. I recorded these sounds at
different speeds, some of them backwards through feedback echo. Then I wrote
them into the orchestral score."
Garcia has had a long, distinguished career in music as a trumpeter,
songwriter, bandleader, conductor, arranger, TV and film score composer,
teacher, and theorist. He has worked with Henry Mancini, Harry James, Oscar
Peterson, Louis Armstrong, Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, and Ella Fitzgerald,
among others. In 2005 the L.A. Jazz Institute honored Garcia for his over 60
years of contributions to jazz.
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3091 912
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Henk Badings |
More Electronic Music by Badings
More Electronic Music by Badings: did we partly cover Badings' Electronic Music on the Popular Electronics Boxset(Basta 3091412), here's the best of the rest, to say so
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3091 722
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Starvinsky Orkestar |
Fragrant Moondrops
With his “Starvinsky Orkestar”, Martin Fondse has composed his ultimate dreamband: the Orkestar combines the instrumental settings of both classical orchestra – hobo, clarinet and strings – and jazzband – percussion, trumpet and saxophones. The performers on those instruments are all amongst the top in their playing field in Europe.
The music by Starvinsky Orkestar can best be described as having its roots in jazz, complimented by elements from pop, film and classical music. They combine non-improvised jazz music with the dynamics of a Balkan weddingband, while being inspired by works of Duke Ellington, Radiohead or Björk.
Above all, Fragrant Moondrops is without boundaries; improvisation and composition melt together in a smooth way, resulting in very vivid, new music.
Starvinsky Orkestar is: Martin Fondse – compositions, piano, melodica, Eric van der Westen - acoustic bass, Dirk Peter Kölsch - drums, toys, Eric Vloeimans - trumpet, Claudio Puntin - clarinet, micro megaphone, Søren Siegumfeldt – C-melody saxophone, Irma Kort - oboe, Steffen Schorn – baritone saxophone, contrabass clarinet and tubax, Gerdur Gunnarsdottir and Herman van Haaren - violins, Benni von Gutzeit – viola, Jörg Brinkmann – cello
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3091 972
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Arno Bornkamp |
Buku of Horn
“Buku of Horn, ArnoB plays JacobTV” is Arno Bornkamp´s first cd entirely dedicated to the composer Jacob ter Veldhuis.
´Buku of Horn´ basically means ´lots of saxophone´. And that´s exactly what describes a large part ter Velhuis´ business the past 10 years: started in 1998 with 'Pitch Black' for sax quartet and boombox for the Aurelia Sax Quartet, he has extensively build his repertoire for saxophone after that. Instigator as of the first moment is Arno Bornkamp, mondially considered being one of the most influencing classical saxophone players. His performances of works bij Ter Veldhuis helped spreading their popularity enormously throughout the world. Tho classically orientated, Bornkamp has a lot of affinity with jazz, and exactly that is what helps him perform the music of JacobTV: in the pieces for boombox, in which musical pieces are bundled with vocal samples, loads of elements from jazz, blues and hiphop are used often, and they help create a virtually perfect playground for Bornkamp's performances.
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3091 962
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Arthur Ebeling |
You Handsome Devil
Born in Amsterdam, and not much later he fabricated his own drums in elementary school. By the age of six however, he decided to switch to guitars. And at 16, he decided to quit school and fully dedicate himself to making music. From this, one could say Arthur Ebeling already has spent quite some time making music already. Dozens of performances each year in Holland, the UK and Spain, a gifted guitarist and composer and performer pur sang. Never did he reach the large audience, but where he playes, the roof goes off.
"You Handsome Devil" is Arthur's 3rd solo album for Basta. Previously, Basta released 'A Rainy Night in Paris’ (1998) and ‘Dreams’ (2003). This new album holds 14 lovely songs, all written by Ebeling and most varying in style. As Arthur describes it himself, it is his version of American music, plus some more. A mix of rhythm&blues, roch, country blues and a touch of jazz. Perfect music to vacuumclean by, or to be cheered up by in general. Did Johnny Cash hear trumpets for Ring of Fire, Ebeling heard a lady's choir for 'Lonely' and bagpipes for 'Far Away'. The subjects are quite varying, but in the end they are all lovesongs after all, and that's what it's all about for Ebeling.
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3091 882
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Dusty Stray |
Tales of Misfortune and Woe
Accidental death and manslaughter, guilt and atonement. The murder ballads that make up Tales of Misfortune and Woe are grounded in the dark side of the early American folk tradition, which preacher’s son Jonathan Brown was brought up on. Born in Taiwan, raised in Texas, he’d while away long hours of confinement to a church pew, scrawling out his own song lyrics on the back of the prayer sheet.
In the same tradition he now writes songs that follow luckless characters to their terrible ends: a desperate mother of three, two brothers on a hunting trip, an innocent girl who wanders into the forest. But the bleak world he explores is often illuminated by sparks of dry wit, and sunny harmonies retrace the grim path of fate with a spring in their step.
Jonathan Brown writes the music and lyrics on Tales of Misfortune and Woe. He is accompanied by Marjolein van der Klauw en Jac Bico (Powderblue) and Gert-Jan Blom (Beau Hunks).
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3091 932
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Various Artists |
Anthology of Dutch Electronic Tape Music Vol. 2
This second and last volume of the Anthology of Electronic Tape Music contains works composed after 1966, during a period when electronic music broadened its horizons and established links with other disciplines, a period when the studios opened their portals to influences and involvement from outside.
Although electronic music from 1966 onwards became very fragmented and manifested itself in many different forms in Holland, the present volume of the Anthology aims merely to give an overall picture of pure tape music. The other movements, such as computer music, and their links with one another are however discussed in detail in the notes. We have also been selective in the choice of works, in that we have tried to find works that were the first of their kind as well as being, if at all possible, among the composer’s first electronic pieces. Volume II therefore presents composers not represented in the first volume. It should be emphasized, however, that many of the composers whose early works are included in Volume I have also done important work in the field of electronic music since 1966.
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3091 832
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Various Artists |
Anthology of Dutch Electronic Tape Music Vol. 1
Anthology of Dutch Electronic Tape Music Volume 1 Electronic music has been the subject of intense activity in the Netherlands since 1955, and the variety of this activity is reflected in the histories of the large number of electronic studios. The aim of Anthology I is to illustrate both the work of the various studios and that of individual composers; we have tried to represent as many composers from each studio as possible with preferably their earliest and most characteristic works. The majority are exercises and étude-like pieces.
In Holland, as in other countries, it was mainly tape music for concerts that was produced until 1966. After that date electronic music expanded: advanced computer techniques were developed, live electronic music received more attention, electronic music penetrated into conservatory and university syllabuses, and above all private studios were set up by and for groups of improvising musicians. The year 1966, the watershed in the history of Dutch electronic music, accordingly marks the limit of this collection: Volume I is built around tape music from 1955 to 1966, and Volume II documents tape music from the ‘open studios’ from 1966 to 1978.
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3091 822
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Raymond Scott |
This Time with Strings
Raymond Scott (1908-1994), who was both musician and inventor, musically re-invented eleven of his compositions for full orchestra and strings on the 1957 album THIS TIME WITH STRINGS. It is now being released as part of Basta's Essential Reissue Series -- the first time the album has appeared on CD.
Many of these tunes were originally recorded by Scott's novelty jazz six-man Quintette in the late 1930s; others date from the 1940s and '50s. All get a spectacular makeover under the baton of the legendary maestro.
THIS TIME WITH STRINGS contains some of Scott's most famous works, including Quintette favorites "Powerhouse," "The Toy Trumpet," and "Twilight in Turkey," retooled for expanded setting. "There are many of the old Quintette things in this LP," said the composer in the original liner notes. "Also some older things for dance band, material written for Broadway and the screen, and some of my more recent writing. Indeed, a potpourri given Hi-Fidelity dressing, and a certain vividness in string treatment."
The CD booklet includes the complete original liner notes by jazz historian Burt Korall. The album was recorded in glorious monophonic sound, which is retained on CD. No artificial processing. Crank up the Hi-Fi!
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3091 872
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Dave Harris & The Powerhouse Five |
Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals
Dave Harris played tenor sax in Raymond Scott's legendary late 1930s six-man "Quintette." Over a long career as a sought-after session musician in New York and L.A., Harris (1913-2002) released only one record as a bandleader.
That was DINNER MUSIC FOR A PACK OF HUNGRY CANNIBALS in 1958, and it was a tribute to his old boss, for whom he held deep respect. Harris and the Powerhouse Five recaptured the manic elegance and rhythmic wit of twelve classic Scott tunes. Nostalgia was the inspiration, but sharp musicianship and a celebratory gusto mark this album as a missing link in the Scott legacy.
Basta presents the first CD reissue of this long out of print album.
When Raymond Scott organized his Quintette, he recruited CBS Radio Orchestra compatriot Harris. The group was short-lived--in 1939, Scott expanded the group into a swing orchestra. However, the original RSQ created a sensation during its brief existence, and left a lasting impact on music history.
Scott composed "portraits in music," programmatic novelties with eccentric titles like "War Dance for Wooden Indians," "Reckless Night on Board an Ocean Liner," and "In an 18th Century Drawing Room." A dozen tunes from this group's repertoire were later adapted by Warner Bros. music director Carl Stalling in hundreds of classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons.
Thus was the RSQ's legacy--quite apart from the bandleader's own efforts--preserved for future generations. One title, "Powerhouse," has become a staple of cartoon fare, having been used in The Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, and Animaniacs, as well as in 40 anarchic WB shorts and several major motion pictures.
In addition to leading a succession of orchestras, Scott composed a Broadway musical in 1946, conducted orchestra on TV's Your Hit Parade in the 1950s, and was a pioneer in electronic music development. But in late-life interviews, he professed that his 1937-39 Quintette was his favorite band.
That opinion was doubtless shared by Harris, who always spoke fondly of working under Scott. Such was Harris's affection for this band that in 1958 he organized a sextet, called his sidemen the Powerhouse Five, and recorded an album of RSQ favorites in modern high fidelity.
After the RSQ, Harris remained with Scott's first swing band, then compiled an impressive resume as a session player on radio and TV, and in the recording studio. In a career that extended into the 1970s, he worked with Billie Holiday, Gene Krupa, Eddie Cantor, Mickey Katz, Stan Webb, Russ Case, Bob Haggart and countless others.
As a director with a musical pedigree, Harris, on Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals, maintains the high standards set by his old boss, recapturing the spunk, energy, and humor of the original RSQ. While there's an obvious element of nostalgia at play, don't underestimate the joyfulness and craftsmanship of these performances.
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3091 892
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Theo Nijland |
Masterclass
Masterclass is Nijland's 4th solo cd. The cd contains the songs from his same-titled theatershow and was recorded 'semi-live': in a proffessionial studio but with an audience. Nijland at the piano, accompanied by a band. As we know from Theo, the songs vary from light uptempo to sarcastic to pure instrumental, and even a classical minuet with lyrics. If you liked Praag and Jij, you will love this cd as well!
Recensie Volkskrant:
Theo Nijland bakent op zijn nieuwste cd zijn muzikale terrein degelijk af. In Eigenlijk mag ik nergens over zingen, waarin hij het recept voor vissoep uit een Frans kookboek op muziek heeft gezet, haalt hij de adoratie voor het Franse chanson (en Wende Snijders) onderuit, omdat iedereen zo gewichtig naar teksten luistert die vrijwel niemand begrijpt.
In Evita laat hij geen spaan heel van de nepemoties van de opgeklopte musical, en in Wat een leuk liedje krijgen homoseksuele zangers op hun duvel die heel onwaarachtig over de liefde voor een vrouw zingen.
Blijven over de uit duizenden herkenbare stem en de hoekige melodielijnen, die soms elastisch worden opgerekt en dan weer hard worden afgekapt om tekst en muziek op een lijn te krijgen. Door overbelasting was Nijland zijn stem een tijdje kwijt, juist toen hij de semi-live cd wilde afronden. Daardoor zijn een paar nummers instrumentaal gebleven. Jammer, want zijn liedjes zijn pas compleet met zijn stem en vriendelijk-cynische tekst erbij.
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3091 812
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