Allen Shawn is one of the great composers of piano music in America today, with seven piano sonatas, various suites and shorter pieces. An astounding concerto of his has been recorded by the remarkable Ursula Oppens.
Jazz Album Review/Commentary: “Don Quixote’s Adventures in the World of Jazz” — Is Jazz intrinsically Quixotic?
It’s hard to think of music that is more foolishly impractical than jazz, even with its pursuit of lofty ideals.
Television Review: Season Two “Schmigadoon!” — Even More Boffo
Rejoice, my fellow musical theater geeks, Apple TV’s Schimgadoon! is once again taking center stage.
Book Review: Jess Walter — The Best Short Story Writer in 21st Century America?
Jess Walter is a writer capable of inspecting humanity’s foolishness and foul play, but he is rarely unkind to his dimmest characters. Even sociopaths get to explain what is going on in their minds.
Jazz Concert Review: Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science — Solid Music and Message
Terri Lyne Carrington, on her home turf (she’s a native Bostonian and holds several positions at Berklee, including being founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice), augmented her six-piece band with three guests.
Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse
Here’s this week’s poem, “Second Spring Morning”.
Film Review: A Dispatch from the 23rd Annual Boston Underground Film Festival (Part 1 of 2)
Local film festivals like the 23rd annual Boston Underground Film Festival feel like such a balm for the tide of poisonous mediocrity that’s now the standard in our current movie landscape.
Theater Review: “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” – A Refreshing Reflection on Black Love
The theme may be Black love, but the dramatist is too smart not to invite all of us to consider (or perhaps even reconsider) our personal definitions of what love means and how that changes the ways we relate to each other.
Film Review: Mass Murder, the Prequel — “Measures of Men” Exposes Germany’s Bloody Colonial Past
The film’s depictions of race-based massacres are sure to make Germans uncomfortable — as preludes to the Shoah.
Opera Album Review: A Major German Baroque Opera — Reinhard Keiser’s “Ulysses” Gets a Spiffy Recording
All in all, an ear-opening introduction to an important opera composer — and to the little-known tradition of German-language (with Italian touches) Baroque opera.