MARK LOUIS LEHMAN (b.1947): 3 Danzas Pequeñas for Flute and Clarinet, Hungarian Suite for Piano, Sephardim for Violin and Viola, 3 Primitives for Alto and Baritone Saxophone, RICK SOWASH (b.1950): Father’s Day Suite and Variations on an Original Christmas Carol (“A Little Child”) for String Trio, Suite for 3 Violins.

Description: An enjoyable disc of attractive, instantly accessible music by two composers who regard themselves as 'outsiders' - amateurs in the best sense - who clearly write their enjoyable, tuneful, traditional yet personal pieces for the sheer delight of doing so and in the expectation of the pleasure they will bring to their listeners. Sowash's Suites are in the baroque style, the one for the unusual combination of three violins containing some unexpected harmonizations that suggest a composer just writing what sounds good to him with a gleeful disregard for the 'rules'. Lehman's pieces are derived from or inspired by folk and traditional melodies from various cultures - the Caribbean, 14th-century Spanish Sephardic Jewry, Hungary, and American urban. Melody is paramount and sensitively and adroitly handled, whether original or pleasingly harmonised traditional songs and dances. Various artists.