Meridian Arts Ensemble

Review Excerpt:

The Meridian Arts Ensemble: Anxiety Of Influence
By Jim Sheldon-Dean
Anxiety of Influence review in The Music & Travel Report

From the May, 1997 issue, by permission.

One of the perks of publishing the M&T Report on the Web is that I get inquiries from various groups and publicists about their sending me CDs for review. I hate to not listen to something that might be good and comes for free, but unfortunately most of what arrives is, ah, not good. Luckily, that's not always the case, and the Meridian Arts Ensemble's latest CD, "Anxiety of Influence" (Channel Crossings CCS 9796), is an excellent example of the good stuff.

Meridian Arts Ensemble consists of two trumpets, a trombone, a horn, a tuba, and drums -- it's a wind chamber quintet plus percussion, and on this album there's also a guest pianist. This is not your garden variety chamber music, though. Instead MAE goes for the unusual and off-beat, effortlessly mixing styles from all over the musical map into a really unique sound and style. And, these guys are GOOD!

"Anxiety of Influence" begins with a 21-minute set of Frank Zappa music arranged by trumpeter Jon Nelson, leading off with "Run Home Slow" and "The Little March" from Zappa's 1959 score for a cowboy movie, also heard on Zappa's albums, "The Lost Episodes" and "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Volume 5." Nelson's arrangements are simple and true to the originals, yet startling in their freshness -- this is, after all, an all-acoustic band. From there guest pianist Jon Klibonoff does an excellent, moving job with the solo piano introduction from the 1971 Fillmore version of "Little House I Used To Live In," and the ensemble version follows. The set is completed with drum solo and "new age" ensemble versions of "The Black Page." How are all these? Just great. I've always loved Zappa's more orchestral/classical pieces, and these are great examples, performed flawlessly. There's something just so clean and bright about all those horns that gives new life to Zappa's work.

Meridian Arts Ensemble has nine compact discs available on the Channel Classics label. These recordings are distributed in over 30 countries.
	TIMBRANDO Silvestre Revueltas - Ocho por Radio Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion Trad. Costa Rican - Caballito Nicoyano Caetano Veloso - Michelangelo Antonioni Dafnis Prieto - Echo-Dimensions Heitor Villa-Lobos - Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 Ana Lara - En par de los levantes de la aurora Hermeto Pascoal - Timbrando Pixinguinha and Lacerda- Um a Zero purchase here
	BRINK David Sanford, Corpus Elliott Sharp, Beyond the Curve Nick Didkovsky, Slim in Beaten Dreamers purchase here
	Ear, Mind, I- (CCS 11898) Frank Zappa, Selected Works, Black Page Su Lian Tan, Moo Shu Wrap Rap Tom Pierson, Brass Quintet Randy Brecker, Some Skunk Funk Jason Forsythe, Sanctity Josef Burgstaller, Lullaby, Dr. J Geyser John Ferrari, MAE We Strut?, Crunch Jon Nelson, Fanfare for Nothing, Sleepless purchase here
	Anxiety of Influence - (CCS 9796) with guest pianist Jon Klibonoff Frank Zappa, Selected Works Claude Debussy, Sarabande Stephen Barber, Semahane Daniel Grabois, Zen Monkey Trad. Afro-Cuban, El Solitario Stanley Silverman, Variations on a Theme of Kurt Weill Raymond G. Stewart, Okay Chorale, KOHS-Ska purchase here
	Five - (CCS 9496) Ira Taxin, Fanfare Stephen Barber, Gone is the River Jan Radzynski, Take Five David Sampson, Morning Music Peter Robles, Finale Rounds available soon
	Prime Meridian - (CCS 8195) Igor Stravinsky, Fanfare for a New Theatre Frank Zappa, Selected Works, incl. Peaches en Regalia Kenny Wheeler, Song for Someone Captain Beefheart, Selected Works Milton Babbitt, Fanfare for All Jon Nelson, Song for a Dead King, Paterson 2:35 Rich Shemaria, Pandora's Magic Castle Herbie Hancock, Jessica Frank London, Schvitz Suite purchase here
	Visions of the Renaissance - (CCS 6594) Giovanni Coprario, Two Fantasias Tomaso Albinoni, Suite in G Major J.S. Bach, Three Chorales, Four Contrapuncti from the Art of the Fugue, Fantasie Domenico Scarlatti, Sonata in D Major Johann Schein, Three Psalm Settings Don Carlo Gesualdo, Three Madrigals Orlando Gibbons, Two Fantasias purchase here
	Smart Went Crazy - (CCS 4192) Frank Zappa, Selected Works John Halle, Softshoe Phillip Johnston, Sleeping Beauty Billy Strayhorn, Lush Life Kirk Nurock, Smart Went Crazy Norman Yamada, Mundane Dissatisfactions Jimi Hendrix, Purple Haze Trad. Afro/Cuban, Revoltillo purchase here
	Winning Artists Series - (CCS 2191) Witold Lutoslawski, Mini Overture Alexander Arutiunian, Armenian Scenes Ira Taxin, Brass Quintet Jan Bach, Laudes Alvin Etler, Quintet for Brass Instruments purchase here

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