by Nick | Nov 28, 2018 | News
Ellsworth Hall releases Checkers’ Rhapsody his first new studio recording since his 2014 debut solo album Conversations With George Edgar Selby
Checkers’ Rhapsody has been added to Conversations With George Edgar Selby as a free digital bonus track. Ellsworth is making this beautiful 11:42 grand epic a Bandcamp exclusive for the time being, with a possible distribution via all digital outlets in 2019.
“Checkers’ Rhapsody was originally composed for a piano back in 1975-1976 when Ellsworth was 17/18 years old. It is Ellsworth‘s first composition to be over 11 minutes and was originally performed at his piano recitals back in 1976. Always hearing the composition “bigger” in his head will full orchestra, Ellsworth realized that potential orchestrating this new version (with orchestral sounds courtesy of Philharmonik Miroslav).
“Rhapsody” means “songs stitched together” which is appropriate for this composition, one of a series named after his childhood beagle. Various themes are stated and recapitulated over the course of the piece with the opening thematic statement recurring several times throughout. It mixes classical, pop and jazz elements with shifting key signatures and time signatures, a favorite approach of Ellsworth’s to this day with his progressive rock compositions.”
Ellsworth R. Hall
About Ellsworth Hall
Ellsworth began piano studies shortly after his 6th birthday in 1964 and after 12 years received his Certificate of Piano Study and Theory from the John Mason Evans Hasslinger Studio (Hasslinger himself was a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD). Between the ages of 11 and 28, Ellsworth also studied cello, guitar, and voice. He also performed in several bands from 1976 on including Tailwind, Sabre and Logos Affinity.
Ellsworth received a B.A.in Film/Video production from the University of Maryland and continued there with graduate studies in Communication Arts. During this period he began scoring short films and local cable programs.
In 1987 a movement from his first Piano Concerto appeared in a video production by Johns Hopkins Hospital and from that time on Ellsworth began devoting much of his time to scoring music for film and video. 1989 saw the release of the first CD from Affinity Music Library to which Ellsworth contributed a great deal of material and he continued to compose for subsequent releases. He received his C.P.M.S. from Johns Hopkins University in 1991 and in 1994 he and partner Mark Van Natta began scoring for multimedia productions in addition to film and video. Clients included Johns Hopkins Hospital, Princeton University, PHH Corporation, Banjo Software, and FLX Software.
“Conversations with George Edgar Shelby” a classical soundtrack album that features the music from the WWI epic Beside the Manor Selby which Ellsworth directed and wrote.
“The Archduke Earsworth” originally from the three-movement piece The Blind Potentate. Ellsworth performs on a Steinway grand piano along with the vibrant sound of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Tracklisting
Piano Concerto No.1
1) Lento e Allegro (6:47)
2) Andante e Presto (6:28)
3) Allegro Moderato (4:03)
4) Andante (7:25)
Beside the Manor Selby – Motion Picture Soundtrack
5) Beside the Manor Selby Overture (2:46)
6) Newsreel (1:16)
7) After Ferdinand (0:56)
8) Round About the Garden (1:06)
9) The Archduke Earsworth (5:07)
10) The Tower (1:40)
11) Gather the Heirlooms (3:33)
12) La Masque a Enleve (2:25)
13) Verdun (5:33)
14) Undone in Verdun (2:17)
15) Here Lies a Wretched Corpse (5:07)
16) In Grief Unbound (3:54)
17. (Digital Only Bonus Track ) Checkers’ Rhapsody 11:42
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by Nick | May 3, 2018 | New Releases, News
Almost 50 years after the creation of his classic rock anthem Vivaldi, Curved Air’s trailblazing violinist Darryl Way, has arranged and recorded the whole of Vivaldi’s masterpiece The Four Seasons and given it the same ‘rock’ treatment.
Way said of the project: “You cannot improve upon perfection, which the Four Seasons undoubtedly is, but I felt that the Four Seasons, a piece that has been a seminal influence in my life, would be fertile ground for a reinterpretation. Having said that, I have not changed any of the notes, except in some of the slow movements, where it is generally accepted that the written notes can be embellished. I have just added to the mix, rock instrumentation and rhythms, synth textures and in the slow movements, some chill out beats.”
The album is entitled Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in Rock and is released on the 4th of May 2018 via Cherry Red Records.
“I already had a good idea that a rock arrangement could work with Vivaldi’s music, from my work on the Curved Air track ‘Vivaldi’. The challenge was, to maintain Vivaldi’s original concept of the piece and tell the same story. Whether I have risen to that challenge is not for me to say, but if you were a fan of my Curved Air track ‘Vivaldi’, there’s a good chance you’re going to like this as well.”
To purchase Darryl Way’s Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in Rock:
Amazon CD: http://geni.us/Vivaldi
iTunes: http://geni.us/VivaldiDig
Official website: www.darrylway.com
by Nick | Feb 24, 2018 | News
We are pleased to announce that we will be releasing the fourth album “Sisyphus” on CD by Ten Jinn in the early spring of 2018.
Sisyphus was originally released in Europe as a digital-only album in 2017.
About The Album
Sisyphus is an eight-part programmatic work that tells the story of the founder and King of Corinth after whom it is named. Because of affronts to the gods while alive, Sisyphus was condemned in death to spend eternity in Hades rolling a boulder to the top of a mountain, only to have it roll back down each time he completed the task; this also speaks to the essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus,” by Albert Camus, who used the myth as a means to comment on the senseless, repetitive drudgery of modern life.
Originally written as a classical work (a symphonic poem for string orchestra and piano) the Ten Jinn production involved reworking the piece to include the addition of rock instrumentation. We got the idea to add vocals to make it more consistent with earlier Ten Jinn albums, and the plan was then to fill out the record with other new material; however, at one point during the process we decided to do an instrumental mix and use it as a “flip-side,” instead, because we wanted to include a version that was representative of the original idea, which had its own unique “flavor.”
The Band
John Paul Strauss: Lead and backing vocals, Keyboards
Mark Wickliffe: Drums, Bass & backing vocals
Ken Skoglund: Guitars & backing vocals
Mike Matier: Guitars
A Statement from John Strauss
I have known about Nick Katona of Melodic Revolution Records for a while now, having seen him at RosFest for several years in a row (donning his signature top hat with a classy presentation of product second to none). However, it was only during the 2017 iteration that I finally had a chance to speak with him at great length. What I found was a passionate, intelligent man; a kindred spirit in attitude towards life in general, and music in particular.
I went to his website and checked out a number of the artists on his label. What I found was an eclectic offering of artists all with one thing in common – superior musical talent. Along with a laid-back, yet serious, approach to getting this music heard, I thought that his label would be the perfect partner for Ten Jinn. So, I handed him a promo copy our new record Sisyphus, we spoke again a while later and decided to work together. I speak for myself, and rest of the band, when I say that I am very excited about our upcoming CD release of Sisyphus on MRR, and hope this will be the first of many more to come.
What the Critics are saying.
is it classical or prog? The answer is yes. All that’s missing is more of the same, which hopefully will come sooner than later from this seriously underrated act.
4 1/2 out of 5 Stars
– John Collinge, Progression Magazine
If you enjoy the band Enid, you will enjoy this one as well, and won’t get bored a minute here.
4 out of 5 Stars
– rdtprog, Prog Archives
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