For the first #DrewsPicks in a while I share a wonderful recording of Ravel's delightfully twisted La Valse.
This recording is Andre Previn conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in 1975.
This piece is like a waltz seen through the eyes of David Lynch. And it's only 13 minutes.
Haven't done a #DrewsPicks in a while and this is calming my election nerves so I'll pass it along. This groove is mesmerizing.
This track features some all-time #jazz greats.
Wayne Shorter — tenor saxophone
McCoy Tyner — piano
Reggie Workman — bass
Elvin Jones — drums
I haven't done a #DrewsPicks classical recommendation in a bit.
Josef Suk is a national treasure in the Czech Republic who doesn't get programmed in the US too often but shouild!
I discovered this piece yesterday and I've listened to it probably 10 times while doing work in the last 24 hours.
The best composers use an orchestra like an instrument, creating a seemingly infinite combination of sounds + timbres.
This Scherzo Fantastique is a great example of that.
1/2
#NowPlaying The gloriously stupendous 6/19/04 Piper. #phish #DrewsPicks
This jam is Christmas morning when you're 5 years old levels of magical.
The sustained intensity is superhero stuff across the board and is NOT easy to do. If you hear a youth orchestra play a Mahler or Bruckner symphony, the louds are all really loud, right out of the gate. It feels like you're getting yelled at after a while, no matter how pretty the sounds are that they're making.
1/
Should be doing work but can't stop listening to Aerosmith playing live in Central Park in 1975.
The heaviness of the groove when the entire band kicks in at the 1:10 mark here is otherworldly.
All the great rock bands through history have the ability to play with an incredible weight while also aggressively pushing forward (even though the tempo doesn't budge even one bit.)
This is all of that.
https://archive.org/details/Aerosmith-live-at-Central-Park-Aug-29-1975/03.mp3
Aerosmith
Beethoven Symphony No. 2 doesn't get enough love.
Here is a live performance from Royal Albert Hall featuring young musicians from the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, an orchestra that consists of musicians from countries across the Spanish world and the Middle East—of Egyptian, Iranian, Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, and Hispanic background.
This performance is wonderful.
You ready for a scorching hot take?
Charlie Parker was really good. #jazz #DrewsPicks
https://youtu.be/8wGJpbPKbz8?si=vJas0LCtvadWPhYI
(Imagine not following me here and missing that kind of insight. I feel bad for those folks.)
Today's #DrewsPicks features the wonderful duo of Shlomo Mintz on #violin and Yefim Bronfman on #piano playing the incredible music of #Prokofiev.
The first movement is dark, brooding, and intense and was actually played at Prokofiev's funeral.
This YouTube video features the musical score as it goes so you can watch how the two parts intertwine. You can also see how sparse the writing is at the very beginning and how much storytelling is happening with so few notes.
#NowPlaying 10/9/77 - No not that one! Piano goddess Martha Argerich in recital in Zurich. And while she didn't play a Scarlet/Fire, the setlist was still a banger.
Bartók: Sonata, Sz.80
Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op.12
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit
Chopin: Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op.60
Chopin: Nocturne No.13 in C minor, Op.48-1
Chopin: Scherzo No.3 in C-sharp minor, Op.39
Ravel: Jeux d'eau
D. Scarlatti: Sonata in D minor, K.141=L.422
https://classical.music.apple.com/us/album/1683825984?l=en-US
Today's #DrewsPicks is from the legendary Lionel Hampton.
I feel a connection to him for two reasons.
One is that my mentor, Sam Pilafian, toured with him and said it was incredible.
The second is that I got to sit maybe 10 feet away from him when he performed in the Jazz Tent at Jazzfest in 2000.
He was 92 and it took him probably 90 seconds and the aid of two people to walk up to the marimba. But once he got there he flashed a smile and then ripped up his set.
Drew but 7/27/25 GA ➡️ Reprise