Music I'm Enjoying Now 1

Whenever possible, I like to find time for music in my day. On occasion, I'll write a few lines about some of the music that's engaging me. No negative reviews -- I'm only going to write about "music I'm enjoying now."

Very Best of Naxos Early Music: A free download from Amazon! A dozen ethereal tracks by Hildegard von Bingen, Orlande De Lassus, and others, performed by Naxos artists. Naxos seems to be one of a very few classical record labels that have figured out how to sustain a strong business in a weakening recorded music economy. They deserve your support.

The Construction of Boston: Ann gave me this new live recording of Scott Wheeler's first one-act opera dating from 1989 as part of my Christmas CD extravaganza. It's on Naxos. I was delighted to discover that Wheeler has been an associate professor at Emerson College in Boston, where our son Jack is a senior, and music director for dozens of Emerson Stage productions. His work bring to mind Adam Goettel (Floyd Collins, Light in the Piazza, Myths and Hymns).

Ayombe!: The Heart of Colombia's Música Vallenata
!Ayombe! The Heart of Colombia's Musica Vallenata: A Smithsonian music sampler that you can dance to. Think of this as the Colombian version of the Buena Vista Social Club -- but even better because the centerpiece is... accordions! :-) Several styles including paseo, merengue and son, with distinctive percussion. A couple at tracks are at incredibly fast tempos -- but most of the 15 songs are bright and jovial.

North Texas Jazz: Ann took her undergraduate degree at North Texas State College, now the University of North Texas, in Denton. While Austin is the place that usually comes to mind when you say "music" and "Texas," the University of North Texas in Denton has trained dozens of renowned jazz performers, including Lyle Mays (piano, The Pat Metheny Group), Lou Marini (sax, The Blues Brothers), Adolfo Acosta (Tower of Power), Marc Johnson (ECM bassist), Herb Ellis (Verve guitarist), and dozens of others. For a great sampler, try North Texas Jazz: Fifty Years, a four-CD compilation mostly featuring performances by the One O'Clock Lab Band (so named because it features the most accomplished big band players whose class meets at 1 p.m. - less accomplished or up-and-coming performers are in the Two O'Clock and later bands).