Count Basie - Keni Noble - Barclay James Harvest

Count Basie - Secrets
Class is not water! And this one here, class, really has a lot to sell. A great one who defined - along with very few others - the grammar and syntax of Swing for big bands in the 1930s.
Supreme pianist, as well as band leader, played the piano in an extremely particular way, single notes, few but scattered in unconventional ways and times.
Here he gives us a splendid piece for rhythm and melody, chiseled by the instruments as best it could not. One of the great musicians of the twentieth century.

Keni Noble - Ooh Oh
Shout what a voice! Definitely unknown singer, but rather interesting, for the dark and deep voice, which touches the soul. Song not transcendental, but very well arranged, leaving space above all to her, who really deserves it and manages to transform a normal ballad into something more. I'm almost looking for the record.

Barclay James Harvest - Hymn
Never heard, if not the name. Yet how good. 1970s prog, with a sinuous and fascinating melody, arrangement by augmentation.
Pathos, epic, almost heroic music, which starts slowly and then flies away, they have collected two concerts respectively of 250 thousand and 175 thousand people in Berlin, 8 years apart from each other, as well as a career in the second row , but with various awards.
Here I like the shot that this music has, the arrival of the winds lifts you up and makes you fly. Great track.

Gianni Giletti
NP October 2021