Journal
- Thursday, November 7, 2024
"Music is a powerful tool. In an instant, it can change your mood, your perspective, or your life," Stacey Abrams says on her Crooked Media podcast, Assembly Required, introducing her conversation with Rhiannon Giddens. "No matter the motivation, music is an outlet, a force that builds us up or keeps us steady. It holds the capacity to move millions and to resonate with each individual, and every lyric, every note, every beat has the potential to share a message." You can hear their conversation here. Giddens's new album with Silkroad Ensemble, American Railroad, is out next week; their fall tour begins tonight.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Podcast
- Friday, January 17, 2020
Yola stopped by NPR to perform a Tiny Desk Concert of songs from her debut album, Walk Through Fire—"Faraway Look" and "It Ain't Easier"—as well as "I Don't Wanna Lie," from the deluxe digital edition of the album released in December. "Yola's presence behind the Tiny Desk was commanding, her energy captivating and, oh, that voice!" exclaims host Bob Boilen. She "is front-and-center and up for four Grammy awards in 2020, including Best New Artist. At this Tiny Desk Concert, you'll hear why." You can do so here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoFriday, January 17, 2020Joshua Rifkin's 1970 Nonesuch recording of Scott Joplin piano rags—which ignited a national passion for ragtime jazz and, wrote New York magazine, "created, almost alone, the Scott Joplin revival" of the early '70s—has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Recordings in the Hall of Fame are at least twenty-five years old and exhibit qualitative or historical significance, determined by a committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of the recording arts, with final approval by the Recording Academy's National Board of Trustees.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsFriday, January 17, 2020Mountain Man holds a three-day Cosmic Prom in Durham ... John Adams leads LA Phil in Naive and Sentimental Music ... Laurie Anderson is in Toronto ... The Black Keys play Vegas ... Jeremy Denk plays Ives in Durham ... Rhiannon Giddens, Francesco Turrisi perform in his hometown of Turin ... Kronos Quartet has three concerts in Arizona ... Gaby Moreno is in Nashville ... Mandy Patinkin tours South ... Joshua Redman is in Germany, Netherlands ... Yola tours US Midwest ...
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsThursday, January 16, 2020Sam Gendel’s Nonesuch Records debut, Satin Doll, will be released March 13. Recorded in Gendel’s native California, Satin Doll is a futuristic homage to historical jazz. The album features three musicians—Gendel on saxophone, Gabe Noel on electric bass, and Philippe Melanson on electronic percussion—engaging in simultaneous synchronized sonic construction/deconstruction of jazz standards, including songs by Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and Duke Ellington. A Gendel-produced video for the album track “Afro Blue” by Mongo Santamaria may be seen here.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsThursday, January 16, 2020To coincide with the start of Devendra Banhart’s European tour next week, a remix of his “Love Song” by Helado Negro was released on Nonesuch Records today. Watch a video for the song here. The original version of “Love Song” appears on Banhart’s latest studio album, Ma. Helado Negro, aka Roberto Carlos Lange, says, “Music always makes me feel like you travel and hear, feel, and see where the sounds are from and take you. Devendra’s ‘Love Song’ does this. It haunts you with love.” He continues, “All of this album does this; it always makes you feel comforted and you’re never a stranger in the places he takes you. The remix I made is me as a witness to these sounds floating through this haunted feeling of love.”
Journal Topics: On TourThursday, January 16, 2020Composer Caroline Shaw’s Orange, performed by Attacca Quartet, has been shortlisted for a BBC Music Magazine Award for Chamber. A jury of experts selected the nominees from the best of the classical recordings reviewed in the magazine in 2019. Winners will be chosen by public vote, which has begun, and announced at a ceremony in London on April 22. "Unlike much contemporary music, Shaw's compositions exemplify what Simon Rattle long ago said about John Adams's essence—that there's always the sense of 'moving in space,'" said the five-star BBC Music Magazine album review. "The sophistication and dynamic refinement of the Attacca Quartet is reflected in a full, truthful recording."
Journal Topics: Artist NewsWednesday, January 15, 2020Pat Metheny has released “You Are,” a new track from his forthcoming album, From This Place, due February 21 on Nonesuch; it can be heard here. This follows the release of the album tracks “America Undefined” and "You Are." All three songs can be downloaded now with pre-orders of From This Place on vinyl and CD in the Pat Metheny Store and Nonesuch Store, and are available to stream.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsMonday, January 13, 2020k.d. lang will perform in the Fire Fight Australia concert at ANZ Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday, February 16, to benefit Australian bushfire relief. She will perform two songs, including Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah." Also performing in the nine-plus-hour event hosted by Celeste Barber are Queen + Adam Lambert, Alice Cooper, and a score of Australian musicians, including Olivia Newton-John, with more to be announced.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On TourFriday, January 10, 2020Yola brings Walk Through Fire tour to DC, Boston, Toronto … John Adams’s Scheherazade.2 is performed by Oregon Symphony, violinist Leila Josefowicz … Emmylou Harris joins Sheryl Crow, Steve Earle for The Lantern Tour II in Nashville … Gabriel Kahane performs with Louisville Orchestra … Mandy Patinkin is in Cleveland … Joshua Redman plays Brussels Jazz Festival …
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsThursday, January 9, 2020Yola performed a Billboard Live session of songs from her multiple Grammy-nominated album Walk Through Fire, answers fan questions, and shares a secret to overcoming adversity: Use what she calls "life scissors" to cut out the toxic so-and-sos "and funnel all that energy, much like pruning a rose, to the bud, which is your inspiration, your personal growth, your happiness, all the things that we're living for." You can watch the performance and interview here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoThursday, January 9, 2020Gabriel Kahane's 2018 Nonesuch Records debut album, Book of Travelers, is out now available on limited-edition, translucent orange vinyl. "Exquisitely crafted songs," says Uncut. "Musically fascinating and hauntingly empathetic." "Extraordinary," says the San Francisco Chronicle; "vivid and wholly original." Rolling Stone calls it a "stunning portrait of a singular moment in America." Gabriel Kahane is on tour with the Louisville Orchestra now and heads to Europe in February.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsWednesday, January 8, 2020"Ladies and gentlemen: Turn. It. Up," exclaims Meghna Chakrabarti, host of NPR's On Point, ahead of her interview with Yola. "You're gonna wanna hear this music and this woman. And you're going to wish you've had a twelve-month streak like Yola has had ... We needed music like this right now." The two discuss Yola's multiple Grammy-nominated debut album, Walk Through Fire, and that year-long streak following its release—or, as Yola puts it, "a weekly update of life-changing news." You can hear their conversation here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Radio