For the third year in a row, veteran members of various David Bowie's backing bands are hitting the road to play music from his vast catalog. This year's incarnation of the A Bowie Celebration tour is lead by Spiders From Mars keyboardist Mike Garson (who played with Bowie from 1972 all the way to his final live appearance in 2006), guitarist Earl Slick, bassist Carmine Rojas, multi-instrumentalist Mark Plati and guitarist Charlie Sexton along with vocalists Bernard Fowler and Corey Glover. The setlist switches a bit from show to show, but it tends to mix enormous Bowie hits like "Rebel Rebel," "Fame" and "Ziggy Stardust" with deeper cuts like "Bring Me The Disco King," "Win" and "Sweet Thing." Between songs, Garson often tells stories about his long friendship with Bowie. They have been joined by a number of guest vocalists on recent tours, including Perry Farrell, Joe Sumner and Evan Rachel Wood. SEE   A Bowie Celebration – The David Bowie Alumni Tour via RollingStone PAGE

It takes a unique kind of musical group to completely transform a venue, a band that uses its sound to remake a space and transport its audience. In its Saturday performance at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, Paris Combo achieved this difficult task, bringing the vibrant flare of a jazz club in the "City of Lights" to Berkeley. This chemistry was on full display for The five-piece outfit, each song performed with exuberance and expert musicality. The setlist for the night allowed each band member to have a moment in the spotlight, with each track providing chances for every instrument to shine. In "Señor," for example, Lewis' muted trumpet and piano lines backed du Berry's scatting vocals. Meanwhile, Potzi's guitar solo catalyzed the crescendo of the song, while Jeannin's drums and de Segonzac's bass line provided a consistent backbone for the melody. The performance perfectly encapsulated the band's aptitude for functioning as a fully cohesive group working in precise harmony while also showcasing each performer's strengths. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} READ THE FULL Daily Californian ARTICLE

The Bavarian Radio Choir is delighted to be nominated for the Grammy Awards 2019 in the category "Best Choral Performance" for their recording of Sergei Rachmaninov's masterpiece "The Bells" with the BR Symphony Orchestra.' The recording was made during a concert in January 2016 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz under the baton of chief conductor Mariss Jansons. The choir was conducted by Peter Dijkstra, artistic director of the BR Choir. The CD has been released by the label BR KLASSIK. This is the second time the BR Choir has been nominated for the Grammy Awards: in 2015 for the recording of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" for choir and orchestra of the BR under the direction of Bernhard Haitink and Peter Dijkstra.   This week KUSC: Los Angeles is happy to share with you the Symphonic Dance #1 from the Russian Romantic composer's final orchestral work.   p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px}

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} The Bavarian Radio Choir is delighted to be nominated for the Grammy Awards 2019 in the category "Best Choral Performance" for their recording of Sergei Rachmaninov's masterpiece "The Bells" with the BR Symphony Orchestra.' The recording was made during a concert in January 2016 in the Herkulessaal of the Munich Residenz under the baton of chief conductor Mariss Jansons. The choir was conducted by Peter Dijkstra, artistic director of the BR Choir. The CD has been released by the label BR KLASSIK. This is the second time the BR Choir has been nominated for the Grammy Awards: in 2015 for the recording of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" for choir and orchestra of the BR under the direction of Bernhard Haitink and Peter Dijkstra. This week KDFC: San Francisco is happy to share with you the Symphonic Dance #1 from the Russian Romantic composer's final orchestral work. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

Two large symphonic works by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff can be experienced on this release by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under music director Mariss Jansons. "The Bells" is a choral symphony based on a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. The four movements for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra depict different kinds of bell sounds representing four phases of human life. The album also holds Rachmaninoff's "Symphonic Dances" from 1940 – the last completed work by the composer. The performances were recorded in concert in January 2016. For January 11, 2019, BRSO&C: Jansons - Rachmaninoff, The Bells is the WFMT: Chicago 'Featured New Release'

Radical Face‘s new album Missing Film is instrumental. The key is in the images it evokes and if those images are pretty. And the music, does it arouse some sort of sentiment? Pianos and strings cultivate this rich soundscape. I found the songs took me to various locales from a walk in overgrown grasses between old oak trees with the breeze brushing the branches together on a summer afternoon ("Horizon Lines") to a cold morning on a battlefield, puffs of breath crystallized with soldiers gripping spear hafts and waiting to find out what destiny holds for them ("Tension"). Or there's some friends running ("I'll Be There Soon") supported by a playful synthesizer. And then death, and sadness and love lost ("Ashes in the Wind," "Waltzing in the Ashes," "Hearsay," "Leaving the Ground"). But that's what the producer in my mind's eye sees. What does yours? This album affirms my suspicions that Ben Cooper (the force behind the band) could score a moody indie drama. His music, already featured in films and TV shows, inspires such rich emotion- generally along the sad and/or nostalgic tenor- that he'd have little problem hitting the climactic highs and intense lows that a film project would ask of him. READ THE FULL Indy Review

to whet the appetite.....Mendelssohn from Andreas Ottensamer and Yuja Wang (this is a partnership of real character) as well as from Jan Lisiecki (a former Gramophone Young Artist of the Year). The pianist Jeremy Denk is due to give us a characteristically imaginative programme ranging from Machaut from Ligeti, ‘c1300-c2000'. Along the way, he swings by Brahms - here's his Intermezzo Op 119 No 1. And from a forthcoming Orff Carmina burana, recorded in Beijing as part of DG's 120th anniversary celebrations, we've a taster of ‘O Fortuna'.  READ THE FULL GRAMOPHONE ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

On Tuesday, New Orleans-based 'Jazz Fest' announced it's full line-up for it's 50th anniversary celebration this year. Grammy® nominated artists; Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martinez, who usually leave audiences completely mesmerized by their fearless and virtuosic playing as a duo, have appeared together only on rare occasions, up until now. Their new Quincy Jones produced, Mack Avenue recording; 'Duologue' reunites the duo for a 'different approach' collaboration. The album is set to release on February 1st. Tracks: 1. Africa; 2. Estamos Llegando; 3. Thriller; 4. Cosas del Amor; 5. Duologue; 6. El Punto Cubano; 7. Flor; 8. Jardín Soñador; 9. Super Mario Bros 3; 10. Mariposa; 11. Yo Volveré. PHOTO: Tom Ehrlich SEE FULL Jazz Fest LINEUP via WBRZ2: New Orleans 

This imaginative recording project offers virtuoso treatment of folk music from Hungary and Taiwan, illuminating many aspects of the two cultures, all within beautifully rendered new classical compositions.  In addition, the recording incorporates one of the masterpieces of 20th-century string quartet music – Bartok's incandescent String Quartet No. 4. Winners of both the First Prize and Amadeus Prize at the London International String Competition, the Formosa Quartet was hailed as "spellbinding" by BBC Music Magazine.   Formosa Quartet 'From Hungary to Taiwan' is the WFMT: Featured New Release for January 14, 2019 p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

Rising stars and YouTube sensations 2Cellos are bringing their Let There Be Cello Tour to Los Angeles, and jazz guitar king Jon McLaughlin is coming along for the ride.  With over a billion streams globally these Croation cellists have taken their instrument to brilliant new heights.   Watch the KTLA 5 Weekend Morning News this weekend for your chance to win two loge level tickets to see 2Cellos at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Friday February 8th.  Don't miss your chance to see these virtuosos break down the boundries between classical, pop, and rock music. Already have the code word?  CLICK KTLA5 PAGE TO ENTER p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px}

Charlie Chaplin -- that clownish icon of silent film -- was a prolific composer? "It was an absolutely crazy discovery for me," said violinist Philippe Quint, who on Friday released Chaplin's Smile, a collection of 13 new arrangements of songs from Chaplin's films and his debut recording with Warner Classics, with pianist Marta Aznavoorian and a guest appearance by Joshua Bell. The project -- three years in the making -- was a tremendous source of inspiration for Quint. It all started when Quint was fishing around for what music to record next. He'd been recording an album every year until 2016; when he took a break to figure out what to record next. Some of his previous recordings included: the Kabalevsky, Khachaturian & Glazunov Concertos; the Tchaikovsky Concerto; Bruch and Mendelssohn; Opera Breve; Paganini works. At this point, he was ready for something different. "This is when I started hibernating for three years -- in my apartment, with help from two arrangers and my wonderful pianist Marta Aznavoorian - This month Quint, along with pianist Aznavoorian, will perform music from the album in a multimedia recital tour with concerts in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, London, and Berlin. The recitals will also focus on Chaplin's encounters with some of the greatest classical composers of his time, including Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Schoenberg, with narrations of those meetings from Chaplin's My Autobiography. They will also include photos and clips from Chaplin's most famous films, including City Lights, The Great Dictator, The Kid, Limelight and Modern Times. Opening for Quint in New York, Los Angeles, and London is Chaplin's granddaughter Kiera Chaplin. Here is Quint's concert schedule. READ THE FULL Violinist.com ARTICLE

The Norwegian violinist Mari Samuelsen has signed an exclusive agreement with Deutsche Grammophon. Her first single, Max Richter's ‘November', was released on Friday to coincide with the ARTE broadcast of her performance at Beijing's Forbidden City in October, as part of the DG 120 celebrations. Samuelsen's debut DG album, which will be released in early summer 2019, was recorded with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and conductor Jonathan Stockhammer. Tracks range from Bach's Chaconne in D minor to orchestral pieces by leading contemporary composers, including Max Richter, Brian Eno, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Peter Gregson. Max Richter's music has become a core part of Mari's personal playlists as well as her live repertoire. Immediately taken with his 2012 DG release Recomposed, she has since played the Vivaldi-inspired score with Richter in concert, most recently in December 2018 in Hong Kong. They have also performed Memoryhouse and worked together on his latest album for DG, Three Worlds – Music from Woolf Works. ‘Apart from being a wonderful violinist,' says Richter, ‘Mari has an instinctive understanding of my compositional world and an uncanny ability to communicate my intentions.' READ THE FULL Strad ARTICLE