For a little culture while you stay at home during the coronavirus outbreak, we're offering daily recommendations of streaming concerts, online musicals, virtual art exhibitions and more. Here are eight picks for Friday, all times Pacific: The rising young British cellist; Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who famously played at the nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, performs classical favorites with family members live from their home quarantine. 10:30 a.m. Friday. Free. facebook.com/ShekuKMOfficial Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concertmaster Margaret Batjer plays solo pieces for v
The Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo will present Joyce DiDonato's "In War and Peace" through its Teatro Digital between April 2 to 9, 2020. The concert, which features Il Pomo d'Oro, will be shown on the Teatro Mayor's Facebook page and on the www.teatrodigital.org. The program features baroque music from composers Händel, Leo, De Cavalieri, Purcell, Gesualdo, and Pärt. The concert was part of the international tour which began on Nov. 17, 2016, at the BOZAR in Brussels and lasted nearly three years traveling across four continents to 44 cities within 25 countries. The
Jazz has always been Slow Culture's forte. That being said, vocal jazz never really got our full attention. But that was before Laila Biali's single Sugar hit our inbox on a rainy morning. At that time, we din't believe that the whole album would stay in our playlist for long. Little did we know! We will review ‘Out of Dust' – Laila Biali's eighth album – next week. To cure our wait (and hopefully, yours!), we're delighted and honored to publish today the interview we did with The Artist Formerly Known As Laila Biali. READ THE Slow Culture INTERVIEW
Last summer, back when family trips were still a thing you could do, our family took a great one – starting with a family event in southern California, there was a day at Disneyland, some Los Angeles sightseeing, and then a Route 66 road trip all the way from San Bernardino to Albuquerque. But in our family, even a family vacation ends up including some radio – and so while the kids went off to see the Peterson Automotive Museum, your editor took advantage of the chance to meet one of radio's most interesting owners. Saul Levine, now in his nineties, put 105.1 FM on the air
JUNO Award winner Laila Biali's deeply personal new album, Out of Dust features not only contributions from the singer/pianist's husband; Ben Wittman and son, but also multiple GRAMMY nominees and winners including Lisa Fisher, Alan Ferber, John Ellis, and Larnell Lewis. "There's a line from a song by the indie gospel group, Gungor, that has become like an anthem to me," Biali says. "‘He makes beautiful things out of dust.' That's where the title for the album comes from, and as a songwriter and musician, my ultimate intention and hope is to spread a little more lo
Jazz FM had the pleasure to have had the World first exclusive play of Nina Simone's 'Fodder In Her Wings'. The song is taken from an obscure French Nina Simone recording from 1982 and is set to have its full commercial release for the first time - Fodder On my Wings. Originally recorded for a small French label and only sporadically available since its initial release, Fodder On My Wings will be reissued tomorrow. The original album will be expanded with three bonus tracks from the recording sessions from a rare French reissue released in 1988. A lesser-known but import
Maybe it's the impact of the movie Harriet; maybe it's all the fine work of artists such as Mavis Staples and Rhiannon Giddens and others who have brought more awareness of old spirituals sung in the fields by slaves, some of which later became rallying songs for the Freedom Rides and the Civil Rights era. Whatever the catalyst, this music seems more present than ever. Pianist Lara Downes delivers these mostly well-known spirituals and freedom songs, some alone on the piano, and others with a diverse cast of guests on Some of These Days. Some of this music Lara Downes is playing has bee
I first became aware of the Canadian singer/pianist Laila Biali over a decade ago thanks to her version of Joni Mitchell's ‘Woodstock'. It was a terrific performance that swept majestically along with a soaring vocal that completely floored me (it sounds just as good today). If you're not familiar with the artist, she's a classically trained pianist, touring musician with Paula Cole, Sting and Chris Botti, a member of the rather wonderful Rose and The Nightingale, a jazz radio DJ, a self-releasing album artist and the winner of the Best Jazz Vocal category at the 1999 Juno Awards for
The shutdown of production was devastating to Los Angeles' music community, just as it has been for every aspect of TV- and movie-making. But creative thinking is putting some studio musicians back to work. John Acosta, president of Local 47 of the American Federation of Musicians, projects that lost wages due to the cancellation of live performances (notably by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, L.A. Opera, L.A. Master Chorale and others) and studio recording dates could range from $2 million to $4 million, "just for the month of March." Scuttled scoring dates amounted to half of that total
Nina Simone's "Fodder On My Wings" is an album of contrasts and extremes - personal traumas and world sounds, joy and despair, harmony and defiance, the carnal and the spiritual. Recorded in Paris in 1982, as Simone's enduring restlessness and creeping mental illness kept her life seemingly barely tethered to anything but her music, it's a considerable triumph of personality and genius. "Fodder In Her Wings" appears to depersonalize the album title, but the references to self are clear and the weariness deeply intimate - "fodder in her wings" and "dust inside her brains" as "she flitted
Even though in-person concerts have been suspended, many talented artists and ensembles are committed to sharing stunning music through the internet. Here's a guide to some upcoming classical livestreams you should add to your calendar! On Friday, April 3 at 7 pm CT, Pianist Lara Downes launches her new album, Some of These Days, with a Facebook Live performance from her home in Sacramento, California. The album's uplifting content - freedom songs and spirituals - offers hope in this troubled time. Plus, you can make a difference just by tuning in: the e-concert is a fundraiser for
Angele Dubeau's new album; 'Pulsations' brings together works that evoke strong images and possess a profound emotional intensity. "A pulsation marks time, it infuses its rhythm in it and also evokes the heart. Just like those composers whose music calls out to me and who, with their unique signatures, mark time, our time. Features the music of; Olafur Arnalds, Jean-Michel Blais, Ludovico Einaudi, Alex Baranowski, Craig Armstrong, Peter Gregson, Yann Tiersen, Abel Korzeniowski, Johan Johannsson, Max Richter and Dala. Produced by Max Horowitz - Crossover Media, This content,
This Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 8pm ET/7pm CT/5pm PT, OurConcerts.live, a new online channel and streaming service, will bring together some of the industry's biggest stars for a virtual benefit concert. All proceeds will go to the Artist Relief Tree, a fund created in the past few weeks to financially support artists who are affected by cancellations due to COVID-19. The concert will feature pianists Emanuel Ax and Jon Kimura Parker, mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges, violinist Rachel Barton Pine, clarinetist Anthony McGill, and harpist Bridget Kibbey. Tickets are available on the OurConcert
Carnegie Hall presents the world's leading artists virtually every night during its season; Lincoln Center's theaters are almost never dark. Then there are the dozens of smaller venues scattered throughout town. Planning a concert-going calendar, then, has always been a balancing act, full of disappointment that you can't be in multiple places at once. Then came the coronavirus pandemic, which caused performances to grind to a halt earlier this month. I haven't had the heart to delete events in my own calendar, even though in the coming week there's no chance I'll see the premiere o
Shabaka Hutchings is known to many as a key player in The Comet is Coming and Sons of Kemet and his strength of delivery and presence in a line up is formidable. Shabaka & The Ancestors' first album ‘Wisdom of Elders' released on the Brownswood label unleashed a powerful force on the music world and showed an enlightened and aware musician willing to place his beliefs and tenets before the audience as well as his music. ‘We Are Sent Here By History' is released on Impulse and is a reflection of immense changes in society – and more to come. Shabaka has referred to
Gear up to enjoy an e-concert and interaction by the iconic musician Karsh Kale from the comfort of your home. One can register online for this show titled, Live from HQ featuring Karsh Kale. The Indo-American musician and record producer is known for his tracks for Gully Boy and one of the most iconic names in the alternative music. The 45-year-old musician posted on Instagram "I'll be live from home answering some questions and sharing some stories and perhaps playing some tune," said the UK-born record producer. The celebrated musician is also known for his collaborations with Anoushka S
Since the beginning of the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States and the world earlier this year, many, if not most, have put a stop to social gatherings. A shelter in place order directing all residents to stay inside until further notice went into effect in Sacramento County on March 20. A day later Governor Gavin Newsom announced a stay at home order for all of California. In response to the call for social distancing to keep the virus at bay, arts organizations and presenters began canceling performances even before the stay at home orders were issued.&nbs
Every now and then ECM drops an album that appears to be distinctly out of character. Big Vicious certainly fits into that category. It's a surprisingly refreshing affair, although anyone seeking the subtle, sensitive Avishai Cohen of recent ECM outings will need to be very open-minded about this one. The character and clarity of the trumpeter's playing hasn't changed though, it's just in a very different setting this time around. Big Vicious is an intriguing mix of an album. It grows on you the more you listen. Try it. It might surprise you. READ THE FULL UKVIBE.org REVIEW
In these times where everyone is stuck indoors, relaxing neo-classical and ambient music has seen a boom. Film, TV, advertising and music composer Michael Whalen released a new album Sacred Spaces earlier this month that captures the type of music needed now. Whalen for this project avoided presets, creating and programming his own sounds in fine detail-more than 800-over a period of four months. The result is a powerful and captivating album that is beatless, but still has loads of energy underneath tracks like on "In The Footsteps of the Blessed." The album combines flutes, strings, piano
Since first appearing on the scene in 2007, Toronto's Sultans Of String has never taken the easy road in terms of crafting their internationally acclaimed hybrid of folk, jazz and world music. Their latest album, Refuge, is their most ambitious yet, a collection of 13 songs that speak to the challenges facing the world's displaced peoples-their stories, their songs, their persistence and their humanity. It features the group collaborating with over 30 artists, from the renowned banjo player Bela Fleck to Ojibway poet Duke Redbird and a string section from Istanbul, Turkey. However, all
Pianist and composer Jon Batiste is a young, energetic powerhouse full of the Crescent City party spirit. They start with an all out jam on "Blacck" that continues through "PWWR" fully engaging the audience in the celebration. We caught a taste of ragtime on "Kenner", Jon's bow to his hometown (a New Orleans suburb). Batiste celebrates the late Roy Hargrove with the cool funky vibe of "Soulful". He performed this tune with Hargrove during his first appearance at New York‘s Village Vanguard a decade ago. It's very timely to record this set at the same venue starting on the day we
Music affords an escape, takes us back in time to reflect on the present, mirrors our aches and joys and offers serenity. As relentless news about the coronavirus continues, these albums were gifts during difficult times. This month, that included surprise drops from Víkingur Oláfsson. With his trademark transparency and warmth, Víkingur Oláfsson facilitates a colorful dialog between two groundbreaking French composers born nearly 200 years apart. Like a mixtape, the Icelandic pianist juxtaposes Rameau's expressive flourishes with Debussy's
Music affords an escape, takes us back in time to reflect on the present, mirrors our aches and joys and offers serenity. As relentless news about the coronavirus continues, these albums were gifts during difficult times. This month, that included surprise drops from British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings has a deep, thrashing bond with the South African musicians in the Ancestors, a band for our time. Their aptly titled sophomore release, We Are Sent Here By History, is an album of stark admonitions and unruly energies, anchored by the pull of an ecstatic communion. - Nate Chinen, WBGO
We're thrilled to present an audio interview with recording artist and Emmy Award-winning TV and film composer Michael Whalen. He's back with a spellbindingly beautiful new album of ethereal ambient electronica titled Sacred Spaces. We not only discuss his latest release, but also cover various topics related to the music industry, revisit the past, and reflect on where things might be headed in the future. So please find or create your own sacred space to get comfortable in, as we delve into the moods, emotions and soundscapes of Sacred Spaces with Michael Whalen! Music from the albums
Wolfgang Muthspiel, whom The New Yorker has called "a shining light" among today's jazz guitarists, returns to the trio format with Angular Blues, his fourth ECM album as a leader, following two acclaimed quintet releases and his trio debut. Like Driftwood – the 2014 trio disc that JazzTimes dubbed "cinematic" and "haunting" – Angular Blues finds the Austrian guitarist paired with long-time collaborator Brian Blade on drums; but instead of Larry Grenadier on bass, this time it's Scott Colley, whose especially earthy sound helps imbue this trio with its own dynamic. Muths
Deutsche Grammophon marked World Piano Day on Saturday 28 March with a global livestream virtual festival featuring ten of their legendary pianists. Over 4 million people in over 100 countries have so far enjoyed the virtual festival, featuring three and a half hours of piano music, via YouTube, Facebook and Medici.tv. The emotionally charged programme was performed by Maria João Pires, Víkingur Ólafsson, Joep Beving, Rudolf Buchbinder, Seong-Jin Cho, Jan Lisiecki, Kit Armstrong, Simon Ghraichy, Daniil Trifonov and Evgeny Kissin. The pianists pre-recorded intimate l
The violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter has paid tribute to the Polish conductor and composer Krzysztof Penderecki - a longtime friend and musical collaborator who dedicated numerous works to her - whose death at the age of 86 was announced yesterday. Penderecki first heard Mutter perform as a twelve-year-old, in Beethoven's Violin Concerto with Karajan, and followed her career thereafter. Mutter went on to premiere and record a number of his works for violin over 25 years, among them La Follia variations for solo violin, Duo concertante for violin and double bass, Violin Sonata no.2 and
New York City is known for a rich music scene, particularly when it comes to musicians involved in jazz, soul, funk and blues. Snack Cat is an outfit comprising of musicians that cross these genre lines; the members bring in experiences from working with artists as diverse as Roberta Flack, Greg Allman, Grace Potter and Jersey Boys. The band's sound - a showcase of their roots in R&B, soul, jazz and other subgenres, comes out in full-force on their self-titled debut EP, released last year, recorded in NYC's Lower East Side. Aleksi Glick, Snack Cat's bandleader and lead guitarist
For a new generation who may have learned about the incomparable Nina Simone in the epic 2015 Netflix documentary " What Happened, Miss Simone?" - here's a chance to discover her talents again in album form. "Fodder on My Wings" was recorded in 1982 not long after Simone moved to Paris. She was said to be lonely and her mental illness worsening while she recorded the album, and the mood is perfectly captured on the title track. There are more gems here: The song "Alone Again (Naturally)" is lyrical improvisation about the death of her father. "Fodder on My Wings" was originally recorded for
Like Rachmaninoff, Danill Trifonov was born in Russia, and is already considered one of the world's great pianists at age 29. He is also a composer, and made his way to the United States where he settled in New York. Despite all these parallels, Trifonov didn't start studying and performing Rachmaninoff's music until he was 21, but he has made up for lost time by releasing three albums devoted to the composer: an album of Rachmaninoff's three sets of variations in 2015; "Departure", featuring concertos 2 & 4, in 2018; and "Arrival", featuring Concertos 1 & 3, in Octo
In its folkloric grandeur and ambitions that make it leap far beyond a more restricted sense of abum there is a collision of poetry, music and however implicit dance. Folkloric in one sense, a rewriting of priorities in terms of society and attitudes to gender and more in another there is a mystical sense of revelation drawn from Xhosa traditions, Rastafarianism and more in the lyrics and inspirations and above all a sense of otherworldliness. In all the above this actually contributes to a larger more convincing world view than you get in the more basic bounce and euphoric beat of Shab
Nina Simone's Fodder On My Wings was initially recorded not long after she moved to Paris in 1982. Simone always loved the album, but it remained rather obscure as it was recorded for a small French label and was often in and out of print. It is now being reissued in CD and LP formats with three bonus tracks from a French reissue in 1988. You may have already heard audio or videos for the jubilant "I Sing Just to Know I'm Alive" or "Liberian Calypso." This is not the rebellious Nina of "Mississippi Goddam" or even the jazzy "My Baby Just Cares For Me." Yet, her signature powerful cresce
When Víkingur Ólafsson was about 5 years old, he already knew what he wanted to be. "It sounds crazy, but I always saw myself as a concert pianist," he says. "Even if I wasn't a good pianist." The Icelandic musician, who turned 36 last month, has become a very good pianist indeed. Whether playing baroque or contemporary music, Ólafsson's technique is formidable, but it's transparency combined with warmth that has defined his singular sound. He is sought after by the world's top orchestras and concert venues and has signed on with the swanky Deutsche
To one generation, Karsh Kale needs no introduction- he is one of the pioneers who defined the Asian Underground musical scene of the early '90s. To another generation, he is the guy who scored the famous Train song for Gully Boy (2019). Point this out, and he laughs. Because Kale has always been fiercely protective of his independent artiste tag, and it is ironic that he is known to GenZ for a film song. ""I have experienced situations where I knew it was my skin tone that didn't land me the gig!" "I am 45 and I have been doing this for too long to be swayed by adulation,"
"Here be dragons" is the ECM debut of New York-based, Tel Aviv born tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur. One of the most strikingly original musicians to emerge from Israel's creative jazz scene in recent years, he leads an outstanding quartet which includes Nitai Hershkovits on piano, Petros Klampanis on double bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums. Tzur has a very personal sound to his playing which encompasses a patient, reserved feel, and his music is subtle and graceful. His writing, combined with intelligent and intuitive performances from the quartet as a whole, makes for a resoundingly bea
"Why does the world need a Piano Day? For many reasons. But mostly, because it doesn't hurt to celebrate the piano and everything around it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, movers and most important, the listener." – Nils Frahm Piano Day, a annual worldwide event founded by a group of likeminded people, takes place on the 88th day of the year – in 2020 it's the 28th March – because of the number of keys on the instrument being celebrated. The aim of the day is to create a platform for piano related projects in order to promote the development of musi
The British-Barbadian jazz saxophonist and his South African players narrate the apocalypse from a distant future, suggesting that in order to build anew, some things will first need to burn. In West Africa, histories have been passed down through generations by griots, storytellers who collect the wisdom of the past in order to help shape our fates. Even after the advent of the written word, such storytellers were the safest manner of recording knowledge-scrolls could be lost, and libraries could burn, but oral histories were shared by the collective consciousness, written in our genes
Five for Five, or five quintets with five different solo instruments: bassoon, English horn, clarinet, oboe and transverse flute accompanied by and dialoguing with a string quartet was written by Michael Fine. Before being a composer, Michael Fine was a clarinetist, label director, artistic orchestra manager, conductor and a popular producer. We find there what makes the quintessence of the music of the American composer where each work has almost its universe as descendant of an aesthetic line specific to the instrument. For the one for bassoon, we will think of the music written
Lyrics in medieval Hebrew, Arabic and Spanish from Andalusia, 900-1400 C.E. The Golden Age of Spain that created the tradition of Western song, from Schubert and Verdi to Hank Williams and the Beatles Zajal, renowned Downtown composer and instrumentalist Dave Soldier explores the beginning of popular song and locates it 1000 years ago at the intersection of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cultures in southern Spain. Zajal, along with muwashaha, were the lyrics of medieval Andalusia. While many are still sung today (notably in Lebanon), their offspring are everywhere. On a
I'm on a musical voyage again, and I am now wondering if this is the most exciting sojourn through tone and sound I have taken this year, as Michael Whalen is back with Scared Spaces a breath taking new offering from the artist, and a completely new direction from all that I have heard before. Michael known recently for his lush and moving piano work on Cupid Blindfolded, has delivered a truly refreshing new offering of electronic ambient and new age styles for us to enjoy. This is powerfully illustrated by the opening piece entitled A Metaphysical Morning, a wonderfully upbeat and
The Week in Jazz is your roundup of new and noteworthy stories from the jazz world. It's a one-stop destination for the music news you need to know. Let's take it from the top. Big Vicious marks the debut album of charismatic trumpeter Avishai Cohen's new quintet of the same name. The band was launched after he relocated from the United States to his native Israel. "We're all coming from jazz, but some of us left it earlier," Cohen explains via a press release. In fact, each individual member's different background shapes the eclectic sound of Big Vicious. While the music remains jazz-c
Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week's most notable new songs and videos. Avishai Cohen's ‘Hidden Chamber' makes this week's list. The trumpeter Avishai Cohen and his band Big Vicious wrote much of the material for their debut album together, blurring the processes of composition and rehearsing and recording into a single flow. "Hidden Chamber" is a piece Cohen brought to the band fully written, but even so, the looming, soused-in-effects sound of the band becomes the main propulsive force. The resolute pounding of twin drummers and th
JUNO Award Winning singer-songwriter Laila Biali deeply personal new album, 'Out of Dust' releases today, March 27. Co-produced by Biali and her husband, Ben Wittman, the album is a celebration of life; warm and uplifting even as it confronts her recent challenges (and the current political climate!) head-on. "These new songs took shape as I processed my own feelings of doubt and loss," Biali reveals. "I believe that nothing is wasted, that even life's greatest challenges can produce something meaningful, even if only to make us more aware of and empathetic to the struggles
Recognized among the finest trumpet virtuosos of his generation, Paul Merkelo releases The Enlightened Trumpet, his first recording for Sony Classical. Hailed as "a spectacular soloist ... a most impressive master of his instrument" (Montreal Gazette) who "knows no limits" (Der Spiegel) and with "unusual lyrical gifts" (Gramophone), Merkelo has been Principal trumpet with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 1995, and has appeared as soloist with prestigious orchestras around the globe, from Melbourne to Shanghai. In The Enlightened Trumpet, Merkelo is joined by the
Joey Alexander, the Grammy-nominated jazz pianist, composer and bandleader has released his major label debut album, WARNA on Verve Records. The album is primarily a collection of reflective, moving new and original music by an experienced and confident musician. Translating as "color" from Alexander's native language of Bahasa, WARNA follows four Motéma Music albums that garnered the pianist three Grammy nominations and such honors as historic critics' and readers' poll victories in DownBeat and JazzTimes. Joining Alexander on the new album are b
Ron Carter says interest from Japan keeps him playing at the age of 82. "I think people still want to hear the old man playing on an antique," says Ron Carter. "And as long as they want that idea, I'm kind of available." Carter is one of jazz's most prolific figures. In addition to recording dozens of albums as a band leader, he has worked with most of the genre's big names, including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Milt Jackson. In 2015, Guinness World Records handed him the title of "Most recorded jazz bassist" for more than 2,200 individual recording credits. And that number has continue
Ten years in the making, Sacred Spaces is an epic electronic album by Michael Whalen, an award-winning composer who has released 33 solo and soundtrack albums since his 1984 debut. In addition to his work as a sound designer, Whalen has composed more than 800 TV and film scores as well as thousands of commercials, TV themes and video games. Aside from the stunning sound quality and the beauty of the music, Sacred Spaces is very different from 2019's Cupid Blindfolded, Whalen's first solo piano album in twenty years. Obviously not content to find a groove that works and then stay there, Whal
The New Music Solidarity Fund is designed to help new/creative/improvised music freelancers whose livelihood has been threatened as a result of performances which have been canceled during the COVID-19 crisis. The Fund was started by a group of musicians in the new music community who have raised over $130,000 in a week, primarily from fellow musicians, composers, and music professionals. Our hope is that the Solidarity Fund will continue to grow in the coming weeks, so that we can assist and bolster more people in need of emergency relief. For now, at least two hundred and sixty, $500 emer
We didn't invent listening to more jazz, we just implore you to do it. We also would like you to support Passion of the Weiss by subscribing to our Patreon. As tempting as low flight prices may be, Chris Robinson is staying home. Of the current generation of musicians pushing jazz in new directions, perhaps none synthesizes the music of the black diaspora into a personal sound and style as much as saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings. Three recent albums on the legendary Impulse Records tell listeners all they need to know to understand why he's a central figure in London's dynamic jazz sc
It's difficult to name a classical artist with a bigger big break than Sheku Kanneh-Mason. In 2018, 1.9 billion people around the world watched the young cellist - he was just 19 years old at the time - perform in the halls of St. George's Chapel during the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. In addition to the Royal Wedding, Kanneh-Mason, who is now 20 years old, has had numerous television performances throughout his young career. In 2015, he was a contestant on Britain's Got Talent and performed in an ensemble with his siblings (which included his older sister Isata, a success
"I was looking for a title with the same spelling for French and English, so Pulsations. Pulsation marks time, infuses its rhythm in it and also evokes the heart, just like those composers I chose, who, with their unique signature, mark time. Our time." Composers of our time - that's what Canadian violinist Angèle Dubeau's 44th recording with her all-female ensemble La Pietà is all about. She titled it Pulsations. Dubeau continues; "Twenty years ago, I started to make a series of musical portraits of icons of contemporary music - I'm thinking of Philip Gla
Laila Biali planned to introduce fans to her new album, Out of Dust, in a live setting. Coronavirus might have put the kibosh on her May 2 concert at Pyatt Hall and a planned cross-country tour, but that isn't halting the March 27 record release date. As the Juno award winning jazz artist says, nobody knows what the future holds. "Some people advised putting the release on hold, but at this stage everything has been put in motion. How can you tie in to touring when there is no telling how long this might go on? None of us know, and this baby is ready to be born. " Featuring 10 originals
Israeli tenor saxophonist and composer Oded Tzur has released his first album on the prestigious ECM label. Oded, who is working in or from New York since 2011 (where else?), debuted in 2015 with "Like A Great River" which was followed in 2017 with "Translator's Note". It seems as if his new-found home at ECM has somehow earthed him, grounded him, since this release is much more connected and quintessential than its predecessors. We have lived with the album for a month now and the beauty of its content has not vanished. From the opening notes of the title track, its introspec
April 6th, 1917. As a regiment assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap. Soaring and tacking as two lonely soldiers navigate an unforgiving World War I battlefield, Thomas Newman paints a superb audio landscape that utterly envelops "1917" almost as well as the stunning visuals provided by Oscar-winning cinematographer Roger Deakins. At once, foreboding and inspiring, Newman's score successfully manages to evoke a range of emotions from audiences t
Mindfulness music leader Real Music presents Blue Landscapes III: Frontiers, the pioneering third album in the award-winning Blue Landscapes series from internationally renowned pianist Robert Thies and flutist Damjan Krajacic. The instrumental album ushers in the new new age by generously offering 15 improvisational tracks. "Blue Landscapes is inspired and grounded by our love for Earth's beauty and all of her natural wonders. Whether it be the motion of the seas, the majesty of the mountains, the rhythmic flow of the rivers and streams, the migrations of her creatures, or the myst
Mindfulness music leader Real Music presents Blue Landscapes III: Frontiers, the pioneering third album in the award-winning Blue Landscapes series from internationally renowned pianist Robert Thies and flutist Damjan Krajacic. The instrumental album ushers in the new new age by generously offering 15 improvisational tracks. "Blue Landscapes is inspired and grounded by our love for Earth's beauty and all of her natural wonders. Whether it be the motion of the seas, the majesty of the mountains, the rhythmic flow of the rivers and streams, the migrations of her creatures, or the myst
Most of you know that the banjo originated in West Africa, so banjo master Bela Fleck was almost obligated to explore the instrument's roots at some point. After all, there may not be a more explorative musician than Fleck who has won 15 Grammys in nine different categories, stretching from country to pop to jazz to classical and world music. Fleck says, "I knew that my beloved instrument had originally come from West Africa. And, from time to time I found tantalizing tidbits of African acoustic music that gave me the confidence to know that there was a phenomenal amount of incredible
"It's strong, loud, repetitive and fitting but not very memorable." Old-school cops Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett team up to take down the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel. Newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department along with Mike and Marcus go up against the ruthless Armando Armas. The score for "Bad Boys for Life" says it all. Composed by Lorne Balfe, who has a long resume of movie scores reflecting the more violent side of life, this movie score accurately and definitively delineates the crushing brutality of the film. Balfe invokes percussion to pound ou
Avishai Cohen never cared much about genre boundaries. On "Big Vicious" he proves this with an impressive range from Beethoven to Massive Attack. This is an unusual ECM album. A "ping" reverberating for a second, like from the sonar of a submarine, marks the beginning of "Big vicious". Avishai Cohen, who returned to Israeli homeland after many years in New York, founded the band of the same name six years ago. The quintet does not stand for the purely acoustic, sometimes almost uneventful, beautiful sound that the trumpeter celebrates on albums under his own name. A lot happens in "Big
On her new studio album, Laila Biali revives the urge to fight for a better world. This is achieved primarily through a good arrangement. The title of the opener is doubly coherent: Laila Biali starts with "Revival". The one awakening that the Canadian is singing about is the worldwide pioneering urge to take to the streets again for a better world - a deep curtsey in front of the Greta Thunbergs of this world. The other reawakening that runs through the entire album "Out of Dust" is musical in nature: Such ambitious songwriter jazz rock has most recently been heard from a Cassandra Wil
In these difficult times, singer-songwriter Laila Biali releases an album that has a lesson for all of us. She's had a roller-coaster few years with success and adversity mixed together and the result is her latest album: Out of Dust. Biali is clear about her inspiration. She says: "These new songs took shape as I processed my own feelings of doubt and loss. I believe that nothing is wasted, that even life's greatest trials can produce something meaningful, if only to make us more empathetic to the struggles of those around us." And so comes Out of Dust, right when we
Singer-songwriters come in all kinds of musical flavors, from old-fashioned folkies to punk rockers. The most familiar musical format is of the acoustic-guitar wielding artist who strums and sings, and sometimes brings in a band for their recording. But there are a lot of piano-based artists, from Billy Joel to Elton John to Randy Newman to Bruce Hornsby. And some of those piano-types show some jazz influence in their music. This time, we have a pianist and vocalist who approaches the music from a jazz perspective. It's Canadian artist Laila Biali, whose new release is called Out of Dus
WHY THIS MUSIC: Before this piece won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, I was unaware of it, and so wanted to explore it together. This Out of the Box project has been about exploring the new and the newly released. When Jennifer Higdon's Harp Concerto won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, I took note and made sure it would be part of Out of the Box in March. Now (and I hope you'll forgive my honesty here) I'm a little ashamed to admit that while Jennifer Higdon is one of the giants of the contemporary classical compo
by Michael Shapiro In 1911, my conducting teacher and beloved friend Carl Bamberger, then nine years old, returned home from a day at his Viennese grade school to find his mother sitting at the kitchen table staring into space, a newspaper spread out before her. The headline stabbed young Carl straight into his heart: "Mahler is dead!" To music loving Viennese one hundred nine years ago, the conductor Gustav Mahler was a god. Most music lovers knew that he composed as well, but Mahler was then more famous as the music director of major opera houses, such as the Court Opera in Vienna
"Put all your soul into it, play the way you feel!" Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor has taken these words by Chopin completely to heart in these distinctive, compelling performances of both Chopin piano concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and its principal guest conductor Elim Chan. The E minor Concerto opens in a wash of summery radiance, the strings superheated and heartfelt, from which the woodwind solos emerge soulfully, followed by a first triumphant flourish from Grosvenor, releasing floods of effortless poetic diversion. Beyond that the enchanting timelessness of the Roma
In liner notes for her new album, Some of These Days, pianist Lara Downes expresses the 14-track CD's origins and significance. A line in an African-American spiritual, "Welcome Table," provides the album's title and the final track is an adaptation by Downes of the composition by African-American composer Florence Price (1887–1953). Following a pull quote from the refrain, Downes reveals her purpose and shares a personal narrative: "All of God's children gonna sit together, some of these days." ("Welcome Table") The conviction in these words - the hope and faith in them -
An end-of-days theme runs through the album, which mixes free jazz, spoken word and church-rooted harmonies The acoustic South African Ancestors band are, sonically, the warmest of London-based Shabaka Hutchings's multiple projects and collaborations. Their springy grooves, catchy riffs and church-rooted harmonies are uplifting, and Hutchings's tenor sax and clarinet are undoctored. Their central themes, though, have a disturbing core. The band's first album, Wisdom of Elders, released soon after they formed in 2016, warned of social calamities to come. We Are Sent Here by His
Shabaka Hutchings – of The Comet is Coming, Sons of Kemet and other evolving UK jazz/funk ensembles alongside this one – has advanced a strand of retro-Afrofuturism which links to Sun Ra, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Don Cherry and others. And given those references it is fitting that the group – back after their Wisdom of the Elders in 2016 – should now be on the Impulse! label alongside the Comet and Kemet releases. Recorded in South Africa and connecting with the urgency of township jive kicked over into post-Coltrane jazz, We Are Sent Her
We are about a week into the COVID-19 shut downs that have affected almost every arts organization, performing artist, teacher, professor, food industry worker, and beyond. No matter what we do, this will have a giant impact on the economy. For artists, losing performance fees and teaching wages are the hardest blows. Luckily the internet is an incredible resource in times of social isolation. Whether you're an independent artist, small nonprofit organization, or a large institution, there are ways to move your performances online and even monetize these efforts to help mitigate the large-s
Ludovico Einaudi's Seven Days Walking is inspired by his recurring walk in the Alps done over seven days, each journey altered by daily changes in nature, the weather, perspective and more. Musically, Einaudi plays piano alongside cello and violin, a return to the distinct sound of his solo piano recordings with the blend of soft strings complimenting his minimalist and mesmerizing melodies. All seven albums from Seven Days Walking are now released in one complete collection for fans to enjoy. "SEVEN DAYS WALKING": Ludovico Einaudi's music inspired by t
In the wake of our review of his Naked Revolution: A Socialist Realist Opera, the composer, Dave Soldier, thought People's World might also be interested in his CD Zajal, an album of 11 songs performed in Hebrew, Arabic and Romance (early Spanish), and one in English. The poets in all but one song lived in what was called the Golden Age of Spain, a time from 900 to 1400 CE, when a civilization flourished unlike any other in history. During that period, with occasional interruptions, Jews, Moors and Christians happily cohabited the land, sharing culture, ideas, science, medicine, music, food
Internationally awarded and honoured Canadian quintet Sultans of String collaborates with over 30 musicians on Refuge, including Yasmin Levy, Béla Fleck, Robi Botos, Ifrah Mansour, Demetrios Petsalakis, Imad Al Taha, Amir Amiri, Sammy Figueroa, Twin Flames, and many others on the wide-ranging treatise on displaced peoples, Refuge. On this visionary seventh album, Sultans of String bring their unique brand of musical synergy and collaboration to bear on 13 songs that speak to the challenges facing the world's displaced peoples--their stories, their songs, their persistence and the
Austrian guitarist and songwriter Wolfgang Muthspiel follows 2018's celebrated Where the River Goes by scaling back to a trio, enlisting bassist Scott Colley along with longtime collaborator/drumming legend Brian Blade, and releasing Angular Blues, his fourth album as a bandleader for venerable jazz label ECM. Unencumbered by the need for arranging the music to fit trumpet and piano this time around, Muthspiel, Colley, and Blade find the freedom here to stretch out and find new territories, tones, and shapes within the loose structure these pieces allow. Over his over 30-year career
Ars Lyrica Houston recommits to its mission of serving Houston's diverse community through music with new virtual content. Pairing stories of its musicians and artists with live and pre-recorded performances, two series, Concert & Conversations and Musical Moments, reinvent the connection between audiences and performers. Virtual "backstage access" is granted through interviews, music, discussion, lessons, and learning. Creating meaningful virtual content for their audiences and finding a voice for it amid the flood of online information is a challenge, and one that Ars Lyrica h
Lucas Debargue came fourth in the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition, but nonetheless was the talk of the town. Although he's recorded Scarlatti before (his debut disc with Sony included a handful of pieces), this four-disc set is a more serious proposition. The first thing to note, which may cause some purists to run screaming, is the fact that these are played on piano. Debargue mentions, though, that he plays these with some nods to harpsichord technique – he uses almost no pedal on this collection, for instance. Debargue plays these with a lovely light touch (hear how crisp the Sona
The pianist Vikingur Olafsson's recording career could be described as a constant refusal to be pinned down. His debut on the Deutsche Grammophon label, in 2017, featured Philip Glass's études, and he was encouraged to follow it with more Minimalism. But Mr. Olafsson insisted on something else entirely: a winding album of Bach. Again, he was asked to record more of the same. And again, Mr. Olafsson, now 36, didn't. His third Deutsche Grammophon album - "Debussy Rameau," out March 27 - is similar to his Bach in its sprawling ambition. But it's new in its juxtapositional struct
People worldwide have absorbed the guidelines as the coronavirus pandemic has closed its fist around the world. There is also the question of how to care for the psyche. It's a deeply personal matter. Some turn to prayer, or to a song, a story, a ritual, a favorite corner of the house. Psychic health is not just about becoming calmer, either. Anger and frustration and fear have to find their channels. Humor has to be preserved. So, somehow, does joy. Our Daily Breather seeks recommendations for psychic health from people who go deep into their own hearts and minds: artists and write
Last year, Sons of Kemet were one of the standout acts of the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tenn. This year, the festival is one of countless gatherings that has been cancelled due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. For the music industry - and especially for bands like Sons of Kemet, which rely on the energy of live performance - the disruptions caused by social distancing have been devastating. To explain those problems, NPR's Rachel Martin spoke to Nate Chinen from member station WBGO and Jazz Night in America. Listen
In collaboration with the creative community and students of Haiti's Artists Institute, songwriters Jackson Browne, Jenny Lewis, Jonathan Wilson, Jonathan Russell, Habib Koite, Raul Rodriguez and Paul Beaubrun recorded eleven original songs for Let the Rhythm Lead, a new benefit album celebrating the work of Artists for Peace and Justice APJ in Haiti. The project, conceived of as an international songwriters summit in Haiti, was recorded in local studios designed by WSDG Walters-Storyk Design Group "Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, we brought international and local artists toget
And now, here are the best new jazz albums of the month! Trumpeter Avishai Cohen left the US for Israel a few years ago, and upon doing so, formed a band of Israeli musicians (Uzi Ramirez on guitar, Yonatan Albalak on guitar and bass, Aviv Cohen on drums, and Ziv Ravitz on drums and live sampling) called Big Vicious. He says of their music and concept, "We're all coming from jazz, but some of us left it earlier." Their self-titled debut album, on ECM, is a kind of drifting cloud of electronic trip-hop jazz that will appeal to fans of Nils Petter Molvær and similar artists. The
And now, here are the best new jazz albums of the month! In 2015, British reeds player Shabaka Hutchings, also of Sons Of Kemet and the Comet Is Coming, traveled to South Africa and hooked up with a crew of musicians: alto saxophonist Mthunzi Mvubu, trumpeter Mandla Mlangeni, keyboardist Nduduzo Makhathini, bassist Ariel Zamonsky, drummer Tumi Mogorosi, percussionist Gontse Makhene, and vocalist Siyabonga Mthembu. Their debut album, Wisdom Of Elders, was a fantastic blend of Western and African jazz traditions, with poetic lyrics from Mthembu, but it felt like a kind of miraculous one-o
'Music Never Sleeps NYC' is a 24-Hour Music Video Livestream Marathon Event beginning at 6:00PM EDT on Friday, March 27, 2020. The Coronavirus global crisis has changed all of our lives drastically and has shut down every performing arts institution and venue. While practicing at home on the Upper West Side, Event organizer, and cellist; Jan Vogler realized that artists can contribute during this pandemic, and after hours of conversations with his New York-based friends and colleagues Vogler understood they are more eager than ever to express their artistry, and these friends a
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing people to stay indoors, now is the time to tackle those projects and hobbies you've been putting off: picking up those unread books, resuming that video game you started, or cooking some recipes you've been meaning to try. Another skill worth picking up is playing music. With live music in a state of flux, it can feel difficult to connect with others through this art form. (There are, of course, many ways fans can help support musicians who are currently out of work.) But learning how to perform music is a great way to be interactive. Here
The Let's face it, despite some inherent mishaps – I'm looking at you microtransactions – the 2010s gave birth to some exceptional games. Nay, incredible games. In fact, some of my favourite games of all time have only existed in the last decade, and on their shoulders have stood some mind-blowing soundtracks. If you're bunkering in, self-isolating, or just gaming for the hell of it, we got you. Here are the 10 best video game soundtracks of the 2010s. Widely recognised as a masterpiece, Gustavo Santaolalla's haunting soundtrack The Last Of Us (2013) takes no small cut of th
Wolfgang Muthspiel, whom The New Yorker has called "a shining light" among today's jazz guitarists, returns to the trio format with Angular Blues, the Austrian's fourth ECM album as a leader, following two acclaimed quintet releases and his trio debut. Like Driftwood - the 2014 trio disc that JazzTimes dubbed "cinematic" and "haunting" - Angular Blues finds Muthspiel paired with longtime collaborator Brian Blade on drums; but instead of Larry Grenadier on bass, it's Scott Colley, whose especially earthy sound helps give this trio its own dynamic. Muthspiel alternates between aco
Referred to as "the Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele," Jake Shimabukuro is a true virtuoso, and exhibits his talents once again with the release of ‘Trio', available through Music Theories Recordings. With nearly twenty albums already under his belt, Shimabukuro enlists the help of bassist Nolan Verner and guitarist Dave Preston, as well as legendary producer R.S. Field, in presenting the ambience of a classic jam session taken into a studio and transformed into a captivating 13 track album. Recorded at Nashville's Sound Emporium, Shimabukuro and company took only a
Millennial British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings teamed up with a similarly aged group of South African musicians to create the genre-redefining jazz found on We Are Sent Here by History. "We need to start articulating our utopias, articulating what needs to be burned and what needs to be saved," Shabaka told The New York Times. The album explores how toxic masculinity begets violence and authoritarianism, but it focuses on how vulnerability and truth can set us free. READ ALL THE Boulder Weekly REVIEWS
Pulsations, Angele Dubeau's new album, brings together works that evoke strong images and possess a profound emotional intensity. "A pulsation marks time, it infuses its rhythm in it and also evokes the heart. Just like those composers whose music calls out to me and who, with their unique signatures, mark time, our time. Features the music of; Olafur Arnalds, Jean-Michel Blais, Ludovico Einaudi, Alex Baranowski, Craig Armstrong, Peter Gregson, Yann Tiersen, Abel Korzeniowski, Johan Johannsson, Max Richter and Dala. This week's 'Pulsation with Angele Dubeau is 'A Little
A cello playing robot features among the artworks on display at the Kunsthaus Zurich gallery in Switzerland, part of a solo exhibition by artist Olafur Eliasson called Symbiotic Seeing. The exhibit of spacial works ‘invite us to think about us, our perception and important issues of our time,' the artist says. The cello music has been created in collaboration with Icelandic cellist-composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, who writes on her Facebook page: ‘I recently wrote a composition to accompany Olafur Eliasson's Symbiotic Seeing at the Kunsthaus Zurich. Here is th
Famous pianists, illustrators, music superstars and more are taking their talents to the internet right now to help teach and entertain people around the world while they practice social distancing. Here's a list of cool happenings and inspiration to check out, which we'll keep up to date as more creative minds and organizations offer their inspiration, time and resources. One of the coolest pianists in the world, Chloe Flower, has decided to offer free daily piano lessons for beginners on her YouTube channel. She'll be doing it "for the next 14 days, or however long I
Norwegian composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo presents a stunning collection of brand-new original works for solo piano, composed and performed by Gjeilo himself. NIGHT is an intimate and meditative collection of peaceful piano music, inspired by the twilight hours in the place he now calls home – New York City. Gjeilo's musical style is often described as cinematic and evocative, characterised by warm harmonies, flowing melodies and gently rocking, repeated figures. He is an exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, and the new album follows the highly successfu
The new season's campaign for the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) takes something of an unusual route for an organisation many might see as being rather traditional: a live-action film called Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano. It's the fourth campaign Superunion has created for the LSO since the launch of its new brand in 2017. The agency worked with Found Studio and dancer Ella Robson Guilfoyle on the project, which is the first time the company has used moving image in such a way as part of its marketing activity. "The campaigns have visualised the movement of the baton of the
Evidence Classics releases their second album of Michael Fine's music: "Five for Five: Quintets for Winds and String Quartet." The recording was made following performances at Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California, with musicians from leading musical organizations, including the Metropolitan Opera, Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Atlanta Symphony. Fine says, "As a clarinet player, I feel a particular affinity for my colleagues in the woodwind section. Each of these quintets attempts to capture not only the character of the instruments but also the musicians for whom e
With the COVID-19 coronavirus forcing a wave of mass cancellations and postponements in the arts industry, artists and companies are finding new ways to continue reaching their audience, attempting to keep the sector afloat in what is an unprecedented crisis. One organisation having to change tack in these difficult times is the Melbourne Guitar Festival. A three-day September festival and annual concert series that has had to cancel the remainder of its 2020 season, which included over 60 concerts across Australia, its survival, like so many of the small to medium arts companies, is now pr
As the Covid-19 virus has taken hold, human beings have turned to singing and music. We are expressing an eternal need for harmony. Neighbours play instruments from balconies as Italy stays under coronavirus lockdown – video Music, said Saint Thomas Aquinas, can be defined as "the exaltation of the mind derived from things eternal bursting forth in sound". Faced with the stresses and difficulties of the coronavirus outbreak, it should come as no surprise that so many people have found a response to the pandemic in music. Our bodies may be doing the right and responsible thing by r
After the Dropkick Murphys were forced to cancel their St. Patrick's Day performances because of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the band figured out a way to ship out a bit of Boston to the world, livestreaming a concert Tuesday night. The Boston punk rockers are hardly the only musical acts turning to livestreaming or posting homemade videos to entertain fans during the pandemic. On Monday, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin announced an impromptu concert on the band's Instagram page as part of Australian nonprofit Global Citizen's "Together at Home" initiative. Shortly after Martin announced his c
Jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel returns to the trio format for Angular Blues. Joining him are the long-time cohort and acclaimed drummer Brian Blade and bassist Scott Colley, a departure from Muthspiel's trio that usually includes Larry Grenadier on bass. In the nine selections, Muthspiel plays acoustic guitar on three and electric on the other half dozen. This is his fifth album for the renowned ECM label and includes originals, the relaxed "Huttengriffe" and the pensive "Camino," as well as the standards from his early ECM tenure such as "Everything I Love" and "I'll Remember April." He
Never waste a good crisis, the saying goes. And, in the self-isolating conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, it's a message that the world of music and opera is taking to heart. There is, of course, a lot of bad news. The shutdown of concert halls, opera houses and theatres is already well under way. And it's only likely to escalate as countries try to cope with this new (to humans) and deadly disease. The musical losses in Ireland are already substantial. And if the less-optimistic projections about the duration of the pandemic turn out to be correct, the precautions against the s
"I've never seen myself as a virtuoso." Martin Hayes, the fiddle-playing godhead behind The Gloaming, takes Pat Carty through the various stages of his awe-inspiring musical odyssey. Martin Hayes, get up the yard. If there's anyone at work in any genre of music today - not just the world of traditional Irish music - who warrants that appellation then it's the man seated in front of me. Raised in East Clare, Hayes followed his father P.J. into the Tulla Céillí Band as a teenager after winning the first of a pile of All-Ireland Fiddle Competitions at the ten
Trumpeter Avishai Cohen formed this experimental electronic fusion ensemble in 2013 after immigrating to the U.S. from Israel. Featuring Uzi Ramirez (guitar), Yonatan Albalak (guitar, bass), Aviv Cohen and Ziv Ravitz (drums, live sampling), the 11 tracks range from the atmospheric ambient jams (Honey Fountain, Moonlight Sonata, The Things You Tell Me) to surprisingly rocking (King Kutner). It's the kind of crossover sound that acts like Nils Petter Molvaer succeeded with decades back and it still resonates. READ ALL The Province REVIEWS
