Journal
- Friday, September 27, 2024
Congratulations to Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, whose latest album, City of Gold, won the IBMA Bluegrass Music Award for Album of the Year at the ceremony in Raleigh last night. They won the GRAMMY Award for Best Bluegrass Album for City of Gold earlier this year, and their debut album, Crooked Tree, won both awards last year.
Journal Topics: Artist News
- Friday, August 7, 2009
David Byrne is the subject of a recent profile in the The Times in anticipation of this weekend’s UK performances at the Edinburgh Playhouse and the Big Chill Festival, the last on his year-long world tour. The article also discusses Byrne’s new book, Bicycle Diaries, describing it as “a disconnected travelogue recording his cycle journeys around various cities," and his Playing the Building installation at London’s Roundhouse.
Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist NewsFriday, August 7, 2009Dan Auerbach, The Low Anthem head to Chicago for Lollapalooza, club shows ... David Byrne's Songs of David Byrne & Brian Eno tour closes out at England's Big Chill Fest ... Toumani Diabaté heads south and north with Béla Fleck, from Virginia to Alberta ... Joshua Redman's Double Trio celebrates Newport Jazz's 55th ... Allen Toussaint plays "supple, easy-rolling piano" at San Jose Jazz Fest ... Sara Watkins joins Robert Earl Keen in Ohio ... and more ...
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsThursday, August 6, 2009"You Never Know," off Wilco's latest release, Wilco (the album), has made its way to No. 1 on the Triple-A radio chart, a career first for the band. Wilco first appeared on the chart with "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" off 1996's Being There. That album, along with the band's two other '90s releases, Summerteeth and A.M., are now being reissued on vinyl, for the first time, by Nonesuch.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist News, RadioWednesday, August 5, 2009Nonesuch will release a/rhythmia, the new album from Alarm Will Sound, the 20-member group described by the New York Times as “one of the most vital and original ensembles on the American music scene," on September 15; it is available to pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store. On the album are works by Michael Gordon, Conlon Nancarrow, Benedict Mason, György Ligeti, and Autechre, among others, that challenge in playful and often dazzling ways conventional notions of rhythm and pulse.
Journal Topics: Album ReleaseWednesday, August 5, 2009Sara Watkins recently stopped by the Rolling Stone offices to perform three songs off her self-titled Nonesuch debut for the "Smoking Section," which praises her "gorgeous voice and killer fiddle." She is joined for the performances by her brother Sean and keyboardist Benmont Tench (of the Heartbreakers), both of whom are featured on the album as well.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009Shawn Colvin's Live, featuring 15 live tracks from two decades’ worth of material, was released on Nonesuch earlier this summer. No Depression sees the new collection as "a terrific career overview," confirming that "Colvin is a solo-acoustic performer of stratospheric skill." The album serves as "a gorgeous and satisfying reminder of what is so special about this great American artist." Country Chart calls it "the best concert recording of the year."
Journal Topics: ReviewsTuesday, August 4, 2009By any measure, it would seem that The Black Keys helped turn the muddied fields of New Jersey's Liberty State Park into a memorable closing day for the 2009 All Points West festival. Rolling Stone says their "primal power" of "one of America’s most respected bands" served them well. Esquire says the band's set stood out from the rest of the pack, making everything "whole again," and gives a "Daily Endorsement" to drummer Pat Carney.
Monday, August 3, 2009Toumani Diabaté joins forces once more with banjo master Béla Fleck for a free outdoor event at New York's Central Park SummerStage tonight. The two will perform in concert, followed by a screening of the film Throw Down Your Heart, which documents Fleck's trip through Africa in search of the source of his instrument. It begins a two week tour of the US and Canada. The New York Times says "it makes musical sense" to pair Diabaté, "renowned for his mastery of the kora ... with the virtuosic banjoist Béla Fleck."
Monday, August 3, 2009Bill Frisell's latest Nonesuch album, Disfarmer, is out now. Billboard sees it as evidence of Frisell's being "best suited for exploring vast territory and responding with imaginative integrity." Q says, "As ever, Frisell’s playing, all texture and touch, raises matters way beyond the merely atmospheric," and selects the album's "shimmering instrumental version" of a Hank Williams tune as an Essential Track of the month. The Philadelphia Inquirer gives the album three-and-a-half stars, praising its "wonderfully rootsy and evocative music" and the "superb ensemble" that plays it.
Journal Topics: ReviewsFriday, July 31, 2009The Black Keys play as the sun sets on All Points West ... Laurie Anderson talks gardens in the Hamptons ... David Byrne brings his Songs to Benelux; preps Playing the Building in London ... Richard Goode continues on at "close to perfection" Marlboro Music ... The Low Anthem celebrates Newport Folk Festival's 50th ... Youssou documentary opens in six more US cities ... Wilco's on NPR's World Cafe; Nels Cline joins M. Ward, Mike Watt at NYC's SummerStage ... and more ...
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsFriday, July 31, 2009Bill Frisell's latest Nonesuch release, Disfarmer, features music inspired by the haunting black-and-white images of the late American photographer Michael Disfarmer. The Houston Chronicle gives it a perfect four stars, calling it "a particularly beautiful suite of music. Frisell's pacing is magnificent, and the album sweeps along with purpose like a gorgeous, spacious epic. It is full of sounds that suggest settings and characters, including the mysterious eccentric who inspired the recording." All About Jazz praises "the effortless interaction and instrumental acumen of its participants ... Frisell's quartet proves capable of empathic exploration throughout."
Journal Topics: ReviewsFriday, July 31, 2009The Low Anthem stays close to home in Rhode Island this weekend to play the state's most famous musical gathering, the Newport Folk Festival, in its 50th year. NPR has series of features on the festival and will be broadcasting from Newport all weekend long. Ben Knox Miller tells the band's hometown paper, the Providence Journal, that of all the summer festivals the band finds itself playing, Newport is "the one I’m probably most looking forward to."