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Dance

Dance —Jason Vieaux, guitar; Escher Quartet (Azica 71328)

This July release from Cleveland-based Azica Records features Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux and the Escher Quartet in quintets the musicians have performed for the past decade around the world:   Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Guitar Quintet Op 143; Aaron Jay Kernis’ 100 Greatest Dance Hits; and Luigi Boccherini’s Guitar Quintet No. 4 “Fandango.”  Castelnuovo-Tedesco composed the Guitar Quintet for his long-time friend, the great Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia, who premiered the work in 1951.  Luigi Boccherini composed an enormous amount of music for guitar. What makes his Guitar Quintet No. 4 memorable is its finale, a Fandango, the Spanish dance in moderately fast triple meter that first appeared in the 18th century.  Rounding out the disc is 100 Greatest Dance Hits, a 1993 work that represents the lighter side of composer Aaron Jay Kernis.  About the piece’s name, Kernis says, "I borrowed the title from those old K-Tel advertisements on late night TV for 100 Greatest Motown Hits or 100 Greatest Soul Hits."  Each of the four movements embraces – or pokes affectionate fun at – a different musical genre.