Crossover Media

The Singing Guitar - Nico Muhly

‘The Singing Guitar,' 12 guitarists, 26 singers and a cellist, in new works by four American composers. Exploring the unique connection of voices and strings. Listeners experience an unusual musical journey on the Delos Music recording; ‘The Singing Guitar.' Combining voices, guitars, and cello with Native American and non-native pioneer stories, it is hard to overstate the power, challenge, and difficulty of this unique collaboration that expresses these exquisitely crafted compositions by Reena Esmail, Nico Muhly, Kile Smith and Craig Hella Johnson. On this episode of

The Singing Guitar - Nico Muhly

Piazzolla 'Four Seasons in Buenos Aires' makes CLASSIC FM's 'Feminine Fusion'

CLASSIC FM's 'Feminine Fusion' highlights the roles of women in classical music. Host Diane Jones brings you stories and music of the women who create, perform, and inspire. Produced in the studios at WCNY-FM. On this installment "Cien Años" is not only an exquisitely expressive celebration marking the centennial of Piazzolla's birth, the CD honors more than one man's immeasurable musical contributions. For Uruguayan-born conductor Gisèle Ben-Dor, a fierce champion of Latin American composers, equally important as paying homage to the Argentine nuevo ta

Classical Music Sentinel, struck by Beatrice Rana's astonishing technique and old-school musicianship

"Chopin is reserved, visionary and mysterious," says Beatrice Rana. "There are many layers to his music. It's pleasing to the ear and sincere in its communication, but the deeper you go, the more you find …" For this album, Rana pairs Chopin's 12 op 25 études with his four scherzi, focusing on two musical genres that the composer, combining intellect and imagination, transformed into something new. "It was Chopin who invented the ‘concert study'," explains Rana. "To me, the études seem implicitly connected, joined by a single line of expressi

Inbal Segev chats about '20 for 2020' Volume 1 with 89.3WQED: Pittsburgh

Cellist Inbal Segev is commissioning and recording 20 chamber music works to capture the year 2020. The recordings are being released in four volumes, and in this conversation with WQED-FM she describes the five works on Volume 1: "20 for 2020" Volume 1 features works by five of today's most compelling composers. Galvanized by the unprecedented worldwide crises that characterized 2020 and encouraging creative recovery from them, the cellist launched this major new project last fall to capture something of that collective experience through the music of composers with strong and dist

Interview with WQED's Jim Cunningham

Daniil Trifonov discusses 'Bach - The Art of Life' with Classical Radio

Daniil Trifonov presents his new Deutsche Grammophon solo recording, Bach – The Art of Life. The album will be released on 8 October 2021. Centred around Johann Sebastian Bach's late masterpiece The Art of Fugue, the new double album reflects Trifonov's insight into the family life and music-making of one of the greatest composers of all time. Works by four of Johann Sebastian's sons, as well as two pieces known to have been Bach family favourites are also included in a programme taking in everything from lighthearted dance-like pieces to the mournful majesty of the Chacon

Leif Ove Andsnes - Mozart Momentum 1785 makes CRB's 'Instant Replay'

"Mellow" is the name of the game in WCRB: Boston 30th (!) edition of Instant Replay! Chill out with us when you listen to this playlist of our favorite music of the month, featuring Ben Folds, the Indigo Girls, Nanci Griffith, and more. This series highlights CRB's favorite music of the moment – discoveries we've made when we're at home cooking or cleaning, at the office, or out and about. Classical or otherwise, old, new, or just really cool, these are the tracks we've had on repeat this month. Find a cumulative playlist at the end of this post. Happy listening! Mozart Mo

Jean-Yves Thibaudet chats about 'Carte Blanche' with Winnipeg's CLASSIC 107

Legendary pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet announces Carte Blanche, a new album continuing his long-standing relationship with Decca Classics. Thibaudet has performed world-wide to audiences for more than three decades. A recording legend, the LA-based French artist has sold more than 1.5 million albums and generated 640 million streams. After more than 40 albums-including definitive recordings of Debussy's Préludes, the complete solo piano works of Satie and Ravel, and creative arrangements of opera music and jazz-Carte Blanche features a host of musical gems close to Thibaudet's

Interview with Winnipeg's Classic 107- Chris Wolf

A Malcolm X opera will come to the Met / The New York Times

Anthony Davis's "X," which premiered in the 1980s, will be revived in New York in fall 2023. The New York Times - Zachary Woolfe writes.....It took 138 years for the Metropolitan Opera to present its first work by a Black composer: Terence Blanchard's "Fire Shut Up in My Bones," which opens its season on Sept. 27. But the second will arrive in just two years, the company announced on Thursday. Anthony Davis's "X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X," which premiered in its full version at New York City Opera in 1986, will be given a new production by the Met in fall 2023. "We are co

With 'Roots' Randall Goosby makes a first impression with lasting impact / The Washington Post

The Washington Post's Michael Andor Brodeur writes....Randall Goosby, the fast-rising 25-year-old star violinist, joins the Baltimore Symphony on Sept. 25 and 26 to play one of the Big Romantic Concertos: Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor (Op. 26). "One of the most perfect, perfect pieces," Goosby says on the phone with pure matter-of-factness. "One of the greatest of all time." He should know. Goosby knows this piece, which Bruch completed in 1866, back and forth. His former teacher, the violinist Philippe Quint, recently got to hear his erstwhile pupil lead the concerto

'No Dead Guys' Q&A's with film composer and songwriter Matthew Puckett

No Dead Guys Rhonda Rizzo writes.....For most people, the most recognizable and memorable modern music is found in motion picture soundtracks. Movie music creates mood, advances a plot, and tells the film's story in notes. The music can be extremely sophisticated, employing sounds and musical concepts that audiences wouldn't listen to in a concert setting but learn to love when heard in a movie. The best scores find second or third lives in other genres-most frequently in the hands of solo artists and orchestras. For composers talented and fortunate enough to break into the movie bu

Bassist & composer Marc Johnson discusses 'Overpass' with Neon Jazz

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Philadelphia-based Award Winning Jazz Bassist & Composer Marc Johnson .. He opened up about his debut 2021 CD Overpass with a decisive and intriguing contribution to ECM's solo bass tradition .. This Nebraska-born bassist first came to broader attention in the late 1970s as a member of Bill Evans's last trio where the tune "Nardis" became effectively a workshop for nightly discoveries about the bass's potential as a lead voice. He has compiled quite a career in jazz and opens up full about it Listen and Dig his

Nik Bartsch explains ritual groove in new book; 'Listening: Music, Movement, Mind' / Santa Cruz Sentinel Q&A

Santa Cruz Sentinel's JOHN MALKIN writes...."Listening: Music, Movement, Mind" is the first book by Swiss Jazz pianist Nik Bärtsch. Published over the summer by Lars Müller, it's the first time Bärtsch has explained in detail the inner workings of his own creativity and the democratic process of the various bands he's led for 20 years including Ronin and Mobile. Bärtsch has been deeply influenced by Zen meditation and Aikido martial arts practices in his continued explorations of freedom, sound and performance. And he's been inspired by a diverse array of musical

Carmela Rappazzo chats about 'Love and Other Difficulties' with Neon Jazz

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with New Orleans-based Jazz Singer Carmela Rappazzo .. She opened up about her seventh recording "Love and Other Difficulties" where she explores the many aspects of love. Born and raised in upstate New York, she heard classic music from an early age. She moved to New York City singing in clubs and performing in off-off Broadway Theater and a few independent films before moving to Los Angeles. Her story is fascinating Listen & Enjoy Neon Jazz is a radio program airing since 2011. Hosted by Joe Dimino and Engineered

John Finbury's 'Look At What A Mess You Made Of Me' makes NPR - New Music Friday: Top Albums for Sept. 10

From NPR - All Songs Considered.....We've also got new music from NPR's Tiny Desk producer Bobby Carter who joins Alt.Latino's Felix Contreras and Annamaria Sayre, contributor Christina Lee, WXPN's John Morrison, contributor Cyrena Touros and NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, along with host Robin Hilton, as they share their picks for the best albums out on Sept. 10. New Music Friday: Top Albums Out On Sept. 10 includes; "Look At What A Mess You Made Of Me," the artistic collaboration between French Jazz prodigy Camille Bertault and Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated comp

John Finbury - Camille Bertault 'Look At What A Mess You Made Of Me' features on KCRW's 'Morning Becomes Eclectic' playlist

"Look At What A Mess You Made Of Me" ! No, not you. That's the name of a new song by the artistic collaboration between French Jazz prodigy Camille Bertault and Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated composer John Finbury. With lyrics by Ned Claflin, Patty Brayden and the composer, this music features Finbury's blend of Jazz and Vaudeville traditions with a nod to the "Roaring 20s", past and present. Following pandemic protocols, the pair kept recording basic, with just vocals and upright bass combined into something simply divine. "Look At What A Mess You Made Of Me" is t

Gisele Ben-Dor chats with North Cotswold Radio

Cien Años: A Paean to Piazzolla and Tango from Conductor Gisèle Ben-Dor and Bandoneón Soloist Juanjo Mosalini features the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston who commemorates Influential Argentine Composer's 100th Anniversary with Four World Premieres. "I have a vision that my work will still be heard in the year 2020 and also in the year 3000," Astor Piazzolla once predicted. So far, the man who revolutionized the tango sounds like a prophet. "Cien Años" is not only an exquisitely expressive celebration marking the centennial of Piazzolla's bir

Interview with North Cotswold Radio

Barrett Martin Group 'Stillpoint' has an airiness that sets a fine mood and vibe / Midwest Record

Midwest Record writes.....BARRETT MARTIN GROUP/Stillpoint: There's something about the far reaches of Washington state that seems to keep music coming from that place where the lines between new age and lite jazz blur in a pure, non clichéd state. The multi instrumentalist checks in with a perfect brunch soundtrack on his first all acoustic album after 30 trips to the studio. With an airiness that sets a fine mood and vibe, this old hippie is sure to keep his award wining ways in tact. Solid stuff that provides a great break from the humdrum. (Sunyata 10) SEE THE Midwest

Yo-Yo Ma gets Bach to the Cello / LA WEEKLY

LA WEEKLY BRETT CALLWOOD writes.....Yo-Yo Ma is such a phenomenon that people who have never knowingly listened to a cello recital in their lives know who he is. 90 albums and 18 Grammys only tells a fraction of the story. He was included in Time‘s 2020 list of the 10o most influential people - a cellist! As well as performing classical music, he's worked with American bluegrass, traditional Chinese music, Brazilian and Argentine music. He's also collaborated with the likes of James Taylor and Carlos Santana. On Tuesday, he'll be performing Six Back Suites for Unaccompanied Cello.

Marc Johnson discusses 'Overpass' with 'The New Edge'

With Overpass, recorded in Brazil in 2018, Marc Johnson makes a decisive and intriguing contribution to ECM's solo bass recordings. It is an album that takes note of that tradition - Johnson has said that Dave Holland's Emerald Tears was among the solo recordings that fired his imagination almost half a century ago - and builds upon it in a personal and imaginative way. The Nebraska-born bassist first came to broader attention in the late 1970s as a member of Bill Evans's last trio where the tune "Nardis" became effectively a workshop for nightly discoveries a

Interview with The New Edge

Apollo Chamber Players collaborate with acclaimed electric violinist; Tracy Silverman for new album / KPRC2: Houston Life

KPRC2: Houston Life's Beatriz Oliveros writes.......Houston's most established string quartet, Apollo Chamber Players is back with a brand-new album and a thoughtful season-opening show that coincides with the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Matthew Detrick, Artistic & Executive Director, founder, and violinist with Apollo Chamber Players shared details about this project along with world-renowned electric violinist Tracy Silverman, who will join the ensemble on stage for this special occasion. And don't miss their performance of the title track of Apollo Chamber Playe

INTERPLAY, Conversations in Music - Michael Shapiro chats with GIANCARLO GUERRERO

By Michael Shapiro GIANCARLO GUERRERO is a miraculous conductor. A six-time GRAMMY Award-winning conductor, Music Director of theNashville Symphony and NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic and Principal Guest Conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, Maestro Guerrero possesses naturally what I can only call unique elan. What does this mean. For me, his attention to every phrase, how he shapes line, his organic inner sense, and rhythmic drive are special and joyful. This great and complete musician brings his life experience to his music making, which make his performances unforgettable.

Sultans of String release; 'Mi Santuario' featuring; Juan Carlos Medrano

folk radio's FRUK Staff writes....With a new album in the pipeline, NY Times and BILLBOARD charting world music supergroup Sultans of String are releasing their brand-new single Mi Santuario on Sept 10, 2021. The song features the four core Sultans as well as an incredibly talented and inspiring special guest Juan Carlos Medrano, who co-wrote the music with the band, and sings his original lyrics, as well as performing on gaita, the traditional flute. Originally from Cartagena on the north coast of Colombia, Juan Carlos moved to Canada in 2006 as a refugee. "It was tough

Do we need ANOTHER recording of the Grieg Piano Concerto? Yes, if it's Tedd Joselson's newest performance from Signum Classics / The Sound Advocate

The renowned Belgian-American pianist Tedd Joselson presents a ‘companionship' of his favourite concertos – the Grieg Piano Concerto and Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto. Led by conductor Arthur Fagen with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Grieg) and the Philharmonia Orchestra (Rachmaninov), the disc is also a companion to Joselson's April 2021 recording of the Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra, recorded at the same time at Abbey Road with the London Symphony Orchestra. Tedd Joselson was only 17 when he auditioned for the Philadelph

How Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason are reinvigorating classical music / yahoo! life

Sheku and Isata, the charismatic siblings from the talented Kanneh-Mason family, announce their first duo album, Muse – a selection of music for piano and cello composed by Samuel Barber and Sergei Rachmaninov. Due for release on 5th November on Decca Classics, the recording captures the siblings' musicality and refined skill from years of performing together – both at home and in recitals worldwide. Both the Rachmaninov and Barber cello sonatas found a natural place in Sheku and Isata's concert programmes before the pandemic. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, they foun

Inbal Segev discusses '20 for 2020' with FM91:WGTE

June 25 2021 marked the release of the first volume of Inbal Segev's "20 for 2020" commissioning project, featuring works by five of today's most compelling composers. Galvanized by the unprecedented worldwide crises that characterized 2020 and encouraging creative recovery from them, the cellist launched this major new project last fall to capture something of that collective experience through the music of composers with strong and distinctive voices in a panorama of styles. An established driving force in the creation of new cello repertoire for the 21st century, Segev committed

PaTRAM - More Honourable than the Cherubim is an outstanding album / BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine's Michael Beek writes....There's no shortage of Orthodox choral discs, but here is one worth adding to anyone's collection. The PaTRAM Institute Male Choir, numbering a little over 55 singers drawn from five countries, is an all-adult choir, so the choir's range of vocal colour is shades of dark chocolate without the bursts of treble sunlight we may expect from works such as Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil. Yet its well-focused tone ensures that constituent lines are always clear, sympathetically caught in this recording in the resonant but not too lively acoustic of th

GOLDMINE present 'Fabulous Flip Sides of Stevie Wonder with Patricia Barber'

Jazz singer and pianist Patricia Barber and vocalist Chris Ruggiero include classic Stevie Wonder songs on their new albums Patricia Barber, the performer known for boldly blurring the lines between poetry, jazz, and art song, has announced the forthcoming release of a new all-standards album Clique (Impex Records), due out August 6th in breathtaking hi-fi. The long-awaited successor to Nightclub, her critically acclaimed and fan-favorite first all-standards album, Clique features a tracklist of tunes that Barber has frequently performed as encores throughout her illustrious c

Composing is not something that you decide to do, it chooses you - Richard Danielpour chats with Planet Hugill

Planet Hugill - Robert Hugill writes.....Like many creative artists, last year's events affected composer Richard Danielpour both personally and artistically. One of the results of this has been the creation of a striking sequence of piano pieces, An American Mosaic, which he wrote for pianist Simone Dinnerstein and which she premiered (online) last year and the recording of which came out earlier this year. It is a work which, in both its subject matter and the manner of its arising, comes directly out of last year. Richard intends it as a work of consolation, many of its individual mo

Inbal Segev's '20 for 2020' embraces composers of diverse backgrounds in venturesome collection / The Irish Times

The Irish Times - Michael Dervan writes.....The past 18 months have in so many ways been a particularly torrid time for performers, most of all for musicians who spend most of their time playing the music of dead composers to live audiences. Linking up with living creators suffering through the same challenging pandemic creates a much wider range of possibilities. In her 20 for 2020 project, venturesome Israeli-American cellist Inbal Segev embraced composers of diverse backgrounds "to show some of the ways this surreal year has affected us all, regardless of age, gender or heritag

PaTRAM Choir 'More Honourable than the Cherubim' featured on RTE.lyric fm

Tonight we hear Brahms Liebeslieder recorded by established artists and emerging performers, while Jan Lisiecki plays Chopin Nocturnes as well as PaTRAM Institute Male Choir's 'More Honourable than the Cherubim.' The Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Music Institute strives to present Russian Orthodox choral music in its highest possible form, uniting deep spirituality, a profound love for the rich traditions of Orthodox Christian singing, and an uncompromising standard of musical professionalism rooted in the great traditions of Russian choral composers. The 725-year-o

RTE lyric fm presents Jan Lisiecki playin Chopin Nocturnes

For his eighth and latest Deutsche Grammophon album, Canadian pianist extraordinaire Jan Lisiecki has chosen to return to the music of Frédéric Chopin. Following on from Works for Piano & Orchestra (2017) and Chopin: Études (2013), Chopin: Complete Nocturnes is now set for international release on 13 August 2021 and features profoundly personal interpretations of some of the most beautiful and best-loved pieces ever written for solo piano. Lisiecki is perhaps most celebrated for his masterful

PaTRAM comes close to being an ideal vocal ensemble for Russian liturgical music / Fanfare

The Male Choir of the Patriarch Tikhon Russian-American Musical Institute (PaTRAM) comes fairly close to being an ideal vocal ensemble for Russian liturgical music. Founded by Alexis and Katherine Lukianov and headquartered in Tiburon, California, the institute is named after Patriarch Tikhon, who after serving as the chief Russian Orthodox prelate in North America from 1898 to 1907, then returned to Russia. After the rise of the Communist regime, with its opposition to organized religion, Patriarch Tikhon was imprisoned in 1922 and died at the age of 60 five years later. He has since been

The tonal blend, sectional balances, intonation, ensemble, and diction are all exquisite on PaTRAM Institute Male Choir - More Honourable than the Cherubim is / Fanfare

This disc requires some prefatory theological explanation to provide a necessary context for its contents to be generally comprehensible to persons unfamiliar with Eastern Orthodoxy. As in Roman Catholicism, albeit with significant differences in conception and expression, the Virgin Mary is the subject and object of intense veneration as the chief saintly intercessor to the Holy Trinity for faithful believers. The title Theotokos (literally "God-bearer," more commonly rendered "Mother of God"), officially promulgated for her at the fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD, both sig

Chloe Flower chats with iHeart Radio's 'Culture News'

Chloe Flower is a visionary, a powerhouse, an icon in the making, an activist, a fashion influencer and so much more. Bridging the gap between classical and pop, her self-created Popsical genre sees sweet melodies, epic strings, and hip-hop beats collide with impressive aplomb. Born in Pennsylvania, Chloe first reached for piano keys at the age of two. By twelve, she was studying at the Manhattan School of Music and later at London's Royal Academy of Music. She is now an Official Steinway artist and sits on the board of directors for The Liberace Foundation. Chloe has been worki

Patricia Barber chats with Jazz Variations

Patricia Barber, the performer known for boldly blurring the lines between poetry, jazz, and art song, has released a new all-standards album Clique (Impex Records) in breathtaking hi-fi. The long-awaited successor to Nightclub, her critically acclaimed and fan-favorite first all-standards album, Clique features a tracklist of tunes that Barber has frequently performed as encores throughout her illustrious career, including classics by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stevie Wonder, Lee Hazlewood, Lerner & Loewe, Thelonious Monk and more. After growing an international cult following, earning

Interview with Jazz Variations

Patricia Barber chats about 'Clique' with Harmonious World Podcast

Patricia Barber, the performer known for boldly blurring the lines between poetry, jazz, and art song, has recently released her new all-standards album Clique (Impex Records), in breathtaking hi-fi. The long-awaited successor to Nightclub, her critically acclaimed and fan-favorite first all-standards album, Clique features a tracklist of tunes that Barber has frequently performed as encores throughout her illustrious career, including classics by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stevie Wonder, Lee Hazlewood, Lerner & Loewe, Thelonious Monk and more. After growing an international c

Interview with Harmonious World podcast

When Charlie Watts finally made It to New York City / The New York Times

While his bandmates hit the Apollo, the reserved, jazz-loving drummer for the Stones could be found at Birdland. The Rolling Stones visit New York for the first time in 1964. From left: Bill Wyman, Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. The New York Times Michiko Kakutani writes.....In 1960, while working as an artist and graphic designer, and some years before the Rolling Stones were born, Charlie Watts began work on "Ode to a High-Flying Bird," a captivating children's book about his hero, the jazz great Charlie Parker. The book featured charming drawing

Randall Goosby debuts spectacularly with 'Roots' / WRTI - Classical Album Of The Week

90.1WRTI's Matt Silver writes......Violinist Randall Goosby's major label debut, Roots, is unique in several ways. It's the first release from a 24-year-old violinist who debuted with the Jacksonville Symphony at nine, shared a stage with the New York Philharmonic at 13, and has called his famous professors at Juilliard-Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho-mentors for the past decade. Then there's the fact that instead of choosing a well-recognized concerto from the classical canon, he's opted to focus on works both old and new that have never been recorded or released commercially.

Always fresh Vikingur Olafsson releases 'Mozart & Contemporaries' and makes 'The Guardian - Classical home listening'

After the global successes of Philip Glass · Piano Works, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Debussy · Rameau Reflections (227.5 million career streams to date and over 320K albums sold), multi-award-winning pianist Víkingur Ólafsson now turns his attention to the music of MOZART. Ólafsson presents some of his favourite Mozart keyboard works in the company of pieces by a selection of the composer's leading contemporaries. Juxtaposing works by Mozart, Haydn and C.P.E. Bach with rarely-recorded Galuppi and Cimarosa, Mozart & Contemporaries dispels the i

Nominees announced for 2021 Jazz FM Awards

The nominees for the Jazz FM Awards 2021 with PPL and PRS for Music have been announced, once again recognising a diverse array of artists from the UK and abroad who have made a significant impact on the genre. The Jazz FM Awards 2021 will celebrate music created and released between 1st January 2020 to the end of May 2021 to reflect the jazz community's enduring creativity and innovation during the pandemic. As announced in a special Jazz FM programme hosted by Anne Frankenstein, nominees this year include star saxophonist Nubya Garcia, chart-topping singer Celeste, London soul collect

Max Richter's Exiles. Rich orchestral textures, vibrant performances, political engagement / Planet Hugill

Prolific and pioneering composer Max Richter releases his 33-minute work Exiles on a brand new album of the same name on Deutsche Grammophon. The title piece features alongside expansive reimaginings of tracks composed by Richter for a Virginia Woolf-inspired ballet, Fendi fashion runways, Hollywood blockbusters, Golden Globe-winning documentaries, and a record loved by David Bowie. Profoundly moved by the tragedy of the migrant crisis, Richter chose to channel his compassion into a piece for Nederlands Dans Theater. His ballet score Exiles grew from a conversation with the Dutch compan

Inbal Segev chats about 20 for 2020 with Spokane Public Radio

June 25 marked the release of the first volume of Inbal Segev's "20 for 2020" commissioning project, featuring works by five of today's most compelling composers. Galvanized by the unprecedented worldwide crises that characterized 2020 and encouraging creative recovery from them, the cellist launched this major new project last fall to capture something of that collective experience through the music of composers with strong and distinctive voices in a panorama of styles. An established driving force in the creation of new cello repertoire for the 21st century, Segev committed to co

Interview with Spokane PR's Jim Tevenan

Rich orchestral textures, vibrant performances, and political engagement on Max Richter's Exiles / Planet Hugill

Max Richter revels in this exploration of large-scale orchestral textures in tandem with vibrant performances from Järvi and his young orchestra Robert Hugill writes.....Composer Max Richter's latest disc Exiles on Deutsche Grammophon is a collaboration with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic and conductor Kristjan Järvi. Six of Richter's works, some new and some old, all in versions created for the ensemble that brings together musicians from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Many of the works come originally from large

'Clique' arrives as a reminder of all that was special about listening to Patricia Barber's music

off the tracks - Simon Sweetman writes....Vocalist and pianist Patricia Barber has both honeyed-warmth and icy-cool in her voice. It's ageless too. And some two decades on from her last set of standards, Clique arrives as a reminder of all that was special about listening to her music – discovering it in the last 90s and loving it through the early 00s. It's straight ahead jazz and cabaret merged and blurred, she takes songs from all genres and makes them her own – in the past she had amazing versions of Black Magic Woman and Light My Fire that twisted deep inside sinewy grooves

OKC opera singer Lisa Reagan Love explores ancient chants in duo; Shunia / THE OKLAHOMAN

The Oklahoman's Brandy McDonnell writes.......Best known as an opera singer, Oklahoma City performer Lisa Reagan Love's latest album boasts a global array of musicians, from German percussionist Cyril Atef on mbira, or African thumb piano, and Russian native on Inna Dudukina on duduk, an Armenian oboe, to American musician Kirsten Agresta Copely on Celtic harp and renowned Moroccan artist Hassan Hakmoun on two instruments - sintir and qarqaba - as well as vocals from his native land. "It definitely, to me, has a world music feel to it just because all of those i

VOCES8 release new album; 'Infinity.' Barnaby Smith and Katie Jeffries-Harris chat with Winnipeg's CLASSIC 107

VOCES8 is sure to wow fans again with their latest album. (Facebook) Winnipeg's CLASSIC 107 - Chris Wolf writes.....The English eight-part acapella choir VOCES8 has been amazing audiences around the world with the sheer beauty that the ensemble creates. Picture a choir that has flawless intonation, perfect vocal balance, and where each one of the individual singers is a supreme musician… this is VOCES8 in a nutshell. The group releases their latest recording called Infinity, on August 27 TODAY!!!. The album consists of new music from 21st-century composers from a wide ran

On 'Clique' Patricia Barber travels from 'emoting brooding feelings to soaring on heavenly wings' / jazz2love

jazz2love writes.....Pianist-vocalist-composer Patricia Barber emerges with her latest CD Clique, a bluesy smooth jazz endeavor groomed in smokey, cabaret-esque atmospherics. Barber creates an intimacy with her audience that projects a personalized listening experience. Produced by Barber and Jim Anderson, the release has a mix of jazz standards and a single original number written by Barber. She travels from emoting brooding feelings to soaring on heavenly wings with lyrics describing sensations of sheer elation. Like voyaging around the world, Barber journeys throu

On 'Overpass' Marc Johnson combines warmth, scope, melody and rhythm / jazztrail

jazztrail writes.....Marc Johnson is a virtuoso of the bass whose immersive touch and tone are remarkable. The beauty and intensity of his playing made him a first-call sideman in projects of Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Peter Erskine, Gary Burton, John Abercrombie, Paul Motian, Joe Lovano and John Scofield, just to name a few. His peak as a leader was reached in the mid-1980s with the super quartet Bass Desires, but now he reaches new heights with his first solo album, Overpass, recorded in São Paulo in 2018. Of the eight compositions that define the program, five are originals

Bion Tsang discusses new Bach Cello Suites recording with Harmonious World Podcast

BION TSANG's new recording of BACH CELLO SUITES from Sony Classical combines the artistry of the remarkable cellist Bion Tsang with the exquisite sonority of a rarely heard Stradivari cello. Tsang's Bach Suites follow the success of his Dvorak/Enescu Cello Concertos with Scott Yoo and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (2019), also from Sony Classical. Tsang recorded the Six Suites for Violoncello Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach in Bastyr Chapel, Seattle, on the 1713 "Bass of Spain" Antonio Stradivari cello. In a delightful conversation with cellist Bion Tsa

Interview with Harmonious World podcast

Isata Kanneh-Mason chats about 'Summertime' with Colorado Public Radio

25-year-old British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason presents her vibrant second album Summertime, fizzing with her signature virtuosic flair. The album was released on CD and digitally vkia Decca Classics on 9th July 2021. Isata says, "I am delighted to be presenting my second solo album Summertime, which features a rich array of pieces from many of my favourite American classical composers. The Barber Piano Sonata forms the anchor around which the rest of the album was developed; I fell in love with the piece the first time I heard it, and it's a real

Interview with CapRadio's Kevin Doherty

With a cosmic sense of vision and a passionate interest in spirituality, Alice Coltrane left a formidable musical legacy / udiscovermusic.

udiscovermusic. - Charles Waring writes.....The Coltrane name is familiar to people who know little – or even nothing – of jazz. Saxophonist/composer John Coltrane was one of the genre's key figures, and his talismanic name, iconic reputation, and stellar music has transcended the jazz idiom that bore him. But what the public at large probably don't know is there are two significant Coltranes in the history of jazz. The other was John's wife, Alice Coltrane, born on August 27, 1937. Alice Coltrane's career as a solo artist didn't begin until her husband's ended, when he died

Carmela Rappazzo chats about 'Love and Other Difficulties' with 104.1KSCO

While experiencing covid lock down in New Orleans Carmela Rappazzo wrote and recorded her seventh project "Love and Other Difficulties" an exploration of the many aspects of love. The thirteen tracks are comprised of six original songs of Carmela's and three collaborations with pianist and composer Oscar Rossignoli. There are also three standard covers and a cover of New Orleans singer songwriter Paul Sanchez. The standards chosen were Cole Porter's "So In Love" with it's tango-esque arrangement and it's sense of longing, Billy Strayhorn's "A Flower is a L

Interview with KSCO

David Korevaar chats about Lowell Liebermann's solo piano music with K-Mozart

The third volume in David Korevaar's highly acclaimed series devoted to Lowell Liebermann's solo piano music (MSR Classics MS1688) continues his journey of recording all of Liebermann's works for the piano. This release features each of Liebermann's original works for solo piano composed between 2001 and 2017, including world premiere recordings of his Nocturne No. 8, Op. 85; Nocturne No. 9, Op. 97; Nocturne No. 10, Op. 99; and Nocturne No. 11, Op. 112. Additional works include his Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 82; Schubert Variations, Op. 100; and 2 Impromptus, Op. 131. David

K-Mozart Arts Report

Randall Goosby chats about 'Roots' with Spokane Public Radio

Rising star violinist Randall Goosby has released his debut album; Roots, on Decca Classics. The recording is an exploration of the music written by Black composers and inspired by Black American culture. The collection is a homage to the pioneering musicians that paved the way for Goosby and his generation of young artists. The first single "Adoration" was written by the African-American composer Florence Price and is recorded with violin for the first time ever on Roots. The world premiere recording can be heard here. Goosby says, "I am so grateful for the opportunity to s

Interview with Spokane PR's Jim Tevenan

PaTRAM Institute Male Choir - More Honourable than the Cherubim is a magnificent album and certainly in my thoughts for 'Recording of the Year' / MusicWeb International

MusicWeb's John Quinn writes...... It's just over three years ago that I had the ear-opening experience of reviewing a disc by Vladimir Gorbik and the PaTRAM Institute Male Choir. That was a recording of liturgical music by Pavel Chesnokov, entitled Teach Me Thy Statutes (review). Since then, two other PaTRAM recordings have come my way, though these featured a mixed voice choir and were not conducted by Gorbik. Those two discs maintained very high artistic standards, even if they didn't quite match the impact of that exceptional Chesnokov recording (review ~ review). Now, in w

Apollo Chamber Players - With Malice Toward None is a culmination of globally-inspired compositions and collaborations / The Violin Channel

Released on Azica Records, this is the ensemble's fifth studio album and includes a collection of various folk music interpretations. The Violin Channel writes....Based in Houston, Texas, the Apollo Chamber Players comprises violinists Matthew J. Detrick and Anabel Ramirez Detrick, violist Whitney Bullock, and cellist Matthew Dudzik. They were a recent winner of Chamber Music America's Residency Partnership Award and in the past five years, they have performed twice at Carnegie Hall to sold-out audiences. "With Malice Toward None" is a culmination of globally-inspired compositions a

Oscar Rossignoli's 'Inertia' mixes his love of jazz and classical

90.9WGUC's Elaine Diehl writes.... Pianist Oscar Rossignoli just released his debut solo piano album, Inertia. And although it took only one day to record, Mr. Rossignoli says he has been preparing for this album his entire life. "Whether the world comes back to normality or not... at least I can say, yeah, I did this in the middle of all this chaos." Elaine Diehl interviewed the classically trained Honduran-born artist who now makes his living playing jazz in New Orleans. Meet Oscar Rossignoli! on 90.9WGUC - Cincinnati.

posi +ive feedback jumps at the chance to interview Patricia Barber

I wasn't raised from birth to be a jazz-hound; that came about as a happy accident of Reaganomics, where I suddenly found myself out of a job, and ended up working again in 1990 in the commercial print industry. Where I spent the next seven years in a 1940's era bunker of a building that had virtually zero radio reception; wearing a personal portable wasn't an option, so I was limited to the two stations whose signal I could easily get. Which were the local Atlanta college jazz station (WCLK, Clark-Atlanta University) and a now-defunct AM classical music station. I spent my days

A conversation with RIOPY / Rio Grande Guardian

At two years of age, that's not a typo – two years of age – self-taught composer and performer, RIOPY began to play his own music on a discarded piano. In his new Warner Classics release "Bliss", RIOPY has fused minimalism, pop, jazz, and cinematic idioms into a distinctive crossover piano style. RIOPY studied at Oxford University and built a successful career both as a performer and as a composer for television and film. The evocative solo piano pieces of RIOPY provide the backdrop to popular movie and television trailers. "Bliss" is a collection of 11 titles, each

Jan Lisiecki: Chopin Complete Nocturnes is the 98.7WFMT 'Featured New Release'

98.7WFMT Lisa Flynn writes....It was through the Nocturnes that pianist Jan Lisiecki first discovered the music of Chopin – he recalls falling in love with Op. 9, No. 1 as a child and being enchanted by its yearning melody. The piece, the first of 21 Nocturnes the composer wrote between the late 1820s and 1847, offered a glimpse of a vast universe of emotions, expressions, musical gestures, and tonal colors. Lisiecki performs the complete Nocturnes on a new recording made in October 2020 at Berlin's historic Meistersaal. The album not only captures the spirit of Chopin's pianism, but

These are highly intimate readings of the Chopin Nocturnes by Jan Lisiecki / Classical Music Sentinel

Classical Music Sentinel's Jean-Yves Duperron writes..... One of the reviews I posted during the early days of this website was of a live recording on the Fryderyk Chopin Institute label by the then 14 year old Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, of the Chopin Piano Concertos which I thought exhibited all of the maturity and expressive perspective of a seasoned musician. Fast forward twelve years and those expressive insights are now bolstered by a deeply personal overview of the music. These are highly intimate readings of the Chopin Nocturnes. Piano works meant to evoke the moods

New Brandee Younger featured on 89.3KUVO 'New Music Monday'

89.3KUVO's Arturo Gómez writes....Indeed! This recording is different as Brandee is a harpist who has transformed the little heard sound of the harp in jazz and several decades ago her predecessor Dorothy Ashby did. After growing up on Long Island, Younger became one of the last students mentored by the late Jackie Mclean at the acclaimed Hartt School Of the University of Hartford. She has played with a wide array of jazz, classical, RnB, and hip hop artists. For her debut on Impulse! Brandee displays all of her influences throughout the album that features heavy hitters like Ron

Adventurous stuff skillfully played, the new Apollo Chamber Players album is the kind of stuff that brings ears into the tent / Midwest Record

Midwest Record writes....APOLLO CHAMBER PLAYERS/With Malice Toward None: Will somebody tell these kids that if they say they're going to play folk music they should have plenty of granola on hand? Playing folk music for 21st Century folk, this is more like avant garde/contemporary classical than anything we think of as folk. A collection of badass, leading edge work, this is going to resonate big time with the open minded and open eared. Adventurous stuff skillfully played, this is the kind of new stuff that brings new ears into the tent. (Azica 71340) SEE THE Midwest Record PAGE

Brandee Younger's satisfying album makes the harp swing and more / Jazz Weekly

Jazz Weekly's George Harris writes......The harp is probably the most ignored instrument in jazz, usually identified with the avant garde strummings of Alice Coltrane, and then forgotten for anything that swings along with Dorothy Ashby. Brandee Younger makes the harp not only swing, but she even brings it into the hip hop urban world of sounds on this satisfying album with drummer Allan Mednard and electric/acoustic bassist Rashaan Carter/Dezron Douglas as a core unit, and bringing in Anne Drummond/fl, Chelsea Baratz/ts, Tarriona Ball/voc Marcus Gilmore/dr prog and even bass lege

'The News' cements Andrew Cyrille's legacy as a premier force in jazz / DOWNBEAT

Downbeat's Ed Enright writes......Andrew Cyrille continues to produce compelling music with the release of a new quartet outing that further cements his legacy as a premier force in jazz improvisation over a span of some six decades. Now 81, the veteran drummer made a brilliant move in calling upon pianist/synth player David Virelles to assume the role previously occupied by his longtime friend and collaborator Richard Teitelbaum (1939–2020). The result is an ambitious follow-up to Cyrille's 2016 quartet album The Declaration Of Musical Independence (ECM). Guitarist Bill Frise

Inbal Segev launches new commissioning project titled; '20 for 2020' / The Violin Channel

The Violin Channel writes....Co-founder of the Amerigo Trio and prize winner at the Pablo Casals, Paulo, and Washington International Competitions, cellist Inbal Segev commissioned 20 composers to musically document their responses to the crises of 2020. The project's goal was to support her fellow artists and provide solace to audiences. Involving composers of contrasting and stylistic voices, ranging in age, gender, and culture, the four volumes of "20 for 2020" will highlight issues from the pandemic to quarantine isolation, loss, racial injustice, and mass protests. The work

Jan Lisiecki - Chopin Complete Nocturnes is NDR: CD of the week

NDR's Marcus Stäbler writes.....Jan Lisiecki was celebrated by the audience at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. A new double album has now been released in which the young pianist plays all of Chopin's nocturnes. The music creeps softly into your ear. She hesitates for a moment, pauses and takes another swing before continuing. You need a particularly gentle touch and a feeling for the right timing to decipher the magic of these notes. With Jan Lisiecki you are in exactly the right hands. The young Canadian pianist with Polish roots demonstrates this impressively on t

Nicola Benedetti dispenses energy and joy on 'Baroque' / LEDEVOIR

LEDEVOIR's Christopher Huss writes......Hats off to violinist Nicola Benedetti for having approached with so much guts a repertoire where the vast majority of traditionally trained violinists fail! Among the great soloists sensitive to the baroque idiom, one could quote up to now in particular Isabelle Faust, Viktoria Mullova, Christian Tetzlaff or Thomas Zehetmair. The simultaneous publication of volume IX of the Concertos for violin of the complete Vivaldi by Naïve ( Concertos RV 194 , 211 , 281 , 283, 346 , 365 , OP 7258) with the renowned baroque violinist Boris Begelman and th

Arturo O'Farrill - second generation noted / IMPROV exchange

improv exchange - Leander writes.....Arturo O'Farrill, pianist, composer, and educator, was born in Mexico and grew up in New York City. He received his formal musical education at the Manhattan School of Music and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Arturo's professional career began with the Carla Bley Band and continued as a solo performer with a wide spectrum of artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Bowie, Wynton Marsalis, and Harry Belafonte. O'Farrill's well-reviewed and highly praised "Afro-Latin Jazz Suite" from the album CUBA: The

Andrew Cyrille's 'The News' is a quietly brilliant set / LONDON JAZZ REVIEW

LONDON JAZZ - Jon Turney writes......This superb follow up to the great drummer Andrew Cyrille's 2016 quartet release The Declaration of Musical Independence reunites him with bassist Ben Street and Bill Frisell on guitar. The wild card is David Virelles on piano, who brings a welcome, lushly dark sonority to the session. Cyrille plays with a kind of uninhibited restraint. His constantly shifting, needle sharp backdrop imparts a feeling he could do anything at any time, but what he chooses is always perfectly judged. The title track is an old piece of his where the percussive soun

Isata Kanneh-Mason explores American music with New Classical Tracks

New Classical Tracks - JULIE AMACHER writes....Isata Kanneh-Mason is the oldest of seven incredibly talented musical siblings. They've all studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and Kanneh-Mason received an Elton John Scholarship. "I've never really been to a pop concert and to be on stage in that setting is so different from what I'm used to. It really brought me into a different world," said Kanneh-Mason when she not only met Elton John, she got to perform with him. While she enjoys pop music, her comfort zone is in the world of classical music. She recently released

Michigan native and UT-Austin professor; Bion Tsang discusses Bach Cello Suites with 90.9WRCJ

A new recording BION TSANG: BACH CELLO SUITES from Sony Classical combines the artistry of the remarkable cellist Bion Tsang with the exquisite sonority of a rarely heard Stradivari cello. Tsang's Bach Suites follow the success of his Dvorak/Enescu Cello Concertos with Scott Yoo and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (2019), also from Sony Classical. Tsang recorded the Six Suites for Violoncello Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach in Bastyr Chapel, Seattle, on the 1713 "Bass of Spain" Antonio Stradivari cello. Peter speaks with the Michigan native cellist and UT-Austin Profes

Interview with WRCJ - Detroit

Apollo Chamber Players get busy / Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle's Chris Gray writes....The pandemic weighed heavy on planning Apollo Chamber Players' upcoming season, admits founder and artistic director Matthew Detrick. "Everyone in the performing-arts world has been thinking and talking about this for 18 months, and in a way I think we all just want to put it behind us, do you know what I mean?" he says. "But we can't." Although the COVID forecast remains cloudy, reconnecting with live audiences is the quartet's top priority. Apollo is calling its new season - its fourteenth - "With Open Arms," and might be onto something

Oscar Rossignoli discusses INERTIA with 89.3WQED

Oscar Rossignoli recently released; INERTIA, a collection of original compositions and improvisations from the Honduran born, New Orleans based pianist. This is Rossignoli's first recording as leader, and is also his first solo piano project, showcasing his long relationship with the instrument, as well as his process of discovery through improvisation. WQED Pittsburgh sat down with Oscar to discuss the new recording. LISTEN

Voces8 'Live from London Summer online festival' is choral excellence and more besides / theartsdesk

theartsdesk - Bernard Hughes writes.....There is much to love about the latest Voces8 Live from London online festival. It goes beyond having a purely choral line-up, embracing instrumental music for the first time, while maintaining its focus on vocal performances of the highest standard. In addition, the production values remain unimpeachable and the group has shown that there is a market across the world – they boast of selling tickets in 75 countries – for streamed concerts if the quality is good enough. But perhaps most admirable is the generosity of Voces8 in sharing t

Andrew Cyrille brings 'The News' on 88.3WBGO: Take Five

WBGO's Nate Chinen writes......Master drummer Andrew Cyrille released his ECM debut as a leader in 2016, when he was 76. That spellbinding album, The Declaration of Musical Independence, featured an intergenerational summit with Bill Frisell on guitar, Richard Teitelbaum on synthesizers and piano and Ben Street on bass. Cyrille had planned to reconvene this personnel in 2019, but Teitelbaum's health issues precluded it. (He died last summer, at 80.) So another brilliant pianist and keyboardist, David Virelles, subbed in on The News, which will be released on Aug. 27. This first avai

Patricia Barber discusses 'Clique' with 90.1WFUV: CAVALCADE

WFUV's Paul Cavalconte writes "Cavalcade" welcomes Patricia Barber at 8:30 p.m. for conversation and selections from her new album of trusted encores, Clique. Patricia offers Clique as a follow up to her heralded Modern Cool, and Nightclub Standards projects and as a sidebar to her most recent album of original songs, Higher. Building tension and suspense in her crafty use of time and silence makes her approach to familiar songs both a pleasing reacquaintance, and a revelation of untapped potential. Two mid-sixties pop favorites, Lee Hazlewood's "This Town," and the Dobie Gray/R

2CELLOS visit GMA to discuss new album and tour

The Croatian duo of Luka Šulić and HAUSER of 2CELLOS have released a new single, a cover of "Shallow" from the 2018 critically acclaimed film A Star Is Born, today via Sony Masterworks. The breathtaking rendition is the latest offering from the pair's highly anticipated upcoming album, Dedicated, out Friday, September 17. Of the track, 2CELLOS said, "We're old-fashioned guys and love a beautiful ballad, especially "Shallow," The song feels made for the cello." Having spent the last ten years together as 2CELLOS, releasing six studio albums, amassing billions o

Pristinely recorded, Patricia Barber's 'Clique' assembles what began as live encores, into an experience all its own / All About Jazz

All About Jazz - Tyran Grillo writes.....These time-honored songs, lovingly curated, arranged, and performed by pianist/vocalist Patricia Barber and her band, are at last seeing the light of day when the world needs them more than ever. Pristinely recorded, Clique assembles what began as encores to live performances into an experience all its own. The album comes out of the same sessions that gave us Higher (see review for All About Jazz here), which immersed the fortunate listener in a world shaped by art song and poetry, only now shed of its shadows and reveling in the city lights. "This

Isata Kanneh-Mason's 'Summertime' is decidedly unique and makes for stimulating listening / THE REHEARSAL STUDIO

THE REHEARSAL STUDIO's STEPHEN SMOLIAR writes.....British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason made her recording debut on the Decca album entitled Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann, which was released in July of 2019. Almost exactly two years later (this past July 9), Decca released her second album entitled simply Summertime. This is almost entirely an American album with what one might call minimal British influences. The most explicit of those is the B minor (second) impromptu composed by Samuel Taylor-Coleridge. Much less explicit is George Gershwin's 1944 arrangement of his song "T

Quiet this 'News' may be, it's right up there among ECM 'entrancing understatements' / The Guardian

The Guardian's John Fordham writes......It would be tempting to say that, at 81, Andrew Cyrille has probably forgotten more than most drummers have ever learned about stretching tempo and creating space for improvisers to thrive in – that is, if it didn't do such a disservice to the Haitian-American master's respect for his fellow players. Over six decades with stars from swing-sax pioneer Coleman Hawkins to Carla Bley and uncompromising piano virtuoso Cecil Taylor, Cyrille has learned all about jazz's rich complexities – and then sought to distil them into ever simpler esse

Armed with eclectic taste and formidable talent, Chloe Flower is on a mission to expand the influence of classical music / PURIST

PURIST's Jim Servin writes......Flower Power !! Mashup maestro Chloe Flower brings together the worlds of classical music and hip-hop with a splash of dramatic showmanship-her fiery performance accompanying Cardi B on "Money" at the 2019 Grammy Awards set Twitter blazing, and put the world on notice. "I've always loved opposites," she says. "Growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, I was one of the only Asian people in my community. I didn't completely fit in. But then when I went to New York City for conservatory, I didn't totally fit in with the Asian community either, be

Straight No Chaser podcast in conversation with Patricia Barber

"The harmonic language of jazz, as well as that of the Great American Songbook, is certainly rich -- look how much has come out of it -- but it's circumscribed. I started wanting to hear something else" – Patricia Barber Straight No Chaser's Jeffrey Siegel writes.....Singer/Pianist/Composer Patricia Barber has found success mixing cutting edge projects like her 2019 release Higher, which featured an art song cycle "Angels, Birds and I…," with her unique takes on popular music and the Great American Songbook. Her latest release on Impex Records, Clique, is a select

Straight No Chaser Podcast

Isata Kanneh-Mason - Summertime is thoughtfully put together and an enjoyable listen / THE CLASSIC REVIEW

THE CLASSIC REVIEW's Azusa Ueno writes.....Summertime is Isata Kanneh-Mason's follow up to her successful 2019 debut, Romance. This new album reveals her perspective of American 20th-century music. She includes what is quintessentially ‘American': Gershwin's Three Preludes with their infectious roaring ‘20s vibe along with some of Earl Wild's Gershwin transcriptions, among others. But the album also explores what she describes as a more "modern" dimension. Barber's Piano Sonata, the album's centerpiece, rounds out a trio of great American sonatas of the time (the others bein

Patricia Barber's 'Clique' is daring, rhythmic, warming, exciting, and immediately accessible / StageandCinema

Stage and Cinema's TONY FRANKEL writes....Flying by at 45 minutes, Patricia Barber's new album is everything I want when a great vocalist rethinks songs that have been covered over and over. Daring, rhythmic, warming, exciting, and immediately accessible, Clique (Impex Records August 6) has Barber completely reinventing a tracklist of tunes, including classics by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stevie Wonder, Lee Hazlewood, Lerner & Loewe, Thelonious Monk and more (9 tracks in all). Barber understands the poetry in the lyrics, and her band follows suit finding poetry in the music with ex

Arturo O'Farrill's 'Virtual Birdland' is a candle in the darkness / Something came from Baltimore

Released Apr 09, 2021 on the Zoho Record Label - Arturo O'Farrill Virtual Birdland is a candle in the darkness, which illuminates what is possible when good people come together to create beauty and meaning in the world. The year 2020 will forever be known as annus horribilis, one of misfortune and misgiving, when the people of the world suffered through an pernicious pandemic. One of my favorite people to interview. Remember to subscribe to SOMETHING came from Baltimore! Listen and share with your friends. LISTEN TO THE Something came from Baltimore SEGMENT

Patricia Barber's 'Clique' is a masterclass in reinventing standards / 90.1WRTI: Jazz Album of the Week

90.1WRTI's MATT SILVER writes.......When you listen to a Patricia Barber album, you are listening to a jazz album, but that's not all you are listening to. Clique, just Barber's second release since 2013's Smash and her first album of standards since 2000's Nightclub, showcases Barber's fluency within a vast breadth of motifs. And yet, what Barber does is much less about mimicry and so much more about acknowledging well worn tropes and motifs and molding them to fit a musical worldview that's very perceptive, intellectually honest, and, at ti

Jakob Bro discusses 'Uma Elmo' with The New Edge

With Uma Elmo, his fifth album as a leader for ECM, Danish guitarist-composer Jakob Bro presents a new trio featuring Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen and Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy. Astonishingly, given the trio's musical synergy, the first time these three musicians ever performed together was for the album's sessions at the Swiss Radio studio in Lugano, with Manfred Eicher producing. Among the album's highlights is the opening "Reconstructing a Dream", a darkly lyrical reverie which underlines an observation about Bro's work by London Jazz News: &n

Interview with The New Edge

RIOPY on 'BLISS'

RIOPY has fused minimalism, pop, jazz, and cinematic idioms into a distinctive crossover piano style. A self-taught composer who studied at Oxford University, RIOPY has built a successful career both as a performer and as a composer for television and film, where his evocative solo piano pieces provide the backdrop to popular movie and tv trailers. RIOPY's new Warner Classics recording; 'Bliss' is a collection of 11 titles, each a jewel of pure emotion. RIOPY's inspiration for this album has been guided by his will to pay tribute to the anonymous but true heroes of

Podcast

Patricia Barber's 'Clique' is marlbank 'ALBUM OF THE WEEK'

marlbank writes.....A big achievement from the singer and pianist Patricia Barber, Clique makes these standards more relevant than ever and mean something significant in an array of possibilities through these renditions. Read more about the release here and here and … A big achievement from the singer and pianist Patricia Barber, Clique makes these standards more relevant than ever and mean something significant in an array of possibilities through these renditions. Read more about the release here and here and above all listen. The art of the jazz singer is a discipline where i

CMU: The Beat interviews Patricia Barber

Patricia Barber, the performer known for boldly blurring the lines between poetry, jazz, and art song, has announced the forthcoming release of a new all-standards album Clique (Impex Records), in breathtaking hi-fi. The long-awaited successor to Nightclub, her critically acclaimed and fan-favorite first all-standards album, Clique features a tracklist of tunes that Barber has frequently performed as encores throughout her illustrious career, including classics by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stevie Wonder, Lee Hazlewood, Lerner & Loewe, Thelonious Monk and more. After growing a

Andris Nelsons's scrupulous attention to detail & the BSO's sophisticated beauty, combine for fine-tuned mastery in Shostakovich's last and most refined symphony / BBC Music Magazine

BBC Music Magazine's Michael Beek writes.....Nelsons's scrupulous, atmospheric attention to dynamic detail, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's sophisticated beauty and perfect engineering combine to give us fine-tuned mastery in Shostakovich's last and most refined symphony, the Fifteenth. Until now, Haitink's with the London Philharmonic has been my benchmark, and I still prefer his pace for the edge-of-death finale's ethereal Allegretto (Shostakovich's suggested crotchet = 100 rather than Nelsons's 80), but Nelsons gets his players to articulate both the harrowing second-movement funeral

A visit with the two radio hosts who kept Sinatra alive / The New Yorker

The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik writes....This year marks the seventy-fifth anniversary of "The Voice of Frank Sinatra," the first recorded album by the Italian-American singer from Hoboken. Through all that time, and through many labels and shifting styles-through fifty-nine albums, from those first crooner hits to the incomparable records, by turns swinging and saddened, of the nineteen-fifties, and on to the final late lost shore of the duets, when Sinatra, like El Cid in his last battle, was kept upright on his horse by his loyal fans and collaborators-his music has remained the landma

909WUOL 'Behind the Playlist' CHATS WITH Isata Kanneh-Mason

Following on from her award-winning, debut album Romance, a portrait of Clara Schumann that landed at the top of the UK Classical Chart on its release in 2019, 25-year-old British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason presents her vibrant second album Summertime, fizzing with her signature virtuosic flair. Isata says about this Decca recording... "I am delighted to be presenting my second solo album Summertime, which features a rich array of pieces from many of my favourite American classical composers. The Barber Piano Sonata forms the anchor around which the rest of the

Bettye LaVette, singing through pandemic / Boston Herald

Boston Herald's JED GOTTLIEB writes.....Singing in the shower is for amateurs. Bettye LaVette full-on belts it out in the bathroom. "Half of my pandemic has been devoted to me keeping myself upright," LaVette said with a laugh. "I have to work out. I have to vocalize. Now my vocalizing isn't like (running scales). This is hollering. This is, get in the bathroom with some steam and holler really loud, which is basically what rhythm & blues is." "I have to make sure I can hit all the notes I want to hit," she added. At 75, LaVette has to keep her core strong so she can holler,

Yo-Yo Ma & Emanuel Ax discuss 'Hope Amid Tears'

"My good friend Manny Ax would always say to me that it doesn't matter what you did yesterday; if you're here today, that's what counts." - Yo-Yo Ma to The New York Times Magazine On Friday, June 4, 2021 Yo-Yo Ma and long-time friend and musical partner Emanuel Ax released Hope Amid Tears, a new recording of Beethoven's complete works for cello and piano, on Sony Classical. Hope Amid Tears presents Beethoven's five sonatas for cello and piano in the order in which they were composed, tracing an important arc in Beethoven's development and approach as a compos

Podcast

Alchemy Sound Project - Afrika Love is effective, varied and always interesting / Music Street Journal

Alchemy is defined as "a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination" (OxfordEnglish Dictionary). It's hard to imagine a word that more aptly suits Alchemy Sound Project, a collective inwhich five esteemed composers and bandleaders - pianist Sumi Tonooka, woodwind players Salim Washington and Erica Lindsay, trumpeter Samantha Boshnack, and bassist David Arend - form a potentensemble greater than the sum of its parts. A synergy that seems almost supernatural, especially given the far-flung home bases fromwhich these artistsconverge,is evident throughout Afrika L

Jerod Tate discusses everything from Greek Mythology, folk traditions, classical music and the colonization of Mars, with Harmonious World Podcast

Composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate recently released the world premiere recording of Lowak Shoppala' (Fire and Light) on Azica Records. Lowak Shoppala' expresses Chickasaw identity through the medium of modern classical music and theatre through eight scenes and features orchestra, narration of a libretto by Chickasaw poet and Pulitzer Prize finalist Linda Hogan, children's chorus, traditional Chickasaw and classical vocal soloists, and Chickasaw storytellers. Each scene (Fire and Light, Double Header, Shell

Interview with Harmonious World podcast

simplifi interviews Patricia Barber, Jim Anderson, and Ulrike Schwarz

simplifi's Gordon Brockhouse writes.....We're just past the halfway point of 2021, but I think I've already heard my favorite album of the year. On August 6, Impex Records will release Clique, an album of jazz standards by Patricia Barber, on MQA CD, SACD, and hi-rez download. Stereo and 5.1 surround-sound mixes will be included on the SACD, and available as hi-rez downloads. Clique will also be streamed by Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, and Qobuz. Coming later this year is a 33rpm LP; a 45rpm LP and a reel-to-reel tape release will follow in 2022. Clique was recorded in January 2019,

PaTRAM Institute Male Choir - More Honourable than the Cherubim is a magnificent release, beautifully conducted, flawlessly sung and incredibly well recorded / MusicWeb

MusicWeb writes.....Once the preserve of Russia's Orthodox churches, this rich choral tradition has now found some fine exponents further west. Several conductors/ensembles spring to mind, among them the Phoenix and Kansas City Chorales, led by Charles Bruffy. I first heard them in Gretchaninoff's Passion Week, a much-cherished Chandos release that was also one of my top picks for 2007. They followed that up in 2014, with a similarly successful account of Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil. (My comparative review was headlined by a 2012 BIS recording of the same work, featuring Kaspars Putni