William Grant Still— Zina Schiff, violin; Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Avlana Eisenberg (Naxos 559867)
William Grant Still wrote more than 200 works in his long career as the Dean of African-American composers, but current recordings explore only a portion of this treasure trove. This new release in Naxos’ American Classics series unearths nine Still compositions, some of them receiving their world premiere recordings. Including the folk ballad Can’t You Line ‘Em, the tone poem Pastorela, Fanfare for the 99th Fighter Squadron (inspired by the famous Tuskegee Airmen), and Threnody: In Memory of Jean Sibelius. In addition, familiar works, such as Summerland, Quit Dat Fool’nish and the Violin Suite are heard in orchestrations that reveal new depths of appreciation. Conducted by Avlana Eisenberg, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra performs in the splendid acoustic of the RSNO Centre in Glasgow, joined by Ms. Esenberg’s mother, violinist Zina Schiff, who was the progenitor of this album. WCLV’s Bill O’Connell discusses this recording with conductor Avlana Eisenberg and William Grant Still’s granddaughter, radio journalist, author and public speaker Celeste Headlee here.