Nice revival of an ancient (on the net things get old in 48 hrs) thread; I take this as a licence to fill in on a few spintime favorites of late:
By force of necessity (my 4-mth old son apparently loves the alto), the master improviser:
Talking about improvising, this guy is almost unreal; it's just stunning that this stuff is created on the spot, on a nanosecond decision-making basis (and I wonder how many of the classical musicians have a technique anwhere nearly as good as his!):
Another kiddie favorite that I, too, dig (my vocal jazz album of the year nominee):
But when the boy goes out for a walk with his mom, I've lately been putting on this, to air the room:
Otherwise, I'm exploring some new (for me) Takemitsu:
...and this fabulous new recording of Nono's magnum opus:
It’s a really good year for new music lovers: this superb new Lachenmann recording may be a bit harder than usual to get (it’s on one of these new orchestra-run labels, by the Ensemble Modern) but it’s certainly more than worth looking up, content- and engineering-wise:
I'm also enjoying some shimmering new works by my countryman, just for summer fun:
And I recently reacquired an old favorite in the pleasant-listening category (the Prokofiev):
...plus the two latest Mozart cto discs by Pollini -- simply peerless musicianship:
...but at nighttime I’ve been getting my doses of guilty pleasure gleaned from this one (the Tchaikovsky andante is quite amazingly done, and it’s Abbado’s only Shosty on record AFAIK):
And if that won't keep me awake long enough (what with these permanent parental sleep deficits), this jolt never fails (the creepiest version of the "Night on the Bare Mountain" existing, with the voices):
That's most of the most recent, I think. Every morning we start the day with some Bach, usually the "48" by Glenn Gould or Sviatoslav Richter, but as of late it's been either one of these:
Keeps the mind fresh, sentiments clear, and the spirit humble.
PT
