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James P. Johnson: Victory Stride

James P. Johnson: Victory Stride

  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Total time: 70:27
  • Label: MusicMasters
  • SPAR: DDD
  • Availability: In stock
  • Item #: 5172763
  • List Price: $17.98
  • Member Price: $11.98
You Save: $6.00

Review

Famous as the "Father of the Harlem Stride Piano," and the writer of 16 musical revues, James P. Johnson composed many symphonic works on the American experience. The Concordia Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop, with pianist Leslie Stifelman, performs six of Johnson's main works with great vigor and feeling. The Victory Stride (1944) is a foot-tapping swing tune, featuring a minor key { heme} played by the saxes backed by a mellismatic string section; a terrific piano, clarinet, trombone and trumpet {reak} takes us back to the '40s bands which were keeping up the national spirit during wartime. The four movement Harlem Symphony (1932) takes us on a Subway Journey through various ethnic neighborhoods, sweeps the listener away with a 1930s-style {allad}, April in Harlem, orchestrated in lush tones, then provides some toe-tapping entertainment in the Night Club, and concludes with a syncopated spiritual in the Baptist Mission, set to a walking bass and often rocking {ackbeat}. The two-movement Concerto Jazz A Mine (1934) is built on the significant styles of American piano -- {oogie-woogie}, {

agtime}, city blues, stride -- and peppered with concerto-isms, like octave and scale runs, and sequencing chromatic passages. The second movement is a wonderfully moody ballad that could easily become a "standard." Pianist Stifelman interprets the work with great feeling and a richly modulated tone. The American Suite (1934) greatly extends the dissonances and melodic possibilities of W.C. Handy's St. Louis Blues. Drums -- A Symphonic Poem (ca. 1942) opens with a terrific tympani solo as if designed for a swing drummer. Johnson's famous Charleston (1923) is presented here in an orchestration by David Rimelis, based on a 1947 New Orleans band broadcast with Johnson at the piano, plus tap dancer(!). ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide

Read About This Recording

Marin Alsop, who was recently named Gramophone Magazine's Artist of the Year, is one of the most imaginative conductors on the music scene today. She has the wonderful ability to discover and explore new or forgotten areas of the repertoire, and that is exactly what she has done in recording The Symphonic Music of James P. Johnson.

Johnson (1894-1955) was arguably the most important black musician in New York during the 1920s. Best-known as the Father of Stride Piano, a style born of Ragtime, he was also a fabulous orchestrator who scored at least 16 musical revues during that roaring decade. Though hugely successful, Johnson wanted to be known as a serious musician, and during the 1930s and 1940s he composed some fabulously evocative works.

Alsop and the Concordia Orchestra bring his great music to life having reconstructed the lost music and give terrific performances of the stylish Victory Stride, the fascinating Harlem Symphony and the quirky Concerto Jazz-A-Mine.

-Jacob Anthony

Quotes

All jazz greats of the time, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fats Waller and Art Tatum, regarded him as their musical father ... his playing was unparalleled. -Columbia Journal of America Studies

Contents

JHS Exclusive!

Victory Stride (1944); Harlem Symphony (1932): Subway Journey, April in Harlem, Night Club, Baptist Mission; Concerto Jazz-A-Mine for Piano and Orchestra (1934); American Symphonic Suite (1934) (Based on the St. Louis Blues by W.C. Handy): Lament; Drums - A Symphonic Poem (Ca. 1942); Charleston (1923).

Leslie Stifelman, Piano; Concordia Orchestra; Marin Alsop, Conductor and Artistic Director.

Tracks + Soundclips

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James P. Johnson: Victory Stride
1. Victory Stride by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 04:11
2. Harlem Symphony by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 03:59
3. Harlem Symphony by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 07:44
4. Harlem Symphony by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 03:45
5. Harlem Symphony by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 06:21
6. Concerto for piano & orchestra, "Jazz a Mine" by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 09:13
7. Concerto for piano & orchestra, "Jazz a Mine" by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 08:14
8. American Symphonic Suite, based on W. C. Handy's St. Louis Blues by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 08:53
9. Drums, symphonic poem by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 09:25
10. Charleston, (from Runnin' Wild) by Johnson, James [01] P.
Orchestra: Concordia Orchestra
Conductor: Marin Alsop
Piano: Leslie Stifelman
Length: 08:17

Performances

Victory Stride by Johnson, James [01] P.
Harlem Symphony by Johnson, James [01] P.
Concerto for piano & orchestra, "Jazz a Mine" by Johnson, James [01] P.
American Symphonic Suite, based on W. C. Handy's St. Louis Blues - Lament by Johnson, James [01] P.
Drums, symphonic poem by Johnson, James [01] P.
Charleston, (from Runnin' Wild) by Johnson, James [01] P.
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