Audio CD review:
Adiemus, Karl Jenkins, Mary Carewe, Belinda Sykes, Martin Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Pamela Thorby, Mark Feltham, Nigel Hitchcock, Richard Harwood - Vocalise

Adiemus, Karl Jenkins, Mary Carewe, Belinda Sykes, Martin Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Pamela Thorby, Mark Feltham, Nigel Hitchcock, Richard Harwood - Vocalise

Band: Adiemus, Karl Jenkins, Mary Carewe, Belinda Sykes, Martin Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Pamela Thorby, Mark Feltham, Nigel Hitchcock, Richard Harwood Title: Vocalise Rating: Release Date: 27 January, 2004 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Rondo 2: The Protector 3: Allegrettango 4: Dona Nobris Pacem Part I 5: Dona Nobris Pacem Part II 6: Akruzam 7: Schwanda The Bagpiper 8: Exit Schwanda 9: Bendigedig 10: Schubert's Dance 11: Berceuse Pour Un Enphant Solitaire 12: Aria 13: Mysterious Are Your Ways 14: Mi Contra Fa, Diabolus in Musica 15: Vocalise 16: Boogie Woogie Llanoogie (Encore)

Editoral Review We also experience brief encounters with jazz guitar (from Martin Taylor), improvisational saxophone (Nigel Hitchcock), Middle East incantations, even backwater harmonica. On Vocalise, the fifth installment in his Adiemus series, composer Karl Jenkins presents his first discernable lyrics (an invocation sung in English on "The Protector") and his first arrangements, quite eclectic, of classical repertoire (imagine a movement of Beethoven's 7th symphony recast as a tango). It is indeed a jumble, and at times Vocalise (i. e. , "wordless song") evokes impressions of intermingled jigsaw puzzles where an abundance of pieces never quite coalesce into a whole. Jenkins' most distinctive audio element, his exuberant Munchkins-from-Africa choir singing in a nonliteral phonetic language, is again on display and is best appreciated in small doses (vocalist Miriam Stockley, a centerpiece of early Adiemus works, does not take part). Jenkins' most affecting pieces on this CD are among its quietest: the slow-building "Bendigedig" ("blessed" in Welsh, Jenkins' native tongue) and the title track, a reverent reworking of a Rachmaninov composition of the same name. Even with all its stylistic side trips, at 68 minutes fans should be able to cherry-pick enough highlights (such as the breezy frolic of "Schubert's Dance") to find contentment with this disc. --Terry Wood .. You can see a complete list of all Adiemus, Karl Jenkins, Mary Carewe, Belinda Sykes, Martin Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Pamela Thorby, Mark Feltham, Nigel Hitchcock, Richard Harwood discography, or go back to the Adiemus, Karl Jenkins, Mary Carewe, Belinda Sykes, Martin Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Pamela Thorby, Mark Feltham, Nigel Hitchcock, Richard Harwood tabs