Navona Records NV5829
Conversations: Keyboard and Chamber Music by John Bilotta and David Gaines (2010)
Release date: 29 June 2010
Contains Jubilee for euphonium and piano (2005), Suite Of Changes for viola and mallet percussion (1993), and ...and dispel the miseries of the world for baritone saxophone and chamber orchestra (2007-08) - commissioned for Seattle baritone saxophonist James DeJoie - in addition to seven compositions by San Francisco-based composer John Bilotta.
Available in compact disc, digital download, and streaming formats - the CD version contains a variety of enhanced CD-ROM content accessible through a computer, including 40 pages of liner notes and composer information, session photos, ringtones, and full scores for each composition!
- "Just listened to ...and dispel the miseries... and am mightily impressed....Superb writing, splendid performance, great audio fidelity. This one will give me years of listening pleasure."
-- guitarist/composer Dennis Rea - "I really enjoyed listening to your baritone saxophone concerto and I thought that the recording and additional materials included in the CD were great. In particular, I enjoyed the orchestration of your second movement and the lyricism that you accentuated with the baritone saxophone. As you mentioned in the liner notes, this is a side of the instrument that isn't explored frequently....I was extremely impressed with the look of this CD and I felt the additional notes, scores and information were a great addition to the overall recording."
-- Noah Getz, concert saxophonist, musician-in-residence at American University - "I was especially taken with the bari sax concerto. That one really took me someplace. The combination of your writing and a very good bari player really showed me things about that instrument I did not know. Congratulations."
—film composer Charlie Barnett - "One of the joys of this CD is hearing the unusual combinations explored, with the tonal contrasts they provide. Euphonium and piano? Why not......viola and marimba also make a nice combination, bowed vs. percussive, in Gaines' Suite Of Changes. ...and dispel the miseries of the world, Gaines' piece for bari sax and [chamber] orchestra, finishes off the CD and is the most substantial piece presented, both in instrumentation and length. James DeJoie (Moraine) leaves his effects pedals at home for this outing, fully exploring the range of the instrument in its unenhanced form, and it's fascinating to hear it in a non-jazz setting, playing off strings, brass, other woodwinds, and orchestral percussion."
--Jon Davis, Exposé Magazine, August 2011