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
- Friday, November 15, 2019
The cast album for the critically acclaimed Broadway production of David Byrne’s American Utopia, with music and lyrics by David Byrne, is now available on a double CD, following its recent digital release. The album will be available in a double-vinyl edition on December 27 and is available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store. "Dazzling, rapturous and jubilant," exclaims the New York Times of the show. "Gorgeously designed, deliciously fun," says the New Yorker. "Most important, the songs sound great.” Byrne and cast will perform on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, November 15, 2019Vagabon's self-titled sophomore album, released digitally and on CD on Nonesuch Records last month, is now available on vinyl. "Each song on Vagabon feels like a small world," says the New Yorker. It's an "indie-pop masterpiece," says Clash, "simply captivating from start to finish." Vagabon tours North America as special guest of Angel Olsen through December.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, November 15, 2019Stephin Merritt begins Symphony Space residency in NYC with Magnetic Fields … Sam Amidon tours UK … The Black Keys head West … Carminho, Gaby Moreno, Mandy Patinkin tour California … Daughter of Swords plays NYC with Sylvan Esso … Jeremy Denk is in Florida … Tigran Hamasyan tours Europe … Kronos Quartet, Pat Metheny perform in Italy … Brad Mehldau plays solo in Germany … Joshua Redman Quartet plays SFJAZZ … Chris Thile hosts Live From Here from NYC … Vagabon plays Michigan, Toronto … Yola tours Belgium with Greta Van Fleet, headlines in Germany …
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsThursday, November 14, 2019Pat Metheny's new album, From This Place, is due February 21, 2020. The record features ten compositions by Metheny, who is joined by drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Linda May Han Oh, and pianist Gwilym Simcock, as well as the Hollywood Studio Symphony conducted by Joel McNeely. Meshell Ndegeocello, Gregoire Maret, and Luis Conte are special guests. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an instant download of the track "America Undefined."
Journal Topics: Artist NewsThursday, November 14, 2019Devendra Banhart stopped by KUTX, 98.9 FM, in Austin for an intimate in-studio session following his performance at Levitation Festival late last week. He performed three songs from his new album, Ma—"Is This Nice," "Carolina," and "Taking a Page"—which you can watch here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Radio, VideoWednesday, November 13, 2019Aria Code, the Rhiannon Giddens–hosted podcast from The Metropolitan Opera and WQXR, returns for its second season today. This time around, Giddens leads the conversation as opera singers and experts examine ten arias centered on the theme of desire. "I've been thinking about what makes great arias so powerful," Giddens says, "and I think a big part of it is that they tap into our strongest emotions. One of the emotions that come up over and over again in opera, and in life, is desire." You can hear the first episode of the new season, on Verdi's Lady Macbeth, here.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsTuesday, November 12, 2019"The Black Keys are the last rock and roll band to really matter," says the Broken Record podcast. Bandmates Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney talk with host Rick Rubin about everything from their early days together to their new album, "Let's Rock," and even share some unreleased songs. "We started playing when we were sixteen and seventeen before we were a band," Auerbach says, "and we learned how to play together ... We always recorded ourselves because that's what was so much fun ... So, the beginnings of The Black Keys were a recording." Hear it here.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsMonday, November 11, 2019Chris Thile gave a thirty-minute solo set at the Fine Line in Minneapolis in August as part of the MicroShow series from MPR's The Current that can now be seen here. The set includes solo takes on music by Punch Brothers, Radiohead, and Bach, a Song of the Week from his public radio show Live From Here, and the traditional tune "Rabbit in the Log."
Journal Topics: Artist News, On Tour, Radio, VideoFriday, November 8, 2019Mountain Man—the trio of Amelia Meath, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Molly Sarlé—follows up its 2018 Nonesuch debut album, Magic Ship, and its Sings John Denver EP with the second in its Sings cover series: the 1942 Irving Berlin holiday classic, "White Christmas," available now. "We wanted to record a song that could be played in people's homes throughout the holidays, like a gentle push of light," says the band. "We thought 'White Christmas' might do the trick!" Mountain Man will present a three-night COSMIC PROM of songs from the trio's collective catalog in Durham, NC, January 17–19.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, November 8, 2019Carminho tours Boston, Toronto, and Montreal … Sam Amidon performs in Ireland and UK … The Black Keys, Emmylou Harris are in North Carolina and Atlanta … Richard Goode performs in Boston … Tigran Hamasyan is in the Netherlands … Kronos Quartet performs Riley’s Sun Rings in Ontario … Gaby Moreno tours Pacific Northwest … Mandy Patinkin visits Newark, St. Louis … Rachael & Vilray tour New England … Joshua Redman is in LA … Caroline Shaw is in Latvia … Vagabon tours US with Angel Olsen … Yola tours UK with Greta Van Fleet …
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsFriday, November 8, 2019David Byrne has co-created a new immersive production with writer Mala Gaonkar called Theater of the Mind, which will premiere via the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) Off-Center in August 2020. Audience members will be led through a journey of self-reflection, discovery, and imagination, grounded in neuroscience, using stories inspired from the creators' lives. "I have long had an interest in creating something that incorporated the sensory experiments we often read about in a way that was entertaining and engaging," says Byrne, "but still gave people an experience that was visceral and profound."
Journal Topics: Artist NewsThursday, November 7, 2019Gaby Moreno begins a two-week US Roots Rising! tour with Liz Vice and Matt Andersen. The tour begins in the Pacific Northwest this weekend, followed by stops in California, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. Moreno then heads East to perform from ¡Spangled!, her album with Van Dyke Parks, at NYC's Kaufman Music Center, join Ben Folds and the NSO at The Kennedy Center in DC, and headline a show in Miami.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On Tour