EAGLES ~ "LIVE FROM THE FORUM MMXVIII"

ANITA RACHVELISHVILI: "Anita"

Original released on CD Sony Classical 19075808752

(EU, 2018)

Thanks in part to the support of conductor Daniel Barenboim, Georgian mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili found places on the world's top operatic stages unusually quickly after finishing her studies. She has proven equally adept at French, Italian, and Russian opera. Rachvelishvili was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, on September 28, 1984. She grew up in Tbilisi in what was then the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. Her mother did folk dance and ballet, her father was a composer and bass guitarist, and both did some singing. Young Anita grew up in difficult circumstances in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union, including some civil wars: "no electricity, no water, no food, nothing." She is fluent in Georgian, English, and several other languages. As a girl she studied piano and for a time was at the Mukhran Machavariani School. Her musical tastes started with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Whitesnake. She then enjoyed singing popular music on the order of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Her voice was such that friends and family convinced her to try operatic singing, and beginning at age 16 she began to study for same. Her musical education began with piano studies, but she switched to singing at the Tbilisi State Conservatory, where she studied with Manana Egadze and was supported by a scholarship from the office of the President of Georgia. Already performing major Italian roles while still in school, she was invited in 2007 to apply to the La Scala Academy in Milan. There she was heard by Barenboim and invited to take the title role in a new production of "Carmen" he was developing. Her appearance at La Scala as Carmen, opposite star German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, was a hit, and the role defined the first part of Rachvelishvili's career. She has performed at, among other houses, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Opera, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Seattle Opera, the San Francisco Opera, Teatro Regio in Turin, and the Canadian Opera Theater. Her repertoire has broadened beyond Bizet to include Dalila in Saint-Saëns' "Samson et Dalila", Dulcinée in Massenet's "Don Quichotte", and Konchakovna in Borodin's "Prince Igor". At the Michigan Opera Theater in Detroit in 2012-2013, she sang the role of Amneris in Verdi's "Aida", and the following year she sang "Aida" at the Rome Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, and Covent Garden in London. Rachvelishvili began performing vocal recitals with pianist David Aladashvili in 2015 and, unusually for an opera singer, she has led her own jazz band, performing at the Le Poisson Rouge club in New York. Rachvelishvili was signed to the Sony Classical label and released her debut album, "Anita", in 2018.

JONAS KAUFMANN: "An Italian Night"

Original released on CD Sony 19075879332

(EU 2018, September 14)

Earlier 2018 summer, Jonas Kaufmann, The world's greatest tenor (The Telegraph), performed his most popular Italian repertoire live at Waldbühne, Berlin's outdoor amphitheater. The smash-success live concert was recorded for Kaufmann's new album, "An Italian Evening". Kaufmann brought-the-house-down with a succession of hits from his extremely popular "Dolce Vita" album as well as exciting arias and duets (with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili) from the Italian opera repertoire including "Volare", "Non Ti Scordar di Me" and "Nessun Dorma". Munich-born singer, Jonas Kaufmann, is without a doubt at the absolute top echelon of the operatic world. He is in extreme demand with the world's most influential conductors, selling out opera houses and concert venues months in advance wherever he performs. In 2011, he received the Opera News Award in New York and was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France. He has been awarded Singer of the Year by many prestigious journals including ECHO Klassic and Musical America. Kaufmann is also an internationally sought-after concert and lieder singer. In October of 2011 he performed the first solo recital to be given at the Metropolitan Opera since Luciano Pavarotti in 1994. (in Amazon)

JEFF GOLDBLUM & THE MILDRED SNITZR ORCHESTRA: "The Capitol Studios Sessions"

Original released on CD Decca B0029202-02

(US 2018, November 9)

If there's one word that comes to mind while listening to 2018's "The Capitol Studio Sessions" - the debut album from part-time jazz pianist and full-time Jeff Goldblum impersonator Jeff Goldblum - it's charm. Joking aside, just as with his acting, Goldblum's musical stage presence percolates with his unmistakable charisma, and further cements his long-standing persona as a witty, quirky, gregarious presence. While the album often feels like Goldblum giving one big wink and a smile to his adoring fans after another, part of the fun is that he has the chops to back it up. Having studied piano growing up in Pittsburgh and played lounge gigs throughout much of his career, Goldblum is certainly a gifted performer. While he hands much of the improvisational work over to his bandmates, as a bandleader he acquits himself ably throughout the album, with a warm harmonic sensibility and wonderfully swinging style on full display. Here, he is captured live at the storied Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, backed by his longtime ensemble of studio-pros the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra (lovingly named after a family friend in Pittsburgh). Joining him are a select cadre of special guests including singers Haley Reinhart and Imelda May, trumpeter Till Bronner, and on the giddy, self-referential duet "Me and My Shadow," singer/comedian Sarah Silverman. While Goldblum is the main attraction, he smartly spreads the spotlight, allowing Reinhart and May to sashay their ways through saucy renditions of "My Baby Just Cares For Me," "Straighten Up and Fly Right," and "Come-On-A-My-House." Similarly, he gives Bronner a plethora of solo time, with tracks like the ballad "It Never Entered My Mind," and the organ-accented groover "Don't Mess with Mister T." One of the many impressive aspects of "The Capitol Studio Sessions" is just how balanced Goldblum's skills are as he deftly moves his audience from perky vocal standards to swinging instrumental numbers - each transition aided, of course, with some very charming stage banter. (Matt Collar in AllMusic)

Verdi, Rossini, Mascagni, Bellini & Puccini

TONY & DIANA: "Love Is Here To Stay"

Original released on CD Verve B0028703-02

(EU 2018, September 14)

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall's partnership didn't begin with the 2018 duets album "Love Is Here to Stay". Krall popped up on two prior duets albums from Bennett and the pair toured at the dawn of the 2000s, but "Love Is Here to Stay" marks their first full record together, and it's an elegant affair. Conceived as a tribute to George Gershwin, the album is filled with familiar tunes, but hints of imagination lurk around the edges, such as the revival of "Fascinating Rhythm," the tune Bennett recorded for his first single in 1949. Nearly 70 years separate that version of "Fascinating Rhythm" from this 2018 rendition, and while Bennett certainly sounds older - his voice is slightly raspy, he can't hit the high notes the way he used to, nor does he sing with quite as much force - he still sounds spry and commanding, happily dancing through these cozy melodies, singing with as much rhythm as lyricism. Krall responds in kind, trading staccato phrases that are slyly complementary to Bennett's own. In the Bill Charlap Trio, the pair have empathetic support, keeping the proceedings both light and lush, helping to turn this album into a charming testament to endurance - endurance of the Gershwin catalog, the collaboration between Krall and Bennett, and, especially, how Tony Bennett can still sound completely committed to songs he's spent decades singing. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

O Último Album de PATXI ANDIÓN

Edição original em CD Lemuria MU-072

(ESPAÑA 2018, Novembro 9)

A comemorar 50 anos de carreira, o cantautor espanhol Patxi Andión acaba de lançar o seu novo trabalho “La Hora Lobicán”. O album reúne uma mão cheia de brilhantes canções compostas e escritas por ele excepto “Vaga No Azul Amplo, Solta”, poema de Fernando Pessoa que já havia surgido sob a forma de canção no disco “Para além da saudade” de Ana Moura num fabuloso dueto da mesma com o cantautor espanhol. Dez novas pequenas pérolas musicais da música de autor com a chancela de um interprete absolutamente genial que segue cantando melhor que nunca, com a magnificência da sua voz rouca e profundamente visceral, com o seu magnetismo pessoal e acima de tudo com a enorme qualidade da sua música… Patxi Andión, o exilado em Paris no Maio de 68, o escritor, o actor de cinema e de televisão, mas também, e fundamentalmente, o cantor inspirado e inspirador, irónico, criativo, terno, por vezes profundamente sentimental, filosofo, contundente critico social e político e também ainda a imortal figura de Che Guevara na teatral ”Evita” espanhola e ainda o humanista professor catedrático de sociologia está de volta às gravações e aos discos para comemorar nada menos de meio século de actividade artística através do lançamento de um novo projecto de inéditos onde caminha de mãos dadas com o futuro ao sabor da sua inquestionável  e habitual exigência  literária e musical, porém, inovando sempre e cada vez mais… (in Glam Magazine, 28/2/2019)

KATIE MELUA: "The Ultimate Collection"

Original released on CD Digipak BMG 538433672

(EU 2018, October 5)

Xmas With God

Original released on CD Polydor 6792528

(UK 2018, October 12)

"Happy Xmas", Eric Clapton's first Christmas record in a career that's spanned over four and a half decades, certainly bears its share of seasonal charm, but it's also of a piece with the warm, amiable music he's made in the 2010s. Like "Old Sock" and "I Still Do" before it, "Happy Xmas" relies on songs from other songwriters (he wrote only one tune, the slow-burning "For Love on Xmas Day") and cooks to a cozy groove that's grounded in the blues but also encompasses soul, reggae, rock, and a bit of vaudeville shuffle ("Xmas in My Hometown"). This homey atmosphere is certainly suited for the season, even if it rarely sounds like a typical holiday record. Chalk that up to Clapton studiously avoiding a reliance on shopworn carols. 

When he does play an overly familiar tune, he switches it up: he opens up the affair with a blues rendition of "White Christmas," "Silent Night" is given a reggae bounce, "Away in a Manger" has a soulful underpinning, and he turns "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" into a seduction. These clever interpretations are nestled alongside nice holiday chestnuts, turning this into a comforting Christmas listen - so comforting that it makes the presence of "Jingle Bells (In Memory of Avicii)" all the more bizarre. Situated in the middle of the album, "Jingle Bells (In Memory of Avicii)" is a lite-EDM tribute to the late DJ and producer, a track that is perhaps more dexterous than Clapton's '90s electronica experiment T.D.F. yet feels wholly tacky as a tribute to Avicii. Worse still, in terms of the confines of "Happy Xmas", "Jingle Bells (In Memory of Avicii)" doesn't fit the vibe and it carries only trace elements of the titular holiday standard, so it stops the party cold halfway through. Cut this track out and "Happy Xmas" delivers some cheery Christmas vibes. (Stephen Erlewine in AllMusic)

KATIA GUERREIRO: "Sempre"

Edição original em CD KGP 009

(PORTUGAL 2018, Setembro 13)

BRYAN FERRY: "Bitter-Sweet"

Original released on CD BMG 538448222

(UK 2018, November 30)