Journal
- Friday, November 22, 2024
The Way Out of Easy, the first album from guitarist Jeff Parker and his long-running ETA IVtet—saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, drummer Jay Bellerose—since their 2022 debut Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy, which Pitchfork named one of the Best Albums of the 2020s So Far, is out now on International Anthem / Nonesuch Records. Like that album, The Way Out of Easy comprises recordings from LA venue ETA, where Parker and the ensemble held a weekly residency for seven years. During that time, the ETA IVtet evolved from a band that played mostly standards into a group known for its transcendent, long-form journeys into innovative, groove-oriented improvised music. All four tracks on The Way Out of Easy come from a single night in 2023, providing an unfiltered view of the ensemble, fully in their element.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist News
- Tuesday, April 19, 2022
Nonesuch releases seven special editions of Wilco’s landmark 2002 album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on September 16, available to pre-order now. The now-classic record has been remastered and will be available as part of each set. The Super Deluxe version comprises eleven vinyl LPs and one CD—including demos, drafts, and instrumentals, charting the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot—plus a live 2002 concert recording and a September 2001 radio performance and interview. That box set includes 82 previously unreleased music tracks as well as a new book featuring an interview with Jeff Tweedy, Glenn Kotche, and Jim O’Rourke; an in-depth essay by journalist/author Bob Mehr; and previously unseen photos of the band making the album in their Chicago studio. A version of "Reservations," recorded live in concert at The Pageant in St. Louis in 2002, is out now. You can watch Wilco perform the track “Poor Places” on last night’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert here. The band is currently performing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in its entirety (plus a mix of concert favorites and rarities) in two limited runs at NYC’s United Palace and Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre; the April 23 Chicago show will stream live.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsMonday, April 18, 2022The Jazz Journalists Association has announced the nominees for the 2022 JJA Jazz Awards, including Rhiannon Giddens (for Banjo), Cécile McLorin Salvant (Female Vocalist of the Year), Mary Halvorson (Guitarist, Duo of the Year), and International Anthem (Record Label of the Year).
Journal Topics: Artist NewsThursday, April 14, 2022Hurray for the Riff Raff (aka Alynda Segarra) released a solo acoustic version of “PIERCED ARROWS," a song from their new album, LIFE ON EARTH. Segarra calls it "a heartbreak song, lost in the realm of memory. Being stuck in the past, and finding the rapidly changing world uncanny and bizarre. Trying to outrun trauma. Finding a meeting place between tough and tender. Memory replaying inside/beside you, triggering fight or flight responses.” Hurray for the Riff Raff continues a headline tour of North America through April 20 before opening for Bright Eyes and Mitski and heading to Europe.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsThursday, April 14, 2022Sam Amidon kicks off a tour of North America in a performance of Nico Muhly’s The Only Tune with members of the Oregon Symphony, led by Jeffrey Kahane, in Beaverton, Oregon, on Friday. Timo Andres performs on the program as well, which is hosted by Gabriel Kahane. Amidon then continues through the Pacific Northwest with shows in Seattle, Vancouver (with special guest Joachim Cooder), and Portland, before heading to the East Coast in support of The Weather Station in Philadelphia, DC, Brooklyn, and Boston.
Journal Topics: Artist News, On TourTuesday, April 12, 2022Tigran Hamasyan’s take on Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s “All the Things You Are,” featuring Mark Turner on tenor saxophone, is out now. It's the second single from StandArt, Hamasyan’s first album of American standards, due April 29. “When Mark and I started playing for the first time, I just had that feeling that we have been playing together for many years," Hamasyan says. "Mark’s sound and playing are so dear to me that every note he would play would make me feel like home. 'All the Things You Are' is a very personal piece for me, and I have only played it alone at home just for myself and the angels that might have been listening to it. Mark approached this piece with such delicacy and fragility that I felt like the angels had begun singing along with me."
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoMonday, April 11, 2022Gabriel Kahane is on a special episode of New Sounds' Soundcheck, recorded live at WNYC's The Greene Space, in which he spoke with host John Schaefer about his two Nonesuch albums—Magnificent Bird, released last month, and his 2018 album, Book of Travelers—and performed several songs from both with a string quartet. You can listen to the episode and watch his performance here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Podcast, RadioSaturday, April 9, 2022Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway—Bronwyn Keith-Hynes (fiddle), Dominick Leslie (mandolin), Shelby Means (bass), and Kyle Tuttle (banjo)—were on CBS Saturday Morning to perform a Saturday Sessions set of three songs from their acclaimed new album, Crooked Tree: “She’ll Change,” “Over the Line,” and the title track. You can watch all three here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Television, VideoThursday, April 7, 2022The Black Keys celebrate today's Opening Day of Major League Baseball in a new video for MLB Network. From Dan Auerbach's Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville, TN, he and Patrick Carney compare the collaboration in writing music and fielding a baseball team. They discuss the parallels between baseball and touring throughout the summer as “Wild Child,” the first single from their upcoming album, Dropout Boogie, is set to images from baseball's offseason and shots from Spring Training. You can watch it here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, VideoWednesday, April 6, 2022Nonesuch Records releases the first recording of Steve Reich’s Reich/Richter, performed by Ensemble intercontemporain and conducted by George Jackson, on June 10, 2022, with the vinyl due August 5. The composition was originally written to be performed with German visual artist Gerhard Richter and Corinna Belz’s film Moving Picture (946-3). Album preorders are available here now. A video of the composer talking about Reich/Richter may be seen here.
Journal Topics: Album Release, Artist NewsTuesday, April 5, 2022Punch Brothers and Watchhouse join forces this summer for the second American Acoustic US tour, with dates in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and New Haven, among others; Sarah Jarosz also joins them for most of the dates. Thile says: “It took five years, but I’m elated to announce the second traveling edition of American Acoustic for this summer. Joining my fellow Punch Brothers and me in front of a pair of large condenser microphones will be our dear friends, Watchhouse and Sarah Jarosz, for a collaborative evening of music that traverses our respective catalogues and celebrates being together.”
Journal Topics: Artist News, On TourSunday, April 3, 2022Congratulations to Caroline Shaw and Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi, who won Grammy Awards at the 64th Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony today. Shaw won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, for Narrow Sea, written for and performed by Sō Percussion, Dawn Upshaw, and Gilbert Kalish. Giddens and Turrisi won the Grammy for Best Folk Album for They’re Calling Me Home.
Journal Topics: Artist NewsSunday, April 3, 2022Laurie Anderson was on CBS's 60 Minutes to talk with Anderson Cooper about her career in art and music, including her early hit single, "O Superman," and the debut album on which it appeared, Big Science, released 40 years ago this month. She also takes Cooper on a tour of her largest-ever US art exhibition, The Weather, at Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. You can watch the interview as well as two 60 Minutes Overtime web exclusive pieces on the making of "O Superman" and the power of storytelling here.
Journal Topics: Artist News, Television, Video