RECORDING LABEL

WORKS RECORDED

Naxos
8.572685 (2011)

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Too Many Mammas
silent film score for jazz chamber ensemble

The Snark Ensemble

• Philip Greenfield, American Record Guide,
  Jan./Feb. 2012
  • The other three works [on the disc] were written to accompany silent films, each lasting around 9 minutes. The best is Andrew Earle Simpson's Too Many Mammas written in a hotsy-totsy jazz style to set the scene in a speakeasy where philandering is on tap along with the booze. The pit-band that accompanies the three scores [The Snark Ensemble] is a jazz quintet, and they're terrific.

Albany
TROY1276 (2009)

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The Golden Prophecy,
for alto saxophone and piano

Noah Getz, saxophone
Andrew Simpson, piano

• Patrick Hanudel, American Record Guide,
  Nov./Dec. 2011
  • …Simpson has the awareness and fortitude to make an audience pay attention. He has a naturally fluid technique, and he coaxes an array of colors from the piano, from ear-splitting thunderclaps to tender murmurs. …Simpson relishes passages of intense emotion...

L'Erma di Bretschneider
(publisher) (2009)

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Tesserae: Six Mosaics of Ancient Rome,
for flute, viola, and guitar

Four Views of Pompeii (string quartet and harp)

Remastered and reissued from Fireflies and A Fiery and Still Night CDs (see below), with thanks to Fleur de Son Classics and Capstone Records for permissions.

Fleur de Son Classics
FDS57985 (2008)

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Fireflies: A Folk Set for Flute and Guitar

Tesserae: Six Mosaics of Ancient Rome,
for flute, viola, and guitar

American Gothic Suite: Theme and Variations on Grant Wood's Painting, for flute, viola, and guitar

 Click here to read the American Record Guide review of "Fireflies" (Sept.-Oct.2009)

• The Flutist Quarterly (summer 2010) writes of the three works on this disc:
  • "Red Cedar Chamber Music has a reputation for creating and promoting quality new works, and the music on this CD is no exception. All three of these works could easily become standard repertoire pieces..."

Capstone Records
CPS-8767 (2006)

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Four Views of Pompeii (string quartet and harp)

Applets (double bass and piano)

Cloisters (guitar solo)

Flower-Terrible Memories (piano solo)

• American Record Guide (January/February 2007)
  writes of Flower-Terrible Memories:
  • "…crashing splendidly at both ends of the register, dissipating into fragile fallout in the middle and collapsing onto rumbling low notes inside the piano and out by the end. And that was only the first movement."
  • "The pianist, Brian Ganz, was thrilling."

• Of the disc as a whole:
  • "…each piece was very well conceived specifically for the instrument(s)."

Athena Records
Athena 106 (1998)

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Chamber Concerto (fl, cl, vn, vc, pno, perc)

Summer-Night Songs (soprano saxophone, hp)

Exhortation I (alto saxophone solo)

Exhortation II (oboe solo)

Exhortation III (double bass solo)

• American Record Guide (November/December 1999)
  writes of the disc as a whole:
  • "It is very well done, and the composer gets fine performances from his players. This would be a fine addition to the collection of any college music library--students looking for new and unusual pieces to play should have access to it."

• The Double Bassist (Spring 1999) writes of Exhortation III:
  • "But Exhortation III for double bass is the most extended solo piece. Of striking technical demand, it finds a true champion in its dedicatee, Michael Cameron, professor of bass at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It exploits to the full the technical and expressive potential of the instrument. Cameron demonstrates awesome mastery of its substantial left- and right-hand challenges, not least its unusual harmonics and fiendish bravura passage-work."

Arizona University Recordings
AUR CD 3068 (1998): compilation

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Exhortation I (alto saxophone solo)

• The Double Bassist (Spring 1999) writes of Exhortation I (as recorded on the Exhortations disc, above; the recording was re-released on this Adolphe Sax series disc):
  • "…contrasting angular, bravura material with lyrical melody--is immaculately played by alto saxophonist Robert Faub."

 TITLE

RECORDING LABEL

WORKS RECORDED

Becoming Charley Chase (DVD)

Original scores for silent film comedies.

Allday Entertainment
(distributed by VCI) (2009)

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Too Many Mammas

Peanuts and Bullets

Hard Knocks

The Poor Fish

Should Husbands be Watched?

The Rent Jumpers

At First Sight

Jeffries, Jr.

A Ten-Minute Egg

Musicians and ensembles:
Andrew Earle Simpson, piano
The Snark Ensemble
Redwine Jazz

American Slapstick,
Volume 2 (DVD)

Original piano scores for silent film comedies

Allday Entertainment
(distributed by Facets) (2008)

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By the Sad Sea Waves (6 min), pno solo

Whirl O' the West (5 min), pno solo

A Hash House Fraud (11:30), pno solo

• From an online review of American Slapstick, Volume 2:
  • "Musical accompaniment is great, provided by such contemporary masters as Ben Model, Blaine Gale, Andrew Earle Simpson, Eddie Uslan, Jay Warren, and David Drazen. Inappropriate scores can ruin a silent movie, and these composer/musicians actually enhance each entry in this collection. A couple of the films do have generic silent movie music, the type which was found on most 16mm silent comedies featuring musical accompaniment, but the majority of the films here have scores composed by the accompanist."
  • --James L. Neibaur, roguecinema.com
     read full review

The Harry Langdon Collection: Lost and Found (DVD)

Original scores for silent film comedies

Allday Entertainment
(distributed by Facets) (2007)

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Soldier Man (31 min.), ch ens

Lucky Stars (21 min.), ch ens

The Hansom Cabman (20 min.), ch ens

Picking Peaches (15 min.), jazz trio

His New Mama (20 min.), jazz trio

The First 100 Years (15 min.), pno solo

Plain Clothes (20 min.), pno solo

Horace Greeley, Jr. (2 min.), pno solo

Musicians and ensembles:
Andrew Earle Simpson, piano
The Snark Ensemble
Redwine Jazz