Lambada
Astor PIAZOLLA (1921-1992)
La Muerte del Angel, arr. by Rika Nishikawa [3:34]
Ulises HERMOSA (1954-1992) & Gonzalo HERMOSA (b.1950)
Lambada, arr. Ja Hsieh [2:38]
Stanley MYERS (1930-1993)
Cavatina, arr. John Williams [3:01]
Harold ARLEN (1905-1986) & E.Y. HARBURG (1896-1981)
Over the Rainbow, arr. Max Seide Leth [3:46]
Kerry LIVGREN (b.1949)
Dust in the Wind [2:53]
Astor PIAZZOLLA
Oblivion [4:37]
John PSATHAS (b.1966)
Drum Dances [12:14]
Ja Hsieh (vibraphone, drum set & percussion)
Irene Yang (piano)
rec. 2019, 25th Street Recording, Oakland & Soundtek Studios, Campbell, USA
Private Release [32:43]
Following on the heels of his debut disc of Bach’s violin sonatas and partitas, transcribed for vibraphone, California based Taiwanese/American vibraphonist and percussionist Ja Hsieh has released this disc which has at its motivational core the music of Argentinian tango master Astor Piazzola.
As with the debut disc, in the opening of Piazzola’s La Muerte del Angel one
is struck by his amazingly fast playing. As this short piece unfolds, the
playing remains admirable, both when the music slows down to a dreamy pace
in the composition’s central section with its jazzy edge, and when the piece
races to an exciting close. Next the Hermosa brother’s well-known tune Lambada is given an interesting take on its usual orchestral version.
Stanley Myers wrote the guitar piece Cavatina for the film The Walking Stick though it became famous eight years later as the main theme in The Deer Hunter and Ja Hsieh finds the fragile beauty of the piece in John Williams’ arrangement which he puts over to perfection. Likewise, his rendition of Over the Rainbow which generations of children will know from The Wizard of Oz breathes new life into this time-honoured piece. Rock guitarist Kerry Livgren’s Dust in the Wind is a perhaps unexpectedly delicious tune and with the gently measured tones of the vibraphone its delicate side is brought out very effectively.
The main event of the disc is Piazzola’s hugely famous Oblivion in which, as with Piazzola’s La Muerte del Angel, he is accompanied by pianist Irene Yang. Piazzola has a special place in the music of Argentina as the virtual inventor of tango or at the very least in bringing it out of the brothels of Rio into the musical mainstream and this lovely tune is a key exemplar of the genre lovingly recreated on Ja Hsieh’s vibraphone.
The final four pieces on the disc are the four movements of Greek/New Zealand composer John Psathas’s Drum Dances that Ja Hsieh and Irene Yang perform in a stunningly impressive way to round of a disc of innovative performances of well-known and lesser-known pieces that lend themselves well to this young musician’s particular take and his undoubted talent.
Though his debut release was a two-disc set this one seems rather parsimonious by comparison in its brevity. As I said in my review of his Bach transcriptions, I really do advise him to see his way clear to exploring the orchestral repertoire, though small, of vibraphone works and as with soloists such as Evelyn Glennie, Ja Hsieh would find them well received by music-lovers everywhere.
Steve Arloff
