Customer Reviews

Bassoonatics!

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This would have to be the best bassoon ensemble cd on the market. The arrangements are stylish and clever, and the performances brilliant! Fraser Jackson must be the most accomplished contrabassoonist I have ever head. This cd is a must for any bassoonists collection be you amateur or proffessional.

This disc is really superb!!! Not only is the playing at an extremely high level by the group, the arrangements are also outstanding. The Brahms is abolutely beautiful. The group goes from lightning fingers bravura to sweet soulful singing. It is a joy to listen to again and again.

I delight in the bassoon! What a unique and great sound, throaty and thrillingly coarse, yet soaring to sound at times like sax, like oboe, like cello, like a bunch of bassoonatics!

This is delightful collection of musical styles played by this innovative and talented quartet. Choosing to select pieces that are not typically of the bassoon repertoire, we go from Waltz to Gershwin to Broadway to Motzart to Lennon/McCartnye to Sibelius to most of us unknowns such as Mitchell Clarke to Duke Ellington.

All played with passion and gusto and excellent tonality, phrasing and tempo.

Bassoon Me again!

With fun and creative arranging, as well as strong tributes to the limited repertoire devoted to bassoon ensembles, this CD takes a fresh look at some familiar music, and lovingly introduces the novice to new material. Many of the familiar Gershwin or Anderson pieces take on a delightful timbre when rendered in the bass clef by this group of accomplished musicians. Closely miked recording techniques make one feel almost as if sitting in the midst of the quartet, feeling the click of keys as they play. Lacking is any garrish attempt to shock the listener, as other groups have done in this genre. Rather, one feels assured and enraptured by the tenor tones of the closely harmonious standard and one contrabassoon. I am defintely anticipating the next release from this ensemble!

I simply love the Caliban Quartet! They breath new life into bassoons! The way they bring out the music is simply magical. Not only do they sound good, their technical abilities are simply amazing!

This is an amazing collection of songs, all performed with such skill that even my 8-year-old son likes this CD. Brahms and Beatles, Mozart and Ellington, there is something here for everyone. And thank you, thank you, thank you for "Bassoonist's Holiday."

A delightful mixture of arrangements for the bassoon. The quartet selected little known pieces and add their own richness and flavor to create a CD that you want to play over and over and over. It will relax your soul.