The Trio C Force Issues its Third Recording, "Tour-de-Force," A Vibrant 2-Disc Survey of Classical Music of The Bahamas and The Caribbean Region

CForce

Gangelhoff-Lee-Justilien

Tour-de-Force

Christine Gangelhoff, Flute (Left), Christian Justilien, Euphonium (Center), Christy Lee, Piano (Right)
cforcemusic.com 

Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799)
Guadeloupe

Julio Racine (b. 1945)
Haiti

Ludovic Lamothe (1882-1953)
Haiti

Haitians Julio Racine (b. 1945) and Ludovic Lamothe (1882-1953), and
Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799) of Guadeloupe are all featured at AfriClassical.com

  Oswald Russell (1933-2012)

Peter Ashbourne
(sharenews.com)

Werner A. Jaegerhuber (1900-1953)
(Wikipedia)

Atiba Williams (b. 1990)

(www.caribbeantales-tv.com)

Statius Muller (b. 1930)
(junglekey.nl Wiki)

Alton Adams (1889-1987)

(en.wikipedia.org)

Raymond La Motta (1926-2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj108Orc_Qo

Tour-de-Force is the third recording of C Force, comprised of two faculty members of The College of The Bahamas in Nassau, flutist Christine Gangelhoff and euphonium player Christian Justilien, accompanied by pianist Christy Lee of the Music faculty at Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee.  

C Force is an instrumental trio which is giving voice to both The Bahamas and the neighboring Caribbean.  The Caribbean region consists of both independent republics and territories which are politically integrated into the United States and Europe.  For example, the former French colony of Guadeloupe, the birthplace of Joseph Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, is now an Overseas Department of France.

Disc One of Tour-de-Force opens with two works of Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), Scena from Ernestine (5:05) and Adagio in F Minor for Piano (3:03).  These are the earliest pieces on the recording, but the instrumentation helps bridge the gap between the 18th Century and the present. 

Two compositions from Jamaica follow, Beachcomber (3:04) of Oswald Russell (1932-2012) and Elena and Her Variations (4:31) by Peter Ashbourne (b. 1950). The remainder of Disc One is given over to music of Haiti.  The German-Haitian composer Werner A. Jaegerhuber (1900-1953) is represented by Chansons Folkloriques D'Haiti, consisting of six short pieces.

Julio Racine (b. 1945) is the composer of Vodoo Jazz Sonata for Flute and Piano, in three movements.  Disc One ends with Nibo of Ludovic Lamothe (1882-1954), as arranged by C Force.

Disc Two opens with Williams' Waltz by Atiba Williams (b. 1990) of Trinidad and Tobago.  Curaçao is then represented by Three Waltzes of Statius Muller (b. 1930).  Two composers of The United States Virgin Islands follow.  We hear Warbling in the Moonlight of Alton Adams (1889-1987) and En Mis Islas Virgenes (Danza) by Raymond La Motta.  

The final two composers are from The Bahamas.  Bahama Islands Suite is a five-movement work by the trio's euphonium player, Christian Justilien (b. 1960).  The last work on the recording is Pinder's Point House Remix by Lucas Manning (b. 1991).

Tour-de-Force has much to offer on its two discs; we have enjoyed numerous hearings.  This is a recording to share, and we fully intend to order copies to use as gifts.  It is also a recording to treasure, as a partial survey of the art music of The Bahamas and the Caribbean region by the dynamic trio C Force.

Comment by email:

Hello Bill, Thanks so much for the review. Your support is always so much appreciated.  Best wishes, Christine  Dr. Christine Gangelhoff