Baroque, Harpsichord,
Piano and Chamber Music

Value Priced 2-CD Sets

Complete Track Listing by Catalogue Number

BAROQUE

-------------------------------------------

Jean-Philippe Rameau's
PIÈCES DE CLAVECIN EN CONCERTS
performed by the ensemble Baroque Nouveau

In February 2009, RR will release Jean-Philippe Rameau’s PIÈCES DE CLAVECIN EN CONCERTS, from the new and exciting period-instrument ensemble Baroque Nouveau (Charles Sherman, harpsichord; Anthony Martin, violin; Stephen Schultz, baroque flute; and Josh Lee, viola da gamba). All of these superb musicians perform with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and other specialist groups.

This repertoire is a collection of Rameau's most appealing, tuneful compositions with improvisational embellishments galore! We recorded this project in June 2008 at famed Skywalker Sound.

Track Listing - RAMEAU: Pièces de clavecin en concerts (Concerts 1–5)

RR-118 HDCD - Rameau's Pièces de Clavecin Concert - $16.98

----------------------

1998 Grammy® Nominee -- "BEST CHORAL PERFORMANCE"

NICHOLAS McGEGAN and the PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
"The country's leading early-music orchestra" --The New York Times

VIVALDI for Diverse Instruments
America's most exciting original-instrument ensemble makes an auspicious RR debut with the infectious music of Antonio Vivaldi. These six concertos, some of which are otherwise unavailable on CD, showcase the virtuosity of the orchestra's wind players and violin soloist Elizabeth Blumenstock. The sound of the High Baroque has never has never been more vivid!
"A many splendored recording." --The New York Times
REVIEWS
RR-77 HDCD $16.98

Value Priced 2-CD Sets
To kick off RR's 25th Anniversary reissue program,
"Prof." Johnson's greatest successes-- at half price!

BAROQUE FAVORITES
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
The Helicon Ensemble
RR's all-time bestseller from Canada's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (including the Pachelbel Canon); also Bach and Vivaldi from Albert Fuller's Helicon Ensemble, featuring violinists Jaap Schroeder and Stanley Ritchie.
REVIEWS
RR-2101 HDCD -- $16.98 - Two CDs for the price of one!

Additional Value Priced 2-CD Sets

HARPSICHORD

Albert Fuller Plays Bach and Rameau

Two of RR's most critically-acclaimed harpsichord CDs, for the price of one! For the past 30 years, Albert Fuller has been a major force in America's original-instrument movement, and an influential teacher at the Juilliard School and Yale. He was the first to record the complete keyboard works of Rameau, and his Bach is unrivalled.

Rameau: Suite in A; Eight Pièces de Clavecin
Bach: Italian Concerto, French Suite No. 6 and more

RR-2105 NOTE: This NOT HDCD -- $16.98 - Two CDs for the price of one!

PIANO

---------------------

A new release with piano virtuoso Joel Fan

Joel Fan

West of the Sun

Joel Fan’s second album for Reference Recordings, further solidifies his reputation for innovative programming and dazzling keyboard technique. Drawing on composers from North and South America, Fan makes brilliant work of major sonatas by Ginastera and Barber, along with “entertainments” by Gottschalk, Piazzolla and Villa-Lobos. Of particular interest are two little-known works by Amy Beach and the African-American composer Margaret Bonds. Another highlight is the world premiere recording of a recent suite by William Bolcom! Any piano enthusiast will enjoy this wide-ranging recital, recorded at Skywalker Sound by RR’s renowned technical guru, “Prof.” Keith O. Johnson.

REVIEWS: "Fan is hardly a child prodigy. Despite his youthful looks he is now 40, and he has a lot of playing time behind him. That experience explains his awesome musicianship, but also his natural sensitivity to the emotional side of music, and control of fine nuances... The sound is clearer and more detailed than if one had good seats to a concert." --Gerard Rejskind, Ultra High Fidelity (Canada)

"[Fan] offers nine stunningly brilliant renditions drawn from a wide range of styles and sources... Capping it all off is an arresting interpretation of Samuel Barber's fearsome 1949 Piano Sonata. Wow." --John Terauds,Toronto Star - [Artistic Quality:10, Sound Quality 10] - Complete Review

"Fan is just marvelous... A well-curated, excellently engineered program of this caliber warrants our highest recommendation." --Jed Distler,ClassicsToday.com - [Artistic Quality:10, Sound Quality 10] - Complete Review

"Fan's piano textures are worth hearing in themselves, for he is an exceptionally fluent, lyrical player with a fine sense of mystery in the slow movements of the piano sonatas by Ginastera and Barber... The result is a program that alternates very gracefully between simpler and more complicated pieces; the music almost seems to breathe and ruminate on the nature of Americanness... With fine engineering, this is a masterful performance." --All Music Guide - (****1/2 performance/****1/2 sound) - Complete Review

"Fan's rendition of Barber's technically challenging sonata, whose knockout last movement was written at the insistence of Vladimir Horowitz, is the performance by which most listeners will judge his achievement. He acquits himself wonderfully, even when compared to Horowitz and speed demon Marc-Andre Hamelin. The adagio is especially touching, and becomes more moving with repeated listening." --Jason Victor Serinus,San Francisco Classical Voice - Complete Review

"His playing was the picture of textural clarity... The program's highlight was the New York premiere of William Bolcom's Nine New Bagatelles, a set of aphoristic, vividly drawn character pieces... Mr. Fan gave it an agile reading, with delicacy and heft carefully balanced." --Allan Kozinn, The New York Times (about the CD release recital, 4/2009)

Sound Samples / Downloads - HDTracks.com

Track Listing - (sound samples are MP3 files) NAZARETH: Vem cá, Branquinha; GOTTSCHALK: Suis Moi! Caprice; PIAZZOLLA: Flora's Game – Milonga Prelude; GINASTERA: Piano Sonata #1; Allegro marcato ; Presto Misterioso; Adagio molto appassionato; Ruvido ed ostinato; VILLA-LOBOS: Chôros No. 5, “Alma Brasileira”; BEACH: Fire-flies, Op. 15 #4; BONDS: Troubled Water; BOLCOM: Nine New Bagatelles; (“...and then what happened?”); (...what happened); (...a bird comments–to another bird?) 0:55 14 (...Lord Lovell’s trunk); (...a little story); (...take no prisoners); (...valse oubliable); (...benediction); (...pavane for the dead/hope’s feathers; BARBER: Piano Sonata, Op. 26; Allegro energico; Allegro vivace e leggero; Adagio mesto; Allegro con spirito.

RR-119 HDCD - JOEL FAN - West of the Sun - $16.98

-------------------

Reference Recordings is thrilled to present a new release of virtuoso solo improvisations by David Bowie’s long-time music director!

MIKE GARSON
The Bowie Variations
RR-123

“Whatever Mike lends his hands to invariably becomes something magical.”–David Bowie.

Beginning in 1972, super-versatile pianist Mike Garson performed, toured internationally and recorded with one of the most creative figures in popular music, David Bowie.

Garson writes, “When I met David, I sensed that he was an immense artist and a songwriter with a flair for great melodies and unique harmonies. The Ziggy Stardust tour changed the course of my life in many ways and began a working relationship and a special friendship that has spanned four decades.”

Having played the Bowie songbook in concert countless times, Garson always had the ambition to record his own original variations on these well-known themes. This is the year it came to fruition!

Thanks to the advanced digital technology of the Yamaha Disklavier piano, Garson was able to create several exciting sonic overlays, without abandoning RR’s audiophile approach to recording. “It’s like having six hands!” he exclaimed.

Recorded in the fine natural acoustics of the Oxnard, California, Center for the Performing Arts (venue of several previous RR successes), this program has realistic spatial characteristics not possible with standard studio techniques. Grammy® award winning engineer Keith Johnson has created another touchstone piano recording.

Review: "...there's gorgeous sound, an exquisite recording and an intellectual challenge." —Ken Kessler, HiFi News

Review: "Garson doesn't just do straight jazz treatments; he moves through classical, pop and even avant-garde genres here and there. Most interesting." —John Henry,Audiophile Audition

Review: "...each and every track is surprising, involving, and just superb...and what a recording it is! This HDCD-encoded disc is perhaps the best-sounding piano disc I have ever encountered...If you're a Bowie fan, you should hear this disc. If you're a fan of jazz you should, too. And even if you just want to hear just how good a CD can sound, with a disc able to push your system to its limits, this is one you should have." --Andrew Everard,What Hi-Fi - complete review

Track Listing: 1 Space Oddity; 2 John, I’m Only Dancing; 3 Life On Mars; 4 Heroes; 5 Ashes To Ashes; 6 Variations on “Changes”; 7 Let's Dance; 8 Battle For Britain/Loneliest Guy/Disco King; 9 Tribute to David; 10 Wild is the Wind; Bonus Track: 11 Space Oddity–take 2

RR-123HDCD - Mike Garson - The Bowie Variations - $16.98

-------------------

NEW HDCD Release

PIED PIPER
Mike Garson / Jim Walker
RR-121 HDCD

Crystalline-pure recording of soothing, meditative jazz! Jim Walker, flute and Mike Garson, piano perform 12 original Mike Garson compositions. Jim Walker is a dynamic jazz soloist, legendary orchestral and studio musician, and an inspiration to countless students worldwide. Mike Garson is best known as long-time music director for David Bowie and is perhaps the most versatile pianist working today. PIED PIPER is a new high resolution HDCD digital remastering from the original analogue tapes. This project was previously issued as a 45-rpm audiophile LP in 1985 and a CD in 1992: RR-18 Reflections, long out of print and now collectible!

Track Listing: Portrait of a Friend; Love; First Song; Ethereal; Yearnings; Pied Piper; Syrinx; The Park; Magic Spell; You’re One Of A Kind; Reflections; Reason; Admiration

RR-121 HDCD - Pied Piper - $12.98 NOW AVAILABLE

---------------

EXCITING NEWS!
SERENDIPITY is back with a bang!

Super-versatile pianist Mike Garson, best known as long-time music director for David Bowie, is a jazzman at heart. Doing what he loves best, with all-star acoustic backup, he made this set in 1986, and it became a long-running audiophile hit. Included are a number of standards, Garson originals and a group improv. If you like good jazz and missed this, don’t hestitate.

Featuring: Stanley Clarke, bass; Gary Herbig, saxophone; Jim Lacefield, bass; Billy Mintz, drums; Peter Sprague, guitar; Jim Walker, flute

Sound Samples / Downloads - HDTracks.com

RR-20 Mike Garson SERENDIPITY $16.98

---------------

Mike Garson's
JAZZ HAT

Incredible Chops!
What do Freddie Hubbard, Stan Getz, Elvin Jones, Lee Konitz, Stanley Clarke, Eddie Daniels, Joe Farrell, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, Gwen Stefani, Seal, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Martha Reeves (to name a few) have in common? The answer is, Mike Garson has played with them all!.

These have been called “The fastest fingers in jazz.” David Bowie, for whom Garson has long been music director, says, “He’s the best rock & roll pianist I know.” Recording group Free Flight took advantage of his classical training, and Hollywood calls when it needs a virtuoso assoluto. In short, Mike Garson is a phenomenon, able to mimic Bill Evans or Liberace on command, or to soothe an audience with New Age hypnotics. But he’s at his very best wearing his “jazz hat.”

Supported by a stellar cast of Brian Bromberg (acoustic bass), Ralph Humphries (drums) and Eric Marienthal (alto saxophone), Garson turns in a memorable set of originals and imaginative arrangements of standards. Most tracks were previously available on RR-53-—long out of print—plus, for this re-release, we’ve added Garson’s “take no prisoners” improvisation on Gershwin themes—also long out of print. The package is graced by his own computer art. Is there no limit to Garson’s talent?

Everyone at RR thinks this is one of our finest jazz productions. Recorded acoustically at the Oxnard, California, Civic Auditorium, Mike Garson’s Jazz Hat was captured in three-dimensional, high-resolution
HDCD sound by RR’s resident guru, “Prof.” Keith Johnson, recipient of seven GRAMMY® nominations for engineering.

REVIEW: "...Offers superb clarity, luminously natural tone colors, and the sense of four musicians performing in a believable space... A 75-minute master class in how to capture both the impact of and the space around a small jazz ensemble." --John Atkinson, Stereophile, "Records to Die For"

Sound Samples / Downloads - HDTracks.com

Track Listing - 1 Rumble; 2 All Blues; 3 It’s You Or No One; 4 A Song For You; 5 Waltz for Bill; 6 A Night in Tunisia; 7 A Gershwin Fantasia; 8 Nardis; 9 Count Your Blessings.

-----------------

JOEL FAN, pianist extraordinaire in an exquisite HDCD audiophile recording.

One of RR’s primary missions is to find and introduce great new artists. We are full of enthusiasm for WORLD KEYS.

World Keys made its debut on the Billboard Classical chart at #3! (July 8 issue). This is the highest chart appearance ever for a Reference Recordings title.

Fan is a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and has appeared with the Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as on the television shows Good Morning America and David Letterman.

A native New Yorker (b.1969), Fan studied at the Juilliard School, Harvard University and the Peabody Conservatory. Acclaimed as "a soaring talent" (Los Angeles Times), “superb” (Boston Globe),“extraordinary” (Village Voice), and “a versatile and sensitive pianist” (Washington Post) - Joel Fan combines astounding virtuosity with a rare gift for lyricism. Joel Fan's Wikipedia page

REVIEW: "...an entertaining presentation that invites thoughts about music's underlying relationships and shows this pianist as an expressive and intelligent artist, as well as a sophisticated citizen of the world. Reference's sound is clean and transparent, with a resonant luster that is highly effective in the quiet pieces." - All Music Guide - (4 1/2 performance/4 1/2 sound - out of 5)

RR-106 HDCD - $16.98 - AVAILABLE NOW!

REVIEWS

"You go from one encounter to another, dazzled by this musician, whose sensitivity allows him to give to each piece the color of the country that inspires him... The production of this HDCD recording is superb." -- Reine Lessard, Ultra High Fidelity

"Fan plays it all authoritatively with sensitivity to the unique flavor of each work. He leaves the listener hankering for more of everything...There's excellent percussive attack without claustrophobia and a wonderful sense of the body of the instrument." --Andrew Quint, The Absolute Sound

" Unexpected, variety and immediately appealing are probably the best words to describe why I find the selections so enjoyable...As would be expected from the well-known team of Keith Johnson and Tam Henderson the audio quality is supremely enjoyable." --Karl Lozier - Positive Feedback

"He has selected works of great musical interest, and switches from one style to another quite contrasting one with the greatest aplomb. His playing of the 18-minute Schumann Sonata is right up there with the classic keyboardists." --John Sunier, Audiophile Audition -- complete review

"Fan plays beautifully, turning all the spice and pizzazz into pure pleasure. He is especially good, though, in bringing out the swagger in Franz Liszt's Rigoletto Paraphrase. Fan also brings real joy to Prokofiev's third sonata. --Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic

Click here for Amazon.com customer reviews - then scroll down.

TRACK LISTING: A. Adnan Saygun: Sketch on Aksak Rhythm; Prokofiev: Sonata #3; Dia Succari: La Nuit du Destin; Halim El-Dabh: Sayera; Qigang Chen: Instants d’un opera de Pekin; Liszt: Concert Paraphrase of Verdi’s “Rigoletto”; William Bolcom: . . . la belle rouquine; Peter Sculthorpe: Nocturnal;Schumann: Sonata #2 in G Minor; Peteris Vasks: Kantate

EUGENE ISTOMIN, piano
The return of a legendary pianist! Two new recordings by one of America's greatest musicians, in honor of his 70th birthday.

with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony
MOZART Concertos Nos. 21 and 24
"The Absolute Sound Super Disc List"
Istomin and Schwarz have performed these immortal concertos many times, and insisted on recording them in long, complete takes in order to capture the live experience. "Prof." Johnson's HDCD wizardry pays large dividends in natural, high-resolution string textures and huge, three-dimensional soundstage. "RECORDING OF THE MONTH" --Stereophile, May 1996
RR-68 HDCD $16.98

THE RETURN
OF MINORU NOJIMA!

GOOD NEWS: two of the gems from our catalog, long out of print, are back by popular demand! Nojima plays Liszt (RR-25) and Nojima plays Ravel (RR-35) have been newly remastered from the original analogue tapes with HDCD encoding.

Connoisseurs of great piano playing will love these classic reissues. Nojima Plays Liszt was named “Best Recording of the Month” by Stereo Review when it was released in 1988. It was described as “A stunning demonstration of technique put at the service of profoundly musical ends.” Minoru Nojima, one of Japan’s most internationally respected pianists, also created magic in Nojima Plays Ravel, originally released in 1990.

RECENT REVIEWS: "I can say only good things about the sound. It is impeccable, with a stable image, and all it takes to please the most demanding audiophile." --Lessard, Ultra High Fidelity

"These performances, on a Hamburg Steinway, earned Nojima raves from the musical intelligentsia: rare virtuosity, remarkable brio, and a wonderful expressivity. Thanks to Reference for having re-released it, this time in HDCD." --Lessard, Ultra High Fidelity

Albert Goldberg of the Los Angeles Times said, “The pianistic hurdles leaped with incredible fleetness and lightness, punctuated by volcanic outbursts of power and majesty. It was the sort of impossible thing rendered possible only by genius. Repeat: genius."

RR-25 track listing--LISZT: Mephisto Waltz #1; La Campanella; Harmonies du soir; Feux Follets; Sonata in B minor

RR-35 track listing--RAVEL: Miroirs (Noctuelles; Oiseax tristes; Une barque sur l'ocean; Alborada del gracioso); Gaspard de la Nuit (Ondine; Le gibet; Scarbo) RR-25 NOJIMA PLAYS LISZT - $16.98

-----------------

-----------------

CHAMBER

The Concord Chamber Music Society

Premieres
Brubeck and Gandolfi works
for Reference Recordings
RR-122

“It gives me great pride to announce the release of the Concord Chamber Music Society’s first recording project. It was an exhilarating experience to play in Mechanics Hall, collaborate with Chris Brubeck and Michael Gandolfi, and work with the exceptional Reference Recordings team.” –Wendy Putnam, CCMS founder.

These new works by Chris Brubeck and Michael Gandolfi, two of America’s most-commissioned composers, are both accessible and adventurous. Grammy award winning engineer “Prof.” Keith Johnson did an outstanding job of recording this music in the superb natural acoustics of Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts, an historic 19th-century landmark. Johnson’s approach exemplifies the label’s pursuit of the absolute sound: capturing special music in outstanding spaces.

Chris Brubeck (b. 1952) bears one of the most distinguished names in American music as the son of jazz musician and composer Dave Brubeck. Growing up with his father’s wide-ranging musical activities always present, it is not surprising that his own musical world is both wide and inclusive. He plays a number of instruments, sings, and composes in both jazz and classical genres. Danza del Soul is scored for a colorful sextet of violin, piano, clarinet, cello, acoustic bass and percussion. Its stylistic mixture of traditional chamber music with elements of jazz was cheered enthusiastically at its 2010 Tanglewood Music Festival premiere with these musicians.

A native and lifelong resident of the Boston area, Michael Gandolfi (b. 1956) began his musical involvement in rock and jazz improvisation as a self-taught guitarist. His increasing skill in improvisation drew him to composition, and he began formal study in his early teens. Gandolfi frequently finds musical inspiration in art and literature. Line Drawings derives its musical ideas from drawings of Pablo Picasso. He notes, “None of my pieces is tethered to a precise Picasso drawing but they are written in the spirit of the Picasso works: concise, clear, written with a sense of immediacy and sureness of ‘stroke,’ light and ‘airy.’ This trio for violin, clarinet and piano is full of variety and vitality, a rewarding listen.

In just its second recording, the Lukas Foss duo for violin and piano, Central Park Reel, hints cheerfully at a kind of musical twin bill. “Central Park” suggests a scene in New York but “Reel” hints at a characteristic dance often accompanied by a bluegrass band. The work was designed to represent American music overseas, so it is no surprise that Foss chose a vernacular style like bluegrass fiddle playing and converted it into a lively “country” piece that still hints, here and there, at the big city.

The Concord Chamber Music Society was founded by Boston Symphony Orchestra violinist Wendy Putnam in January 2000. CCMS presents a yearly series of chamber music concerts in Concord, Massachusetts, and sponsors a variety of educational outreach initiatives throughout the region. These accomplished, dedicated and hard-working artists include Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians, members of acclaimed chamber ensembles, and faculty members of musical institutions, including the Juilliard School and the New England Conservatory of Music.

Mechanics Hall – an acoustical masterpiece – is internationally regarded as one of the world’s great concert halls for its superb acoustics and inspirational beauty. The elegant 19th building in the heart of New England is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Review: "The [musicians] play all three works with tremendous style and authority, abetted by gorgeously spacious and clean engineering...this disc is highly recommended to those seeking new chamber works that are accessible, clear and consistently interesting." —Jed Distler,Gramophone

Review: "Here's an attractive trio of contemporary American chamber works that make use of tonality in various guises, as well as jazz and other vernacular influences, but explore both novel concepts and rigorous formal devices and could not in any way be called crossover pieces. [The Foss] is a sparkling finale to an enjoyable program." --James Manheim, AllMusic .com - complete review

Review: "The outstanding audio is the equal of any CD quality that I have ever heard and plays on any regular player... This release is receiving my top recommendation..." --Karl Lozier, PositiveFeedback.com

Review: "Best of all is Gandolfi’s Line Drawings, a 2009 commission that consists of five short pieces for violin, clarinet, and piano. Inspired by Picasso’s drawings, Gandolfi set himself the task of writing quickly and spontaneously (as Picasso drew), and the results are highly enjoyable and playful." --David Perkins, The Boston Globe

Review: "The CD with music by Chris Brubeck, Michael Gandolfi and Lukas Foss is wonderful... The sextet of violin, piano, clarinet, cello, acoustic bass, and percussion sounded gorgeous." --Steve Guttenberg, The Audiophiliac

Track Listing and links to mp3 sound samples: BRUBECK - danza del soul - 1 Introductions and Flirtations; 2 The Loneliness of Secrets; 3 Celebraçion de Vida; Wendy Putnam, violin; Thomas Martin, clarinet; Vytas Baksys, piano; Owen Young, cello;Lawrence Wolfe, bass; Daniel Bauch, percussion; GANDOLFI - line drawings - 4 Canon, Cut and Paste; 5 A Farewell to Old Friends; 6 Hidden Variable; 7 Obbligato Aria; 8 Chickens; Wendy Putnam, violin; Thomas Martin, clarinet; Vytas Baksys, piano; FOSS - 9 central park reel; Wendy Putnam, violin; Vytas Baksys, piano

RR-122HDCD - CCMS - Brubeck, Gandofi, Foss- $16.98

-------------------

KRONOS QUARTET

IN FORMATION

Ever heard a string quartet play the blues? A program of encores, all especially written for this chart-busting group. Their first recording! "Highly recommended." --Pulse
RR-9 CD $16.98

CHICAGO PRO MUSICA
The Medinah Sessions

The complete RR recordings by the Grammy® award-winning group from the Chicago Symphony --originally on three CDS -- for the price of ONE! Facade Suite by Walton, The Soldier's Tale by Stravinsky, The Threepenny Opera Suite by Weill and much more, available for the first time in HDCD sound!
REVIEWS
RR-2102 HDCD -- $16.98
Two CDs for the price of one!

EDDIE DANIELS and the COMPOSERS QUARTET

BRAHMS & WEBER Clarinet Quintets
Leonard Bernstein called Eddie Daniels "a well-bred demon." He is equally at home in classical music as in jazz, where he is a chart artist. This is his first classical recording. "...My God, what a lovely recording. If more sessions were recorded this well, reviewers could spend more time discussing the music, and listeners everywhere would enjoy music significantly more." --Stereophile
RR-40 CD $16.98

JOHN BRUCE YEH
and the DePAUL UNIVERSITY JAZZ & WIND ENSEMBLES

EBONY CONCERTO
Classical composers take on jazz in the original crossover charts! GRAMMY® Award-winning clarinetist John Bruce Yeh gives a knockout performance, recorded in the flawless acoustics of Medinah Temple. "The playing is spectacular, and so is the recording." --Stereophile
RR-55 HDCD $16.98