Randy Newman brings Dark Matter to Austin … Sam Amidon performs in London … Devendra Banhart exhibits artwork in Japan … Jeremy Denk gives solo recital in NYC … Richard Goode joins Cleveland Orchestra … Emmylou Harris plays Bonaparte’s Retreat benefit in DC … Kronos Quartet previews new documentary at MASS MoCA … Robert Plant takes Carry Fire tour to London … Chris Thile is on the radio from NYC …
Randy Newman brings music from his new album, Dark Matter, to Paramount Theatre in Austin on Sunday. The AP says Newman "is still at the top of his game." He "just gets better," says ABC News. "Dark Matter is the work of a master craftsman ... frankly brilliant." He spoke with the Asbury Park Press about the new album, scoring for film, and more ahead of next week’s concert in New Jersey; you can read what he had to say here.
Dark Matter has been included on several Albums of the Year lists, including Rolling Stone, Uncut, and Mojo. Newman has also been nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award for Best Arrangements, Instruments and Vocals for the album track “Putin.”
---
Sam Amidon is at Huguenot Homes of Spitalfields in London this weekend, as part of Schumann Street, an immersive song-cycle installation celebrating the work of German Romantic composer Robert Schumann. The program takes place on Saturday and Sunday, with two performances each day.
Sam Amidon released his new album, The Following Mountain, earlier this year on Nonesuch Records. The London Evening Standard gives it four stars, praising its “captivating arrangements and elegiac charm.” The Irish Times gives the album four stars as well, calling it “breathtaking … a fascinating signpost to the future.”
---
Devendra Banhart is in Japan this weekend, exhibiting new artwork at Vacant in Tokyo tonight and Hotel Anteroom in Kyoto on Sunday, with proceeds to benefit Fukushima relief efforts, supporting Mothers' Radiation Lab Fukushima, Tohoku Youth Orchestra, and Foster Care for Children in Fukushima.
---
Pianist Jeremy Denk gives a solo recital at Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y in New York City on Saturday, performing Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major, Mozart’s Rondo in A minor, Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives, and Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes. The New Yorker, in a preview of the concert, calls Denk "one of today's most thoughtful keyboard virtuosos." The New York Times says: "Expect deep emotional engagement and intellectural insight."
---
Richard Goode joins the Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Mikko Franck, in performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 18 at Severance Hall tonight and Saturday. Also on the program are Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 and Julian Anderson's Incantesimi.
Goode recorded Mozart’s Piano Concertos No. 18 and 20 with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for Nonesuch in 1996. The San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle gave the recording five stars, exclaiming: “This is an exquisite disc, pure and simple … marked by grace, beauty and formidable intelligence.”
---
Emmylou Harris gives an intimate performance at The Hamilton in Washington, DC, on Sunday to benefit her dog rescue, Bonaparte’s Retreat. The New York Times has called Harris “the reigning queen of Americana.”
It was announced earlier this week that Harris will be the subject of a major new exhibition at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, opening October 5, 2018. Harris is a twelve-time Grammy winner and a Country Music Hall of Fame member.
---
Kronos Quartet and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Green, who are in residency at MASS MoCA in North Adams this week, present a “work-in-progress preview” of their live documentary, A Thousand Thoughts, tonight, ahead of its official premieres at the Sundance Film Festival and Wexner Center for the Arts in January. The multimedia experiment blends live music and narration with archival footage and filmed interviews with artists like Philip Glass, Tanya Tagaq, Steve Reich, Wu Man, and Terry Riley.
As announced earlier this week, Kronos Quartet and Laurie Anderson’s first collaboration, Landfall, is due via Nonesuch in February. The Washington Post calls the piece, which was inspired by Anderson’s experience of Hurricane Sandy, "riveting, gorgeous." Landfall is available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an instant download of the album track "We Learn to Speak Yet Another Language" and an exclusive, limited-edition print autographed by Anderson.
---
Robert Plant and his band the Sensational Space Shifters continues their month-long, sold-out tour of the United Kingdom, with music from his new album, Carry Fire, at Royal Albert Hall in London tonight. The UK tour concludes early next week with shows in Portsmouth and Birmingham, before heading to North America in February.
The Scotsman gives a recent show in Glasgow five stars, writing that Plant “is making some of the most satisfying sounds of his career by combining his love of folk, blues and other ancient roots forms with an interest in mystical musical traditions to create a sound which is warm, captivating and immersive.”
---
Chris Thile hosts a sold-out episode of A Prairie Home Companion at The Town Hall in New York City on Saturday, with special guests Bon Iver, Béla Fleck, and Abigail Washburn. Aoife O’Donovan joins Thile as his duet partner.
Folks in the US can tune in on their favorite public radio station this weekend, and fans around the world can listen live online at prairiehome.org starting at 5:45 PM ET.
Chris Thile's new album, Thanks for Listening, a collection of new studio recordings of songs originally written as Songs of the Week on A Prairie Home Companion, is out today on CD and digitally via Nonesuch; the vinyl is out next week. Uncut praises the album’s “gentle humour and musical imagination.”
- Log in to post comments
