King Oliver. Off the Record: The Complete 1923 Jazz Band Recordings. Archeophone Records. 37 fresh transfers from the original discs on 2 CDs by Doug Benson. CD notes by David Sager. Archeophone Records. ARCH OTR-MM6-C2.

Jazz fans and scholars owe a great debt of thanks to David Sager and Doug Benson for bringing out this outstanding and important collection of the complete 1923 recordings of Joe "King" Oliver's band. The core personnel on these records includes: Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, cornets; Honore Dutrey, trombone; Johnny Dodds, clarinet; Lillian Hardin, piano; Bill Johnson, banjo; Baby Dobbs, drums. Additional personnel changes and instrument changes include: Bill Johnson, vocal; Louis Armstrong, slide whistle; Bud Scott, banjo; "Stump" Evans, C melody saxophone; Johhny St. Cyr, banjo; Charlie Jackson, bass saxophone; Ed Atkins, trombone; Jimmie Noone, clarinet; Buster Bailey, clarinet.

Those who heard David Sager present his lecture at the HBS Early Brass Festival in New Orleans were treated to his deep insight into the repertoire and performance practice of this wonderful early style of jazz. These fresh transfers to CD from the original recordings gives us the opportunity to hear the music in a much cleaner and audible fashion. With these new auditory presentations, David Sager, with his big ears and keen understanding of the music clues us into new insights regarding this important music. One fascinating comment he made in his lecture concerned the harmonizations that Armstrong played over Oliver's solos, long assumed to Louis's spontaneous, almost magical, connection to his mentor's musical thinking. These clearer recordings allowed Sager to hear Oliver quote snippets of a music phrase that will start off his solo a bar or two to follow. That these occur numerous times, Sager deduced that these tiny phrases are a sort of musical reminder to Armstrong which of Oliver's solos is coming up, thus getting him ready to harmonize the solo. Sager also reexamines the playing style of trombonist Honore Dutrey. Previously thought to be a somewhat primitive player, Sager offers a new interpretation to his performance style and how it lead to future musical developments by other brass players. Sager's extensive notes to this CD set is full of his extraordinary insight into the music. Pointing out that Louis Armstrong's first recorded solo is on "Chimes Blues," there was a repositioning of the horns to accommodate a piano solo on "I'm Going Away to Wear you off My Mind," identifying numerous tunes quoted on various solos, strains of certain tunes were later reworked into other compositions, previously though single line solos are actually Armstrong and Oliver duets, are just a few of the explanations Sager gives in his notes.

Sager's interpretations along with the more refined and audible 37 selections from the King Oliver 1923 recordings, invite a new understanding of this music. This group was Louis Armstrong's Berkeley School of Music, New School, and Juilliard jazz programs all rolled into one. That Armstrong become arguably America's greatest and most important musician, having a new look into his early musical activities is fundamentally important for our understanding of jazz and American music.

-- Jeffrey Nussbaum

The Art of the High Baroque. World Premiere Recording on Baroque Trumpet. Robert "Bahb" Civiletti, baroque trumpet. The Belgian Baroque Soloists, Niranjan Wjewickrema, Conductor; Marie Haag, Catherine Meeus, baroque violins; Rainer Ardt, baroque viola; Eve Francois, baroque cello; Benoit Vanden Bemden, baroque bass viol; Sopie van Heerle, harpsichord; Stefanie Troffaes, Wim Vandenbossche, transverse flutes; Mark De Merlier, Frank Clarysse, natural horns; Alain De Rijckere, baroque bassoon. CD program notes, Edward Tarr. Buccina Cantorum Recordia BCR 3313114. Recorded 10-13 April 2007. www.tce-studio.com baroquebahb@aol.com

This latest CD by Robert "Bahb" Civiletti is nothing short of remarkable. All six compositions on this recording are listed as “world premiere recordings on Baroque trumpet” and an examination of Lowry’s International Trumpet Discography bears out this claim. The works in question are Trumpet Concerto in D by Joseph Riepel (1709-1782), Trumpet Concerto in Eb by Franz Querfurth (fl. Mid-18th century), Trumpet Concerto No. 1 in C, Trumpet Concerto No. 2 in D by Georg von Reutter II (1708-1772), Trumpet Concerto in D by Franz Xaver Richter (1709-1789), and the Trumpet Concerto No. 1 in D by J. Michael Haydn (1737-1806). In some sense these works are like the famous Haydn Trumpet Concerto but on steroids. All are unbelievably virtuosic and demanding. Ed Tarr, in his thoughtful CD program notes states that the Michael Haydn D-major trumpet concerto has the distinction of presenting the "world record" height of sounding A above high C, in bar 41 of the first movement. The Richter concerto ascends to high concert G.

That this is the first time anyone has recorded these demanding pieces on baroque trumpet is no surprise and certainly puts Bob Civiletti in a very special category. Civiletti started his trumpet career as a lead jazz and commercial player and went on to help develop the "Tongue-Controlled Embouchure (TCE)" technique with the well-known “chop doc” Jerome Callet. His fantastic ability to control the very extreme high tessitura on the trumpet serves him well with this repertoire. However, these pieces are not played like a lead jazz trumpeter. Civiletti plays this repertoire with a great deal of style and sensitivity and the Belgian Baroque Soloists matched him in this regard.

The cadenza in the second movement of the Joseph Riepel D major concerto is one of the very few written out by the composer of a trumpet work of this period. It is short and has little thematic material from the composition. It is more of a brilliant flourish than a melodically developed cadenza as found in other repertoire. Civiletti uses this as a model for cadenzas in the other works. The cadenza played in the first movement of the Richter D major concerto echoes the extreme passage to the high G above C ending with an arpeggio down to the third harmonic, G below the staff.

This is somewhat of a landmark recording, the absolutely most demanding Baroque trumpet repertoire well played on a baroque trumpet. Bob Civiletti certainly sets the bar several notches higher for future players. Given the outstanding aspects of the performance one is almost hesitant to remark on any shortcomings. No landmark efforts are flawless. Certain extreme passages with difficult leaps are occasionally attacked in a less than perfect way and tone quality is sometimes affected. However, 100% technical perfection is not to be expected on a maiden voyage. Bob Civiletti performs with remarkable skill and musicianship and has shown the brass world that this repertoire is approachable on Baroque trumpet. The gauntlet has been thrown down. Having given us a view of the possibilities, maybe in the next generation trumpeters will perform these works on a natural trumpet with no vent holes and come even closer to a perfect performance. Until then, this recording is the closest we will come to knowing the sounds of the likes of the great Austrian trumpet virtuosos of that era such as Johann Heinisch (fl. 1725-51) and J.B. Resenberger (c. 1700-1781).

-- Jeffrey Nussbaum

The Art of the Posthorn. Douglas Hedwig Eb, F, A and Bb posthorn, F posthorn with tonehole, valved posthorn; Jorge Parodi, piano. MSR Classics MS 1184. Recorded January and February 2006 at Bugler's Holiday Studio, Patterson, NY. Available through the MSR Classics website www.msrcd.com/1184/1184.html in addition to all major online CD websites; including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and many others.

What Doug Hedwig has presented in this CD in not only his work as a performer and researcher, but a sort of auditory museum exhibit on the practical and musical uses of the posthorn in the 1800s, presented with the social context in which it thrived. The ten accompanied, solo pieces are bookended by the posthorn signals that influenced or inspired them and by unaccompanied posthorn songs. The instruments used range through several differnet keys and include instruments with 1 tone-hole and valved posthorn. Taken together with informative liner notes explaining the sources and roles of the various selections, the listener is treated to a wonderfully three-dimensional view of the instrument.

The performances are lively and very musical. At times listening to the signals I wondered if a player on a speeding carriage could manage such a level of finesse. The songs call up images of a jocular postillion entertaining the waiting or traveling public as the coach made its way through big cities and small towns. The accompanied solos are charming and tuneful, played with a grace and lilt that complements the idioms of the instrument. The posthorn, before the addition of holes or valves, was a fairly simple instrument limited to bugle-like melodies, but the introduction of one tone hole added to the spectrum of notes available and a new timbre choice, a haunting resonant sound reminiscent of the cornetto. On the last piece of the album, the Post Horn Polka formerly attributed to J. Strauss, the posthorn enters the arena of modern valved brass instruments with full chromatic possibilities.

The value of this work for modern teachers and perfromers lies in its ability to broaden our understanding of the context that our instruments developed from, especially since as modern performers we are often asked to emulate these instruments. There is also value in understanding the traditions and methods of playing the posthorn and the educational methods and systems associated with it, since even the most modern of brass players still contends with the same issues as the player of a simple posthorn or bugle: air, tone, range and endurance. The solo pieces on this CD also present a repertoire appropriate for any stage or concert hall, and I found myself wondering about different places they could be programmed, the only drawback being that the limited notes available on the non-holed instrument result in a certain similarity in the solo pieces. While I wouldn't want to listen to an entire concert of posthorn solos, one or two in a program would be welcome and refreshing. The way that they are presented on this CD, with signals and songs in between, works very well.

Many thanks to Doug Hedwig for shining some light into the rather dark corner the posthorn occupies in the minds of most brass players!

-- Flora Newberry

Giovanni Battista Grillo: Complete Instrumental Music and Selected Motets, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, Jeremy West, treble cornett; Jamie Savan, treble and tenor cornetts; Bork-Frithjof Smith, treble cornett; Adam Woolf, alto and tenor sackbuts; Abigail Newman, alto and tenor sackbuts; Philip Dale, tenor sackbut; Andrew Harwood-White, bass sackbut; Stephen Saunders, bass and tenor sackbuts. Sfz Music SFZ0107 www.sfzmusic.co.uk. Group website www.hmsc.co.uk. Recorded in St. George's Church, Cambridge, 20-22 September 2006.

Listening to the latest release from His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts is a genuine pleasure on so many levels. Grillo was active in Venice in the early sixteenth century. Clearly the composer most often associated with that era and locale was Giovanni Gabrieli. This recording easily succeeds in demonstrating Grillo's worth.

Grillo succeeded Gabrieli as organist at the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in 1612 and held this position until his death in 1622. Additionally he freelanced as an organist at San Marco on major feast days in 1615 and 1617, playing under the direction of Claudio Monteverdi. In 1619 he was appointed first organist at San Marco. (Gabrieli had only been the second organist there).

Grillo's music is varied. One hears the cori spezzati style of Gabrieli's Venice as well as a more forward-looking concertato style (solo voices and basso continuo alternating with tutti voices) similar to the music of Monteverdi.

The playing on this disc is sublime. It may seem to be an exaggeration, but every single phrase has been carefully shaped. Ornaments are tasteful and elegantly performed. Blend both with instruments and vocalists (eight of the nineteen tracks include voices) is exceptionally fine. Throughout the disc players perform with a purely vocal style and do so with warmth and sensitivity.

Modern editions by Bernard Thomas for eight of the tracks have alredy been published by London Pro Music. The remaining eleven are now available from Sfz Editions and were prepared by Jamie Savan and Adam Woolf, both of whom are members of HMSC.

The personnel of His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts has changed over its twenty-five-year span. Indeed, only its founder, Jeremy West, and sackbut player Stephen Saunders are original members. However, one recognizes numerous players from many of the group's previous recordings.

The recording is performed at A=440 in quarter-comma mean tone. Cornetti used were made by Christopher Monk Instruments, John McCann, Christoph Schuler, and Serge Delmas. Sackbuts were made by Ewald Meinl, Egger Instruments, Glassi, and Frank Tomes.

This recording is essential to HBS members. It brings to light a neglected composer and in so doing, expands our repertoire significantly. Moreover, the playing is nothing short of exquisite. A breath of fresh air.

-- James Miller.