Yo-Yo Ma brings his phenomenal global project featuring the composer's cello suites to India along with spoken word, music recitals and theatre. The celebrated international cellist, is in Mumbai this week for yet another stop over of The Bach Project, a concert series in which he performs Johann Sebastian Bach's unaccompanied cello suites in a single sitting, in what will ultimately be 36 locations around the world. It is a journey that began, rather auspiciously in August last year, at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver, Colorado, where nearly 9,000 people gathered to share the musical
At a time when most of the world's jazz capitals are buried under snow or suffering through sub-zero temperatures, Haiti is offering fans a week of outdoor concerts showcasing the best talents in the business in a balmy Caribbean clime, the 13th edition of the Port-au-Prince Jazz Festival, running now through January 26. Now in its thirteenth year, PaPJazz, as the Festival International de Jazz de Port-au-Prince styles itself, is aiming high. Proving that 13 isn't always an unlucky number, the festival this year has secured for the first time the talents of Cecile McLorin S
It's a Thursday night at New York City's legendary Rose Bar inside the Gramercy Park Hotel, and seconds after Brian Newman dashes out of "Showboat," his 1971 Oldsmobile 98 LS (the vehicular inspiration behind his debut Verve Records album of the same name), he flies to the bar and greets me with Dean Martin-like charisma and words reminiscent of yesteryear: "Hey, baby, what's going on?" Brian Newman is the bandleader of Gaga's Vegas residency-and one of her closest friends. READ THE FULL Oprah Mag ARTICLE
Mobile Chamber Music Society has brought some talented and lauded musicians to Mobile over the decades, but a note from one of their key members hints at a high-water mark this month. "We have never had the prestigious Miró Quartet on our series before because, frankly, we could never afford them," Daniel Silver wrote. " The quartet's members are instructors at the University of Texas' Butler School of Music. Within the first five years of its 1995 founding, the quartet had won first prizes in every competition it entered and was the first ensemble to win the Avery Fisher Career Gran
Radio New Zealand's Sound Lounge brings you a lullaby of epic proportions - Max Richter's Sleep at10:00 pm on 19 January 2019. It's the German-born British composer's "personal lullaby for a frenetic world" scored for piano, strings, electronics and vocals without words. The public premiere in Berlin was held at former East German Powerplant 'Kraftwerk' and since then Sleep has been heard by slumbering audiences all over the world, including the 2018 Auckland Arts Festival. Max Richter has loved sleeping since he was a child and to create this experience he
One of the world's foremost fingerstyle guitarists and harp-guitarists, Muriel Anderson is the first woman to have won the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. Her CD "Nightlight Daylight" was chosen as one of the top 10 CDs of the decade by Guitar Player Magazine and her "Heartstrings" recording accompanied the astronauts on the Space Shuttle Discovery. Guitar World Magazine listed Muriel Anderson as one of the eight most amazing female acoustic players and is one of the few international touring harp-guitarists. Among those she has performed/recorded with are Chet Atkins, Les Paul, V
Hollywood movie star Jeff Goldblum transcends the big screen to bring his effervescent joie de vivre and stuttering style to this spirited album of jazz standards, recorded live in the studio in front of an appreciative audience. Goldblum plays dual roles, tickling the ivories as bandleader and acting as an excitable and exaggeratedly suave MC, going off on idiosyncratic tangents and introducing his guest vocalists with a winking, flirty charm. As a jazz pianist Goldblum is no joke, although you'd be hard-pressed to notice. His piano mostly avoids the limelight to allow renowned trumpet
This issue completes Hilary Hahn's first recording of Bach's solo violin works. The initial volume, her debut recording (1997), had a mixed reception, but these readings, superbly captured, demonstrate greater maturity, a wider range of nuance and a more convincing appreciation of the ‘grand design'. Showing little empathy for ‘period' style, Hahn is largely faithful to Bach's text, but takes occasional liberties with his articulations; her improved structural vision is most evident in the Sonatas' fugues, which are characterised by controlled, euphonious execution of the most d
Star mezzo soprano; Joyce DiDonato and the period instrument ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro captivated Hong Kong concertgoers in a programme made up largely of Baroque arias and works by Purcell and Handel drawn from the Kansas-born star mezzo-soprano's album "In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music". The concert opened the 2019 edition of the annual chamber music event Beare's Premiere Music Festival. From a sublime Dido's Lament to a jubilant closing Handel aria, the American showed the full range of her singing. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px '
When he was all of four, renowned Chinese-American cellist Yo-Yo Ma discovered the classical music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The German composer has remained a constant inspiration in his career spanning nearly six decades, over 100 albums, and 19 Grammy award wins (he's also performed for eight US Presidents). Next week, Ma, 63, comes to India for the first time, to share the power of Bach's music. "It has been a friend to me; it has offered solace in difficult times, joy in moments of celebration, guidance in the face of confusion," the artiste writes ahead of his performance at the Natio
Soprano Dawn Upshaw sings Maria Schneider - Winter Morning Walks Jan. 18 at Richardson Auditorium in Princeton; Jan. 19 at Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank; and Jan. 20 at NJPAC in Newark. Upshaw will perform Morning Walks and Mahler's Fourth Symphony January 18–20 in the second program NJSO's 2019 Winter Festival, "Music Speaks." Music Director Xian Zhang conducts. Zhang says: "Performing works by female composers has always been one of my passions, and Maria Schneider's Winter Morning Walks-with soloist Dawn Upshaw-is a particularly touching piece, base
Nathan Pacheco is an award winning, classically trained tenor with a passion for reaching out and uplifting people through music. Nathan has been featured globally in live performances with Yanni, Latin singing sensation Olga Tañon, Katherine Jenkins, the National Symphony Orchestra and The San Diego Symphony. A highlight among his many performances was being able to sing for Prince Charles in conjunction with the British Forces Foundation and the USO. He has been featured on multiple Yanni recordings, including his album, Inspirato, on which Nathan was featured alongside Plác
Pianist Seong-Jin Cho played a sold-out concert at Eastman School of Music's part of the Fernando Laires Piano Series, and his performance gradually became more effortless. Cho turned things around dramatically after the intermission with Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." From the bold and majestic chords of the recurring "Promenade" theme to the playful, rambunctious quality of "The Gnome" and the delightfully spry and witty reading of "Ballet of Unhatched Chicks," Cho seemed to relish the direct melodicism and implicit storytelling of Mussorgsky. The composer's fantasti
Members of Lady Gaga's backing band, otherwise known as the Brian Newman Quintet, Alex Smith (piano), Daniel Foose (bass), Steve Koryka (sax), Donald Barrett (drums) and Brian Newman (trumpet), joined Vegas players Jake Langley (guitar) and Julian Tanaka (clarinet) at Dispensary Lounge on Wednesday, Jan. 16. Newman, a highly regarded trumpet player, is Gaga's bandleader who has also hit the scene at Copa Room at Bootlegger Bistro to catch Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns (Newman has also recruited members of the Santa Fe's famed horn section for the jazz/piano shows). Alex Sm
Jon Batiste is an internationally acclaimed musician, bandleader and composer, and with his band Stay Human, currently appears nightly on national television as the bandleader and musical director for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." HOLLYWOOD AFRICANS, a nod to the 1983 Jean Michel Basquiat painting by the same title, is both an indictment and reclamation of the long history of discrimination faced by artists of color in the entertainment industry, and in American society at large. Grammy Award-winning jazz guitarist, band leader and composer, John Scofield Combo 66 vi
Bassist Pablo Aslan was inspired to create songs for bass and string quartet by his friend, bandoneonist, arranger and composer, Raul Jaurena. The goal of the project was to change the role of the bass in an ensemble setting. Instead of just serving as the foundation and melody of a given piece, Aslan sought to showcase the bass as an instrument that could drive the rhythm of a song. The idea for the bass-driven project came after Aslan was invited by Cho-Liang Lin, Artistic Director of the La Jolla Music Festival, to play a concert with Paquito D'Rivera and the Escher String Quartet in 201
Alfonso Cuaron's masterpiece is about growing up with a nanny and a single mom in Mexico City in the 1970s. It's a tribute to the women in his life told in Spanish, and filmed in black and white, with the director also serving as cinematographer and editor. An enriching, lyrical, tone poem that bubbles with so much life you swear it's a documentary. A true work of art that resonates on multiple levels. Thrilling, heartbreaking, whimsical, lovely, emotional, wide-eyed and wonderful with an Oscar level performance by school teacher turned actress, Yalitza Aparicio. READ ALL REVIEWS ON&nbs
The sold-out crowd at Campbell Hall for this initial event of the Arts & Lectures winter season was happy and they knew it. How could you tell? They clapped their hands. Although there were plenty of other opportunities to confirm the positive effect of Jon Batiste's recent solo show on the lucky people who got to see it, none was more direct than how they responded to the bliss-inducing version of the classic children's clap-along song that he conducted from the stage while playing the melody on his "harmonoboard." Whether seated at a grand piano at center stage or roaming the
Classic rock promises plenty of intrigue for 2019, as Billy Joel, Metallica, Keith Richards, Whitesnake, Santana, Heart, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Joe Jackson, REO Speedwagon, Bryan Adams and Altitudes & Attitude – a new band featuring Dave Ellefson and Frank Bello – have already confirmed new albums. On February 15 TTB and Fantasy Records will release Signs, their 4th studio album and a new high-water mark in their recording career. With 11 originals penned by the band and a few dear friends, produced by Derek Trucks, Jim Scott and Bobby Tis and meticulously recorded to two
Rachel Barton Pine-in this release with pianist Matthew Hale, who joins her in some of the pieces-once again shows off her versatility and wide-ranging interest as a musician in 'Blues Dialogues: Music by Black Composers'. And while "the blues" are the omnipresent thread that links this recording by black composers, the corpus isn't a unified at all stylistically. These are mostly newly-written pieces, not arrangements of familiar tunes. In the opening track by David Baker, Blues (Deliver my soul), a piece for violin and piano, might be as easy an opening as we might expect. The
On Saturday, February 9, and Monday, February 18, WCRB: Boston, Violinist Lisa Batiashvili is the soloist in Szymanowski's Violin Concerto No. 1, with Andris Nelsons conducting the Boston Symphony in Copland's majestic Third Symphony. The program includes; Olly WILSON Lumina SZYMANOWSKI Violin Concerto No. 1 COPLAND Symphony No. 3 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} Following her acclaimed album with the Staatsk
To say that these two tone poems are among Rachmaninov's finest compositions may raise an eyebrow to those who find his Symphonies the best. Don't take my word for it. Later in his life, the Great Russian believed that The Bells was his greatest achievement. And if you don't believe The Rach and me, take a listen to this new recording of this choral symphony on Konstantin Balmont's free translation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Bells": The Bavarian Radio Choir and the BR Symphony Orchestra has given us the most splendiferous and glamorous rendering I have ever heard. And if you don't believe me
Call him the reluctant recitalist. At the ripe young age of 67, Mexican pianist Jorge Federico Osorio made his Los Angeles-area recital debut Wednesday night in Beverly Hills at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. To be sure, Osorio has given recitals in major U.S. cities, but he didn't make his New York recital debut until 1997, when he was in his 40s - unusual for a pianist who won several international competitions as a young man. Although Osorio has appeared as a guest soloist with Southern California orchestras - his last was in 2017 at San Diego's Mainly Mozar
Next week, Greensboro Symphony Orchestra audiences will become only the second and third groups to hear a new concerto by classical and jazz composer and musician Chris Brubeck, performed by two famous classical guest artists; Violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson will solo with the orchestra on Brubeck's "Pas de Deux: Concerto for Violin and Violoncello and Orchestra." The husband-and-wife duo will perform under the baton of Dmitry Sitkovetsky, the symphony's music director and a renowned, world-traveling violinist. Brubeck comes from a legendary musical family. His father
Let's just say, if there were a trumpet player in Goodfellas, it would have been played by Brian Newman. And if he were to get matching tattoos with someone, it would be with Lady GaGa and the tattoo would have been designed by Tony Bennett…and that's exactly what went down with Brian and Lady GaGa. Meet Brian Newman - this cat's got the chops to blow the roof off the joint, while dressed to the nines and droppin' dimes with a lady named Gaga! Oh yeah, and did we mention he rocks some killer ink? READ THE Q&A
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo‘s debut CD from Decca, called ARC, juxtaposes arias by Handel with pieces by Philip Glass. He sees a similarity in the two composers, beyond their considerable impact on both his career and approach to performing. The recording was recently nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. The news of his nomination came as a surprise to Costanzo: "I had neglected to look what day they'd be nominating, because I didn't even think I had a chance. So you can imagine when I woke up and turned on my phone and there were just
For our latest installment, Prof. Kopp takes a look at some of the most notable new titles. With 4 out of 5 stars and a 09-14-18 street date, The Upshot: TONY BENNETT & DIANA KRALL – Love is Here to Stay is " meeting of two jazz vocal greats results in a low-key, subdued yet note-perfect musical summit. Also, 4 out of 5 stars, with a 11-09-18 street date - The Upshot: Don't hold it against Jeff Goldblum that he's best-known as an actor. On JEFF GOLDBLUM & THE MILDRED SNITZER ORCHESTRA – The Capitol Studios Sessions on Decca, Goldblum is joined by to-flight guests, t
Seong-Jin Cho recently released his first Mozart recording, Piano Concerto No. 20 & Sonatas, on Deutsche Grammophon, boasting a dynamic interpretation of one of the composer's most powerful and dramatic piano concertos. The Korean pianist was fortunate that his earliest memories of Mozart were fixed by his parents' recordings of two of the composer's greatest operas: The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute. They opened the young musician's heart to the limitless compassion of Mozart's music, which continues to resonate with Cho. "When I play, I try to play with my
There are certain sounds and styles that will never fade. The Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, but the music of George Gershwin delivered by the likes of Tony Bennet and Diana Krall is here to stay. They team up with the equally timeless trio of Bill Charlap/p, Peter Washington/b and Kenny Washington/dr and the classy combo is rich in rapport. Krall is breathy and Bennett is cozy on "'S Wonderful" and both are lugubrious on a hoot of "Do It Again." Bennet steps out and lets Krall do a gorgeous duet with Charlap on a wanderlust of a "But Not For Me" and Bennett is as soft a
Korean cellist - Hee-Young Lim, launched her first CD French Cello Concertos last November. Now she is tapping into the classical music world in China. "Playing the cello feels like meditation, it becomes sort of a mirror and helps you see within yourself. And since I have no siblings and used to spend a lot of time alone reading books, my parents felt this was all good because it was almost as though I had a constant companion in the cello!" To date, she is the first female Asian cellist appointed as the Principal Solo Cellist of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the major o
The Croatian duo of Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, better known as 2CELLOS, recently released their much-anticipated new album, Let There Be Cello, via Sony Music Masterworks. A follow-up to the 2017 release of Score, Let There Be Cello finds the pair exploring a diverse catalogue with their signature boundary-breaking playing style. Known for their electric live performances, 2CELLOS now gear up to take the album on the road for their first-ever U.S. arena tour, which is set to kick off next month. Watch 2CELLOS perform 'Seven Nation Army' on 'GMADay' via abc36-WT
2018 marks 250 years since Gioachino Rossini's death in 1868. 'Messa per Rossini' was composed in his memory by Verdi and 12 other notable Italian composers. Verdi himself composed the concluding Libera me, which he later used in his own Requiem. Conducted by Riccardo Chailly, this rare performance represents the work's triumphant return to the spiritual home of Verdi and Rossini: the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. {Decca} READ THE FULL Classical Music Sentinel REVIEW
Pioneer and saxophonist John William Coltrane was just 40 years old when he died - and yet, he managed to leave behind an incomparable legacy. He was even adopted as a saint and is actively worshipped at the Yardbird Temple turned Coltrane Church in California. Few are better suited to pay tribute to Coltrane's iconic body of work than the musicians selected for the 1/18 DSO's Music of John Coltrane event. Poncho Sanchez who, for more than three decades, has married traditional, gritty jazz with Latin American and South American influences, will join revered saxophonist and Detroit-nat
CHILDREN and youth choirs from across York are being given the opportunity to perform alongside royal wedding performers, The Kingdom Choir. The gospel group who performed the song ‘Stand By Me' at Prince Harry's wedding last May, are inviting York choirs to perform with them on May 8 at the Barbican. The choir, founded in 1994, is a group of male and female singers from London who's songs primarily focus on aspects of Christianity. Conductor Karen Gibson, said they want to help inspire the next generation. She said: "Being part of the royal wedding was such an honour and we were
Maria Schneider's acclaimed classical composition Winter Morning Walks began with a scrap of poetry, which reached her ears before she encountered it on the page. Schneider, a peerless composer for big band, had previously composed a classical song cycle incorporating language by the Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andade. Her vocal collaborator was the illustrious soprano Dawn Upshaw, who responded with enthusiasm to the idea of another, full-length piece. "I had remembered hearing Terry Gross interview a poet [on NPR's Fresh Air]," Schneider recalls recently, speaking by phone from her
One of the leading figures in traditional and contemporary tango, renowned Argentine born bassist Pablo Aslan – a Grammy and Latin Grammy award nominee - has been critically touted as the "heartbeat" of an emerging jazz-tango fusion style. The multi-talented composer and artist explains that this all at once dramatic and sweeping, jubilant yet sensually intimate collection of bass/string quartet arrangements was prompted by the suggestion of bandeonist, arranger and composer Raul Jaurena - who adds his quirky, percussive accents and dreamy improvisations to the closing track "La Cumpa
This year, for the first time, Winter Jazzfest extended over two weekends and held a half-marathon in Greenwich Village in six venues on the first Saturday of January, followed by the full and classic two-night marathon the following weekend. After a long break, the night at SubCulture culminated in a Cuban firestorm, a mesmerizing duet of superstars from the Cuban jazz scene: Grammy-nominated pianist Alfredo Rodríguez and percussionist Pedrito Martinez. Both are lauded for their virtuosic performances, but each bring two uniquely rich worlds to the musical table. Rodriguez has t
This week's free download is the third movement from Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A, K581. It is performed by the Carducci Quartet with clarinettist Julian Bliss and recorded for Signum Records. This is Mozart's only completed clarinet quintet and was written for the clarinettist Anton Stadler, who Mozart also wrote his Clarinet Concerto for. It was written at the end of Mozart's life, in 1789. This movement - the third - is made up of a minuet and two contrasting trios. At the time of writing, the clarinet was still quite a novel instrument, but Stadler convinced Mozart tha
Tony-nominated Les Misérables star Ramin Karimloo, most recently on Broadway in Anastasia, has been cast in the BBC One series Holby City. The West End and Broadway leading man will play the role of Kian Madani. The drama, which is set in the wards of Holby City Hospital, follows the highs and lows of the staff and patients. Karimloo drew acclaim for creating the role of the Phantom in the 2010 London world premiere of Love Never Dies, the sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber's long-running hit The Phantom of the Opera; he also starred in the title role of Phantom in the West End and in
Donald Glover made an unexpected appearance at Film Independent's "An Evening With…" series on Tuesday, held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills and presented by the HFPA. Joining "Black Panther" composer and Childish Gambino collaborator Ludwig Göransson, who was the subject of a Q&A conducted by "The Treatment" host Elvis Mitchell, Glover launched into the hit song "Redbone," which had been rearranged by Göransson's wife Serena to include a string quintet along with African conga in addition to the traditional electric bass, guitar and
This morning, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra announced a four-week schedule of concerts, performances, and happenings for the fifth annual Soluna International Music & Arts Festival, which is coming from April 4 through April 28. While anchored by DSO performances, the festival aims to draw a connection from the lofty world of classical music to modern life in Dallas. There are a lot of intriguing events heading our way this April. Among the most exciting is from Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard, who will partake in two events during Soluna. On April 7, h
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
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 ch
Groundbreaking banjo virtuoso and composer Bela Fleck has reconvened the original line-up of his legendary ensemble Bela Fleck & The Flecktones for an 8 p.m. concert June 23 at the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts IN Santa Fe. This is the first time the original line-up of the band has performed together in more than 20 years. The band also includes innovative bassist Victor Wooten, percussionist Roy "Futureman" Wooten and pianist/harmonica player Howard Levy. READ THE FULL SALINA JOURNAL ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica
Released yesterday, Yo-Yo Ma's new music video featuring a performance of Bach's "Prélude" from Cello Suite No. 1 merges Ma's performance with footage contributed by fans across the world. The video clips where responses to the prompt, "Show the world how you express yourself and what brings your community together." The video included a clip from Canadia Daniel Mosionier. Besides being stunningly beautiful, the video also marks the start of the next chapter in Ma's Bach Project, which brings his performance of Bach's suites for solo cello to 36 places around the world. As part o
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
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 condu
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,
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
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 AR
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 Ll
Virginia's Signature Theatre will honor six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald with the company's tenth Stephen Sondheim Award March 4 at a black-tie gala at the Embassy of Italy. The evening will benefit Signature Theatre's artistic, education, and community programs. Signature Theatre inaugurated The Stephen Sondheim Award in 2009 in recognition of the importance of Sondheim's work to Signature and to theatre in general. The award is given to an individual for his or her career contributions to the American Musical Theatre along with interpreting, supporting, or collaborating on works by Son
Three-time Tony recipient Bernadette Peters, most recently on Broadway in the Tony-winning revival of Hello, Dolly!, has announced a host of 2019 concert dates, including four appearances in the U.K. The Broadway favorite will make rare appearances on the other side of the Atlantic beginning June 10 at the Lyceum Theatre in London, followed by June 12 at Usher Hall in Edinburgh, June 14 at Symphony Hall in Birmingham, June 16 at The Lowry in Salford, and June 18 at Milton Keynes Theatre. The stage and screen star will perform selections from her award-winning Broadway outings, including tun
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
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
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 alb
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 E
In Yo-Yo Ma's new video, the cellist is seen on top of a city building playing the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1, coupled with the message: "Culture – the way we express ourselves and understand each other – can bind us together as one world." Then a dramatic cityscape, to a ballet studio, an ice rink, and from a potter's studio to a tailor's workshop, the video answers the question "Show the world how you express yourself and what brings your community together." Ma's two-year-long project has him perform Bach's music in 36 locations around
It's been more than five years since Kat Edmonson performed in the Bay Area, playing a morning set at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass back in 2013. She's been busy ever since. With an unmistakable voice that's equal parts ingenue and worldly, Edmonson has carved out a singular niche as a songwriter steeped in the sounds of Tin Pan Alley and Broadway. But rather than mining the American Songbook for material, she's developed an enchanting body of original songs that channel the zeitgeist, circa 1938. Rather than composing from the piano, she catches melodies wherever she happens to find herself. "
Fresh, emotional, crystalline as glacial water - these are words to describe Icelandic pianist Vikingur Ólafsson's stunning recording, released this season by Deutsche Grammophon, of music of Johann Sebastian Bach. "Bach is a free country." So writes Ólaffson, quoting a "wise man" at the beginning of his own extensive liner notes to the album. This intriguing idea encapsulates the interpretive dilemma and opportunity facing every performer of Bach's music - that although "the musical structures are very detailed, there are hardly any indications as to how you should go about s
Eight years after her first self-released, critically-acclaimed Pianoscope ; an album imbued with both melancholy and light (The Telegraph UK), Alexandra Stréliski unveiled her raw and sincere album titled INSCAPE, via Secret City Records. Recorded at Studio PM in Montreal, INSCAPE is the work of an artist unconcerned with conventions, whose approach of neoclassicism is resolutely current. Stréliski has been in the spotlight this Summer following an incredible artistic collaboration with Jean-Marc Vallée for his latest HBO miniseries Sharp Objects, starring Amy Adams. S
The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) is an eclectic mix of film critics from across North America. We're a diverse melting pot of tastes brought together by a love of cinema. We're not all beguiled by the same films; we're known to disagree with each other. Tonight, Sunday, January 13, the CW will televise the BFCA's Critics' Choice Awards. I've cast my votes, all I can do is brace myself for the inevitable surprises and disappointments. The night might see a landslide winner as polarizing titles like "Green Book" or "A Star is Born" have passionate foll
Joyce DiDonato says that opera is a powerful weapon and can remind people of the effect their actions have on the world. The Kansas-born star will open Hong Kong's Beare's Premiere Music Festival with a performance of her album In War & Peace on January 16. Many artists like to keep politics and social commentary out of their performances to ensure that they do not offend members of the audience who disagree with their views. That's not the case with American opera star Joyce DiDonato. Moreover, DiDonato wanted to see if music, and her performances, were capable of changing the way
Something exciting has happened to the Billboard jazz charts. Nothing earthshaking really. Michael Bublé's Love is still No. 1 after seven weeks. But there is now a new title by a new artist that is rocking things up. The title comes across as fairly ordinary, The Capitol Studio Sessions. It is also quite misleading. The legendary Capitol Studio does not exist anymore and the live album was not recorded there, but in a Hollywood jazz club. The name of the artist though is far from ordinary. It is Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Jeff Goldblum? Mildred Snitzer? Is that
Alexey Shor talks to Anna Marie Galea about how he got into music and the creative process that has gained him the admiration of music lovers the world over. With his pieces being played by the finest contemporary musicians in many of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, Shor took part last year in the Malta International Music Festival, and I grabbed the opportunity to interview him over a chat. "I got into the music scene late in life. Everyone in my family is a scientist and so, from a young age, I would read books about Mathematics. Alexey became a full-time mathematician an
Areta Zhulla, the new first violinist with Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) makes her West Coast debut presented by Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University on February 21 at 7:30pm. Founded in 1946, JSQ returns to the campus several years after their Chapman debut in the 1960s. With the introduction of Zhulla, JSQ's arrival exemplifies the quartet's ongoing impact by performing and educating with unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor. JSQ's latest addition, first violinist Areta Zhulla, joined the Quartet in September 2018. Hailing from Greece, Zhulla has been named
Ever since he co-founded the combo Special EFX back in the early 1980s, guitarist, composer and arranger Chieli Minucci has been one of the most successful musicians working in contemporary" jazz. Minucci, who led the group Thursday night at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis, added saxophonist Eric Marienthal and violinist Regina Carter to the group Both are veteran bandleaders in their own right, and contributed mightily to a high-energy, stylistically varied set of music. Carter's African-themed composition "Mandingo Street" took the group in a world-beat direction. It feat
ASK YOUR MAMA - Setting of Langston Hughes' 1961 epic poem by Emmy Award-winning composer Laura Karpman was a Carnegie Hall commission and Avie Records release. A plural vision of the American dream deferred, ASK YOUR MAMA bursts the boundaries of time, place and expression, tracing the currents and tributaries of cultural diasporas, from African to the Americas, the South to the North, cities to suburbs. The prophetic voice of Langston Hughes echoes throughout, "ONE'S COUNTRY IS YOUR MAMA." In a workshop at the University of Michigan, Karpman oversees a rehearsal of
The next Sarasota Masterworks performance - scheduled just days after the last one - features a soloist so famous he's the title of the concert. "Ax Plays Beethoven," presented Thursday through Jan. 20, features Emanuel Ax playing Beethoven's Concerto No. 1, and includes Verdi's "La Forza del Destino Overture" and Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5. Music Director Anu Tali will lead the program. The Grammy Award-winning Ax is widely regarded as one of today's best pianists, and has works written for him by such composers as John Adams, Christopher Rouse, HK Gruber, Krzysztof Penderecki and more
Legendary soprano Renée Fleming is set to present SongStudio at Carnegie Hall between Jan. 21-26, 2019. The program is aimed at exploring the future of the voice recital and will see Fleming mentoring 10 young singers and 10 collaborative pianists. Fleming stated. "I fell in love with song literature through Marilyn Horne. I'm grateful that she devoted her artistry and agency to this art form," SongStudio has evolved out of her contribution. My initial goal, beyond honing skills crucial for this art form, will be encouraging singers to be more adventurous in their approach
The Kingdom Choir became a household name following the stunning performance of Stand By Me at the wedding of HRH Prince Harry and the Duchess Of Sussex last year and now the choir is set to perform at the Barbican on Wednesday, May 8. The 18-date headline tour in April and May will include a first anniversary celebration at the Royal Albert Hall in London, a year to the day after the wedding at St George's Chapel, Windsor. Following the 2018 Royal Wedding performance, the Choir has made high profile appearances across UK TV networks as well as closing the Invictus Games in Sydney in Oc
If there was a guitarist who grew up learning at the knee of Son House while listening to Sun Ra records, toured with Jimi Hendrix, became a star in his own right in the early '70s and is now putting the finishing touches to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career, that guy would probably sound a lot like Derek Trucks. Only thing is, Derek Trucks seemed to just be getting started when Already Free arrived on Jan. 13, 2009. And he was, it just wouldn't be with this group. A year later, Trucks co-founded the Tedeschi Trucks band with his talented spouse, Susan Tedeschi. READ THE FU
Talk about quick turn-around! Here already is the recording of this year's New Year's Day concert from the Vienna Philharmonic. A tradition since 1941, the concert is broadcast on radio and TV to more than 90 countries worldwide. Christian Thielemann is this year's conductor, of a program of mostly Strauss family favorites with a few surprises tossed in. For the Week of January 14th, KDFC: San Francisco selects the Vienna Philharmonic - 2019 New Year's Day Concert as 'Album Of the Week. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color
Talk about quick turn-around! Here already is the recording of this year's New Year's Day concert from the Vienna Philharmonic. A tradition since 1941, the concert is broadcast on radio and TV to more than 90 countries worldwide. Christian Thielemann is this year's conductor, of a program of mostly Strauss family favorites with a few surprises tossed in. For the Week of January 14th, KUSC: Los Angeles selects the Vienna Philharmonic - 2019 New Year's Day Concert as 'Album Of the Week. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d
Now that 2019 is here, Classical 104.9 FM is busy adding new releases and new recordings into the music library for this new year! On Wednesday morning, January 16th, starting at 9:00am, "Classical New Orleans" host James Arey will present a full hour of new recordings just added to the library. You'll hear cellist Hee-Young Lim playing Saint-Saens; Ray Chen playing Debussy; Leif Ove Andsnes playing Chopin; and Simone Dinnerstein & A Far Cry performing a recent piano concerto by Philip Glass. The support of our local businesses, underwriters and members makes the acquisition of new
Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili will perform three shows at the Berliner Philharmoniker in Germany 24 – 26 January. Originally from Tbilisi, Batishvili now lives in Munich. She is famous across Europe and the US for her natural elegance, smooth sound and graceful articulation. Her three shows at the Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin will include classical works by Sergei Prokofiev and Richard Strauss as well as the European premiere of Metacosmos by Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Batiashvili has upcoming performances at the Boston Symphony Hall, in Tel Aviv and Haifa, before performing at
Ramin Karimloo is one of the West-End's and Broadway's most recognisable and acclaimed names, and fans can see him up-close and personal at the Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn on January 19, as The Laurence Olivier and Tony Award-nominated actor has announced his From Now On tour, named after his version of the powerful song from the Oscar-nominated film The Greatest Showman. The concerts will see Ramin perform well-know numbers from Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and more musical and contemporary hits accompanied by his Broadgrass band, a clever mix between Broad
The New York Philharmonic regularly features first-class soloists from around the world, but it is always a special event when local heroes take the stage. This month two beloved New York–based pianists are joining the Orchestra in concerts that promise to offer spectacular music-making. Yefim Bronfman, who was honored with a seat on the Orchestra's Board after many appearances with the organization, will be heard in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 on January 16, 18, 19, and 22. And Emanuel Ax, named an Honorary Member of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Society after performing hi
After five years, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel returns with the new studio album, "Dreams and Songs." Acclaimed worldwide for tackling the biggest opera roles, Terfel's new album shows his lighter side with popular concert pieces recorded in new orchestral versions of traditional Welsh songs, musical hits, and beloved encores. Among the pieces on his new album are "If I Were A Rich Man" from "Fiddler on the Roof," the Welsh folk song "Ar Lan y Môr," and the Irish ballad "The Fields of Athenry." Bryn Terfel - Dreams and Songs is the WFMT: Chicago Featured New Release p.p1 {margi
Tedeschi Trucks Band have announced details of an upcoming new studio album Signs, Feb. 15 via Fantasy Records, and have also debuted the lead track "Hard Case." TTB premiered "Hard Case" via NPR on Wednesday ahead of the launch of its 2019 U.S. winter tour, which kicks off Jan. 17 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at Paramount Theatre. Signs is the veteran blues-rockers fourth studio effort and long awaited follow up to 2016's Let Me Get By. The album was co-produced by Derek Trucks along with Jim Scott and Bobby Tis in Jacksonville, Florida. The 11-track album features numerous special guests, i
Chamber Music Sedona is honored to present a special performance featuring the world-renowned piano phenomenon Yuja Wang, alongside the "superb young soloist" (New Yorker) and our very own Artistic Director, cellist Nicholas Canellakis. Taking place at the Sedona Performing Arts Center on Sunday, March 24, 2019, at 2:30 pm, they will play a program of virtuosic and fiery duos by the great romantics Rachmaninoff and Chopin. Wang's new album of solo works, The Berlin Recital on Deutsche Grammophonon - a survey of landmark works by the late-romantic era and 20th century composers: Rach
A second show has been added to actor Jeff Goldlbum's performances at the Carnegie of Homestead Music Hall on Valentine's Day. It was announced Tuesday that the "Jurassic Park" star, who also performs as a jazz pianist, would take the stage at 7 p.m. for a show with the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. On Friday morning, a second 9:45 p.m. show was added, due to popular demand. The doors for that show will open at 9 p.m. Tickets for the second show go on sale Friday at noon here. Goldblum who is a native of West Homestead, has recently released via Decca Records 'The Capitol Studios
Looking back at another year of jazz showed there is no let up in the quality of the genre, nor its sense of forward movement (if you're listening to the right artists) so with last year in the can, I present a Best of 2018 list of modern and mainstream jazz releases that I can proudly recommend the most. Limiting the selections to those records I took the time to review leaves out a lot of records that are otherwise worthy, but having only a casual acquaintance with the music isn't good enough to make a list with high confidence. It's not always fair but it sure does simplify the selection
One of the most arresting sequences in Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman" - based on the true story of an African American cop who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in 1970s Colorado - comes right at the beginning of the movie. It involves Alec Baldwin, as a fictional white supremacist academic, filming a kind of segregationist infomercial. As he delivers his increasingly hateful diatribe, images from D.W. Griffith's notorious "The Birth of a Nation" are projected onto his face, eventually obscuring Baldwin almost entirely - a powerful visual metaphor for the way racism can span generations. Yet p
On Sunday, January 27th at 1pm, JPR welcomes critically acclaimed vocalist and songwriter, actor and dancer, Kat Edmonson and her band into the JPR studios for a Live Session on 'Jazz Sunday.' Edmonson has played major stages across the United States, Europe and Japan. She's appeared in major motion pictures, performed on radio and television, and released four groundbreaking albums to date. Her newest album, Old Fashioned Gal, is out now on Spinnerette Records. Edmonson says," While writing this album, I realized that I was seeing what looked like scenes from a film in my head-a fi
Classical musical sales have bucked the downward trend thanks to young stars who appeared at the Royal Wedding and Proms, the UK's record label association has revealed. Sales of classical CDs and streaming of the music have increased by more than 10 per cent in 2018 compared to the previous year, the BPI has said. More than 2.2 million classical albums were either purchased, downloaded or streamed last year, with the genre growing faster than the rest of the UK music industry as a whole, which grew 5.7 per cent, according to data collected by the Official Charts Company for the BPI. RE
D.L. PETERSON Soft AC WDPN-A/CANTON, OH picks up the syndicated "The JOHN TESH Radio Show" for middays, starting JANUARY 14th. TESH was last heard in the market on ALPHA MEDIA Hot AC WHBC. "Many listeners were left disenfranchised when TESH was taken off the air late last year," WDPN GM DON PETERSON said. "Mr. TESH is a broadcasting professional who will fit in perfectly with the programming already provided on AM 1310 WDPN. Our audience and our clients are going to love it!" "We're thrilled that The JOHN TESH Radio show will be joining AM 1310 WDPN," TESHMEDIA EVP
Khachaturian's Violin Concerto is quite a rarity these days, unjustifiably so. It used to have some big names promoting it on stage and on the recording studio, like its dedicatee David Oistrakh and Leonid Kogan. This newcomer puts this concerto as the center of a well planned, "oriental" related theme album, named "Baïka" ("Tale"). In the Violin Concerto, Radulovic is accompanied, as in his previous album, by The Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic Orchestra under Sascha Goetzel. Right from the first bars of the concerto, you can hear the participants' enthusiasm and commitment to this
A 2018 study by the University of Southern California revealed that for the top 100 fictional films at the box office every year from 2007 to 2017, only 16 female composers were hired, compared with more than 1,200 men. Another report, from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, showed that of the top 250 films at the domestic box office in 2018, 94 percent were scored by men. "The numbers are bleak, but the landscape isn't," said Laura Karpman, a veteran film composer ("Paris Can Wait") and a governor in the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci
Along with Daniil Trifonov, pianist Igor Levit's concerts and CDs must recall what it first felt like to encounter Gilels and Richter, two other super-talented Russian pianists who brought excitement to classical music. When I saw Igor Levit live, one of the most striking aspects for this sensitive and strong pianist was the fascinating combination of music choices. So it wasn't surprising that the pieces for his latest solo CD are as varied as night and day: included works are by Busoni, Bach, Schumann, Rzewski, Wagner, Liszt, and Bill Evans, whose "Peace Pipe" couldn't get a more sensitiv
This new CD arrived and I couldn't wait to get it in the player, sit back and listen to it – and I certainly wasn't disappointed. It isn't always successful for someone who studied opera to make the transition to other styles of music but Alfie Boe has certainly accomplished that over the years. This CD sees him take on the Big Band genre of music. He has a style all of his own but it sort of reminds me of a young Howard Keel rather than, say, a Vic Damone. He is exceptionally well-served as far as orchestra and Big Band are concerned – the first-rate City of Prague Philha
The undisputable bass ace takes a slight detour from his tango/jazz and delves into the world of jazz/world/classical charting his own course in the terrain of works for bass and string quartets. High tone listening that's not at all egghead, this is simply the sound of a master stretching his wings and seeing what new heights he can fly to. A smoking recital kind of set, this is not only the kind of set that can turn your head, it can change your thinking. Hot stuff throughout. SEE ALL Midwest Record REVIEWS from 1/11
Argentine bassist Pablo Aslan can be remembered by our readers on a joint album with Roger Davidson, who reviewed jazzquad.ru. Aslan, who has been living in the USA for many years, is well known as a great master of polystyle, successfully combining an interest in jazz with various ethnic music: first of all, naturally, with Argentine tango, but also with Afro-Cuban, Spanish, Klezmer. At the same time, Aslan is a profound connoisseur and keen performer of academic music. In his new project Contrabajo, the breadth of musical tastes by Pablo Aslan was fully revealed. READ THE FULL Jazz sq
International best-selling singer, songwriter and musician, Melody Gardot, released her first live album. ‘Live in Europe' in late 2017. The 2CD album on Decca Records celebrates the success of Gardot's live shows around the world and includes concert performances of her greatest hits, recorded between 2012 and 2016. Personally curated by Melody herself, the album features some of her best loved songs, including Baby I'm A Fool (recorded in Vienna in 2013 and London last year), My One and Only Thrill (from Barcelona in 2012), Les Etoiles (from London last year) and March F
This album brings together artists from many different backgrounds to present the symphonic music of George Gershwin in unprecedented sonic scope. Jazz pianist Shelly Berg, conductor José Serebrier, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra are joined by a group of guest artists (Monica Mancini, Arturo Sandoval, Ledisi, and Mark O'Connor) for a fresh take on familiar works by Gershwin. Notable is the choice to record and mix the album incorporating techniques used more in contemporary orchestral film scoring. The results reveal musical details inside Gershwin's orchestrations not heard in
Tim Hauser started Manhattan Transfer in New York City in 1969. The second edition of the band, the one we have today, formed in 1972. Hauser died in 2014. From the 1972 edition Alan Paul and Janis Seagal are still very much part of the band. Cheryl Bentyne, who joined in 1979 is also in Manhattan Transfer and coming to Australia for the tour. Manhattan Transfer had a number of hit songs in Australia starting with ‘Chanson D'Amour' (no 9, 1976), ‘Where Did Our Love Go' (no 27, 1978), ‘Twilight Zone' (no 28, 1980), ‘Trickle Trickle' (no 25, 1981) and ‘The Boy Fr
Jon Batiste opens up about directing the music on a top network show, recording a solo album, writing a Broadway musical, and more. "Man, there is no other gig like this," he declares buoyantly, "It's like audio Lego. There's improvisation and incidental music, cues to accent different jokes. Then there's the audience-500 people every night, a different house. Jazz, at the root of what I do, helps me tremendously." Batiste, 32, is doing extra labor tonight as the musical guest, performing the quietly urgent ballad "Don't Stop" from his new Verve album, Hollywood Africans. Sitting in his
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} Celebrated for his exuberant virtuosity and a bold repertoire that embraces piano classics and inspired discoveries of contemporary and world music, Joel Fan reinvents the piano recital by illuminating the rare and unexpected-creating, in the words of the Baltimore Sun's critic Tim Smith, "one of the most satisfying piano performances I've heard." Fan will perform a bold selection of works by MIT c
Lincoln Mayorga is one of those figures who's been essential to the evolution of popular music, even if most listeners have never heard of him. The classically trained pianist, arranger, and Columbia County resident has worked on the scores to dozens of blockbuster movies (Chinatown, The Rose, Pete's Dragon) and TV shows ("Little House on the Prairie," "Dallas") and with artists ranging from Barbara Streisand to the Moscow Philharmonic and the Standells. On February 9, Mayorga and trumpeter Rob Fisch will present "An Evening of Jazz Classics" at Spencertown Academy. "This core genre is
Last year, when Will Ackerman was producing a CD of three renowned guitarists, one of the musicians asked, "Why are you on the other side of the window as a producer, why not play with us?" So he picked up his Froggy Bottom guitar and did just that. That is how 4 Guitars was born. Next Stage Arts Project and Ackerman, founder of Windham Hill Records and Imaginary Road Studios, presents 4 Guitars, on Saturday, Jan. 12, at Next Stage Arts Project. 4 Guitars is made up of four extraordinary guitarists, Ackerman, Trevor Gordon Hall, Todd Mosby and Vin Downes. Ackerman, a Brattleboro re
