Having a couple of free days, I decided to check the number of hits on ALL of my blog posts from the very beginning. I made two lists: those that have suffered from lack of exposure (10 or less hits), and those that I thought were “stars” because they received 50 or more hits. Yes, a lot of them fall in between, and that’s OK, but I thought it was interesting which ones have done well and which ones haven’t.
To start with, here are the stars of the show, the ones with 50 or more hits. I was a bit surprised to discover that my articles on Russell Oberlin (“The Greatest Countertenor of Them All”) and my review of Quartetto Energie Nove’s Janáček album have done even better than my articles on Art Tatum (“The Greatest Soloist in the History of Jazz”) or my retrospective on Django Reinhardt, but was astounded to learn how well my retrospective on Leif Segerstam in the 1970s had done and even more amazed at the all-time winner, my article on jazz clarinetist and saxist Chloe Feoranzo (“The Tender Flower of Jazz”). Here is the list of top winners as of today:
Most hits for articles (50 and over):
Wagner öhne wackelt (Wagner Without Wobbles) 186
The HIP Movement in Classical Music 264
Alice Babs (1924-2014): An Appreciation 63
Clifford Brown: The Bach of Jazz 87
Irish Girl Got the Blues 58
Dreams Are Nothing More Than Wishes: The Harry Nilsson Story 56
The Greatest Soloist in the History of Jazz 100
Piano Four Hands: Paolo and Stephanie Weave Their Magic 175
The Great Klaus Tennstedt 151
A Love Letter to the Boswell Sisters 100
Luciano Berio’s Finale to “Turandot” 67
Erwin Schulhoff’s Jazz-Based Piano Fantasies 80
Mark Kaplan Pierces the Heart of Bach 345
Eubie Blake’s “Shuffle Along” Back Out on CD 79
Mark Murphy’s Last Live Recording a Gem 51
Quincy Jones’ Orchestra Sizzles in Ludwigshafen , 1961 61
First Installment of the Michael Gielen Edition” a Winner 168
Shapiro’s Schubert a Labor of Love 89
Danny Bacher: A Swinger From Way Back, Here Today 64
Laurin, Paradiso and Marinčič Bring the French Baroque to Life 58
Regietheater, the Ruination of Opera 241
Klara Takács’ Recital Reissue a Gem 89
Alchemy Sound Project Goes Metaphysical 110
Discovering Lucille Udovich 60
Dunér’s “Dizzy” is a Whirlwind of Creativity 403
A Sizzling “Penthesilea” From Martha Mödl & Co 50
Orledge’s Debussy Operas on CD at Last 100
Erkin’s Little-Known Music a Wow 189
Rilling’s Last Bach “Mass in B Minor” the Best 325
Bill Evans’ “Loose Blues” Out Again on CD 57
Remembering Leif Segerstam in the 1970s 355
Leon Russell, the Neglected Genius 828
Frank Martin’s “Dance of Death” a Strange, Moving Work 63
Gluzman Makes Love to Prokofiev 65
The Tender Flower of Jazz 1,007
The Greatest Countertenor of Them All 276
Quartetto Energie Nove Nails Janáček 433
Litton’s Prokofiev Structured Yet Exciting 61
Aksel Rykkvin an Excellent Boy Treble 224
The Legendary Wanda Landowska 167
Berl Senofsky Astounds in Newly-Released Recital 57
Traveling East-West With the Jandzarski-McCraven Quintet 83
More Than Meets the Ear in Katz’ “Jailhouse Doc” 169
The Belcea Quartet Digs Brahms! 63
Beekman’s Well-Crafted New CD 54
Tindall’s Tuba Thrills in “Transformations” 147
Weinberg’s 17th Symphony in a Great New Recording 67
Joey Alexander’s “Countdown” 73
Fairouz’ “Zabur” Moving, Stunning Music 18
Baker’s Final Testament: The Art of Jazz Solos 252
Libretto for Chabrier’s “L’Etoile” Now Available! 111
Pianist Sasaki Tackles Clara Schumann 151
No Joke! “The Polish Wedding” Will Knock Your Socks Off! 74
The Great Leonard Rose Rises to the Occasion 67
C.P.E. Bach’s Organ Music Wild, Scintillating 117
Dorothy Donegan: A Study in Frustration 91
Yondani Butt’s Very Good Beethoven 50
Ohlsson’s Mindblowing Scriabin 87
Björling’s and Tebaldi’s Neglected “Cavalleria” Reissued 71
The Amazing Fats Waller 53
Gielen Edition Vol. 4 a Mixed Bag 113
Finley’s Sibelius Tribute Fascinating and Deeply-Felt 112
Josh Green’s Debut Album Really Hops! 130
“hat trick” Weaves a Spell on Listeners 68
Sidney Jacobs’ Second CD Interesting and Stylish 66
Kick-Butt Brahms from Vladar, Kouzmanova-Vladar & Amara 103
Hughes’ “Dream Keeper” Blends Jazz and Poetry 104
Carsten Dahl Takes You on a Head Trip 253
Fricker’s String Quartets Moody, Dense 77
Carollo’s Music Intense, Deceptively Creative 52
Jiyhe Lee: A Name to Watch in Jazz 78
Tucker’s Great “La Juive” Reissued at Last 79
Garrido’s Stunning Monteverdi Operas & Vespers Reissued 155
Andrew Davis Cracks Open the Ives Fourth 66
Weinberg’s Violin Sonatas Given a New Interpretation 58
Kamus Has Fun With Finnish String Quartets 50
Hindemith’s “Das Marienleben” in a Great New Recording 183
Weinberg’s Piano Quintet & String Quartet No. 7 in New Recordings 61
Tina Raymond’s “Left Right Left” a Wild Ride 54
Fumio Yusada Digs Satie! 65
Surprising New Recording of Saint-Saëns Rare Opera 56
Gregory Mertl’s Music Dynamic, Humorous 62
Molly Kien’s Music Fluid, Moving 54
Monk’s “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” Released At Last 54
Barab’s “Red Riding Hood” a Laugh Riot 126
Stephanie & Saar Make “The Art of Fugue” Enjoyable! 180
Ponce’s Piano Music Brought to Life by Cendoya 55
O Sister! Stompin’ Down the Boswells’ Path 69
Muczynski’s Chamber Music Brilliantly Played on Brilliant Classics 60
Alice Coote Marvelous in Mahler Song Cycles 214
Harberg & Wolpert’s Viola Concertos 61
And now, here are the poor little draggers. Yes, a few of them are retrospective articles, but they’re interesting retrospective articles. Really! I put a lot of thought and care into writing them. And some are retrospectives of artists who really deserve greater exposure, particularly Sam Donahue’s great WW2 Navy Band that has had ZERO HITS! ZERO! But there are some seriously good reviews in this list, too. I’ve marked them with a star (asterisk) for easy reference. If you’re interested, just go to “Older Blog Posts” (from my homepage) to click on the links of the ones you’d like to read. It’s not my ego that’s hurting. I put these articles and reviews up to promote some of the better and less recognized artists and composers whose work really should be listened to. Here’s the Z list:
Least hits for articles (10 or less):
Biggs Gets the Ragtime Bug 1
King Oliver’s Last Will and Testament 7
The Highs and Lows of DG’s Barber Songs Reissue 4
Villa-Lobos Quartet Reissue a Must-Have 10
Sassy’s Late Basie-Band Album a Knockout 9
Morlot Completes his “Doodly-oo” Orchestral Cycle 8
Moons Over Myriad3: Their Third Album 6
Vänskä’s Sibelius Crisp, Bright, Buoyant 7
Marian Anderson’s “Snoopycat” Lives Forever 7
Trio Solisti Digs Into Russian Romantics 7
Leonhardt Creates Magic at the Keyboard 8
Serkin’s Beethoven Concertos Top a Crowded Field 5
Sanchez and Smith in the Twine Forest 5
Sanders and Strosdahl Explore “Jazzical Moods” 5
Another Wunderlich Reissue Cements His Legend 6
Satie Quartet Covers a Range of French Music 6
Sonny Rollins Dominates His Own Jazz Party 7
Victor’s Biggest Bonehead Errors 9
Ginastera’s Mindblowing Early Ballet Impresses 9
Fascinating CPE Bach Pieces on New CD 9
Matthew Kaminski Swings at Churchill Grounds 6
Ortiz’ Fascinating “Hidden Voices” in New CD 9
Peplowski Enraptures Listeners in New Album 8
Ratatet’s “Arctic” Unusual, Thought-Provoking Jazz 9
Saariaho’s “Woman’s Opera” Fascinating But Overdone 9
The Singer’s Singer 10
Hating On Benny 5
Szymański’s Eccentric Harpsichord Pieces 10
Freddy Cole’s Cool Christmas Album Reissued 10
Pahud Explodes in Bach Concertos 10
Hill’s and Shimada’s Surprisingly Great Prokofiev 4
Martinů’s “Field Mass,” Double Concerto Inspire and Delight 8
Höhenrieder and the Saxon Chamber Players Do Sextets 7
Mulligan’s Great Early Arrangements in Stereo 7
Anick and Yeager “United” in New Album 10
Krupa’s Last Recorded Performance a Gem 5
Papandopulo’s Music Strange, Mysterious, But Lively 10
Re-Evaluating Maud Powell 4
Solal and Kuhn Take Flight in Paris 9
McLean’s “Capuchin Swing” Hard-Hitting, Thrilling 5
Exploring “Baby” Sommer’s Wild, Multi-Faceted Jazz 7
“Duke’s Dream” a Fascinating, Creative Tribute 7
Ehnes Plays Beautiful Bach 9
Zabaleta Creates Music on the Harp 6
Vadim Neselovskyi Makes His Trio Debut 8
Carwithen’s Bold Scores Conducted by Hickox Reissued 8
Roberta Peters’ Forgotten Recital 7
Matthews’ Violin Pieces Engaging, Inventive 7
Amandine Beyer Plays Superb C.P.E. Bach 8
Anna Kokits Plays Toch 10
Cervetti’s “Triptych Celebration” Powerful, Moving 6
Matt Haimovitz’ New Album a Mixed Bag 5
Beirach and Huebner Cook at Birdland 3
The Nat King Cole Trio’s Last European Stand 4
Ulf and Erik Wakenius Create Guitar Magic 7
Neeme Järvi’s Busoni Set Reissued 5
Steprans’ Hip Little Quintet Cooks 7
Rozhdestvensky’s Marvelous Enescu Recordings Reissued 4
Hausegger’s Amazing Orchestral Works Exhumed 8
Laks’ Startling Chamber Works Revealed 6
Hyeseon Hong’s “Ee-Ya-Gi” a Strange But Fascinating CD 6
Segerstam Contrasts His Work With Brahms 7
Maureen Batt’s Walter Scott Adventure 3
Eric Ineke Plays With the Tenor Giants 6
Rodziński’s Stupendous “Khovanshchina” Reissued 3
Albert Mangelsdorff Invites Some Friends 5
Mátyás Sieber’s Jazz-Infused Fun Pieces 2
Landrus’ Debut Disc Inconsistent But Interesting 3
Tortellier’s Dutilleux Cycle Reissued 0
Deller’s Final Recital Among His Best 3
Neunecker’s Strauss Will Blow You Away 4
Forgotten Jazz Orchestras: Sam Donahue’s Navy Band 0
New John Carollo CD Has Fine Music 7
Casella’s Second Symphony Dazzles Under Ventura 4
Well, there you go. For those who are keeping score, the number of great successes still outweighs the runts of the litter…and those not listed above are doing fairly well, having drawn between 11 and 49 hits apiece.
Sayonara!
—Lynn René Bayley
THE ART MUSIC LOUNGE 