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
- Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wanda Jackson performs a song from her forthcoming album The Party Ain't Over on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight, backed by producer Jack White on guitar and The Third Man House Band. Their upcoming shows in Brooklyn and Los Angeles are sold out, but Nonesuch is giving away tickets to each. The Nashville Scene called their Nashville set "nothing short of amazing ... It was incredible ... All hail the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll!"
Journal Topics: Artist News, TelevisionThursday, January 20, 2011The lineup for the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (a.k.a. Jazz Fest) has just been announced, and, as always, there's much to look forward to when the festivities get under way this spring. Jazz Fest will be held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans the weekends of April 29–May 1 and May 5–8. Among this year's performers are The Low Anthem, Punch Brothers, hometown favorites Allen Toussaint and Nicholas Payton, and Wilco.
Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist NewsThursday, January 20, 2011Ride, Rise, Roar, the concert film documenting David Byrne's 2008-09 tour, Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno, receives its UK premiere today in a one-night-only event screening. Byrne will attend the premiere at the Ritzy Picturehouse in Brixton, London, and participate in a live post-screening Q&A that will be simulcast to dozens of cinemas across the UK. Wired calls it "a downright beautifully shot and edited concert film." Watch the trailer here.
Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News, FilmWednesday, January 19, 2011As President Obama hosts Chinese President Hu at the White House, composer John Adams prepares for the Metropolitan Opera premiere of his groundbreaking 1987 opera Nixon in China, which explores President Nixon’s meeting with Mao Tse-tung nearly 40 years ago. New York classical music station WQXR is hosting a special preview tonight, featuring a conversation with Adams and director Peter Sellars, plus performances from the cast. Nonesuch will reissue the Grammy-winning original cast recording of Nixon in China on February 1.
Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist NewsWednesday, January 19, 2011Alan Pierson, the Artistic Director and conductor of Alarm Will Sound, has been named the new Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Pierson's debut 2011-2012 season will be announced later this spring. "My goal is for the Brooklyn Philharmonic to connect with the Borough’s vast, unique population through events that celebrate and reflect its incredibly diverse communities," says Pierson, "and to do so in a way that involves original music-making which will be of interest beyond Brooklyn as well. We will become ‘Brooklyn’s Orchestra’ like never before.”
Journal Topics: Artist NewsWednesday, January 19, 2011Wanda Jackson has been named the Artist of the Day by Paste. She spoke with the magazine about her forthcoming album, The Party Ain't Over, and about some of the things she's picked up over the years working with the likes of producer Jack White and Elvis Presley. "Many consider her to be the first woman to write and perform rock ‘n’ roll," says Paste. On the new album, she proves that her "searing rock sensibility and trademark primal growl stand little changed."
Journal Topics: Artist NewsWednesday, January 19, 2011After sharing a bill at The Wiltern in Los Angeles next week, The Low Anthem will join Iron and Wine on the road for two weeks in April. Before that, The Low Anthem will embark on a headlining tour in support of its forthcoming Nonesuch release, Smart Flesh, due out February 22, including a performance at New York City's Bowery Ballroom on March 8. The album is available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with a limited-edition poster signed by the band.
Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist NewsTuesday, January 18, 2011Wanda Jackson's video of the Bob Dylan great “Thunder on the Mountain,” off her forthcoming album, The Party Ain't Over, premiered on AOL Spinner this morning. "The Queen of Rockabilly covering possibly the greatest singer-songwriter ever alongside one of today's most prolific artists, is a pretty easy sell," says Spinner. "That said, Wanda Jackson and Jack White's new version of Bob Dylan's 'Thunder on the Mountain' is even better than it sounds on paper." Watch it here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoTuesday, January 18, 2011Jessica Lea Mayfield's Nonesuch debut album, Tell Me, is due out in just a few weeks. Mayfield recently stopped by the offices of Relix magazine to perform the album track "Sometimes at Night," which Relix describes as "haunting." The Boston Globe features Mayfield in its list of "new artists to hear right now." Last week, Mayfield was busy autographing copies of the 7” vinyl of the album’s first single, “Our Hearts Are Wrong,” which will be included with the first 250 Nonesuch Store pre-orders.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoTuesday, January 18, 2011Kronos Quartet, fresh off their multi-concert run at the Sydney Festival, is slated to be featured in a mini-festival of their own: Kronos in Glasgow. From May 12 through 15, Glasgow’s Concert Halls will welcome Kronos Quartet and some very special guest collaborators, hand-picked by Kronos, for a world exclusive international program of events across Glasgow, including the Scottish premiere of Steve Reich's new work WTC 9/11.
Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist NewsMonday, January 17, 2011Wanda Jackson's new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over, is due out January 25; until then, you can listen to the album streaming in its entirety as an NPR First Listen on npr.org. "Jackson's partnership with White proves to be exciting and imaginative, but also entirely appropriate," says NPR. "Both musicians are true innovators who set a new standard for cool. It's like hearing a collaboration between 1958 and 2011, and they get along great."
Journal Topics: Artist News, RadioFriday, January 14, 2011Wanda Jackson will be premiering a brand new retro-style video of the Bob Dylan great “Thunder on the Mountain” on Tuesday, January 18, on AOL Music. Check out a teaser to the hip-shakin, bone-rattlin’ video here. Jackson will also be performing live at Third Man Records in Nashville that same day, with Jack White and The Third Man House Band. Their special record release shows in New York and Los Angeles are fully sold-out, but Nonesuch is giving away a pair of tickets to each. Enter here.
Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News, Video