Journal
- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Composer Donnacha Dennehy, whose piece Land of Winter, performed by Alarm Will Sound and conductor Alan Pierson, was released earlier this month on Nonesuch, shares some insight on the work, which explores the subtleties of Ireland’s seasons via twelve connected sections representing the months of the year, in a new essay. "It is the varying quality of light that truly demarcates the seasons," he says, "from the shorter days of grey or piercing light in the winter to the warmer but mercurial light of summer days that at solstice stretch almost to midnight. I like this play between light and time, and it is the major inspiration behind the piece."
Journal Topics: Artist Essays, Artist News
- Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Vagabon was a special guest on Live From Here with Chris Thile from The Town Hall in NYC on Saturday. You can watch her perform songs from her self-titled sophomore album here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoMonday, November 25, 2019Rhiannon Giddens and Yola, both nominated for Grammy Awards last week, were featured on the Austin City Limits special of performance highlights from the Americana Honors & Awards. Giddens and Francesco Turrisi performed "Wayfaring Stranger," from their album, there is no Other. Yola sang "Faraway Look" from her album, Walk Through Fire. The special aired on PBS stations over the weekend and can now be seen here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Television, VideoFriday, November 22, 2019Vagabon plays Brooklyn Steel, performs on Chris Thile’s Live From Here … Sam Amidon, Jeremy Denk, Rhiannon Giddens all tour UK … Devendra Banhart performs Ma in Mexico … The Black Keys conclude “Let’s Rock” tour … William Britelle, Metropolis Ensemble play Eaux Claires Hiver … Tigran Hamasyan joins Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg … Emmylou Harris joins The Last Waltz Nashville … Gabriel Kahane is in Seattle … Kronos Quartet is in the Netherlands … Brad Mehldau plays solo in France … Pat Metheny, Yola tour Italy … Gaby Moreno concludes Roots Rising! tour … Mandy Patinkin, Joshua Redman tour California … and more …
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsThursday, November 21, 2019Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi begin the UK and European leg of their tour with two sold-out concerts for the EFG London Jazz Festival: at the HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs tonight and Royal Festival Hall on Friday. The tour continues in the UK into December, then heads to the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Italy. They return to the States in February and head to New Zealand and Australia in March. Uncut and Mojo named their album, there is no Other, among the Albums of the Year.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On TourWednesday, November 20, 2019David Byrne and the cast of American Utopia on Broadway performed the classic Talking Heads tune "Road to Nowhere" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night. The song is featured in the critically acclaimed production and on the original cast album. Before the performance, Byrne sat down to speak with Fallon about the Broadway show and to teach him a bit of his Annie-B Parson–choreographed dance moves from the show. You can watch it here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Television, VideoWednesday, November 20, 2019Congratulations to all of the Nonesuch nominees for the 62nd Grammy Awards: Yola with four nominations, including Best New Artist and her album Walk Through Fire; Dan Auerbach for Producer of the Year; Rhiannon Giddens for "I'm on My Way" from her album with Francesco Turrisi, there is no Other; Brad Mehldau's Finding Gabriel, Joshua Redman Quartet's Come What May, Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet's Orange; and Kronos Quartet for Terry Riley's Sun Rings.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsWednesday, November 20, 2019Daughter of Swords has announced a new run of shows in February with The Dead Tongues. They lead a joint six-city tour of the US East Coast in February, with stops in Richmond, Charlottesville, Brooklyn, Boston, DC, and Asheville. She closes out the tour with a performance at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville as special guest of Tyler Childers on February 16. Daughter of Swords performs with her band in North Carolina next week and joins Joan Shelley in a five-city swing through the Midwest in December.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On TourTuesday, November 19, 2019The Black Keys were on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC last night. They performed "Lo/Hi" and "Go" from their new album, "Let's Rock." You can watch both here. The band closes out its 2019 North American "Let's Rock" tour on the West Coast this week.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On Tour, Television, VideoTuesday, November 19, 2019Lake Street Dive has announced its first tour dates of 2020: its Lounge Around Sounds Tour. The tour will be an easygoing, semi-acoustic, fireside evening with the band. Fans are encouraged to sing along as the band performs a revue of its sixteen-year catalog of songs, including deep cuts, works-in-progress, and fan favorites, all sung around a grand piano. The band also invites audience members to wear silk pajamas if they are so inclined.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On TourMonday, November 18, 2019Mandy Patinkin was on CBC's Q while on tour in Toronto. He spoke with host Tom Power about life and music, including his new album, Children and Art. "I love these songs. They are songs that talk to me right now, at this moment," Patinkin says. "Whether it's funny, sad, meaningful, connective, they're all like little remembrances or prayers to me, or recollections ... But I guess more than anything, they're about finding the light for me." You can watch the conversation here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Radio, VideoFriday, November 15, 2019The original cast recording for three-time Tony Award nominee Dave Malloy's musical Octet—recorded live during Signature Theatre's world premiere production—is out today digitally and January 17 on CD. Featuring a score for an a cappella chamber choir and an original libretto inspired by internet comment boards, scientific debates, religious texts, and Sufi poetry, Octet explores addiction and nihilism within the messy context of twenty-first century technology. "The most original and topical musical of the year," says the New York Times; "the sublime a cappella chamber opera is a portrait in song of perhaps the greatest David and Goliath struggle of our time."
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, November 15, 2019Sam Amidon's 7" vinyl record Fatal Flower Garden EP (A Tribute to Harry Smith) is out now on Nonesuch. On the EP, Amidon performs four songs from Anthology of American Folk Music, Smith’s beloved and influential 1920s and ’30s folk music recordings. Amidon and frequent collaborator Shahzad Ismaily play all the instruments; Leo Abrahams engineered, produced, and mixed. Amidon concludes a UK tour in the week ahead, then tours the US Northeast.
Journal Topics: Album Release, On Tour