Russo: Street Music; Three Pieces / Gershwin: An American in Paris (Remastered) San Francisco Symphony, The Siegel-Schwall Band, Corky Siegel & Seiji Ozawa

• William Russo (1928 - 2003): Street Music, Op. 65 - A Blues Concerto:
• 1Russo: Street Music, Op. 65 - A Blues Concerto: 1st Mvt08:17
• 2Russo: Street Music, Op. 65 - A Blues Concerto: 2nd Mvt05:17
• 3Russo: Street Music, Op. 65 - A Blues Concerto: 3rd Mvt08:52
• 4Russo: Street Music, Op. 65 - A Blues Concerto: 4th Mvt08:53
• William Russo: 3 Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra, Op. 50:
• 5Russo: 3 Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra, Op. 50: 1st Part08:08
• 6Russo: 3 Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra, Op. 50: 2nd Part08:58
• 7Russo: 3 Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra, Op. 50: 3rd Part07:11
• George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): An American in Paris
• 8Gershwin: An American in Paris18:03
• Total Runtime01:13:39

Info for Russo: Street Music; Three Pieces / Gershwin: An American in Paris (Remastered)

This is a recording of twentieth century composer William Russo's "Street Music". "Three Pieces for Blues Band and Symphony Orchestra" and composer George Gershwin's "An American in Paris" performed by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, featuring Corky Siegel, harmonica and electric piano; Jim Schwall, guitar; Al Radford, bass; Shelly Plotkin, drums; and The Siegel-Schwall Band.

"While Siegel-Schwall (head-over-heals in love with the blues) was in residency with the masters, like Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon, in the iconic blues clubs of the 1960's, I was also mentored at the same time by Maestro Seiji Ozawa and composer William Russo. My heart was suffused with classical music. In 1968 we all performed together with the Chicago Symphony in the very first 'symphonic blues' experience. I wouldn't be exaggerating to say that both of the two huge selling DG recording projects with Seiji Ozawa and the Sanfrancisco Symphony are historic." Both of those pieces are together on this one album available for download at Deutsche Grammophon." (Corky Siegel)

Siegel-Schwall Band:
Corky Siegel, electric piano, harmonica
Jim Schwall, guitar
Al Radford, bass
Shelly Plotkin, drums
San Francisco Symphony
Seiji Ozawa, conductor

Digitally remastered

Corky Siegel
is known internationally as one of the worlds great blues harmonica players, blues pianist, singer and writer of unusual songs, a Chamber Blues progenitor and sole pioneer/composer of award-winning revolutionary works that weave blues and classical forms together. He celebrates 58 years of performance, a co-founder of the popular Siegel-Schwall Band, and a Chicago Blues Hall of Fame inductee. Corky Siegel has a catalogue of recordings on RCA, Vanguard, Alligator, and million selling blues/classical recordings on the iconic classical label Deutsche Grammophon. At a young age, he learned his craft - personally - at the feet of such legendary first generation bluesmen as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, and Otis Spann and all the great blues masters he performed with beginning in 1965. In the earlier days of Chicago blues, he was an essential part in the blues rock revolution, and his surprising and continuing success in bringing together blues and classical audiences (with his symphonic and Chamber Blues recordings and performances) make him a pivotally unique figure in popular music history.

Seiji Ozawa
Born 1935 in Shenyang, China. Seiji Ozawa studied piano from a young age, and after graduating from Seijo Junior High School, he went on to study conducting under Hideo Saito at the Toho School of Music.

In 1959, he won first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors held in Besançon, France, and was invited the next summer to Tanglewood by Charles Munch, who was a judge at the competition and music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the time. He proceeded to study under Karajan and Bernstein and went on to serve as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic, music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Ravinia Festival, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the San Francisco Symphony. In 1973, he became the 13th music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where his tenure of 29 years was the longest in the history of American orchestras.

As music director of BSO, he built the orchestra’s reputation nationally as well as internationally, with successful concerts in Europe in 1976 and Japan in March 1978. In March 1981, BSO toured 14 cities in America to commemorate its centennial and then executed a worldwide tour in fall of the same year, with stops in Japan, France, Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom. It went on to perform in Europe in 1984, 1988, and 1991, and Japan in 1986 and 1989, all to great acclaim.

In 1978, Ozawa was officially invited by the Chinese government to work with the China Central Symphony Orchestra for a week. A year later in March 1979, Ozawa visited China again, this time with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition to orchestra performances, he facilitated significant cultural and musical exchanges through discussions and teaching sessions with Chinese musicians. He has since continued to build a strong relationship with China.

In autumn 2002, Ozawa became music director at Wiener Staatsoper, a position he held until spring 2010. His reputation and popularity are enormous in Europe, where he has conducted many orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Vienna Philharmonic. He has also appeared in prominent opera houses such as Wiener Staatsoper in Vienna, l’Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Opera di Firenze, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

In Japan, Ozawa formed the Saito Kinen Orchestra with Kazuyoshi Akiyama in 1984 to commemorate their late mentor, Hideo Saito. The orchestra held greatly successful concerts in Tokyo and Osaka and went on to tour Europe in 1987, 1989, and 1990. In 1991, it performed concerts in Europe and America and was received with great accolades. These activities lead to the inception of Ozawa’s artistic dream in 1992: the Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto. Ozawa became director of this international music festival, a role that continues to this day. SKO continued to tour, with overseas concerts in 1994, 1997 and 2004. From 2015, the festival has entered a new stage as the “Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival”.

Ozawa has been particularly focused on education. The Chamber Music Academy Okushiga had evolved from the Saito Kinen chamber music study group sessions that started in 1997, and in 2011, this became the non-profit organization Ozawa International Chamber Music Academy Okushiga, Asia, to provide opportunities to outstanding students from countries in the region. Ozawa also founded the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project in 2000 and the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Orchestra Project in 2009, working actively to cultivate young musicians through performance. In 2005, he established the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland to educate European music students. Ozawa has also worked closely with the Mito Chamber Orchestra since its founding in 1990, serving as general director of the orchestra as well as director general of Art Tower Mito from 2013. He has also worked regularly with the New Japan Philharmonic since its founding.

Ozawa has won many awards in Japan and abroad, including: the Asahi Prize (1985); an Honorary Doctorate from Harvard University (2000); the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class (2002); the Mainichi Art Award (2003); the Suntory Music Prize (2003); an Honorary Doctorate from the Sorbonne University of France (2004); Honorary Membership from the Wiener Staatsoper (2007); France’s Officier de la Légion d’Honneur (2008); Foreign Associated Member in the Académie des Beaux-Arts de l’Institut de France (2008); the Order of Culture, which is the highest honor in Japan (2008); Giglio D’Oro by Premio Galileo 2000 Foundation of Italy (2008); the first Japanese national to be bestowed honorary membership to the Vienna Philharmonic (2010); the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association (2011); the Akeo Watanabe Foundation Music Award (2011); and the Kennedy Center Honors (2015). In February 2016, the Ravel L’enfant et les sortilèges album conducted by Seiji Ozawa and performed by the Saito Kinen Orchestra that was recorded at the 2013 Saito Kinen Festival Matsumoto won the 58th Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. In April 2016, he was named an Honorary Member of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

This album contains no booklet.