The compact disc will never die. Yes, CD sales keep falling
and most listeners can’t discern any difference between a high-bitrate
MP3 and a CD, yet the compact disc will survive, not as
mass-manufactured product, but as a curatorial object, a compass to
guide the ears through the centuries of music that lurk on our shelves,
iPods, and external hard drives. Gradually, the CD (or CD-R) will
become a pocket exhibition of sound, much like Victrola
Favorites: Artifacts from Bygone Days (Dust-to-Digital).
Curated by longtime collectors Robert Millis and Wall of Sound
coproprietor Jeffery Taylor, Victrola Favorites is a stupendous
trove of 78 rpm recordings from Japan, Greece, Egypt, and almost about
everywhere else; careful sequencing by Millis and Taylor reveals
relationships among music separated by time and geography. “The
Farmer’s Dream,” a gem for solo guitar strummed by Frank Ferera in
1924, shares the same wobbly bent tones as the Burmese musician
performing the ode “Shan Village” on electric guitar. To dig deeper
into vintage music, find The Berlin
Phonogramm-Archiv on Wergo and check out labels like Yazoo, SWP
Records, Ocora, and Arhoolie.
I’m also enamored by two new archival discoveries. Horace
Silver Live at Newport ’58 (Blue Note) captures the master
hard-bop pianist delivering bluesy solos on classics like “Tippin'” and
laying the foundations of cop-show jazz with the serpentine funk of
“Señor Blues.” Fans of electronic music must hear The
League of Automatic Music Composers 1978–1983 (New
World). Perhaps the first group to make music with networked computers,
the League’s delirious swirl of video game–like beeps foreshadow
8-bit chipmusic and current cult figures like Fennesz.
Of course, a few prize discs simply inject new life into the
standard repertory. On Handel: Concerti Grossi Op. 6 (Telarc), Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque make Handel bounce, caper,
glide, and sing. 
Thurs 2/14
THE ART OF JAZZ
Earshot Jazz enlists three vocalists—Beth Winter, Katy Bourne,
and Gail Pettis—to sing Valentine’s Day—themed standards
such as the perennial “My Funny Valentine.” Pianist Randy Halberstadt
helms the backing trio. Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave, 547-6763, 5:30—7:30 pm, free with museum admission.
SINATRA AT THE SANDS
Sinatra tribute singer Joey Jewell and Jim Kerl’s Swing Session big
band revive songs from the legendary Sinatra at the Sands album, complete with Quincy Jones’s original arrangements. Prices
include dinner and drinks (I initially mistyped “drunks”—those
might be there, too). Reservations advised. The Triple Door, 216
Union St, 838-4333, sets at 7 (all ages) and 9:30 pm (21+),
$45/$80.
Fri 2/15
LINDA KLINE LAMAR
What compares to the viola’s mellow, sometimes morose, tender tone?
Certainly not the flashier violin. For this solo concert, Kline Lamar,
a Boise-based violist, plays Joan Tower’s “Wild Purple,” Max Reger’s
Suite No. 1 in G minor, and “Chahagir” by Alan
Hovhaness. Brechemin Auditorium in the Music Building, UW
Campus, 685-8384, 7:30 pm, $10.
ANDRE FERIANTE
The sonic equivalent of “historical romance” novels, this
singer/guitarist plays unabashedly romantic music rooted in flamenco
and classical guitar. Blessed with 1920s matinee-idol looks (a pouting
gaze and goatee worthy of Hollywood’s classic pirate movies), Feriante
frames lyrics of love, longing, and rarefied lust with swooning strums
and florid picking. Recital Hall at Benaroya, 200 University St,
292-2787, 8 pm, $35.
SEATTLE IMPROVISED MUSIC FESTIVAL
The second weekend of North America’s longest-running improvised
music festival has a slew of musicians including Greg Sinibaldi (Fri
Feb 15) cult Downtown trumpeter Lesli Dalaba (Sun Feb 17 at Gallery
1412), first-call percussionist Greg Campbell, and yours truly.
Stéphane Rives, an astonishing French improviser who compels the
soprano saxophone to make starkly minimal electronic music, performs
all three nights. Fourth-floor Chapel Performance Space, Good
Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 8 pm, $10—$25
sliding-scale donation.
Sat 2/16
ACADEMY OF ANCIENT MUSIC
Touring behind their winning disc Handel Organ Concertos Op.
4 (harmonia mundi), the AAM plays on period instruments. Richard
Egarr leads this superb chamber orchestra in various solo, double, and
triple concertos for harpsichord, violin, and flute by Bach, Telemann,
and Handel. Don’t miss it. Preconcert talk starts at 7 pm. Town
Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 325-7066, 8 pm, $25—$40.
Sun 2/17
RUSSIAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA
When they rolled into Benaroya back in 2006, I was enthralled by the
RNO’s aggressive, muscular sound. Count on meat-and-potatoes Russian
repertory: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, aka the
“Pathétique,” and two by Rachmaninoff, the Rhapsody on a
Theme of Paganini and one of my favorite orchestral tone poems,
The Isle of the Dead. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St,
215-4747, 2 pm, $30—$85.
CHICKENHED CHURCH
KRGA lurks in this oddly titled series with Solvent Abuse
(appealingly described as “scum minimalism”) and Fake Meth Labs. Using
Max/MSP, KRGA makes shimmering electronic music that suggests an array
of old Moog modular synths set on “Stun.” Mr. Spots Chai House,
5463 Leary Way NW, 297-2424, 6—9 pm, free.
