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Journal Tuesday, January 06, 2009

  • Grammy Award
    Thursday, December 4, 2008
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    Nonesuch Artists Grab 13 Grammy Nominations

    The Grammy nominations are in, and a big congratulations goes out to the many Nonesuch artists whose work has been recognized by the Recording Academy, the organization behind the awards. Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Brad Mehldau, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Toumani Diabaté, Youssou N'Dour, Stephen Sondheim, Jonny Greenwood, and Isabel Bayrakdarian were all recognized for their recent Nonesuch releases, as were producers Danger Mouse and Judith Sherman for their work on Nonesuch albums this year.

  • Christina Courtin bw by Matt Kilmer
    Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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    Christina Courtin Starts New Year with Thursday Set at New York's Poisson Rouge

    Christina Courtin, the New York City–based singer/songwriter/violinist, is due to make her Nonesuch album debut this year. She starts the year off with a performance in the city this Thursday night at Le Poisson Rouge, with singer/pianist/composer Gabriel Kahane opening. The New York Times says Courtin's voice "feels uniquely otherworldly, as if it couldn’t possibly be entirely human born." Time Out New York lists her among the people to watch in 2009, praising "her commanding, undulating voice" and finding in her songs "an exquisiteness that extends beyond any genre ghetto."

  • John Adams: Hallelujah Junction [book]
    Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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    John Adams Reads from "Hallelujah Junction" on NPR's "Book Tour"

    John Adams's memoir Hallelujah Junction was featured on 2008's final episode of NPR.org's Book Tour, which broadcast a reading from the book the composer gave in November. The show's host calls Adams "one of America's leading avant-garde composers, and as he proves in this compelling memoir, possibly one of the loveliest human beings you're likely to encounter between the covers of a book." She describes his compositions as "erudite, philosophical, but spun through with the play and polish of popular culture."

  • Steve Reich, "Works" [cover]
    Tuesday, January 6, 2009
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    Betty Freeman, Staunch Supporter of New Music, Dies at 87

    Betty Freeman, an ardent supporter of contemporary composers like John Adams, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass, died at her home in Los Angeles this past Sunday, January 4, at the age of 87. Freeman will be remembered for her commitment to new music, commissioning such seminal works as John Adams's Nixon in China and Steve Reich's Different Trains. She was also an accomplished photographer, deftly capturing the composers she supported, as in the cover photo of the Steve Reich's Works: 1965-1995, pictured here, taken during a 1976 rehearsal of Music for 18 Musicians.

  • 2008 Nonesuch "Best of" Covers, Part 2
    Monday, January 5, 2009
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    Nonesuch Artists Continue to Draw Year-End Accolades

    Since the last Nonesuch Journal entry of 2008, which laid out scores of year-end best-of lists featuring Nonesuch albums and artists, still more critical praise has come in placing this music among the year's best.

  • 2008 Nonesuch "Best of" Covers
    Wednesday, December 24, 2008
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    Nonesuch Albums Abound in Year-End Best Lists

    While 2008 may go down as one of the more turbulent years in recent (or distant) memory, or, more optimistically, a time of change, there is much to celebrate in the year in music. Nonesuch artists across all genres have contributed to that and, accordingly, have made their way onto many critics' lists of the year's best. For the final Nonesuch Journal article of the year, we offer an overview of just some of that year-end critical praise.

  • Grammy Award
    Monday, December 22, 2008
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    Elliott Carter, Allen Toussaint to Receive Recording Academy's Trustees Award During Grammy Week

    The Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, will honor Elliott Carter and Allen Toussaint with the special Trustees Award during Grammy week in February. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the industry in a non-performing capacity, as determined by a vote of The Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees. Says Neil Portnow, the Academy's President/CEO, says of this year's recipients: "Their outstanding accomplishments, legendary passion and artistry have positively affected our culture and will continue to influence and inspire generations to come."

  • Toumani Diabate, "The Mande Variations" [cover]
    Monday, December 22, 2008
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    CBS Sunday Morning: Toumani Diabaté's "Beautiful New Album" Brings Back "Spirit of Peace on Earth" During Harried Holiday Season

    The Mandé Variations, Toumani Diabaté's first solo album in more than two decades, is one of five albums CBS Sunday Morning contributor Bill Flanagan recommends as musical gift ideas "that haven't gotten the attention they deserve." Says Flanagan: "Toumani Diabaté is the master of the kora ... and he has a beautiful new album called The Mandé Variations. After a tough day looking for a parking space at the mall, this album will bring you back to a spirit of peace on Earth."

  • Nonesuch logo
    Friday, December 19, 2008
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    The Independent Names Nonesuch.com Among Year's Best Music Sites

    'Tis the season for Top 10 lists, and there's no shortage of Nonesuch artists among the critics' choices for Best of 2008; the Nonesuch Journal will bring you the complete round-up next week in our year-end report. In the mean time, at the risk of being unseasonably un-humble, we would like to point out a different sort of best-of mention: The Independent (UK) has named Nonesuch.com one of the Top 10 Music Websites of the Year.

  • Randy Newman, "Songbook, Vol. 1" [cover]
    Friday, December 19, 2008
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    "I'm Always in the Mood for Randy Newman Lately," Says Author Sarah Vowell

    "I'm always in the mood for Randy Newman lately," says author Sarah Vowell during her stint as guest DJ at KCRW. She includes Randy's song "The World Isn't Fair" among the five favorites she brings to KCRW's Guest DJ Project. In the song, Randy offers the success of certain "froggish men, unpleasant to see," with their beautiful Hollywood wives, as a contemporary example of capitalist disparities Karl Marx might find repugnant. "[T]he thing I really love about this song and it's something I guess I try to do writing about history," says Vowell, "is this song takes this turn in the middle."

  • The Black Keys
    Thursday, December 18, 2008
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    Boston Herald Recommends Black Keys Concert DVD, with Music from Their "Awesome" Album, as "Next-Best Thing" to Live Show

    The Black Keys are getting set to head south for the summer in a two-week tour of Australia, starting December 29 just outside Perth. You can catch some of that in-concert Black Keys energy with their recently released Nonesuch DVD, Live at the Crystal Ballroom, which the Boston Herald recommends it the perfect last-minute gift suggestion and "the next-best thing to seeing this dynamic rock duo in-person," with bonus features behind the scenes "of the awesome Attack & Release."

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