Music
If there’s anything the U.S. needs in 2026, it’s a recovery of Lincolnesque values—resolve, common sense, understanding, and charity. If such a renewal can get some impetus and sense of direction from a new recording, so much the better.
It’s hard to argue that the decision to forge careers as composer-pianists in the teeth of fin de siècle misogyny and rock-set views of musical gender roles wasn’t an act of defiance.
Shame’s latest record and Monday’s holiday show at the Brighton Music Hall both prove the twin-guitar quintet has matured in sound and spirit while still flashing youthful spunk.
Reflecting on our divisive politics, BSO music director Andris Nelsons told the concert audience that “Every tunnel has light at the end.”
“Art can be heartbreaking, but you don’t have to let it break your heart for it to be good. You just have to have the correct relationship with it, understanding that it is a continual exercise.”
“Turn a Midnight Corner” is one of those records that has the right mix of risk and guile. It doesn’t so much tell a story as summon one, track by track.
Jazz Album Review: Kris Davis Expresses Environmental Grief Through Music in “The Solastalgia Suite”
In its evocativeness, shapeliness, and meaningful drama, “Solastalgia Suite” is Kris Davis’s masterpiece… so far.
This was one of the closest New Jazz Albums contests ever.
Since 2014, the category has been dominated by previously unreleased music, mostly live shots.
The 20th Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll: The Institution Continues
Onwards for an invaluable poll from a community of critics that gives us a map to an expansive world of jazz to explore — with hints at terra incognita.
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