Moods And Sketches
Catalog #: BR8945
Release Date: May 13, 2016
21st CenturyJazzSolo InstrumentalPianoOn his second Big Round Records release MOODS AND SKETCHES, composer Sebastiano Meloni presents 12 improvisations for piano. Meloni’s primary interest is in making improvisation, both as a composer and as a performer. Performed on a Fazioli grand piano F278, each piece explores the different facets of improvisational language, each having a specific methodical theme.
Powell Canyons
Catalog #: BR8949
Release Date: December 1, 2017
21st CenturyJazzOrchestralOrchestraPianoRenowned Nevada-based Floridian composer, author, and teacher, Henry Wolking follows up his recent and miraculous IN SEA, with a Big Round Records re-release of POWELL CANYONS: AND OTHER ORCHESTRAL JAZZ WORKS. First released in 2000 by MMC Recordings, this stunning and effervescent album of orchestral jazz compositions is a quintessential key to understanding Wolking’s work and nature inspired aesthetic.
Goin’ Home: A Retrospective
Catalog #: BR8946
Release Date: June 10, 2016
21st CenturyJazzCelloPercussionPianoGOIN’ HOME… A RETROSPECTIVE is pianist and composer Gay Pearson’s second release on Big Round Records. The album is a live recording of her most recent annual chamber-jazz concert, featuring an eclectic ensemble with Gay Pearson on piano, John Lockwood on bass, Phil McGowan on drums, Tracy McMullen on saxophone, Lea Pearson on flute, and Shannon Allen on cello. This varied ensemble performs a wide variety of music with different instrumental combinations, from Astor Piazzolla to classic tunes of Chick Corea, Harold Arlen and Jerome Kern, to more contemporary original compositions by Pearson herself.
In Sea
Catalog #: BR8944
Release Date: March 11, 2016
21st CenturyJazzBig BandIts evident from hearing the jazz big band works of composer, arranger, conductor and trombonist Henry Wolking’s debut album on Big Round Records, IN SEA, that he effectively mixes complexity with simplicity in his jazz harmonies and colorful orchestrations that make for an exciting and memorable listening experience. The inspired solo work of band members and guest artists add to the sincere and fresh cosmopolitan character of the recording.
The Enchanted Guitar Forest
Catalog #: BR8943
Release Date: February 12, 2016
21st CenturyChamberGuitarTransporting the listener to a mysterious and enthralling sonic world, composers and guitarists Alex Lubet and Maja Radovanlija present their debut release on Big Round Records, THE ENCHANTED GUITAR FOREST, which captures the duo’s Eastern European, specifically Jewish and Balkan, heritage.
Big Round Sound Vol. 1
Catalog #: BR8942
Release Date: July 10, 2015
20th Century21st CenturyChamberJazzGuitarHarpPianoBig Round Record's first installment of its compilation series, BIG ROUND SOUND VOL. 1, presents a deep cross-section of the label's contemporary and eclectic catalog. From jazz and world music to folk, fusion, and progressive rock, this album features performances by Tony R. Clef, the Oscuro Quintet, Andy Jaffe and Branford Marsalis, Sophie Dunér, the Larksong Trio, Anne Vanschothorst, Juan Álamo, Jean-Philippe Grégoire, and more in works by Christina Rusnak, Svjetlana Bukvich, Sebastiano Meloni, Ecco La Musica, Bunny Beck, and others.
A Sinister Endeavor
Catalog #: BR8941
Release Date: July 10, 2015
21st CenturyJazzCelloPercussionPianoOn her debut Big Round Records release, A SINISTER ENDEAVOR, composer and pianist Gay Pearson presents a collection of works that highlight her eclectic quintet - consisting of piano, bass, drums, flute, and cello - and their colorful, introspective, and energetic performances. Recorded live in Newburyport MA, this album presents original works by Pearson, including Zonal and Meridional Flow, with its classical counterpoint and 4-part polyphony; the energetic solo piano piece Cirrus High; and An Ionian Emitter, which uses complex rhythms and syncopation.
Detours
Catalog #: BR8938
Release Date: May 12, 2015
20th Century21st CenturyJazzPercussionPianoDETOURS, the debut Big Round Records release from percussionist Joe Porter and pianist Joel Goodfellow, showcases the jazz duo's capacity for collaboration and improvisation, with animated and dynamic versions of well-known film and literary compositions.
Chat Chill Highline
Catalog #: BR8937
Release Date: November 11, 2014
21st CenturyJazzBig BandOn her debut Big Round Records release, CHAT CHILL HIGHLINE, composer Christina Rusnak presents works arranged for big band and large jazz ensemble, illustrating manners in which we interact with others and our environments such as conversing, observing, and absorbing. Composed during the rising popularity of internet chatrooms, Chat reflects on the energy and the sounds of movement, the multitude of voices, and the interweaving of conversations created in virtual and real social gatherings.
The Daydream
Catalog #: BR8936
Release Date: August 12, 2014
21st CenturyChildren's MusicVocal MusicGuitarVoiceTHE DAYDREAM is the debut release on Big Round Records of children's music by The Daydream, a family music group consisting of Scott and Cathy Liebenow with their children McKenna, Mark, and Mia. Combining their music education and composition experience, the Liebenows present original, engaging, and educational songs for the whole family. Songs like My Amazing Nose, Billions of Bugs, What's in My Backpack, and 10 Little Bowling Pins teach kids about the wonders of the world around them while tunes like Fun on this Train, Pop Goes the Popcorn, and My Cell Phone are enjoyable sing-alongs. Entertaining and informative, this album is geared towards the development of a child's appreciation of music and the world, whether it be in the classroom or at home.
Sounds From The Delta
Catalog #: BR8935
Release Date: June 1, 2014
21st CenturyJazzGuitarPercussionSaxophoneFrom Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club de France to the American jazz players who immigrated to immerse themselves in its vibrant musical scene, Paris has been an epicenter of haute jazz culture. Jean-Philippe Grégoire has been a staple of the Paris jazz scene for many years and on his debut Big Round Records release SOUNDS FROM THE DELTA the guitarist/composer presents a refined and inspired hybrid of French and American jazz styles.
From the Spirit
Catalog #: BR8934
Release Date: May 27, 2014
21st CenturyJazzGuitarPianoSaxophoneBirdland. The Village Vanguard. The Jazz Standard. Just a few of the New York clubs that have saturated the city's streets with the smooth sounds of jazz. Within this tradition, New York-native pianist and composer Bunny Beck presents seven cool and swinging original compositions as well as an arrangement of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart" on her second release on Big Round Records, FROM THE SPIRIT. Featuring saxophonist Matt Blostein, guitarist Ed MacEachen, bassist Tom Hubbard, and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, with Bunny Beck on piano, the Bunny Beck Jazz Ensemble highlights crisp and expressive improvisations while occasionally breaking into Latin rhythms. This album captures the relaxed and refined atmosphere emanating from those New York clubs.
Midgard
Catalog #: BR8939
Release Date: June 9, 2015
21st CenturyChamberFluteGuitarLa Mandragore, a historical five-member ensemble from Québec, Canada, imagines the music of the Vikings had they had the time and leisure to notate it. Playing folk instruments from the Mediterranean and Scandinavian regions, and singing songs and tales in Swedish, Norwegian, Old Norse, and French, the ensemble presents an authentic and eclectic collection of Viking-inspired music on their debut Big Round Records release, MIDGARD.
Piano Works of Kenneth A. Kuhn
Catalog #: BR8954
Release Date: October 12, 2018
21st CenturySolo InstrumentalPianoComposer and pianist Kenneth Kuhn, after finding the music he wanted to hear did not exist, strove to bring his own musical visions to life. The result, PIANO WORKS OF KENNETH KUHN, is a cathartic journey through the memories and imagination of the composer. Romantic in quality, thematic, memorable, and deeply moving, Kuhn’s latest work leaves listeners feeling enriched and enchanted.
Birth of a City
Catalog #: BR8956
Release Date: July 26, 2019
21st CenturyJazzPercussionPianoString QuartetEven though the tracks on BIRTH OF A CITY are loosely grouped by their titles, the recording is very much a concept album. Haney, himself an accomplished pianist who also studied composition, scored the pieces for a kind of string quartet (violin – viola – cello – double bass), interspersed by varying quantities of brass instruments and percussion. Naturally, as one would expect from this kind of music, all works are scored with exactitude – for the most part, that is. Remarkably, Haney grants the performers a great amount of improvisatory freedom – indubitably owing to his own background in jazz, the genre which definitely and definitively shines through in all his compositions.
Escapade
Catalog #: BR8957
Release Date: June 28, 2019
21st CenturyChamberClarinetLarge EnsembleTromboneAs a composer, Joseph T. Spaniola has written works for band, chamber ensembles, orchestra, solo instruments, voice, choir, and electronic tape. That astonishing versatility is on full display on ESCAPADE, his first release with Big Round Records. ESCAPADE opens with its title track, performed by The US Air Force Academy Band, which launches into an unrestrained musical exploration inspired by the composition’s first four pitches.
A Bissell Rhythm
Catalog #: BR8955
Release Date: February 8, 2019
21st CenturyJazzClarinetPercussionPianoA BISSEL RHYTHM is composer and clarinetist Paul Green’s PARMA Recordings debut, although it marks his second recorded exploration into the fusion between jazz and Jewish music. A performance at Merkin Concert Hall resulted in the New York Times extolling his talents: “Like a cobra intent on doing some charming of its own, the clarinetist Paul Green weaved, darted and hovered over his instrument…conjuring gorgeous sounds.”
Sweet Spontaneous
Catalog #: BR8952
Release Date: July 13, 2018
21st CenturyJazzPercussionPianoSaxophoneConcert pianist and composer Michael Arnowitt, assisted by ImproVisions Jazz, makes his Big Round Records debut with SWEET SPONTANEOUS, the title drawn from a poem by e.e.cummings. This two-disc jazz album features 14 of Arnowitt’s own compositions with the composer himself at the piano, joined by a dozen jazz notables including Yosvany Terry on alto sax, Lucas Pino on tenor sax, Dave Smith on trumpet, and Colin Stranahan on drums.
The More You Know
Catalog #: BR8951
Release Date: March 9, 2018
21st CenturyJazzSolo InstrumentalPianoExuberant and exciting is the Big Round Records debut of big band pianist and composer Ron Paley. This is not “just another pops album.” Paley’s work is cool, clever, and ridiculously fun. Seven of the ten tracks on THE MORE YOU KNOW are completely composed, arranged, and performed by Ron Paley.
Rosewood Café
Catalog #: BR8950
Release Date: February 9, 2018
21st CenturyJazzGuitarOboePianoFusion lovers will enjoy the PARMA recordings debut of oboist Margaret Herlehy in this fresh, new collection of Latin-inspired jazz. Uniquely, oboe is the central instrument in each composition. Herlehy not only meets the demands of such a challenge but exceeds them.