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
- Monday, October 7, 2019
Yola was named among "the best things we saw" at Farm Aid 2019 by both Rolling Stone, noting "her powerhouse vocals," and Billboard, which reports of the festival's "breakthrough artist": "An imposing presence with a massive, gospel-fired voice, Yola held the midday crowd riveted with songs from her debut album Walk Through Fire." One such festival performance, of the song "It Ain't Easier," can be seen here. It has just been announced that she will perform at Holiday Cheer for FUV at the Beacon Theatre in NYC in December and at Chris Stapleton's benefit concert in Kentucky next April. Fittingly, Yola has been nominated as Live Act of the Year in the UK's Independent Festival Awards.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On Tour, Reviews, VideoFriday, October 4, 2019¡Spangled!—a collaboration between Guatemalan-born singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno and American musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer Van Dyke Parks—is out now. The ten-song set spans more than a century, including a bolero from Panama, a bossa nova from Brazil, a song by Moreno, Trinidadian songwriter David Rudder's "The Immigrants," and an elegiac ballad from the Southwest US: Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, and Jim Dickinson’s “Across the Borderline,” performed with Cooder and Jackson Browne.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, October 4, 2019Rachael & Vilray—the debut album by Lake Street Dive singer-songwriter Rachael Price and composer, singer, and guitarist Vilray—is out now. The album features ten original songs by Vilray and two covers. "The voices of acoustic duo Rachael & Vilray are magical enough on their own," says Chronogram, "but when they blend in song the results are utterly sublime." Rachael & Vilray, who released a new lyric video of "Do Friends Fall in Love?" today, perform on Live From Here on October 26 and tour the US in November and December.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, October 4, 2019Joshua Redman and Brooklyn Rider's Sun on Sand is out now on Nonesuch. The album comprises eight works from a suite by composer Patrick Zimmerli. Each piece in the suite, which premiered at London’s Wigmore Hall in 2014, represents a different expression of light. Bassist Scott Colley and drummer Satoshi Takeishi perform as well.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsFriday, October 4, 2019Emmylou Harris, Kronos Quartet, Robert Plant, Chris Thile, Punch Brothers, Yola play Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco …Sam Amidon performs in Dublin … Laurie Anderson leads Lincoln Center Nightcap, plays duo show with John Zorn … Attacca Quartet performs Caroline Shaw in Boston … Devendra Banhart gives in-store in Singapore ... The Black Keys play Milwaukee, Detroit … David Byrne’s American Utopia begins Broadway run … Daughter of Swords tours California … Rhiannon Giddens performs at Met Museum in NYC … Lake Street Dive plays Massachusetts, New York … Brad Mehldau Trio tours Portugal … Gaby Moreno tours Germany …
Journal Topics: On Tour, Weekend EventsThursday, October 3, 2019Gaby Moreno and Van Dyke Parks were on NPR's Alt.Latino to discuss and share tracks from their new album, ¡Spangled!. "She's been an Alt.Latino favorite, and her latest album continues to give me reason to admire her," says host Felix Contreras. "Van Dyke Parks's arrangements on ¡Spangled! lift Gaby Moreno's voice into a place that will delight and surprise her longtime fans as well as impress those who are just discovering her ... ¡Spangled! is a stunning collection of music ... It's a fabulously gorgeous album." Hear the episode here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, RadioThursday, October 3, 2019David Byrne’s American Utopia begins its strictly limited engagement on Broadway at the intimate Hudson Theatre on Friday, with the official opening on October 20. The performances run through January 18 and follow a sold-out, year-long critically acclaimed international tour and pre-Broadway run in Boston. "A marvel of humanity and hope," exclaims the Boston Globe, "American Utopia brings wonder back to the world."
Journal Topics: Artist News, On TourWednesday, October 2, 2019Rachael & Vilray stopped by WNYC's All of It to perform three songs from their self-titled debut album and talk with host Alison Stewart about their music. You can hear the conversation and their performance of "Alone at Last," "Let's Make Love on This Plane," and "Do Friends Fall in Love?" here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, RadioWednesday, October 2, 2019Rhiannon Giddens performed as part of NPR Music's multi-artist Turning the Tables concert at Lincoln Center Out of Doors in July, a celebration of "eight women who invented American popular music": Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Maybelle Carter, Marion Anderson, Ella Fitzgerald, Mary Lou Williams, Celia Cruz, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Giddens opens the concert, performing A.P. Carter's "You Are My Flower" with Courtney Marie Andrews, the spiritual "Deep River" with Lizz Wright, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Up Above My Head." You can watch it here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On Tour, VideoTuesday, October 1, 2019Yola closed out her stellar week in Nashville last month as "the breakout star of AmericanaFest 2019" (Rolling Stone) by making her Grand Ole Opry debut. She spoke about the experience and what brought her there for a new short film by the Opry. "You grew up with this as a child," Yola shares. "Then you were told, 'Not for you.' And you fought and fought and fought for your right to connect to something that you love." See what else she had to say here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoMonday, September 30, 2019While Yola was at AmericanaFest in Nashville earlier this month—being anointed "a new Americana queen" and becoming "the breakout star of AmericanaFest 2019" per Rolling Stone—she spoke with Walking the Floor host Chris Shiflett for a live taping of the podcast. You can hear their conversation here. Yola performs at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco this weekend and at Austin City Limits the weekend after that. She then leads a special conversation and performance at the Grammy Museum in LA and is Kacey Musgraves' special guest in concert at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsMonday, September 30, 2019When Chris Thile hosted his public radio show Live From Here from The Town Hall in NYC last weekend, he paid tribute to Steve Reich, who premiered his Music for 18 Musicians there in 1976. The show marked the composer's upcoming birthday with Live From Here musical director Mike Elizondo and drummer Eric Doob performing Reich’s Clapping Music. "As influential a composer as our country has ever produced," Thile says. "Thank you for everything you continue to do, Steve. You are an inspiration to all of us." Watch it here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Radio, Video