The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 70

6-E Thursday, March 31, 1988 The Philadelphia Inquire NEW RECORDINGS Second from O'Kanes; jazzman reworks pop hits; a Chopin sonata (Nimbus NI 5088 think the latter will be his interpretation of the Tymes' "So Much in Love," but it's a chilly reading of the song. He does better with the melodramatic art-rock that's always been closest to his heart; as overwrought as they are, "I Have a Love" and "The Promise" are more convincing performances. Jazz Reviewed by Francis Davis and a lyrical elegy based on the same thematic material. Classical Reviewed by Lesley Valdcs CHOPIN: SONATA No. 3 (Op.

S8), SCHERZO NO. 2 (Op. 31) Andrea Lucchcsini, piano (EMI, CDC 7 49063 2 Lucchesini, born in 1965, shows strong command of the keyboard here, in which a lyric impulse and tonal beauty take precedence over obvious technical power. In the B-minor sonata, the "Largo" is perhaps too carefully drawn, at times losing its rhythmic thread, but it has a quiet power. In the quicker movements, the treble runs are silvery, the bass lines effectively weighted.

Rhythmic propulsion and a good instinct for rubato characterize the B-flat minor scherzo. The recording captures such a range of dynamics, users with less than state-of-the-art speakers will have to turn the volume to the maximum in soft passages, way down for the loud sections. The piano has a rough unevenness to its bass, and the acoustic ambiance is dry. BUM proach. Either the bigger works on this disc have been recorded in several takes, breaking the momentum, or this is a pianist best appreciated in a live setting where his shaping of big works can be better understood.

The showpieces: The Paganini etude "La Campanella" and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 offer virtuosity but are short on excitement. Again, the piano disappoints with less than ideal depth, and the recording ambiance lacks warmth and spaciousness. 11" 03 ceil PURCELL: ANTHEMS FOR THE ROYAL CHAPEL Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, directed bv Richard Marlowe (Conifer CDCF 1S2 There's an exceptional bloom and beauty to this choir, of which the music is deserving. England's master of the baroque, Henry Purcell, lived from 1659 to 1695, a span as tragically brief as Mozart's.

All of the anthems here written in a liturgical style perfected for Charles H's visits to chapel were composed before Purcell was 25. Among the uplifting and calming pieces arc several psalm settings; the chromatic shadings in "Man That Is Born of Woman" and the eight-part hymn "Hear My Prayer, 0 Lord" are especially moving. Some anthems float on subtle organ accompaniment by Charles Matthews or Graham Jackson. This CD was recorded in Trinity Chapel at Cambridge University, and the sound is natural and spacious. STRAVINSKY: PETROUCHKA, SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gennadi Rozhestvensky Wur VM "V-'- I unrelenting tuba bass line.

With mood-indigo horns and caravan drums, Turre's "Duke's Fantasy" answers the musical question of what Duke Ellington might have written for this band. The title track, also written by Turre and featuring a dark-hued Bowie trumpet solo, is a chordal meditation that shows that this novel instrumentation is fit for more than spoof not that a good chuckle isn't sometimes just what the doctor ordered. DISTRICT SIX To Be Free (Editions EG This album from England fails as anti-apartheid polemic because the chants of "Ke a Rona" to the notwithstanding the music is largely instrumental and too much given to abstraction to support programmatic weight. But the album succeeds as testimony to the galvanizing effect that such South African exiles as Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana, Johnny Dyani and Lewis T. Moholo had on the British free jazz scene in the 1960s.

Pianist McGregor is here, along with trumpeter Jim Dvorak, drummer Brian Abrahams, bassist Bill Katz and saxophonist Harrison Smith. CONNIE CROTHERS RICHARD TABNIK Duo Dimension (New ArtistsNew Music Distribution Service ALAN BROADBENT TRIO Another Time (Trend Pianists Crothers and Broadbent, both of whom were among the late Lennie Tristano's students, affirm Tristano's philosophy of looking for hidden nooks and crannies in familiar songs. Joined by Tabnik, an alto saxophonist who echoes Tristano-ites Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, Crothers turns in knotty variations on pop standards, as well as engrossing free improvisations that recall such groundbreaking Tristano works as "Intuition" and "Digression." Broadbent, at the helm of a trio featuring bassist Putter Smith and drummer Frank H. Gibson, salutes the master with a robust interpretation of his "317 E. 32nd Street" Pop Reviewed by Ken Tucker THE O'KANES Tired of the Runnin' (Columbia The team of Jamie O'Hara and Kieran Kane has successfully overcome the sophomore jinx their second album deepens the pleasures of the country-rock-folk synthesis that they introduced last year.

Their harmonies are still redolent of an Everly Brothers influence, but their songwriting is now idiosyncratically original, combining folk melodies with edgy, emotionally ambivalent lyrics to create a series of adventurous sometimes moving, sometimes florid songs. VARIOUS ARTISTS The Best of House Music (Profile House music, a rhythm and blues trend that emerged from Chicago dance clubs a couple of years ago, is disco for the '80s: tightly syncopated rhythms over funky bass-guitar figures, with vocalists adding pleasant romantic noise that rarely amounts to anything you'd call a lyric. But at its best here on J.M. Silk's "Jack Your Body," Screamin' Rachel's "Fun With Bad Boys" and especially "Do It Properly" by 2 Puerto Ricans, a Black Man and a Dominican the music is sexy, high-spirited exhilaration. STEVE WARINER I Should Be With You (MCA The country singer and guitarist surrounds himself with some Los Angeles pop-rock veterans bassist Leland Sklar, drummer Russ Kunkel and keyboardist Billy Payne and comes up with a smooth country-pop album.

One of the best songs here, "Runnin'," was co-written with still another L.A.-rock veteran, Wendy Waldman. ART GARFUNKEL Lefty (Columbia Garfunkel's voice sounds terrific, full of strength and yearning for romance, for a hit. He seems to Rozhestvensky, a frequent guest conductor internationally, is highly regarded in the Soviet Union, which formed an orchestra, the Symphony of the Soviet Ministry of Culture, for him. Here he applies a free romantic approach to the popu-lar ballet, taking the colorful story--at a good deal slower pace, for instance, than Claudio Abbadio's cent tour de force reading with the- same orchestra. There is a to the wind melodies in the scenes that one might argue makes the percussion and brass flare-ups more ominous.

Overall, this is a'C moody, enigmatic reading whose visceral energy erupts from a placid background rather than escalating from the exotic tale. The playing seems hampered by the slower tempos and thicker textures and occa- -sionally under par. Or is this listen-; er misunderstanding an emphatic Russian accent? The symphony, too, seems to lumber along quite differ- ently from the limber handsprings of other accounts in this weightier view of the usually exhilarating neo-classic. MANUEL BARRUECO: DE FALLA, PONCE, RODRIGO Manuel Barrueco, guitar (EMI CDC 7 49228 2 A major talent, the Cuban-Ameri- can Barrueco is a former student of Aaron Shearer. He lives in New Jer- sey but, like a number of American classical guitarists, is better known-'-' in Europe.

This disc should improve' his lot in the United States. The; playing is lucid and finely colored, growing out of a secure, keen musi-'. cianship. Barrueco offers his own arrangements of pieces from De Fal-la's Three Cornered Hat and Omag--gio per chitarra, Ponce's meridional and Rodrigo's best works, Tres piezas espanolas and Invocation et Danse. The beauty of tone suggests Christopher Parken- ing, but Barrueco's rhythmic pro- I-portions and use of nuance are on a higher level.

This is a good compan-ion to his arrangements of Grana- dos and Albeniz on Turnabout. RATINGS: Excellent Good Fair Poor Classical albums fated on performance and sound. Top pop albums 1. DIRTY DANCING Sound track (13 weeks at No. 1) 2.

GEORGE MICHAEL Faith 3. MICHAEL JACKSON BarJ 4. INXS Kick 5. TIFFANY Tiffany 6. DAVID LEE ROTH Skyscraper 7.

DEF LEPPARD Hysteria 8. DEBBIE GIBSON Out of the Blue 9. ROBERT PLANT Now and Zen 10. GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM Sound track LESTER BOWIE'S BRASS FANTASY Twilight Dreams (Venture Three years ago, it looked as though Lester Bowie, the good doctor from the Art Ensemble of Chicago, had discovered a cure for modern jazz's chronic anhedonia (fear of fun). His prescription was tongue-in-cheek deconstructions of recent and vintage soul hits by eight brass men (plus drummer Phillip Wilson) united in mayhem as Brass Fantasy.

But jokes have a way of wearing thin, and the humor seems contrived on Twilight Dreams, Brass Fantasy's third album. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" sounds more dated than the golden oldies by Ray Charles and Lloyd Price, so maybe it's time for Bowie to renew his Billboard subscription. How about something by Lisa Lisa or Prince next time out? In the meantime, originals by group members Frank I-acy and Steve Turre are Twilight Dreams' saving grace. Lacy's "Vibe Waltz" is full of raggedly lovely countermelodies and brass chorales, and his "I Am With You" is jazz you can actually dance to, thanks to its hand-clap beats and LISZT: SONATA, PAGANINI ETUDES NOS. 3 AND 4 Andrea Lucchesini, piano (EMI CDC 7 490673 29 Lucchesini's recording of Liszt is satisfying for many of the same reasons as the Chopin, but the Chopin disc is a better match of talent and repertoire.

Lucchesini has the fingers for poetry and drama and clearly states the sonata's ideas, but the overall structure is thwarted by a somewhat leisurely, episodic ap (akc J5 From Billboard Magazine 4288 19S8 ft Top jazz albums 1. DIANE SCHUUR, COUNT BASIE Diane Schuur-Count Basie (21 weeks at No. 1) 2. JOE WILLIAMS Every Night 3. WYNTON MARSALIS Standard Time 4.

BRANFORD MARSALIS Renaissance S. BILL WATROUS Reflections 6. MIKE METHENY Kaleidoscope 7. HENRY BUTLER The Village 8. HENRY JOHNSON Future Excursions 9.

GERRY MULLIGAN Symphonic Dreams 10. DAVID GRISMAN Svingin' With Svend From Billboard Magazine 4288 1988- Top compact discs 1. ROBERT PLANT Now and Zen 2. GEORGE MICHAEL Faith 3. THE BEATLES Past Masters, Vol.

4. DIRTY DANCING Sound track 5. INXS Kick 6. THE BEATLES Past Masters, Vol. 1 7.

TALKING HEADS Naked 8. MICHAEL JACKSON Bad 9. STING Nothing Like the Sun 10. TERENCE TRENT ARBY The Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby From Billboard Magazine 42'88 1988 MTVplaylist SPECIAL PROGRAMMING Live at the Ritz Guns 'n' Roses Saturday, 1 1 p.m. HEAVY ROTATION Aerosmith, Angel Terence Trent D'Arby.

Wishing iviichaoi Boiton, (Sittin on) we Uockwpt the Bay. Belinda Carlisle, Get Weak Z. Cher, Found Someone I Del Leppard, Hysteria Debbie Gibson, Out of the Blue George Harrison, When We Was Fab' INXS, Devil Inside I Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror Kiss, Reason to Live Richard Marx, Endless Summer Nighn John Cougar Mellencamp, Check It Out. George Michael, Father Figure Billy Ocean, Get Outta My Dreams David Lee Roth, Just Like Paradise Rick Springfield, Rock of Life George Thorogood, You Talk Too Much. Jody Watley, Some Kind of Lover White Lion.

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