Great in every way
author: Michele
Great mix - modern and classic; American and Latin; well known and seldom heard tunes all played with tremendous skill and talent.
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Excellent Selection of Rags and Tangos
author: Robert Schwieger
'More American Souvenirs' is a worthy addition to any personal library of American music. Frank French plays all of the pieces with sensitivity and skill. The selection covers a wide area of styles. Particularly nice are French's renditions of his own 'Belle of Louisville', Guion's 'Texas Fox Trot' and Lamb's extraordinarily beautiful 'Alaskan Rag'. Nazareth's 'Labirinto' is one of my favortie tangos, and French also plays it well. The whole CD is filled with wonderful, relaxing music. Overall, a superb effort.
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French is a pursuasive, highly lyrical pianist...
author: William Schaffer - The Mississippi Rag
?This is an elegant, thoughtful compilation Of piano ragtime and ragtime-related music, much with
a distinct "Spanish tinge." Thee title word “American” does not mean simply "US.- Brazil is
represented by three diverse pieces by Ernesto Nazareth the latest sensation to catch the ears of
the ragtime subculture.
French is . is a persuasive, highly lyrical pianist a wide net for material, including several- 'Jelly
Roll Morton compositions , "The Crave or little-heard "Honky Tonk Music" culled from the 1938
library of Congress sessions), James Scott 'Don't Jazz Me," 'Hilarity Rag.' .'Climax Rag') and a
sampling of contemporary ragtime (two by David Thomas Roberts, "Mississippi Brown Eyes" an
"Memories of a Missouri Confederate' " Hal Isbitz”s “At Midnight, and Freiich's own "Belle of
Louisville .
The session is brilliantly recorded and French displays throughout deep emotional strength. He
treats James Scott an the essentially sunny, 'ebullient polyphoniist he was with especially energetic
and lively versions of "Hilarity Rag" and "Climax Rag," two of Scott’s most effective and
characteristic rags He also shapes the Morton works carefully, pinning down their slightly
sinister moodiness. He clearly admires the folk-rag angularity of Robert's lyrical works and the
stately luster of two earlier regional raffia, David Guion's "Texas Fox Trot of 1915 and William
Christopher O”hare's 1898 cakewalk, "Levee Revels."
The Nazareth compositions are more difficult to assess. Nazareth (186&1934) was a skilled
Brazilian pianist-composer-conductor whose career roughly parallel with James Scotts or Artie
Matthews makes an extremely interesting addition to the repertory of American music, Nazareth
began publishing piano compositions at 14, collected folk music ideas and forms, studied
Joplin and Gottschalk and wrote over 300 piano pieces that largely defined dance forms like the
tango, the mixixi, the carrioca.. He worked as a s movie theater musician (Hector Villa Loboa
played cello in his orchestra)'and became a protean national figure, halfway between European
classical models and the raw folk music of the choros or street bands.
This CD is an interesting and carefully chosen anthology of American music, and French succeeds
on most takes in making music that stands on its own but also resonates in intriguing ways.
Highly recommended!.
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