Journal

  • Tuesday, October 8, 2024
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  • Friday, June 13, 2014

    Jeremy Denk, Timo Andres perform at 68th Ojai Music Festival, of which Denk is Music Director ... David Byrne gives TimesTalk at Luminato Festival in Toronto ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play Chicago Blues Festival (as does Dr. John) and Bonnaroo ... Richard Goode is in UK ... Jonny Greenwood, LCO play music from his film scores in UK ... Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica play Bach in France ... Pat Metheny Unity Group tours Italy ... Robert Plant is in Sweden ... Rokia Traoré is at Fès Festival ... and more ...

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend Events
  • Friday, June 13, 2014

    The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney recently stopped by Grimey's record store in Nashville to look through the vinyl stacks and talk with CBS's Anthony Mason about the recent resurgence in vinyl. The piece, titled "Vinyl's Got Its Groove Back," which aired on today's CBS This Morning, delves into what makes vinyl so special, looks at how it's made, considers its unique sound and feel, and talks to the band mates, "avid fans of the vinyl LP," about why it was so important to them that their latest album, Turn Blue, as with all their earlier albums, be released on vinyl. Watch the piece here. 

     

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Television, Video
  • Thursday, June 12, 2014

    John Adams's Saxophone Concerto, as heard on a new album with the title piece, City Noir, "is a gleaming vehicle for virtuoso saxophonist Timothy McAllister," says NPR's Thomas Huizenga. "He nails the fluent angularity and punchiness in the music with a lyrical touch somewhere comfortably between jazz and classical styles ... You can hear the influence of swing music, and the more frenetic pacing of great bebop sax men like Charlie Parker, over Adams' pulsating orchestra." McAllister gives the West Coast premiere of the piece at the Cabrillo Festival in August.

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Reviews, Radio
  • Thursday, June 12, 2014

    Carolina Chocolate Drops kick off a summer tour of the United States and Europe at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, tonight, followed by sets at the Chicago Blues Festival and Bonaroo Music and Arts Festival this weekend. The tour includes shows across the US, including the Midwest, East Coast, West Coast, and more, before heading to the UK and Europe in late August. The band hits the road in the US again this fall. 

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News
  • Thursday, June 12, 2014

    Björk's Biophilia App has now been made the first downloadable App added to the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. "Björk has never ceased to experiment and surprise," says MoMA Senior Curator Paola Antonelli. "The multidimensional nature of her art ... is a testament to her curiosity and desire to learn and team up with diverse experts and creators." Antonelli concludes: "True innovation ... supported by great art is a mesmerizing gift to the world." The Biophilia Education Program, which teaches about the relationships between music, science and technology, will be adopted for the curriculum in a number of Scandinavian countries, Björk tells the Observer

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Web
  • Tuesday, June 10, 2014

    Louis Andriessen’s Grawemeyer Award–winning La Commedia is out now, as a two-CD-plus-DVD set. The film opera, a collaboration with director Hal Hartley, is based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, with additional texts including the Old Testament’s “Song of Songs.” This Dutch National Opera production features the Asko and Schönberg Ensembles, led by Reinbert de Leeuw. The Washington Post calls La Commedia "an exciting, powerful and rich piece that shows Andriessen at the top of his game." The Los Angeles Times considers it "the greatest opera of the century so far." 

    Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist News
  • Monday, June 9, 2014

    Congratulations to Audra McDonald, winner of the 2014 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill. This marks a historic sixth Tony Award win for McDonald, the most ever for a performer. Watch her acceptance speech here. She recently won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for her portrayal of the legendary jazz singer. 

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Video
  • Friday, June 6, 2014

    Brad Mehldau plays three nights at the Blue Note in NYC with Christian McBride ... John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls is performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra ... Louis Andriessen turns 75 ... Bombino is in Italy ... Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle close out duo tour in Chicago ... Richard Goode joins Deutsche Symphonie Orchester in Berlin ... Emmylou Harris plays pet rescue benefit in Nashville ... Kronos Quartet plays Philip Glass with Nederlands Dans Theater ... Pat Metheny Unity Group tours Europe ... Conor Oberst plays the Ryman ... Robert Plant is in the Netherlands ... Joshua Redman Quartet tours Australia ... Allen Toussaint is in Chicago ... and more ...

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend Events
  • Friday, June 6, 2014

    Nickel Creek recently stopped by Last.fm to discuss their new album, A Dotted Line, and the band's officially reuniting for the first time since its 2007 self-described "indefinite hiatus." The trio—Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins—also performs two songs from the new album, "Destination" and "Rest of My Life." You can watch the interview and performances here and catch the band live on tour in the US this summer. 

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Video, Radio
  • Friday, June 6, 2014

    The new album of John Adams's City Noir and Saxophone Concerto is out now, performed by the St. Louis Symphony led by David Robertson, featuring saxophonist Timothy McAllister. "Dense, brash and exuberant," raves the New York Times, "these two stellar works by John Adams are love letters to the confidence of the 1950s and a time when some of the greatest feats of virtuosity were often performed in smoky jazz clubs." It's "an incisive performance," says the Times; "McAllister sizzles." The Times of London gives the album four stars, calling the concerto "fun from start to finish."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Reviews
  • Wednesday, June 4, 2014

    The Black Keys' Patrick Carney, fresh off the release of the band's new album, Turn Blue, and its debut as the #1 album, spoke with Carrie Brownstein, of the band Sleater-Kinney and the IFC show Portlandia for The Talkhouse Podcast. The Black Keys opened for Sleater-Kinney back in 2003. "It’s a revealing, thought-provoking conversation that only two musicians could have," says The Talkhouse. You can hear it for yourself here.

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Web
  • Tuesday, June 3, 2014

    The cast recording of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's Here Lies Love, featuring the original 2013 Public Theater cast of the musical starring Ruthie Ann Miles as Imelda Marcos, earns a nine out of ten from PopMatters. The 2010 song-cycle recording "was a magnificent achievement," exclaims PopMatters, "by turns catchy, clever, and insightful." And still, the newly released cast album "is even better." It "takes one to a wondrous world," says the site, citing Miles's "sumptuous singing," and concluding: "the music is exceedingly seductive."

    Journal Topics: Reviews